Best Way to Set Up New Site

Submitted by john on Fri, 2011-10-21 13:47 in Price Tapestry

Hi, I just purchased the program, looks great! I have read a bunch of the nodes on category and subcategory and I am having trouble figuring out which would work for me. I want to have a "typical" ink/toner site. It will not be a comparison site. I need to have a easy way to categorize the products. I want them to be sorted by model of printer as this is how people search for their cartridge. Here is a sample of exactly what I want: {link saved} A typical page would fall into this hierarchy brand>series>model.

Hi John, Welcome to the

Submitted by support on Fri, 2011-10-21 14:13

Hi John,

Welcome to the forum.

Perhaps what I would suggest first is making sure that you can "tame" the series and model fields. Do the feeds that you're working with typically have good quality "series" and "model" fields (this is always the problem with implementing category hierarchy which is why i've chosen not to support it in Price Tapestry) or would series need to be derived from model some-how?

Either way, perhaps the first step would be as follows;

1) Add your additional fields say "series" and "model" following the instructions here

2) Download and patch your new installation with the Sidebar Filters mod available from the download extras page.

With that in place; let me know (or if you have any questions in the mean time) and I'll take you through the next step which would be to add similar filters for the new fields from which the navigation can be derived...

Cheers,
David.
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PriceTapestry.com

Thanks this is complete.

Submitted by john on Fri, 2011-10-21 14:59

Thanks this is complete. I'm ready for the next step. The datafeed doesn't have the series and model in individual fields, but I may be able to manipulate the csv file to get that info. The other issue is that there may be 5-10 printer models that all use the same cartridge. I will only have one row in the datafeed for the cartridge but it could be associated with 5-10 printer models. Let me know what you think.

Hi John, I've come across a

Submitted by support on Fri, 2011-10-21 15:19

Hi John,

I've come across a similar scenario before; would the list of printer models that a cartridge is compatible with typically always appear in the description field?

If so; and you can sign-up to an affiliate program that sells the actual printers; (you don't necessarily need to show them on your site but it might not do any harm) there is possibly a straight forward dynamic solution... Any computing / electrical merchant should do; and you can always restrict the import from that feed to the Printers category by using a Drop Record If Not filter against the Category field if that might be an option. If you can find a feed with the brand field well populated that might help as well...

Cheers,
David.
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PriceTapestry.com

Thanks for the idea, I'm not

Submitted by john on Fri, 2011-10-21 15:29

Thanks for the idea, I'm not sure that will work though considering that 90% of the printers are probably not sold any longer and wouldn't be in the feed.

Hi David, I do have the

Submitted by john on Fri, 2011-10-21 15:54

Hi David, I do have the model numbers in the description. I don't think adding a printer affiliate will work because 90% of the printers are no longer sold and will not be in their feed.

Hi John, I understand, I'm

Submitted by support on Fri, 2011-10-21 16:06

Hi John,

I understand, I'm trying to think through the method that requires the least possible manual admin of your hierarchy. Would it be practical for you to manage a "master" feed with your required brand > series > model mapping; which could very easily be used to create your navigation leading to the database products. You could maintain it within a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice.org (free) and then to create the .csv use the File > Export function. The format would just a simple;

Brand,Series,Model

Epson,AB,AB1234

Epson,AB,AB5678

Canon,CD,CD1111

Canon,CD,CD2222

Cheers,
David.
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PriceTapestry.com

I think that would be

Submitted by john on Fri, 2011-10-21 16:08

I think that would be doable. I will start to work on that.

Hi David, I have created a

Submitted by john on Tue, 2011-11-08 22:03

Hi David, I have created a master feed, can you please help me with what the next step will be to accomplish what I would like. For some models of printers there will be more than one cartridge that should appear on the page (color, black, etc.)

Hi John Great - please could

Submitted by support on Wed, 2011-11-09 13:45

Hi John

Great - please could you email me the master feed that you created (.zipped if possible) and just in-case you have already implemented any other mods your includes/admin.php and I'll code to populate "model" and "series" fields from the master feed at import time...

Cheers,
David.
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PriceTapestry.com