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Subproducts

Submitted by lostcarpark on Sun, 10/28/2007 - 17:30
lostcarpark
Posts: 27
 Joined: 09/22/2007

I'm in the process of setting up a Drupal/Ubercart store, and it's going pretty well, but there's one thing that doesn't work quite the way I'd like. I'm fairly new to Drupal and Ubercart, but I have a fair bit of software development and PHP experience, so I'd like to chip in if I can.

My store will have quite a lot of products that are basically the same, but come in different varieties. For some of them the variations are fairly simple, just the size and weight of the bag. The trouble is that the current attributes work as an adjustment to the main product, and the main product will still have the default size and weight. I have other products that have bigger differences that I would like to have an alternative picture and an addition to the product description.

I would like it implement this by putting the keeping the overall description as it currently is, but replacing the bottom section where the price, weight and "Add to Cart" button are with a new list. This list would contain subproducts, each of which could contain their own extra description, picture, price, weight, and an "Add to Cart" button. I'd also like it to be possible for subproducts to have their own attributes, which would appear as a drop down list for each subproduct.

I've got a bit of reading to do to get to grips with the internals of Ubercart before I start, but I wanted to check that nobody's already working on something similar. I'd also like to hear if anyone has other ideas they'd like to see incorporated. And, of course, any tips on how best to implement this would also be appreciated.
permalink #1 Mon, 10/29/2007 - 09:18
Ryan

Posts: 5378
 Joined: 08/07/2007
AdministratorHead Code Monkey - I eat bugs.

Dynamic changes to the product view pages have been in high demand for a while. People have been looking to change the picture and price fields based on attribute selections, though I haven't heard anyone updating the description.

The problem that's kept us from really working on it is figuring out how to make the forms so they don't become overly complex or monstrous. If you've got some ideas, we'd be happy to provide feedback. Cool

Welcome aboard!

(Side note... you may just consider making this a custom PHP page on your site instead of an extension to the product system. Setup all your products and then just create a page that will load the nodes and spit out the product data where necessary. Use your own form's submit handler to add the right product to the customer's cart based on what they've chosen.)

permalink #2 Tue, 10/30/2007 - 16:07
zmove
Posts: 541
 Joined: 08/13/2007
Bug FinderEarly adopter... addicted to alphas.Getting busy with the Ubercode.Internationalizationizer

I agree that the attributes system today is very specific. You have to enter their price by just putting the majoration, impossibilities to choose the way you want to display them (checkbox, radio, list...) etc....

But I really like the way they are managed in backoffice, no node duplication (which is a major advantage compared to ecommerce subproduct system) etc...

The attribute system is yound and need a lot of improvement and functionnalities, but the way it was thinked is good and this is the more important.

permalink #3 Tue, 10/30/2007 - 19:51
lostcarpark
Posts: 27
 Joined: 09/22/2007

One idea I'm exploring is to adapt the current attribute system to do what I want. If I could add some extra properties to attributes (picture, additional description), change the attribute to display as a list instead of a drop-down, and suppress the price and weight on the main description, I think we'd be there.

permalink #4 Wed, 10/31/2007 - 09:33
Ryan

Posts: 5378
 Joined: 08/07/2007
AdministratorHead Code Monkey - I eat bugs.

You should try reaching Theoverclocked. He's done a lot of work to this effect, and you can suppress fields in the main description through the product settings.