Idiots guide: Splitting your product list (TLS) into sections...

[leehack]

If you have 6000 lines of code, that is horrific. If you are not using some dynamic menu which lists all sections into some kind of nested list, I suggest you have probably not added it correctly. White space would tell me you have done your blockifs incorrectly, possibly running a blockif on each occurrence somehow. How many products/sections do you have?

[Paul Cooper]

Hi Lee,

Thanks for the reply. I just preview the home page from a snap shot pre navigation changes and that had 1200 lines, a preview with the new navigation had over 10,000 lines!

There are 362 sections and subsections in the whole site with 32 shown at top level in 6 groupings.

This is the code I have used for the new menu navigation:

<td valign="top" class="sidebar">
<div style="text-align: right;"><img src="GenImages\IndexElectrical.jpg" width="144" height="20" vspace="5"></div>
<ul>
<actinic:block type="EntireSectionList">
<actinic:block if="%3cactinic%3avariable%20name%3d%22List%20Number%22%20%2f%3e%20%3d%3d%202" >
<div class="dotted_line_blue"><img src="theme_shim.gif" height="1" width="1" alt=" " /></div>
<li><a href="<actinic:variable name="SectionPageName"/>"><actinic:variable name='SectionName'/></a>
</actinic:block>
</actinic:block></ul>


<div style="text-align: right;"><img src="GenImages\IndexElectronics.jpg" width="144" height="20" vspace="5"></div>
<ul>
<actinic:block type="EntireSectionList">
<actinic:block if="%3cactinic%3avariable%20name%3d%22List%20Number%22%20%2f%3e%20%3d%3d%203" >
<div class="dotted_line_blue"><img src="theme_shim.gif" height="1" width="1" alt=" " /></div>
<li><a href="<actinic:variable name="SectionPageName"/>"><actinic:variable name='SectionName'/></a>
</actinic:block>
</actinic:block></ul>

<div style="text-align: right;"><img src="GenImages\IndexRadioControl.jpg" width="144" height="20" vspace="5"></div>
<ul>
<actinic:block type="EntireSectionList">
<actinic:block if="%3cactinic%3avariable%20name%3d%22List%20Number%22%20%2f%3e%20%3d%3d%204" >
<div class="dotted_line_blue"><img src="theme_shim.gif" height="1" width="1" alt=" " /></div>
<li><a href="<actinic:variable name="SectionPageName"/>"><actinic:variable name='SectionName'/></a>
</actinic:block>
</actinic:block></ul>

<div style="text-align: right;"><img src="GenImages\IndexMotors.jpg" width="144" height="20" vspace="5"></div>
<ul>
<actinic:block type="EntireSectionList">
<actinic:block if="%3cactinic%3avariable%20name%3d%22List%20Number%22%20%2f%3e%20%3d%3d%205" >
<div class="dotted_line_blue"><img src="theme_shim.gif" height="1" width="1" alt=" " /></div>
<li><a href="<actinic:variable name="SectionPageName"/>"><actinic:variable name='SectionName'/></a>
</actinic:block>
</actinic:block></ul>

<div style="text-align: right;"><img src="GenImages\IndexMechanical.jpg" width="144" height="20" vspace="5"></div>
<ul>
<actinic:block type="EntireSectionList">
<actinic:block if="%3cactinic%3avariable%20name%3d%22List%20Number%22%20%2f%3e%20%3d%3d%206" >
<div class="dotted_line_blue"><img src="theme_shim.gif" height="1" width="1" alt=" " /></div>
<li><a href="<actinic:variable name="SectionPageName"/>"><actinic:variable name='SectionName'/></a>
</actinic:block>
</actinic:block></ul>

<div style="text-align: right;"><img src="GenImages\IndexSpecial.jpg" width="144" height="20" vspace="5"></div>
<ul>
<actinic:block type="EntireSectionList">
<actinic:block if="%3cactinic%3avariable%20name%3d%22List%20Number%22%20%2f%3e%20%3d%3d%207" >
<div class="dotted_line_blue"><img src="theme_shim.gif" height="1" width="1" alt=" " /></div>
<li><a href="<actinic:variable name="SectionPageName"/>"><actinic:variable name='SectionName'/></a>
</actinic:block>
</actinic:block></ul>

<!--<actinic:variable name="BestSellerListSidebar" if="%3cactinic%3avariable%20name%3d%22BestSellersListInSidebar%22%20%2f%3e" />-->
<br>

My knowledge of HTML is rather basic so hands up if I screwed it up.

Thanks

Paul

[Gemma Delamere]

Display product list in side menu

I am using Actinic v9 and want my products to show as a list on the side menu. Currently they only appear in the centre when I click on the store home page and once on a product page, the only way to get to another product page is using the link underneath the product page title. I am using the theme Executive and I think I may have done something to remove the product list from the side bar. Does anyone know how I can get it back?

Thanks

[NormanRouxel]

Welcome, Gemma.

Best get to know some local terminology.

Actinic pages that are related to products are called "Sections".

Section pages can contain sub-Sections or Products.

Most themes come with a left hand menu that is a list of the top-level Sections. In your case, the Executive Theme uses the following snippet of code to do this:

<!-- MAIN PAGE BODY CONTENT -->
<div class="page_body" align="center">
	<div class="page_body_content">
		<!-- body content left column -->
		<div class="page_body_content_left_column">
			<!-- left column section -->
			<actinic:variable value="Top Level Section List With Horizontal Dividers" name="TopLevelSectionList" if="%3cactinic%3avariable%20name%3d%22IsTopSectionListIncluded%22%20%2f%3e" />
			<!-- end left column section -->
			<!-- left column section -->
			<actinic:variable value="Brochure Nav Bar With Horizontal Dividers" name="BrochureNavBar" />
			<!-- end left column section -->
			<actinic:variable value="Sidebar Coupon Field" name="CouponEntryField" if="%3cactinic%3avariable%20name%3d%22CaptureCoupon%22%20%2f%3e" />
			<!-- left column section -->
			<actinic:variable value="New Products List With Horizontal Dividers" name="NewProductListSidebar" if="%3cactinic%3avariable%20name%3d%22NewProductsListInSidebar%22%20%2f%3e" />
			<!-- end left column section -->
			<!-- left column section -->
			<actinic:variable value="Sidebar Best Sellers List With Horizontal Dividers" name="BestSellerListSidebar" if="%3cactinic%3avariable%20name%3d%22BestSellersListInSidebar%22%20%2f%3e" />
			<!-- end left column section -->
		</div>

I've shown a biggish lump of code and marked the relevant line in red. Have a look at your overall layout and see if that's what you've got.

If you've uploaded to a web-server then posting the URL of the site will help us a lot.

[NormanRouxel]

Gemma,

If the code I've noted above is present, then it may be that you've disable display of it (it's a conditional item). Look in Settings / Site Options / Links / Appearance Settings / Include List of Top Level Sections and make sure it's set to True.

[Gemma Delamere]

Product list now displayed!

Hi Norman,

Thanks for your help on this, I have now changed it to true and the product list is displayed, brilliant!

Gemma

[MJS]

I have set this up and all working no problems

here is my test

http://www.genuinemini.co.uk/test/acatalog/

What I want to do is if you click on the top nav it then brings up that section page but with only that particular section nav showing on the left if that makes sense?

so you click section 1, this brings up section1.html and shows the section 1 category nav down the left


I'm not sure where to start in actinic, but if somebody can give me a pointer that would be superb. I can't work out how to only show for eg section ID on each section page, I think that is the question I am asking

[MJS]

Sussed it out now

[YsoL8]

Oh my word you have no idea how much I needed a guide to do just this!

I had no idea...

[allenmally8]

Hi I’m having major problems with this coding, as menu keeps on repeating its self 5 times, I am using business version 8.5.3 idhb, I have followed all the posts with no success, so if anyone can help sort this problem out I would be very greatfull