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    Component Variables in Table

    I've done html tables but need to create one (for the first time) within a Catalog template.

    How do I arrange the size Components on this page next to each other...what are the Variables called?



    As always all help greatly appreciated.
    Jeff Pollack
    www.alldawgs.com
    www.profleeceusa.com
    www.4dogclubsonly.com
    www.silverwood2007.com

    #2
    Putting these in a table is quite difficult.

    However you can get them all to appear on the same line very easily:-

    If you look in Act_VariantAttributeName.html (in Site1) you'll see it's only 1 line

    <span class="actxsmall">NETQUOTEVAR:ATTRIBUTENAME</span><br>


    If you remove the <br> then all names will line up with their choices.

    If they next choice is too tight against the previous then put a space above in front of the <span...>

    However this will affect all attribute names. You can fix this for those attributes that need a new line by opening an attribute in Actinic's product tree and changing the separator to New Line.

    Norman

    p.s. You are using a very complicated and error prone system for customers to set their choices. Asking them to add things up for you will be losing you business.

    Also why not just have a single drop down containing the valid colours instead of the complex and possibly contradictory set of radio buttons. I'd make it as simple as possible for the customer (possibly by moving any unusual combinations (like those extra prices 2XL's) to be a separate product on the same page.

    There are many ways to make this much easier for your customers. Have a look at www.rouxel.cwc.net/actinicstuff.html and you'll see a big set of (paid for) patches that implement a full colour size matrix. These can also be made to implement a minimum in each size or an overall minimum. There's a working demo at

    http://www.drillpine.biz/aura/acatal...izes_Demo.html


    I've also got some free patches that would automate the system you're trying to use. These hide the total quantity and instead sum all attributes where the attribute name is "Qty Small", "Qty Medium", Qty Large". Basically the choices set in any attribute Starting with "Qty " are summed and presented to the cart as a total. They also prevent the customer fiddling with the totals in the Cart as they can do with your existing system.

    I don't have a clothing type demo of this handy but if you look at

    http://www.snowlines.co.uk/acatalog/...RS_NYMPHS.html

    (it's a real live site) you'll see the effect if you put some flies in the cart.
    Norman - www.drillpine.biz
    Edinburgh, U K / Bitez, Turkey

    Comment


      #3
      Norman:

      The fly fishing site would work IF I could still do price permutations based on the shirt color and quantity...is that possible. That's the reason I have that complex color scheme...in order to break down the pricing. I guess I could do it for every color permutation but, obviously, that's a good deal more time consuming.

      Is that patch...the fly fishing one...available somewhere?

      In case you don't hear it often enough...you're quite amazing. Actually, you do hear it quite a bit...but it doesn't make it less valid.
      Jeff Pollack
      www.alldawgs.com
      www.profleeceusa.com
      www.4dogclubsonly.com
      www.silverwood2007.com

      Comment


        #4
        Can you give an example of the your pricing structure and I'll see what would fit.

        Norman
        Norman - www.drillpine.biz
        Edinburgh, U K / Bitez, Turkey

        Comment


          #5
          Well, some garments are divided by color...neutrals, heathers, colors...each category costing more than the previous.

          Then there are quantity discounts...base price for 12, lower price for 36, 72, 144, 288, 576, 1,000 (there are higher breaks but I don't see the need to include those on the web site). Could actually stop at 576...but...even that gives you 21 price permutations.

          Does that make sense?
          Jeff Pollack
          www.alldawgs.com
          www.profleeceusa.com
          www.4dogclubsonly.com
          www.silverwood2007.com

          Comment


            #6
            Both of my patches above work only where all the products are the same price. It's ideal where you have lots of colours and sizes all at the same price.

            To get them to work with your system you'd have to have a product for each range of colours that come at a different price.
            I.e. all your Neutrals at one price, then the Heathers, etc. You could use different Product Templates for the subsequent ones that hides the product description, etc as this doesn't really need duplicated.

            A major problem with this is that Actinic only makes quantity discounts on identical products and I presume you need to calculate the discount quantity across all the colours.

            Norman
            Norman - www.drillpine.biz
            Edinburgh, U K / Bitez, Turkey

            Comment


              #7
              Yes, the quantity does go across all colors. Most orders, however, are for a single color...the exceptions being kids sports leagues but those orders tend NOT to be placed on the web. For the web I think it could be based on a single color.

              I tried doing permutations based on each of the individual colors in order to eliminate the "group" selection but it seems to have exceeded Actinic's capacity and locked up the program. Some products come in 30 colors multiplied by 5 or 6 quantity levels gives you 150-180 permutations. Prices are pretty stable so doing the work once would last a year or two, so that's not bad but I think it exceeds the program's capacity. If I'm wrong...I hope to hear from Chris or someone else at Actinic.

              Again, Norman, thanks for the help...it would really be a boon if I could find a way to simplify this.
              Jeff Pollack
              www.alldawgs.com
              www.profleeceusa.com
              www.4dogclubsonly.com
              www.silverwood2007.com

              Comment


                #8
                Norman...
                I was able to simplify (at least for this product) by eliminating the Color Category so the color can be chosen in one drop-down, once only. It looks a lot better.

                Tried eliminating the <BR> in Act_VariantAttribute.html but it didn't do anything...so I returned it to the original state. Still would like to line the size inputs up horizontally...would greatly enhance appearance.

                I also see what you mean about people fiddling with the quantity in the cart...if they increase quantity they would overpay (and I would be honest and tell them and issue a credit), but if they lower the quantity enough to drop to a lower level then they're in a position to cheat. Not much I can do...except contact them and either get it corrected or refuse the order. These type of sales are almost impossible without human intervention and contact...just too many elements involved.

                Anyway...need a way to get the sizes horizontal.

                Thanks...as always.
                Jeff Pollack
                www.alldawgs.com
                www.profleeceusa.com
                www.4dogclubsonly.com
                www.silverwood2007.com

                Comment


                  #9
                  With Actinic, you can do quantity-based discounts regardless of choice (set up in the 'Prices' tab of the product) but this eliminates the ability to charge different amounts per product, because you cannot use it when pricing is in the permutations.

                  Then, you can set up the 'Prices' grids within the components, but then you have a problem because the quantity dependent pricing will be calculated separately for each colour selection.

                  You are falling between these two modes of operation.

                  I'm with Norman. Create a different product for each available colour and then edit the templates so you just have a name, a quantity field and a price showing for each colour (comment out the full description etc.). That way you don't need any permutations (other than for size) - and you can just enter as many quantity breaks as you need for each colour.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Chris, I'm willing to give it a try.

                    Two things...is there any site you know where I can see this?

                    Second, since I'm new at fiddling with templates...have done a bunch of really basic inserts (for e-mail and the 2atonce you sent me...)...please tell me which templates I'd need to comment out the description, etc. I'd also have to take the heading down considerably...have a product at the top that can't be ordered with all the basic info...then just a listing type. Am I correct?

                    Also, could I have a small color image next to the name showing the color (that way wouldn't have to have the Extended Info pop-up?

                    Thanks for your help...there are literally hundreds of potential products which have this same configuration...this is just the one I chose to fool with.
                    Jeff Pollack
                    www.alldawgs.com
                    www.profleeceusa.com
                    www.4dogclubsonly.com
                    www.silverwood2007.com

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Also, could I have a small color image next to the name showing the color (that way wouldn't have to have the Extended Info pop-up?
                      That one's easy. If you use Radio Buttons for a choice then you can include the extra image in the HTML for Name field of each choice.

                      E.g. You've an attribute Colour, wuth choices, Red and Green. Now in the Red choice's HTML for Name field put

                      Red <img src="redicon.jpg">

                      and the green one

                      Green <img src="greenicon.jpg">


                      You may have to load these images via Advanced / Additional Files.

                      Norman

                      p.s. There's a fancy example of that at

                      http://www.theprostore.co.uk/the_pro...nglasses.shtml

                      Click one of the Radio Buttons and see what happens.
                      Norman - www.drillpine.biz
                      Edinburgh, U K / Bitez, Turkey

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by NormanRouxel
                        I've also got some free patches that would automate the system you're trying to use. These hide the total quantity and instead sum all attributes where the attribute name is "Qty Small", "Qty Medium", Qty Large". Basically the choices set in any attribute Starting with "Qty " are summed and presented to the cart as a total. They also prevent the customer fiddling with the totals in the Cart as they can do with your existing system.
                        Norman...Which patch is it? None of them mention totalling the Qty Small, Qty Medium, etc.? Like to give this a try.
                        Jeff Pollack
                        www.alldawgs.com
                        www.profleeceusa.com
                        www.4dogclubsonly.com
                        www.silverwood2007.com

                        Comment


                          #13
                          They're actually in a set of 3 replacement Perl scripts that implement some additionsal functionality I use in conjunction with another software package.

                          Usually I publish these patches as readme files that describe what you need to do to change the existing scripts. I'm not doing this with these patches as I keep these scripts up-to-date with Actinic changes so I should always have a current set available.

                          If you let me know the version of Actinic you use I'll send them to you. They're not for general distribution, however.

                          Norman
                          Norman - www.drillpine.biz
                          Edinburgh, U K / Bitez, Turkey

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Norman:

                            Version is 6.1.3.1

                            Thanks
                            Jeff Pollack
                            www.alldawgs.com
                            www.profleeceusa.com
                            www.4dogclubsonly.com
                            www.silverwood2007.com

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Jeff,

                              Here is a patch that might make your radio buttons with icons look better. It also automates somewhat the embedding of the image names.

                              Code:
                              Displaying a thumbnail image against each choice's radio button.
                              
                              To use this all you need to do is to place the supplementary image name in the choices
                              HTML for Name field within curly brackets.  E.g.  Blue{widget_blue.jpg}
                              
                              The image code against the radio button is then created automatically.
                              
                              In addition you can have these radio buttons spread in columns across the page,
                              the radio button next to or under the image and the choice name next to the 
                              radio button or under it.
                              
                              Created 02-01-04
                              
                              Author Norman Rouxel rouxel@attglobal.net
                              
                              
                              SETUP
                              
                              Add the following code to Act_Primary.html (just above the </HEAD> tag).
                              
                              
                              
                              <SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript" SRC="radioiconsupport.js" TYPE="text/javascript"></SCRIPT>
                              
                              
                              
                              Make a file in Site1 called radioiconsupport.js from the following:-
                              
                              
                              
                              // START Icon Images on Radio Buttons
                              var colcount;
                              var colpos;
                              var textunder;
                              var buttonunder;
                              function radioicon(radiohtml, choicename){
                                 var result = choicename.match(/(.*)\{(.*)\}(.*)/);     		// see if HTML for Name contains {.....}
                                 if ( result != null )
                                   {
                                   var textsep = textunder ? '<br>' : '';				// do we want text under button
                                   var twidth = Math.floor(100 / colcount);				// how many do we want per row
                                   document.write('<table width="' + twidth + '%" align=left>');	// start a table if appropriate width
                                   document.write('<tr><td><img src="' + result[2] + '">');		// first cell with image
                                   if ( buttonunder )							// where do we want the button text 
                                     {
                                     document.write('<br>' + radiohtml + textsep + result[1] + result[3]);	// button under image
                                     }
                                   else
                                     {
                                     document.write('</td><td width="100%" valign=top>');		// new cell next to image
                                     document.write(radiohtml + textsep + result[1] + result[3]);     // then radio button and description
                                     }
                                   document.write('</td></tr></table>');				// finally end table
                                   if ( ++colpos >= colcount )					// have we done last column 
                                     {
                                     document.write('<br clear=all>');				// if so, new line
                                     colpos = 0;
                                     }
                                   }
                                 else
                                   {
                                   document.write(radiohtml + choicename);  				// the unaltered choice text
                                   }
                              }
                              // END Icon Images on Radio Buttons
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              Replace Act_VariantRadioButton.html (in Site1) with the following
                              
                              
                              <!-- VariantRadioButton HTML begin -->
                              <!-- This template is used for a product variant radio button. -->
                              <SPAN CLASS="actxsmall">
                              <script language=JavaScript>
                               radioicon('<INPUT TYPE=RADIO NAME="NETQUOTEVAR:ATTRIBUTEREF" VALUE="NETQUOTEVAR:CHOICESELVALUE" NETQUOTEVAR:RADIOCHECKED>', 'NETQUOTEVAR:CHOICENAME');
                              </script>
                              <noscript><INPUT TYPE=RADIO NAME="NETQUOTEVAR:ATTRIBUTEREF" VALUE="NETQUOTEVAR:CHOICESELVALUE" NETQUOTEVAR:RADIOCHECKED>NETQUOTEVAR:CHOICENAME</noscript>
                              </SPAN>
                              <!-- This template is used for a product variant radio button. -->
                              <!-- VariantRadioButton HTML end -->
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              In all Product Templates you intend to use with such products
                              add the following code after all occurences of the line NETQUOTEVAR:PRODUCTFORMBEGIN
                              
                              
                              <script language=JavaScript>
                              <!--
                              colcount = CUSTOMVAR:ICONSPERLINE;
                              colpos = 0;
                              buttonunder = CUSTOMVAR:BUTTONUNDER;
                              textunder = CUSTOMVAR:TEXTUNDER;
                              // -->
                              </script>
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              In Actinic / Advanced / Custom Properties click the "+" sign and create a variable called ICONSPERLINE.
                              Again click the "+" sign and create a variable called BUTTONUNDER.
                              Again click the "+" sign and create a variable called TEXTUNDER.
                              
                              Go to Design / Options / Site Defaults / Properties. 
                              
                              Click the "+" sign and select ICONSPERLINE.
                              Set it's Value to 1 (for one icon per line - or whatever number across that you want).  
                              If using Business uncheck Searchable and check Use as CUSTOMVAR.
                              
                              Click the "+" sign and select BUTTONUNDER.
                              If you want the Radio Button (and Choice name) under the image then set it's Value to 1.
                              If you want the  Radio Button to the right of the image set it's value to 0.
                              If using Business uncheck Searchable and check Use as CUSTOMVAR.
                              
                              Click the "+" sign and select TEXTUNDER.
                              If you want the Choice name under the Radio Button then set it's Value to 1.
                              If you want the Choice name to the right of the Radio Button set it's value to 0.
                              If using Business uncheck Searchable and check Use as CUSTOMVAR.
                              
                              That's setup done.
                              
                              
                              OPERATION
                              
                              
                              
                              When you have a product that you want to display an image against a radio button selection
                              do the following.
                              
                              For each Choice in the HTML for Name field add the image file name within { and }
                              (leave out any path name, it will be uploaded via Advanced / Additional Files)
                              
                              e.g.
                              
                              You have an Attribute called Colour
                              Choice 1 uses      Blue{widget_blue.jpg}
                              Choice 2 uses      Green{widget_green.jpg}
                              Choice 3 uses      Yellow{widget_yellow.jpg}
                              etc.
                              
                              Save these additional images in Site1\PreviewHTML (so they'll appear on site previews).
                              Make sure that these additional images are loaded via Advanced / Additional Files.
                              (I've not been able to find a way to persuade Actinic to automatically upload these)
                              
                              That's that.
                              
                              
                              NOTES.
                              
                              The code works in Preview and on Live sites.
                              
                              If you don't have an image for a choice I'd recommend you use a dummy blank image.
                              It's not a good idea to have some choices without images and some with for the same attribute.
                              
                              The number of these choices across the page can be changed via the Custom Property 
                              ICONSPERLINE, the radio button position via BUTTONUNDER and text position via TEXTUNDER.
                              at either the Catalog, Section or Product levels.
                              (if using Business remember to uncheck Searchable and check Use as CUSTOMVAR)
                              
                              
                              LAYOUT
                              
                              Because of the way radio buttons are created by Actinic there is no way to detect when
                              the last one has been generated.  If you display these buttons in columns and the final row 
                              isn't full then the next attribute name may be displayed in the remaining position.
                              
                              A work-around for this is to change Act_VariantAttributeName.html to be:-
                              
                              <br clear=all><span class="actxsmall">NETQUOTEVAR:ATTRIBUTENAME</span><br>
                              
                              as this will allow further attributes to line up better.
                                
                              Alternatively you can put "<br clear=all>" into the User Defined Separator field 
                              of the Attribute that uses these buttons.
                              
                              Tested with IE6, Netscape 7 and Opera 7.

                              Norman
                              Norman - www.drillpine.biz
                              Edinburgh, U K / Bitez, Turkey

                              Comment

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