Product Variants Mod

Discussion in 'Bug Reporting' started by kiorodesign, Nov 22, 2012.

  1. kiorodesign
    kiorodesign Well-Known Member
    "Product Variants Mod" seems not work anymore.
    Here's an example:
    link

    Anyone know anything about this?
    thanks

     
  2. Youknowwho4eva
    Youknowwho4eva Well-Known Member
    I'm not familiar with what you're trying to do. Can you tell me your result vs expected result? Also if you could provide you OS and Browser info for investigation.
     
  3. kiorodesign
    kiorodesign Well-Known Member
    I used "Product Variants Mod" to set three sizes of rings. Inserting in the appropriate fields links to models, you get the code to embed in the product page. For a time it worked, then suddenly stopped working. The result is this link.
    Mac OS snow leopard 10.6, browser firefox latest version.
    thanks
     
  4. Youknowwho4eva
    Youknowwho4eva Well-Known Member
    Ah I can see the difference between the two items you linked. I'll see if I can get an answer to what is going on.

    That was quick, got an answer, should be fixed this week.
     
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2012
  5. kiorodesign
    kiorodesign Well-Known Member
    Hi,
    thank you for your answer.
    Forget the first link in my first post, I have "corrected" the error using a different way, simply linking other models.
    The second link in my second post refers to a product page in which I have embedded the code, that doesn't work. The result would been to show other models (sizes) to "add to cart".
    Sorry for the confusion.
    Thank you very much

     
  6. kiorodesign
    kiorodesign Well-Known Member
    ...works again :)
     
  7. JediDA
    JediDA Member
    I'm trying to set up the product variants mod for my rings as well. As of now, the links on mine aren't working, they just link back to the current page. Did I do something wrong? the new "test" model I set up is:
    https://www.shapeways.com/model/855966/batman-ring-large.html ?li=productBox-search

    An example of a "size" variant is:
    https://www.shapeways.com/model/643419/batman-large-03-0.html ?li=my-models&key=f82e65e8f67c93cd413c8b11477c655c.

    I feel like I did something wrong, but I'm not sure what.
     
  8. You're not doing anything wrong, I'm having the same problem: it looks like the generated code is switched with the code for the multiple model mod (the one above).

    A workaround I use: after copy-pasting the generated code into your model description, just change (for each size) the URL after 'href' with the URL to the model. So href="http://wrongurlwithmultiplemodel" should become href="http://righturl" . That should fix it.

    Also I'm suddenly having problems with the block outlines overlapping each other, but I'm still fiddling with that.
     
  9. JediDA
    JediDA Member
    Thanks for the tip, but I tried that. Unfortunately, it doesn't work. All it does is turn each button into a link to that model's page. It's supposed to just add the correct model to the shopping cart. But you did give me the idea to inspect the code on a model with the product variant mod working correctly. When I pasted their code directly into mine (with their model ID) it worked perfectly. But when all I did was change the model ID to the correct one (for the model I made) it went back to not working. This leads me to believe that it's something wrong with the model the code is linking to, rather than the one i'm trying to display to the public. I contacted Shapeways directly, but all they told me is that it's a problem they hope will be fixed by the next update, but nobody can give me a ballpark of when that might be. I don't know about you, but for me, this means I don't know if I should bother continuing to price all the variant models, or if I'm eventually going to have to upload them again and start from scratch. And I don't know if I should create more public display pages, because they'll eventually be fixed automatically, or if I'll have to start from scratch with those too. And all of this is because there's no better way to simply create a model with more than one version or size?

    EDIT:
    Based on a question from equilux, I tried setting the model to both "Offer for sale to others" and "Display to the public." That does make it work, but then I have the problem of displaying every single size to the public. But the whole point of doing it this way is to avoid displaying every single size to the public. It's already difficult enough to look through the more than 50 models that I have available. If I make each of the 25 sizes of each ring available, then people have to sift through more than 1,250 models. I can't even control the order of my models to make sure that the right 50 show up first, because people can change the default view. Besides, though, the lab says that it's supposed to work without the model being displayed.
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2013
  10. Ah, I had just assumed it was supposed to be a fancy way to send you to the individual 'size' pages. For me that works just fine since I'm working with a fixed markup for all sizes, and therefore I need people to see the price of their size before they order, plus I have only a few rings. But I can see why that wouldn't work for you, 1250 models, yikes...

    However, even if the problem lies with the model url or display for public option, I can't imagine that an update would require people to upload things again. I mean, that would be pretty disastrous for Shapeways as well. It might take some work to fix the linking from the public pages, but that would still be doable compared to having to upload everything again. Plus, who knows how long it'll take before the next update takes place.

    About pricing the variants: I'm assuming you have fixed prices for the rings that do not change depending on its size? Isn't it possible to set up your own spreadsheet calculation of some sort so you can just calculate and copy-paste the row of markups per material for each variant in the CSV file? That would probably save a lot of time.
     
  11. JediDA
    JediDA Member
    I hope your right about the model URLs. Hopefully that won't be an issue.

    As for the CSV, that's a whole other can of worms. I've had long conversations about that issue too, because apparently, the limit is 500 models. So yeah, I'm still going through each model and marking up each material, one at a time. That was a completely different debate in my head. Do I wait until they maybe fix it (they didn't even give me the quasi-difinitive timeline of "on the next update" for that issue) or do I just do the models one at a time. Of course, with my luck, the day after I finish all of the markups, the system will be completely different and i'll have to start from scratch in one way or another.
     
  12. Dunno if you've noticed it already, but the mod seems to be fixed now :)!
     
  13. JediDA
    JediDA Member
    Yup, I noticed. I've finally been able to start getting my shop in order. You'd think that someone in charge would have given some notice to let us know that it was up and running, rather than make us just try it and hope for the best.
     
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2013
  14. JediDA
    JediDA Member
    Ok. Because the csv markup won't work if you have more than 500 models (I have a little over 1,300 with the 25 sizes of each of 52 models) I decided the best way to deal with changing the markup pricing on every single model was to write a script that recorded mouse clicks and key presses. Just when I get it perfect, they ad a banner on every single page about the premium silver! So it takes me an hour, but I finally get it working again. But then, they add a little blurb in the materials box with the conversion rate for US Dollars and Euros, which takes up just enough space so that I had to spend another few hours to fix my script again! Finally after nearly a month of uploading, repricing, and creating new model pages, All of my models are up and running as close to the way I wanted them as is possible. Please Shapeways, don't change anything for a while. I can't spend another month reworking my scripts again without going a crazy.