Add a child (item) product and value for an attribute - step by step

[jjk]

I think that the current VM logic and the manual are somewhat confusing concerning attributes. So I wrote this explanation a few days ago. Perhaps it is helpful for others, too.
If you want to use products with stock control, the following procedure applies:

1. Add a new product
   - type in SKU (no empty spaces!) for basic product as well as the title, price, tax, description, images,etc.
   - select a category and eventually a manufacturer, if you have defined some already.
   - save the new product and open the saved product again

2. Click on "Add attribute" in the top menu
   - type an attribute name, for example 'SIZE' or 'EDITION' into the "Attribute Name" field. You may leave the "List Order" field empty.
     (Initially I would recommend to actually type i.e SIZE in bold letters, so you can identify and see how this attribute interacts with the
     childlist later, depending on the display options you choose)

3. After you clicked the "Save" button, something like "Attribute List for - Item: Your new product" shows up as a blue headline.
   - click on "Your new product" in this headline to return to your product page.

4. Now you will see a button named "Add New Item" in the menu above your product data. Click it.
   - a new product entry form appears, titled "New Item :: Your New Product Title" (from the parent product)

5. Enter a unique SKU for the child product (slightly different from the parent product SKU) and at least the title and price. If you leave the
      description blank, the parent product description will be shown to the customer.
      You can enter different images for this child product, if you like.

6. Click on the "Item Status" tab in the menu. At the bottom of the form (you may have to scroll down) you will find the "Attribute"
     you have defined in step 2.
     In case you named it 'SIZE', you can enter the value, for example 'Medium' here. Now you can save your entries again.

7. Finally you might want to play a little bit with the display options for the parent product and child products, to explore how different
     settings affect your display.
     (click on 'item information' under the product title in the product list to access the childs (items)
If somebody who reads this detects that I missed something in describing the procedure above, feel free to submit a corrected (better) version of this text in a reply.

[inpakken en wegwezen]

Hi,

Can I see a site where you do use all the ingredients you wrote about. If so I'm wondering why it is still not working at my side.

I hope to see / read soon from you.

Inpakken en wegwezen

[jjk]

Hi,
Can I see a site where you do use all the ingredients you wrote about.

My VirtueMart shop currently is only on my local PC. It wouldn't help you anyway because you could only view the result, but not how I did it. I suggest that you watch the tutorial video that Soeren uploaded a few days ago. You can access it from the VM homepage.

Follow the link "How to work with Product Attributes" in the latest news tab. (This morning there seems to be a server problem)

Joerg

[Printopia]

Excellent tutorial, thanks, that was very helpful! I also asked in another thread but maybe you know: how to sort these child items? If you click on "Item Information" at the parent item, you'll get the child products, but neither the arrows nor manually ordering with numbers and saving helps change the order 

[inpakken en wegwezen]

Dear JJK,

It is very clear to me what you wrote but if I want to ad new Attribute(s) with new properties and/or ad custom attributes it doesn't work.

I try to figure it out, and at the parent's and at child's side stil it gave the message:

"notice: To add this product into your cart you have to select a product variant on the details page."

This problem costs me already a lot of time but I still can't find a solution. I hope you can help me further. If you want to try and see what I mean please follow the link:
http://vm.ickkci.eu/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=3&category_id=1&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Just ad some tekst and fill in the quantity, the message still comes back. If you want to see the backend I can give you the login. Just ask for it.

[jjk]

Dear JJK,
"notice: To add this product into your cart you have to select a product variant on the details page."

Perhaps you encounter this bug, which should be solved in the recent nightly builds.

# Task #1677 - When no child is presend and List box for child is selected error is shown

You didn't say which version of Joomla/VirtueMart you are using.

As far as I remember, I read somewhere in this forum, that it can also happen if you add attributes to the parent product instead of to the child products (items). If you have child products, attributes should be assigned to the child products only (provided I understand how it works correctly)

Finally, you might check why one of your products shows empty () in the drop down list. VM might expect an attribute value here.

[jjk]

... but neither the arrows nor manually ordering with numbers and saving helps change the order

Concerning this I have the same problem and until now I didn't find a workaround. Maybe it's a bug. If I click on "item information", the item list on my system is loaded initially without the sort arrows and sort input fields. They only show up after selecting a category. However, they don't work.

[Printopia]

It's a bug indeed, or at least it's a bug the order does not change in the back-end. It was designed (the arrows) to only change the order in the back-end, not the front-end. This feature is essential to many of us so it has been requested. Other threads on the subject can be found here and here.

[muzaffar]

How I can adjust categories within sub categories within sub categories in virtuemart components for left side menus as shown in the below link
http://demo.virtuemart.net/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=94&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=53
If you have the solution then reply me

[jjk]

Muzaffar,

Your question would have been better placed in the "Administration & Configuration" section of this forum.

However, since it seems to be your first question you are welcome 

In the Joomla Top Menu go to: Extenstions - Module Manager and look for 'VirtueMart Product Categories". If it is missing, you have to install this Module first. Here you can adjust the position and several other parameters of the category menu.

[Cam.G]

Excellent tutorial, thanks, that was very helpful! I also asked in another thread but maybe you know: how to sort these child items? If you click on "Item Information" at the parent item, you'll get the child products, but neither the arrows nor manually ordering with numbers and saving helps change the order 

I am having the same problem, and no one seems to have the answer!

It seems ridiculous to not be able to sort the order of the options.  What is worse is the sorting Virtuemart does by default seems to follow no particular logic.  It neither sorts in the order that the variants have been added, or alphabetically / numerically!

Very frustrating.  I hope someone can offer some kind of useful suggestion for resolving this issue?!?! Please?

[jjk]

Sorting child items currently doesn't work! The only way to order them is to enter the child items one after another in the order you want them. If you delete an item from the list or want to add a new one between previously entered ones your sort order is screwed up.

[Cam.G]

The only way to order them is to enter the child items one after another in the order you want.

Unfortunately not even that works That was the first thing I tried,  simply assuming it would work!  There seems to be quite a flaw there.

[jjk]

I didn't try to re-enter items myself yet. Just copied this suggestion from an earlier post. See: http://forum.virtuemart.net/index.php?topic=41992.msg136423#msg136423

One thing I did try was to change product IDs manually in the database, but this didn't solve the sorting problem either.

[3by400, Inc.]

Excellent step-by-step! Thanks for creating!

I do have a question about inventory numbers, though. Should my parent item have, as a number in inventory, the total number of all child items? Will this be depleted as child items are purchased?

Thanks,
Beth