Components and Custom Variant Layouts

[Gordon Bond]

Hi Everyone - I've been around a while and found this forum invaluable, so I thought it about time I showed my face!

We have been working on a comprehensive redesign of our site for a few months now and we are about to go live with it. It's on our testing server at the moment, but we have come across a rather major snag.

Our product layout has been customised using the VARIANTADDTOCART in order to set the variants apart from the add to cart button. This works nicely with attributes and choices. However, when the variants contain a component, as the choice attracts an additional charge, the selection isn't passed through to the shopping cart. It works when you change the layout back to the normal ADDTOCART, so is there an issue with components and VARIANTADDTOCART?

Any help on this would be very gratefully received as this is the preventing us from uploading the new site and my hair is getting thinner by the hour!

[Jan]

How many atrributes have you got - I do the same on my site if I try to use more than 3.

Regards,

[Gordon Bond]

There may be up to four variants for a product, but mostly two or three. On variants that are made up of attributes/choices the selection appears in the cart without a problem. When an attribute/choices are part of a component (because a charge is being made for the choice), the selection is not passed to the cart. Generally there is only one attribute to each component.

This does work with the standard ADDTOCART, but not it appears with the VARIANTADDTOCART, which we need for the layout of our product page.

I did read on the forum that there was a problem with components and variant layouts some time ago, but I am not sure that it was this specific issue.

[Jan]

Could you give me an example of a product that is not working.

Regards,

[Gordon Bond]

OK - I'll take a simple example.

We have a 1 shelf audio equipment stand at £69.00. You can also choose extra shelves for this item at £24.00 each.

I have set up a component to list the prices of the shelving configurations (1 shelf £0.00, 2 shelves £24.00, 3 shelves £48.00 etc) in the permutations tab and set the pricing model as 'sum of Product and Component Prices'. I then have an attribute placed within the component to set up the drop down list and choices set up to reflect the options - 1 Shelf +£0.00, 2 Shelves +£24.00, 3 Shelves +£48.00 etc.

When you select the item without choosing any options, the item is placed in the cart correctly. However if you wanted a 2 shelf version of the stand, for example, you would select the 2 shelves option in the variant drop down and add to cart, which should display the stand + an extra shelf in the cart. However, only the product is shown, not the extra shelf option.

Hope this makes sense!

[NormanRouxel]

There were bugs in VARIANTS in early V7's. What version are you on? See the Change Log for the most recent Update.

[Jan]

It does sound very like the problem I have been having - it could also be your template though. I am using 7.0.3 at the moment and I can have 3 variants, as Norman says, there were problems in the very early version that meant the the variant numbers were incorrect, so if you are using a very early version, try changing the variant numbers until it work.

Regards,

[Gordon Bond]

I'm on the latest version of the multi-user - 7.5.1. Can't test the site on Developer (which I also have) as the two platforms aren't compatible, evidently.

I have contacted James at Actinic Support, but there were no issues that he was aware of.

Norman - what issues are documented in earlier versions?

[NormanRouxel]

what issues are documented in earlier versions?

I'm not sure. I recall that using NETQUOTEVAR:VARIANTS missed the hidden variable needed for non-optional components in early V7. It was me that found that bug and pointed it out to Actinic.

Best search the Forum or read the release notes for the latest patch on the Actinic site - they're cumulative and include all prior releases notes as well.

[Gordon Bond]

I've found the problem now - it was an issue with the template after all.

Thanks to you both for your input though - it's nice to be a part of such a constructive (and pleasant!) community.

Best wishes