Chapter 4: Inventory
In this chapter:
4.6: Product Options
Not all of your products will be cut and dry simple items. Some products may require additional options such as color, size, quantity, customized text, etc. Some of these options may require additional pricing. To do this, read on...
By using the familiar search options (if it's not familiar by now, click here and review), locate a product to add options to.
If the product you are modifying is a shirt, and you wish to add color options that do not effect the price, you would add the following info in the form:
Label: Color (will display next to list of options)
Effects Price: No price
Choices: (see below- these choices must be separated by hitting the ENTER key on your keyboard).Red
Blue
Gray
Black
If the product you are modifying is a coat that costs $8.00, and you wish to add features to the coat that do effect the price, you would add the following info in the form:
Label: Optional Features
Effects price: Add to Price
Choices: (see below- these choices must be separated by hitting the ENTER key on your keyboard).Side Pocket,10.00
Zippered Hood,15.00This would allow the features to be added to the base cost of the coat.
If the product you are modifying is a phone, and there are three models for this phone, all priced differently, you would add the following info in the form:
Label: Model
Effects Price: Replace Price
Choices: (see below- these choices must be separated by hitting the ENTER key on your keyboard).Model A,45.00
Model B,55.00
Model C,65.00In this example, you would actually use the info for Model C in your product record. The customer could then choose a different model on the detail tempalte for that product.
If the product you are modifying is a pencil, and you are offering a quantity break for multiple pencils, you would add the following info in the form:
Label: Quantity Break
(see below- these choices must be separated by hitting the ENTER key on your keyboard).
Effect Price: QB (Quantity Break)
Choices:1-6,1.00 ea
6-12,.75 ea
etc.
etc.
How do I add options that include custom text?
In the lower section of this page in your admin menu, you will see a table for Text Input Options. This is useful if you are selling T-Shirts and want your customer to be able to specify the text that should be added to their shirts (for monogramming, custom messages, etc.). To create a custom text input field in the form of a comment box, you would add the following in the Text Input Option table:
Label: the name of the field. i.e.- Message, Name, Initials, etc.
Required Input: Yes or No...you can mark this as a required field if you wish.
Attributes: this would be the size of the comment box and the wrap option. i.e.- 4,50,physical. In this exmaple, the box would be 4 rows high, 50 columns wide, and text would use a physical wrap. You can also specify virtual wrap for text.
Error Message: This is the message a customer sees if the field is marked as required and they do not enter any text.
How do I add Product Options to my templates?
Very intelligent question. Fortunately, we have an intelligent answer. To add your product options to your detail template, you, of course, use an EDatCat shortcut. The shortcut you would use is %%dispoption1%%, %%dispoption2%%, %%dispoption3%%, etc. for as many product options as you have.
When you use this shortcut, all you have to do is place it in the template where you want it to be displayed. EDatCat will print the label as well as the drop-down list for the option if it applies to the product. If no options are specified for a product, nothing will be displayed.
To display text options, user %%disptext1%%, %%disptext2%%, etc.
***You must include these shortcuts within your add to cart form.
How do I add a field for quantity?
To add a quantity field to your detail template, simply include a text box within your add to cart form and name it "quantity". In other words...
<form action="%%script_loc%%" method="post">
<input type="hidden" name="user_action" value="addtocart">
<p align="left">Add this item to your shopping cart</p>
<p align="left"><strong>How many?</strong><br>
Quantity: <input type="text" name="quantity" size="3"></p>
<input type="submit" name="addtocart" value="Add Item">
</form>
OK, an ugly example, but it does the job.
How do I display the selected options on the viewcart/checkout pages?
Simple. In your cartrow template, add in the shortcut %%seloptions%% and/or %%seltext%%. This will display the selected options for each product.
End of Inventory Chapter
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