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products options page
Product options
Overview
Product options allow your customers to choose specific
attributes or add-ons for each product. This would typically be
an item of clothing offered in various colors or a build your
own computer system where the buyer can choose the processor, memory,
monitor etc. Any price changes are shown in real time - it is also
possible to plug-in the weight difference if applicable so shipping
can be calculated correctly. Version 4.9.0 saw the introduction
of a feature allowing the product option to have its own product
id.
Accessing
the Product Options
Select the “product options” link
from the left hand menu of your control panel.
From this screen you can clone, modify or delete an existing product
option or add a new one. There is also the possibility to add a
New Text Input Option.
Setting
up a new Product Option
Click on New Option and you should see a screen
with this at the top:
The Screen Explained
Option Name: This
is the name that is displayed on the products page next to the
product it relates to.
Working Name: This is for internal use only and
helps identify the product option in the admin section. It may
be that you have different product options for colors depending
on the product eg different colors available for socks and shoes.
Option Style: Choose to show your
product options as a drop down menu, radio buttons or Multiple
Purchase.
The Multiple Purchase feature was introduced in
Version 5.5.0 and allows customers to select different quantities
of product
options from the same page before adding them all to cart. It
will appear on the product and / or product detail page like this:
The number of columns displayed is set in vsadmin/includes.asp or includes.php
No default: Select here if there
is no default product option to be shown.
Single line: Select here if you
want the options to appear on the same line rather than one below
another.
"Please Select" line: If selected this
will show the message "Please Select" before the product
options.
Force Selection: Check this box
if you want to force the customer to select a product option for
the product they are purchasing. Below that box, you should see a screen like this
The Screen Explained
Click on the Plus button to enter a new product
option anywhere in the list
Options / Values: These are the
product options that will appear with
the product
it has been
assigned to.
Price Diff: If there is a price difference associated
to the product option then it can be added here. For example if
the option costs $1 more than the base product price then place
"1" in the Price Diff box. If the option costs 10% more than the
base product price then check the percentage box and place "10"
in the Price Diff box.
Wholesale Price: If you are using wholesale
pricing and there is a difference in price involved then they can
be entered here.
Weight Diff: If there is a weight difference
associated to the product option then it can be added here. For
example if
the option weighs 1 kilo over the base product
weight then place "1" in
the Weight Diff box. If the option weighs 10% more than the
base product weight then check the percentage box and place "10"
in
the Weight
Diff box.
Select Options / Alternates to continue configuring
the product options
The Screen Explained
Alt Prod ID: Version 4.9.0 saw the introduction
of this feature. It is now possible for the product option to have
its own product ID. This can simply be a substitute product id,
for instance if the product id is "product1", the you
can enter "product2" for the Alt Prod ID if you require
this product option to change the product id to "product2".
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please note that
the substitute product id must exist in the database. You must
create it as normal on the product
admin page, and if you don't want it to show separately uncheck
the "Display Product" checkbox. If you enter an alt product
id that doesn't exist as a separate product it will show as out of
stock.
Advanced changes can also be made with the Alt Prod ID. Any instance
of %s will be replaced with the original product id. For instance
if the Alt ID is "%s_red" and the original id is "product1" then
the result would be "product1_red". This is very useful
when applying the same change to multiple products.
Another advanced feature is "search and replace" in the
product id. If you have a space in the Alt Prod ID, anything to
the left will be searched for in the product id, and replace with
whatever is to the right of the space. An example would be an Alt
ID of "MARKER red" and a product id of "product_MARKER_42" which
would yield "product_red_42". This can be very useful
when dealing with multiple options that all modify the product
id.
Alt Image: From version 5.5.0
you can assign different images with the product option choices.
This means that as a customer selects a product option the image
will
change accordingly. In this field you should place the path to
the image you want to appear on the products page when an option
is selected.
Alt Large Image: This is where
you would place the path to the image that would show on the product
detail page once an option has been selected.
Adding
a Text Input Option
The text input option is used when you need the
customer to add some information regarding the product. This might
be a personalized message added to the product or if you are selling
domain names, the domain that the customer wishes to buy.
The Screen Explained
Option Name: This
is the name of the option that will appear on your store.
Working Name: This is for internal use
only and is useful when you have options that could have
the same name.
Default Text if any: If you need to populate
the field on the store then add the message here. If not then leave
blank.
Force Selection: Check this box if you want to
force the customer to add some text to the box.
Field Width: The width of the box that will appear
on the store.
Field Height: If you set this to a number higher
then one then you will create a multiline box, useful when loner
input is required.
Assigning
a Product Option to a Product
Once you have set up the product options you need you can then
assign them to their corresponding products. From the left hand
menu select Product Admin and then Modify for the product that
needs a new option. On the products admin page you should see a
box where you can specify how many different product options (eg
color, size) need to be assigned to the product.
Once you assign the number then the corresponding number of drop
down choices will appear so you can select the options that need
to go with that product.
Frequently
asked questions
How can I hide the product options from the products page?
How can I hide the display of the price difference for the product
options?
How can I hide the product options from the products page?
For the ASP version add
noproductoptions=true to includes.asp  more
details
For the PHP version add $noproductoptions=TRUE; to
includes.php more
details
How can I hide the display of the price difference for the product
options?
For the ASP version add hideoptpricediffs=true to
includes.asp more
details
For the PHP version add $hideoptpricediffs=true; to includes.php more
details
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