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[Alejandro Kurczyn]

Hello all,

I've just uploaded a new Featured Products module. It is based on the standard module but with added functionality:

Choose number of displayed products
Choose to show Product Price following VM price availability rules
Choose to show an Add-To-Cart button
Select either a table or liquid list design layouts!
Use standard VM browse templates or create your own!
For table layouts, choose to have colored rows or not
View items in all or selected categories only
Filter mode to view items from current category only
Filter mode to view items from current manufacturer only
Create additional module copies for different module positions!

More info:

The template specified is used to create each product snapshot. The template can contain HTML/CSS tags or you can store them in the site or VM CSS files.

The table layout will always keep the same number of rows and columns as set on the parameter list. Each cell will use the specified template for product snapshot.

The liquid list layout will also apply the specified template to each product, but allows to fill the module space according to the window size. If you have a liquid site template this will allow your visitors to resize the module space.

Using the category or manufacturer filter displays items related only to the same category/manufacturer the user is browsing. Keep in mind the combinations may result in an empty module so choose wisely!

IMPORTANT:

This module has gone commercial, please look for a release very soon with even more features at www.joomlaxtc.com. This is simply the most powerful showcase for your products!

[Alejandro Kurczyn]

I have updated the module to fix a few minor bugs, improve rendering and also add support for custom thumbnail sizes.

To upgrade without reinstall:

1. Uncompress contents of .ZIP file
2. Manually copy uncompressed files to /modules directory on Joomla!
3. On Joomla! control panel open each copy of the module and SAVE settings.

BTW, due to these changes I have discovered a bug on show_image_in_imgtag.php, please go to http://virtuemart.net/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=71&topic=23194.0 for fix instructions. The fix is needed for dynamic thumbnail creation on ver 1.1 of the module.

Any suggestions and bug reporting are welcome on this topic.

[Alejandro Kurczyn]

Here is a sample template (featured_float.php) for floating boxes layout:

Code:

<DIV style="width:150px;height:200px;text-align:center;">
{product_name}
<br />
<a title="{product_name}" href="{product_flypage}">
<img src="{product_thumb_image}" {image_height} {image_width} border="0" title="{product_name}" alt="{product_name}" />
</A />
<br />
{product_price}
<BR />
{form_addtocart}
</DIV>

Here is a sample template (featured_table.php) for table layouts:

Code:

<TABLE border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:1px">
<TR>
<TD align="center" valign="middle" style="width:84px;height:84px;border:2px solid #f0f0f0;background-color:#ffffff">
<a title="{product_name}" href="{product_flypage}">
<img src="{product_thumb_image}" {image_height} {image_width} border="0" title="{product_name}" alt="{product_name}" style="vertical-align:middle"/>
</A />
</TD>
<TD style="background-color:#f0f0f0;padding:5px;">
<STRONG>{product_name}</STRONG>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color:#f47511">{product_price}</span>
{form_addtocart}
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Here is a sample template (featured_side.php) for table layouts on a sidebar position:

Code:

<DIV style="text-align:center">
{product_name}
<br />
<a title="{product_name}" href="{product_flypage}">
<img src="{product_thumb_image}" {image_height} {image_width} border="0" title="{product_name}" alt="{product_name}" />
</A />
<br />
{product_price}
<BR />
<center>{form_addtocart}</center>
</DIV>

Store these templates on your '/administrator/components/com_virtuemart/html/templates/browse' directory and then specify the filename (without '.php') on the module control panel.

When adding the {form_addtocart} keyword to your template please notice it will not be shown if you choose not to display an add-to-cart button on the module configuration panel.

[Alejandro Kurczyn]

I'm starting to realize the power of Joomla! modules and this is turning to be a very handy module.

Version 1.2 is out and includes a filter for special products and a product order selection of Random, by Most recent or Top sales.

With this module, you can now enable a "Featured products", "Top ten products", "Random Products" or "Most Recent products" using the same module code and features.

On the "to do" list:

- Image, legend and qty. box for "add-to-cart" button.

[Kami]

I'm sorry for my question, but where is Joomla control panel? I do not see anything with this name..

[Kami]

I do not see any optiosn of opening files on control panel.. Could someone help?

[Alejandro Kurczyn]

I do not see any optiosn of opening files on control panel.. Could someone help?

Hello, are you trying to do a fresh install or an upgrade?

For a fresh install, you just need to open Joomla! administrator panel, go to "Installers" menu, choose "modules", select this module's .ZIP file and click on the proper "install" button (standard procedure for any Joomla! module).

Once installed, you can go to administrator menu, choose "modules", then "Site modules" and click on "Featured Product Extended" module name to change its parameters.

To do an upgrade, unzip the .ZIP contents in your PC, then copy or FTP the two files to the "/modules" directory of your Joomla! installation, replacing the old ones.

After that, go to the same "Site Modules" menu and update the module's parameters according to your needs.

In order to create a template, first take a look at the standard VM templates located on "/administrator/components/com_virtuemart/html/templates/browse/" directory in your Joomla! install. The files are named like "browse_1.php", "browse_2.php", etc. and look like this:

Code:

<div style="width:100%;padding: 0px 3px 3px 3px;">
  <h2>
        <a style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold;" href="{product_flypage}">{product_name}</a>
  </h2>
 
  <p>{product_price}</p>
  <div style="float:left;width:90%" ><a href="{product_flypage}" title="{product_name}">
          <img src="{product_thumb_image}" {image_height} {image_width} border="0" alt="{product_name}" /></a>
   </div>
 
  <br style="clear:both;" />
 
  <p>{product_s_desc}<br />
      <a style="font-size: 9px; font-weight: bold;" href="{product_flypage}">[{product_details...}...]</a>
  </p>
   <p>{product_rating}</p>
  <p>{form_addtocart}</p>
</div>

They are plain HTML code with some special tags included, like "{product_name}" or "{product_price}". These tags will be converted to the corresponding product information when they are displayed.

The files can be edited with any plain text editor (like notepad), and you can find a list of available tags here:http://virtuemart.net/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=71&topic=20677.0.

Once you save your custom template on that directory, go to the module's control panel (the one you open from the "Site Modules" menu) and type the template's filename (without the '.php') on the "template" field.

Please let me know if this helps, or what is exactly the problem you have.

Regards,

[Kami]

Thank you, but  I have only templates and languages in the installer menu. No modules there..
Could it be because I use joomla from powersellersunite. com?

[Alejandro Kurczyn]

Thank you, but  I have only templates and languages in the installer menu. No modules there..
Could it be because I use joomla from powersellersunite. com?

I think a normal install of joomla will serve you better instead of the one you have, please try to do a fresh install of Joomla and Virtuemart.

[Alejandro Kurczyn]

Another day, another update.

New on version 1.4:

Support for Add-to-cart icons - Use any image stored on '/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/ps_image' directory as an Add-To-Cart button.


Quantity box positions - If enabled, you can position the quantity box on any position around the Add-to-cart button.

Minimum/Maximum price filters - Show only items above, below or between a price segment (supports currency and shopper groups).

Category exclusion - The category list feature has been enhanced to support category exclusion. If you enter a negative category, items from that category will not be shown on the module.

Look for the updated version on the Downloads section.

Your comments and bug reports are welcome.

[Alejandro Kurczyn]

Version 1.5 is out, please go to Downloads section to get it.

New on 1.5:

. Changed XML for better reading
. Support for child products
. Added filter for discount items

I'm working on a tutorial on how to use all the features, stay tuned!

All ideas, comments and bug reports are welcolme!

[thomas_freeman]

Alejandro,

I really love what you are doing with this.  Defaulting to the parent attributes if the child's are not set is wonderful!  I wanted to do that as well.  The ability to attach CSS suffixes and use templates is awesome.  I can't wait to spend some more time understanding all of the features.

However,
In the meantime I have installed it and attempted to use it.  I have several child products setup and maked as "on special", but they are not showing up.

I have attached an image.  The "Current Specials" module is from my modifications.  The next title is where your's should be showing the same products but it isn't.

I turned on the "on special" and off everything else.  I tried it with nothing in the categories or with the specific ID.  I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

Thanks for your help.

Thomas

[Alejandro Kurczyn]

Thanks Thomas!

I should be posting a small guide soon.

I've reproduced your issue, and I think I nailed it: When you create a child item, it is not linked to a category. The module tried to get information from the category table but there is no entry for those items.

I have corrected the SQL and did a bit of cleanup, plus added a couple of listing modes and I think it works OK now.

Please take the attached file and try again. I'll wait for your confirmation before uploading to "Downloads" section.

As a quick recap, if you want to show child items, set parent filter to "Child only" or "Both".
If you want only Special child items, also set "special filter" to Yes.

[thomas_freeman]

Thanks for continuing to work on this.  I updated my modules with the code in your zip file.  I made sure it was set to either "child only" or "both".  I also tried "on special" or not.  And every combination thereof.  Still not showing up.  Sorry. 

[thomas_freeman]

Do I have to apply a template or does it have a default display if no template is specified?