Product Option Matrix Stock levels

[Dodgebill]

I am having a problem, or maybe not... I am using option matrix and stock levels for each of the options combinations (size/color). However, when I check the 'use stock level' box in the general tab and then use the option matrix section to set stock levels I get a 'product out of stock' warning. If I uncheck the 'use stock level' button the option matrix 'use stock level' box becomes useless. Customers are able to order option combos with zero stock. This seems to be an issue. I am trying to go through the code to see if there is an easy fix but it seems there isn't.

Is this getting fixed in 6.0.9 or 6.1? I would think it should either stop the stock level warnings or use the option matrix stock level to control purchases with the general tab 'use stock level' box unchecked. Or perhaps I'm missing something?

[jasehead]

+1 from me - I can't work out how to set the product options matrix and the main stock level so that I force a "Please select required options before adding to your basket" error.  All I seem to get if I try adding a product to basket that has options is a "Sorry but that product is out of stock."

AFTER FURTHER INVESTIGATION...

You have to go to Product Options > Option Groups and set the option group to REQUIRED.

[bsandall]

It works for me:

- Check 'Use Stock Level' in the main product page

- Set main stock level to 0 (or whatever you want, but 0 makes sense if you are tracking stock separately via the matrix)

- For all matrix options, check 'Use Stock Level'

- For all matrix options, set the amount of stock you have

When I click 'Add to Basket' from the store front, I get the "Please select required options before adding to your basket" error message as expected. When I try to purchase an out-of-stock option combination, it also gives me the appropriate message. This was tested with an unmodified version 6.0.12 - have you made any modifications?

[jasehead]

Although, I will add:

If you have a product matrix set up and other options become unavailable so you switch them off (status = off) leaving only one option:

• The only option on the product page is listed (no radio buttons if you're using them, just the text)
• If you click the add to basket button from the category you are STILL sent to the product page, told that you have to select a product option (which you can't because there is only one option with no selector) and you have to click the add to basket button again

Is there a way to make the add to basket on the category page skip the product page and confusing error message if there is only one product option set to default?  If so, will it carry through the default product option so that it is included in checkout?

[bsandall]

If you only have a single option remaining, you should remove it (a single option is not really an option, but a specific feature, e.g. "Red T-Shirt" can only be red, so why make it an option?) - put it in the product description if it's critical to note.

It would be possible to auto-select single options with some code edits, but it just doesn't make much sense to do so given that it hardly ever comes up and if it does, you can easily circumvent the problem as described above.

[jasehead]

I sell a product where there is a small difference but most people can still use the product OK even if it's not the exact format they prefer.

So, let's say I sell toy Zebras - some are white with black stripes, others are black with white stripes - most people don't care, they just want a zebra.

If I run out of the black ones, isn't it better to just switch off the matrix status for that and just sell the white ones - the colour preference will still appear in the checkout, so if a customer has a real issue with the stripes then they might check it there.  And I'll add a note in the Terms and Conditions to explain our policy about available colour options.

I only deal with small quantities, so I often run out of one kind or the other.  It would be much easier if the add to basket just worked for the remaining option rather than making the customer go to the product page and choosing the only option before they continue.  And it would be great if I could just switch off one option in the matrix (or better for that to happen automatically when one option hit zero) rather than having to switch off all matrix options and rewrite the description only to have to undo everything again when new stock arrives.  Like I said, small quantities, so stock levels fluctuate OFTEN.

I can't just sell one kind of toy zebra, because I do get customers specifically wanting one kind or the other.

I could make these two separate products, but they are very similar and I don't want to have to duplicate hundreds of other minor-difference products as well.  Plus duplicate content = negative SEO.

[bsandall]

@jasehead In that case, you can un-check the 'Status' box for any options no longer available. So in your example, uncheck black and only white will remain, including in the option matrix. If that is the only choice for the option, customers will not need to select it. When black becomes available again, re-check the option Status and the matrix entries will reappear as they were.

The only caveat is when you uncheck all options for a specific option group (e.g. both black AND white), that may cause new matrix entries to be created with the remaining options for which you would then have to fill in whatever data you needed such as stock levels. If one or more of the options then became available, the old matrix entries would be used. Since at least one entry for each option should remain, I doubt that will ever be an issue.