Category Description?

[Guest]

Hello,

 

is ist possible to show descriptions for categories?

 

Example: i have a category with 10 subcategories. On the page that is shown when i select that category there should be a description of the just shown (main-) category above the listed subcategories:

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

In this category you will find accessories for our product xyz. Please

select one of the subcategories to list the included products:

 

Subcategory 1 Subcategory 2 Subcategory 3 Subcategory 4 Subcategory 5

Subcategory 6 Subcategory 7 Subcategory 8 Subcategory 9 Subcategory 10

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Is something like that possible?

 

Thanks in advance,

Ralf

[oschellas]

Something like this?

[jdvb]

heave you used the search function?

searched the contributions?

 

you could try for example:

http://www.oscommerce.com/community/contri...ch,descriptions

[Guest]

Thank for the hints to the contribution.

 

As a very beginner i am very careful using contributions because there is no automatic installer and i have killed one of my test installations with a contribution (i guess i made something wrong when installing). Furthermore i do not really like to modify the original code of a system (what do i do if i install a new version? - I will have to re-do all modifications that i made in the old version again)

 

How do others handle this situation??

[jdvb]

This is a problem for when MS3 is released, for other issues all modifications between versions are well documented.

 

generally I just aply security fixes, couse bugs that bother me I generally will have already fixed / altered, or the bugs don't bother me at all.

[Guest]

I think the general problem in such a situation is that not everybody is a PHP professional (e.g. i am a Delphi/VB/C#/ASP.NET developer that is able to read PHP but i have some problems when it comes to really develop somthing in PHP)

 

When a readme file in a contribution tells me that i have to modify several thing in an original PHP file i have to trust that contribution that all will work later (until i have a little more knowledge in PHP sometimes). If such a modification fails it is good to have a backup of the file (One time i had not <_< )

 

On other systems (CMS systems for example) you will usually find automatic installers/uninstallers that handle the modifications or the installation of additional modules.

[jdvb]

I presonaly prefer the readme file becouse of:

 

1: I know what is done, what should be changed

2: my own modifications remain (most of the times) intact.

3: I get to choose what updates I want, and what I don't care about.

 

many CMS systems then work modulair for own modifications,

yet for example enabeling (uncommenting) the existing "SET NAMES 'UTF-8'" command in a core joomla file,

is automatically undone when that file is overwriten by a newer version.

If I do not keep all of my own modifications listed seperately, and an update does overwrite a file like that, my special characters (i.e. ëéèç and so on)will be shown as garbage.

 

and that is just one really simple example of why I like the way OSC's updates are documented the way they are.

 

not having a backup of files to be updated is always bad, also when you make use of an automated updateing script.

[Jack_mcs]

Thank for the hints to the contribution.

 

As a very beginner i am very careful using contributions because there is no automatic installer and i have killed one of my test installations with a contribution (i guess i made something wrong when installing). Furthermore i do not really like to modify the original code of a system (what do i do if i install a new version? - I will have to re-do all modifications that i made in the old version again)

 

How do others handle this situation??

In answer to your first question, I suggest installing the Header Tags Controller instead. It offers what you want plus much more. As for making modification, that is the way it is with oscommerce. If you don't want to make modifications, or can't, then you need to hire someone that will do it for you if you expect to have a viable shop. Using the original code will not make for a very successful shop.

 

Jack

[Guest]

Yes you are right. But there is a serious problem with (i think most of) the contributions: Many times you download the latest version and just find one file or only a readme inside the archive. Until the contribution works you will some time have to download/install a couple of previous files. As a beginner i am always usure if a contribution is complete or if i need to load some additional files.

 

The contribution developers should package their stuff always as complete package, that would make a lot of things much easier for newbies. Often a newbie only finds out that the package was incomplete because it is not working.

[Jack_mcs]

I absolutely agree and have stated that many times here on the forums. But for some reason, laziness I think, it continues to be a common practice. There is no solution for it since that is how the contribution section is setup. The burden falls on you to investigate which version you need to use. but you should do that anyway since, in many cases, latest full versions do not work well at all. Asking in the support thread for the contribution is usually the best way to find out which version you should use.

 

Jack