Customizing ProductCart - Is there a way to assign sub-categories t

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Is there a way to assign sub-categories t

Printed From: ProductCart E-Commerce Solutions
Category: ProductCart
Forum Name: Customizing ProductCart
Forum Description: Exchange messages with other users that are customizing ProductCart.
URL: https://forum.productcart.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=382
Printed Date: 27-November-2024 at 10:25am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.04 - http://www.webwizforums.com

Topic: Is there a way to assign sub-categories t

Posted By: 1stChoice
Subject: Is there a way to assign sub-categories t
Date Posted: 12-August-2006 at 5:40pm

Is there a way to assign sub-categories to more than one Parent Category?

thanks!

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Wes
http://www.sohotoolkit.com

Replies:

Posted By: netprofits
Date Posted: 13-August-2006 at 4:17pm

Not really. You can create a different subcategory with the same name under the other parent category but you would have to link specific products to that new subcategory, i.e. they would not copy from the original subcategory.

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NetProfits Internet Consulting

Certified ProductCart Developer

http://www.nicwebdesign.com" rel="nofollow - Our Site

Posted By: MarkCoyle
Date Posted: 13-August-2006 at 5:48pm

Generally in design you try to avoid duplicate sub-categories. If need you them then your structure generally needs a bit more decomposition.

cheers

Mark

Posted By: 1stChoice
Date Posted: 15-August-2006 at 5:42pm

Thanks; we'll review our format and try to simplify things.

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Wes
http://www.sohotoolkit.com

Posted By: MarkCoyle
Date Posted: 16-August-2006 at 6:20am

I had a further think on this.

In addition to categories in v3 you also can set up brands as well. This might be a useful thing to do (of course in reality, it doesn't have to be just a brand, it could be anything).

By modifying the language in languages.asp (in the includes folder) you can redefine the terminology used in your store - so brands could become something else.

This might prove useful to a multi-category / product-type store such as yours,

cheers

mark

Posted By: 1stChoice
Date Posted: 16-August-2006 at 6:49pm

Thanks; I'll give this brand option stuff some thought...

Wes

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Wes
http://www.sohotoolkit.com

Posted By: edwardmills
Date Posted: 17-August-2006 at 12:32pm

Hi there

I'm also interested in this "brand" feature. We'll be selling many cards in many different categories. Let me run an idea by you to see if you think it will work.

A category structure, without using the brand feature would look something like this:

Greeting Cards
      Everyday Cards
            Birthdays
              Cats
              Dogs
              Etc.
               Anniversary
                  Cats
              Dogs
                  Etc.
            Etc.

As mentioned in the post above, having multiple subcategories that are the same is not the most elegant solution. So here's what I'm thinking as an alternative:

Greeting Cards
      Everyday Cards
            Birthdays
          Anniversary
            Thanks
              Etc.

Then create "brands" (renamed to "themes" or something like that) for:
       Cats
       Dogs
       Animals
       Etc.

Will that work? Will customers be able to search by category and brand/theme? Can they search at the same time. Again, there's a great example of this functionality over at http://www.leanintree.com/ They have two drop down boxes in their search form, one for category and another for theme.

Thanks for you feedback.

ed

Posted By: MarkCoyle
Date Posted: 17-August-2006 at 1:06pm

Yes it will work.

Categories and sub-categories can be viewed as lists or as dropdowns.

To make it 'feel' like it's not just about brands, just modify the terminology in landuages.asp (it's a very simple file and could be done easily in a text editor and uploaded).

cheers
Mark

Posted By: edwardmills
Date Posted: 17-August-2006 at 5:03pm

Thanks again, Mark, for the quick reply.

Posted By: 1stChoice
Date Posted: 18-August-2006 at 1:09am

So in Ed's example one would browse into Birthday Cards and see all of the Birthday card thumbs..... they would then have the option to filter the birthday cards by "brand/theme" ....

Is the brand/theme filter in a drop down box? Or presented as theme thumbnails above the products?

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Wes
http://www.sohotoolkit.com

Posted By: 1stChoice
Date Posted: 18-August-2006 at 2:53am

Ok; I've setup brands and assigned products to them. I'm now browsing by categories and subcategories but don't see any option available to show only products of a certain brand. Is there a setting I need to enable for this?

I see the shop by brand link on the side; this is working fine.

Thanks!

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Wes
http://www.sohotoolkit.com

Posted By: MarkCoyle
Date Posted: 18-August-2006 at 3:13am

In v3 which I use, there is an option to view the brand in the store front (and on the product detail page).

Then you get a 'brands' link in your category navigation which you can click and see all the brands established. Then click on a brand to see their products.

cheers

Mark

Posted By: MarkCoyle
Date Posted: 18-August-2006 at 12:15pm

Okay - you can now add a link in your menu structure to 'view by brand' or similar that points to viewbrands.asp (in v3).

This will show a page to enable you to select the various brands and see the products associated with it.

It uses an image and text description. If you don't want an image, create a tiny blank image in your background colour and it will appear as though there isn't any image.

cheers
Mark

Posted By: 1stChoice
Date Posted: 18-August-2006 at 12:30pm

Have you seen any PC sites that allow the user to filter the categories and subcategories by brand "from within" those category pages?

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Wes
http://www.sohotoolkit.com