X-Cart forums

[vasilis]

I need to setup a site which will be selling monitors and the owner wants his customers to be able to narrow down their search, based on monitor attributes, like eg Native_Resolution, Brightness, Max_Contrast and other monitor attributes.
The customer would want the following ways of filtering the products:
a) searching by manufacturer (make) and model. When manufacturer is selected on a drop-down select box, the corresponding models are displayed in the model drop-down select box.
b) browse via brands (done already by default x-cart functionality)
c) and have a product selection Wizard where the customers will be selecting various product features/attributes and narrow down their selection to specific products or product, with dependent drop-downs (ie by selecting one attribute, the drop-down below updates it's values according to the selected value above, etc).

I think one very nice example that indicates the logic that I would like is here , on the left-side, specifically the "Filter Monitors" search, which is really neat.

I was thinking of 3 alternatives: X-Feature Comparison, BCS Advanced Filter for x-cart and Clever Filters from CARTonSTEROIDS.com. Could I achieve a similar effect with one of these mods?
Appreciate any tips.

[totaltec]

I don't think any of those mods are going to be "just perfect" for what you want. But I think that one of the filter mods are going to be better suited for this than X-feature comparison.

Whichever one you choose, I think there is going to be a lot of customization needed to make you and your customer happy. I would ensure that the mods are "view source" like X-cart so that you can customize and tweak them to suit your needs.

I would probably look into just coding this from scratch. But I am also slightly masochistic.

Hope that helps,
-Mike

[CartOnSteroids.com]

Hi vasilis,

We will soon include the Manufacturers as filters in Clever Filters, so the sorting will include this, besides the custom filters that you setup. We already have this feature 99% finished and we will include it in the next update.

Dependent drop-downs are not supported though, so the filters will need to be setup in such a way that dependency will not be necessary. That shouldn't be too difficult though.

Best wishes

Alin, CartOnSteroids.com

[vasilis]

Thank all , for the info.
As a first step I would like to implement a simple filter for make and model (manufacturer and product title), which you can see here
(see "Find your Lamp by locating...." in the middle content area, or the "Lamp & Bulb Finder:" on the header). Could that functionality be implemented with a ready 3rd party filter mod, or do I need to custom make it?

[totaltec]

Vasilis,
IMO, you need to make it, or have it made by someone. You could probably start with a product like Clever Filters, but in the end it may frustrate you if you can't change the code yourself (or have it changed by someone else).

X-cart is a platform to be built upon, that is what makes it great. Don't lock yourself into a 3rd party mod, unless you can do the same with it. I have never been able to build exactly what the client wants with an off the shelf product.

On the other hand, if you are willing to live with the functionality that the mod offers, and accept all of its shortcomings, then it can save you a lot of money. There is no right or wrong way here. It is up to which better suits your budget, and how much control you want over the final product.

-Mike