Managing Options and variants

jmestep · Post by **jmestep** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 4:26 pm

I have one product, a bedset, that has a size option of 7 options. Manage variants shows 7 lines to edit.
Twin, Full, Queen, SuperQueen, King, Cal King, Super King
Then I add an option for a Duvet, with the same 7 size options.
When I go manage variants now, there are 50 or so lines showing.
They display things like
Twin,Twin
Full,Twin
Queen, Twin

Is this the way it should be? Why are there so many and how do you know what is what?
I was setting it up similar to the structure in 5.5-options for bedset size, duvet size, bedskirt size, etc.

jmestep · Post by **jmestep** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 4:55 pm

I just tried the above on the real site you are hosting. When I ad the 5th option, the page times out as it did on my test server.
..PageRequestManager time out exception
Then when the product is done and I go to manage variants, there are bunches of pages of variants. I stopped paging thru them when I got to page 80.
I think this might be more of a display problem than a database add problem. My test site ac_OptionChoices has 56 records, which is correct.

AbleMods · Post by **AbleMods** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 6:55 pm

OK, I give.

What's a "duvet"??

jmestep · Post by **jmestep** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 7:01 am

It's the cover you put over your kid's blankie to keep it presentable when he won't give it up.
Seriously, it is a cover you put over a blanket or such to change the color or preserve it.

NC Software · Post by **NC Software** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 7:08 am

I thought a duvet was two corvettes!

AbleMods · Post by **AbleMods** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 7:20 am

Ahhh....learn something new every day

I still bear the scars of when my blankie was torn from the death grip of my tiny hands. Parents can be so cruel.

jmestep · Post by **jmestep** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 7:39 am

You ought to smell my grandson's pillow.

AbleMods · Post by **AbleMods** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 9:11 am

I'll take a raincheck on that offer Judy - I can barely handle my cats litter box

Post by **Logan Rhodehamel** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 10:17 am

jmestep wrote:I have one product, a bedset, that has a size option of 7 options. Manage variants shows 7 lines to edit.
Twin, Full, Queen, SuperQueen, King, Cal King, Super King
Then I add an option for a Duvet, with the same 7 size options.
When I go manage variants now, there are 50 or so lines showing.
They display things like
Twin,Twin
Full,Twin
Queen, Twin

But why would you buy a King bedset with a Twin duvet? Shouldn't it be more like Include Duvet: yes or no?

jmestep · Post by **jmestep** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 10:33 am

Because that is the way the merchant wants it? I'll check with him on the yes/no, but with the bedskirt, there has to be a length option.

Post by **Logan Rhodehamel** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 10:41 am

The way the variants work is to break down all the possible combinations and ask you about it. So to simplify let's break it down to Queen and King. You have Queen and King bed sets and Queen and King duvets. The variants feature will ask you about all possible combinations:

Queen set with Queen duvet =
Queen set with King duvet =
King set with Queen duvet =
King set with King duvet =

Then for each combination, you can provide a unique SKU, price, weight, and so on. You can also indicate if a particular combination is unavailable.

If your combinations do not contain a specific SKU, perhaps a better choice would be kitting? Then you can have as many "options" as you want without having to specify details for a huge number of possible combinations.

jmestep · Post by **jmestep** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 10:49 am

I will check into the kitting- I haven't really looked at it, but he said you couldn't allow customer to order more than one of any kit product. I started trying to change all but the bedset size to yes/no, but then I ran into yes/no what?-problem of matching up with what bedsize they ordered.
Also, they really might want something a different size- like an extra-long something.

I looked into product templates, but there was no pricing there.

jmestep · Post by **jmestep** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 10:57 am

I just tried adding a kit, and I guess you can't add a kit to a product with options? The bedset size option dropdown showed up, but there was nothing in it and when I tried to add bedset to the cart, it said it needed a size.
(I think this might have been mentioned in the forum earlier)

Post by **Logan Rhodehamel** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 10:59 am

jmestep wrote:I will check into the kitting- I haven't really looked at it, but he said you couldn't allow customer to order more than one of any kit product. I started trying to change all but the bedset size to yes/no, but then I ran into yes/no what?-problem of matching up with what bedsize they ordered.
Also, they really might want something a different size- like an extra-long something.

I looked into product templates, but there was no pricing there.

With variants, you could include sizes when it makes sense. Like bedskirt, maybe you would have choices of None, Standard, or Extra Long.

With kitting, you can have a customer order more than once - it's just that you have to preconfigure the possible choices. So for example if you are going to include a "sheet set" option and you want them to be able to order either 1 or 2, you have to set up a kit product for each. That way both 1 and 2 become choices when the customer is purchasing the kit product.

AbleMods · Post by **AbleMods** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 11:31 am

Judy wouldn't variants work if you disabled the incompatible combinations of the resulting variations?

It'd be extra work on the setup side, but it sounds like the end result would be what you are looking for.

jmestep · Post by **jmestep** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 12:25 pm

The options with no kit involved worked OK from the store side, except for the select boxes only showing up one at a time. It was just a monster in the admin to manage variants-if the merchant puts the weight and price in the first time and doesn't have to make many changes, it would work OK. (Not saying it doesn't work OK, I hadn't realized why there were so many).
When I first started working on the product, I thought I would have it be where the bedset combination was a category and the options and accessories (pillows, etc) as products in that category with a multi purchase option from the category page. I hadn't got that worked out when I remembered that you used to be able (maybe still are) to add cross sell products to the basket with the main product and select quantities there. That's why I switched to having the bedset a product instead of a category.
Here is similar to what the merchant wants:
http://www.belmonthomedecor.com/Bedsets ... tionID=364
Thanks

NC Software · Post by **NC Software** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 12:38 pm

Judy,

Site looks great! My only suggestion is your breadcrumbs are left aligned on the page, I think it would look better if it was left aligned with the product.

jmestep · Post by **jmestep** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 1:16 pm

Thank you, but it's not the site I'm working on. It's a site he's using as an example.

Post by **Logan Rhodehamel** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 2:17 pm

jmestep wrote:When I first started working on the product, I thought I would have it be where the bedset combination was a category and the options and accessories (pillows, etc) as products in that category with a multi purchase option from the category page.

Looking at your example, it seems like that would be a smart way to go. All of those products are unique. You can add one of them without adding anything else. They are only related in that they are all displayed on the same page when browsing the store.

jmestep · Post by **jmestep** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 2:54 pm

Thanks, Logan. I'll go back to work on that option again. I think I just need to be able to buy products from the category page with options, so I'll work on that code, like I had done in 5.5.

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Managing Options and variants

Managing Options and variants

Re: Managing Options and variants