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Sub-optimal behaviour of product add-to-cart when product has options


ploughguy

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Envisage, if you will, a CubeCart store that has a product with options.

A customer opens the category, for example, Cats.

A list of cat products are produced - Persian, Tom, Burmese, Mexican Hairless (yech) etc.

I am in the midst of setting up a global criminal network, so naturally I select Persian and click its "Add to Cart".

However, Persian cats come in colours, so there is a product option.

The storekeeper angers the mighty criminal overlord by misrepresenting the function of the button.  It is not going to "Add to cart" at all, well not yet.  Clicking the button actually invites one to "Select product options".  To pile insult upon insult, the product page opens with an angry red banner that effectively says "Hey bozo, you forgot to select the product option."

To prevent all cat-monging CubeCat storekeepers from possible thermonuclear or biohazard retribution in the future, I propose that the button caption be changed, when appropriate, to Select Options, or if there is only one, which is probably the most likely case, "Select <optionname>" giving, in the kitty-case, "Select Colour" or for Western Pacific Coast types, "Select Color".  Either solution will prepare the buyer for the upcoming option selection and obviate the need for the angry red banner.  If the criminal overlord customer really is as dumb as a box of rocks, perhaps we could make the option selection field flash, pulsate or jump around to attract attention to itself rather than flash the red error sign.

There is, of course, a language implication here, so the fancy version will require some thoughtful contemplation.  "Select options then add to basket" is longish, but it creates an accurate expectation about the future.  Of course, it does get one a multi-line button.  I do like the idea of a custom "Select <whatever> and add to basket text though.  Maybe a plug-in entrepreneur could provide this as a plug-in?

Gotta say, though, the product options with option groups and stock level matrices is a damn fine thing.

Edited by ploughguy
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These are fine solutions, and the category product options is a must-have.  Always wanted it, ever since 4.3.4.

And as the Bearded One says, the template can be doctored.  But I aver that the template should already be correct - every store that uses mandatory product options is going to tell the customer they have made an error when they Add to Cart.  This is not good retail.

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I'm looking for a slightly different approach. I want to simply not show a buy button for products that have options, other than mandatory ones with a single default value.

Seems to me that the key is the line in content.category.php that says

{if $product.ctrl_purchase && !$CATALOGUE_MODE}

needs another && condition to indicate that this product has options. But I can't work out what that condition shuld be. Any ideas?

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I am afraid the $PRODUCTS variable in content.category.php does not include the information about options for individual products.

You will have to make use of the class.catalogue.productassign hook and load the information about the options for each product, using the Catalogue::getProductOptions() method.

If you are not a programmer, I am available as a freelance developer if you need this done.

 

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Thanks for that. At least I'm not missing something obvious.

This is an out-of-hours project with no budget. I'll just get rid of the Add to Cart buttons altogether.

Don't really want people ordering without seeing product details anyway.  An extra impulse sale is not worth the increased risk of a product return

Edited by hairydog
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Not a bad idea - change the "Add to Cart" button to "Tell me more" with the same functionality as the product title link, which is a bit subtle. Gotta make it obvious.  The Jony Ive design philosophy of dark white links on a light white background has no place in an online store.

Edited by ploughguy
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