Private Sales in Hidden Categories

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   In the past (v3.11a) we used a hidden category to do private sale links for customers. 
Say I've got something to sell to specific customer, but don't want it showing up in the store or search results. In the past we've created a new item, assigned it to a hidden category, then sent the customer a direct link to the new item page.

We've recently pushed live with 4.1aSP2 and it would appear that functionality no longer works like before. Items in the same hidden category now just trigger msg.asp?message=86 ...

"The product or category that you are trying to view is either not valid or not available. If you believe that you are receiving this message in error, contact us."

Any thoughts on this? 

I've seen the WIKI entry on private sales, but that assumes I know the customer's login and can assign them to a Customer Pricing Category. Since we use this a lot for original art sales and get new customers all the time, that's not a practical solution for us.

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rotokirby Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 22-April-2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote rotokirby Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Private Sales in Hidden Categories Posted: 29-August-2011 at 2:19pm
	In the past (v3.11a) we used a hidden category to do private sale links for customers. Say I've got something to sell to specific customer, but don't want it showing up in the store or search results. In the past we've created a new item, assigned it to a hidden category, then sent the customer a direct link to the new item page. We've recently pushed live with 4.1aSP2 and it would appear that functionality no longer works like before. Items in the same hidden category now just trigger msg.asp?message=86 ... "The product or category that you are trying to view is either not valid or not available. If you believe that you are receiving this message in error, contact us." Any thoughts on this? I've seen the WIKI entry on private sales, but that assumes I know the customer's login and can assign them to a Customer Pricing Category. Since we use this a lot for original art sales and get new customers all the time, that's not a practical solution for us.
	Rotofugi Designer Toy Store & Gallery Chicago > IL > US http://rotofugi.com

rotokirby Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 22-April-2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote rotokirby Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 02-September-2011 at 5:42pm
	FYI...I figured this one out on my own...if anyone else desires similar functionality let me know. It was as simple as commenting out a single line in three different files. :)
	Rotofugi Designer Toy Store & Gallery Chicago > IL > US http://rotofugi.com

LittleOnesResource Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 06-August-2009 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote LittleOnesResource Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 17-October-2011 at 12:00pm
	I am looking for this solution. Will you please post what files you have to edit to get this to work? Thanks. Amy.

rotokirby Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 22-April-2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote rotokirby Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 31-October-2011 at 7:48pm
	Hey Amy! Sorry I didn't get to this very quickly....I don't check the forums often unless I'm in the middle of trying to do something to the cart, lol. First...create a "Hidden" category (check "Hide this category in the storefront" under Other Settings for the category you want to use). When you create your "private" items, assign them to that hidden category only. Then.... FIND 'response.redirect "msg.asp?message=86" and comment that line out in ViewPrdCode.asp and pcBreadcrumbs.asp Then, when you create a new "private" item (assigned to your hidden category) you can use the preview feature to copy the URL you can use to send to your customer, just be sure to strip the "&adminPreview=1" off the end of the URL before you send it. Hope that helps!
	Rotofugi Designer Toy Store & Gallery Chicago > IL > US http://rotofugi.com

macleather Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 23-June-2008 Location: Los Angeles Status: Offline Points: 3	Post Options Post Reply Quote macleather Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 11-November-2011 at 4:45pm
	Hi Roto, In your Sept answer you say "It was as simple as commenting out a single line in three different files. :)". Then in your Oct 31 response you say comment out in ViewPrdCode.asp and pcBreadcrumbs.asp. Was there a 3rd file that needed the comment out of the error message? I changed the two files you mentioned but continued to get the "Product not available.." error message. Also, in pcBreadcrumbs.asp the - response.redirect "msg.asp?message=86" - shows up in two places. Do both of these need to be commented out in that file? Thanks so much for any information. Alan
	Alan MacPherson Custom Leather

rotokirby Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 22-April-2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote rotokirby Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 11-November-2011 at 5:13pm
	Hey Alan.... Sorry for being flaky! I'm definitely a tinkerer and not a programmer, and my notes must not be complete on that. I bet I meant to write three "places" instead of three "files" ... I just checked and I did comment it out in both places in pcBreadcrumbs.asp, so that must be it. Give that a shot and let me know if it still doesn't work for you and I'll try to help troubleshoot.
	Rotofugi Designer Toy Store & Gallery Chicago > IL > US http://rotofugi.com

macleather Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 23-June-2008 Location: Los Angeles Status: Offline Points: 3	Post Options Post Reply Quote macleather Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 11-November-2011 at 5:46pm
	Roto, Stay flaky and keep on tinkering....That worked perfectly. Thanks so much Alan
	Alan MacPherson Custom Leather

LittleOnesResource Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 06-August-2009 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote LittleOnesResource Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 05-December-2011 at 7:35pm
	Guys.... Thanks so much for the posting. I asked the original question and have just now gotten around to implementing the fixes. It all works again. This is such a great way for me to create secure checkout links for international customers. Thanks again. There is no way I would have figured this out! I agree...keep on tinkering! Amy.