No-default attribute option selected

[edmorey]

Hello

I have added a "size" attribute to my products - XXS, XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL - and have these appearing as a drop down list.

Is it possible to have none of these options selected by default, so that customers have to make a conscious decision to select of size before they add the product to their cart?

Otherwise I think people will be ordering a lot of size XXS by mistake.

Ed

PS - if this possible and the customer adds the item to their basket without selecting a size will they be prompted to do so?

[edmorey]

Hi again - has anyone got any ideas on this one?

Thanks
Ed

[cdicken]

Place each attribute within a component called 'Selection'. Then in the 'Selection' component ensure you select 'Component is Optional' and 'Include None in Attribute Choice List'. This will add a null-value choice into the attribute drop-down.

[edmorey]

Hi Chris - I'm sure your answer is a good one, but can you explain in a little more detail for me. Please note that I am already using components & attributes in order to monitor the stock levels of individual sizes of each product. Is this a help or a hindrance??

Ed

PS - I have posted another query relating to using components & attributes causing the thumbnail in the cart to disappear - can you help me with that one?

[cdicken]

Is this a help or a hindrance??

A big help! It means you wont have to add in the components. You will just have to set the existing components as optional.

can you help me with that one?

If there are no other answers I'll take a look.

[edmorey]

This is becoming a nightmare and I'm beginning to understand what is going on. Let me explain what I would like to do and then I'll explain the problems...

1. I would like to track stock for individual sizes of a product.
2. The user can select a size when they order to product.
3. The user will see a drop down list of the sizes available - with no size selected by default (so they don't accidentally miss out the fact that they're supposed to pick a size).
4. If they don't select a size they will be warned that they need to do this.
5. When they get to the shopping cart they see a description and the size they have selected plus a thumbnail of the product image.

The problems I'm getting are...

A. If I insert "Please select a size" into the size menu I have to make the component "optional" to even see the dialog that allows me to do this. If I make component optional then a) users can get away with not selecting a size and b) I am unable to select "no orderline for main product" and as a consequence I get 2 quantities appearing for each order line in the cart.

B. If I forget about the drop-down list issue and select "no orderline for main product", so that the picking a size is mandatory and choose "no orderline for main product" so that only a single quantity is displayed in the cart THIS ACTION DISABLES THE THUMBNAIL IMAGE - DOH!

What can I do?

Ed

[cdicken]

A. If I insert "Please select a size" into the size menu I have to make the component "optional" to even see the dialog that allows me to do this. If I make component optional then a) users can get away with not selecting a size and b) I am unable to select "no orderline for main product" and as a consequence I get 2 quantities appearing for each order line in the cart.

OK - I understand a bit more now.

For b), you need to ensure that the 'Pricing Model' of the main product is set to 'Sum of Product and Component Prices'. For a) it is clear that the component cannot be optional - customers must select a size. I'm afraid there is no way for Actinic to generate a warning if customers do not select a size.

B. If I forget about the drop-down list issue and select "no orderline for main product", so that the picking a size is mandatory and choose "no orderline for main product" so that only a single quantity is displayed in the cart THIS ACTION DISABLES THE THUMBNAIL IMAGE - DOH!

You mustn't select 'No Order Line for Main Product' as this will obviosuly remove the product thumnail, as no product record is being included in the shopping cart. Take a look at THIS KNOWLEDGE BASE ARTICLE for a tip for removing the component quantity.