Miva Merchant 5.5 Dream Features

[Behrents]

Re: Miva Merchant 5.5 Dream Features

How about being able to export specific products with more options then just by category?

Kind of like using the coupon module where you make products eligible or un-eligible. So I could just say download SIM*| and it would only download the products starting with SIM. This would make it much easier to download and update products when you have a larger store with multiple manufactures.

[Apologia]

Re: Miva Merchant 5.5 Dream Features

Would love to see an option that would allow cross connection of "Related" items. Now, when you add a new item (A) and choose to add a related item (B), you check item (B) and it shows as related to (A). But if you want to turn around and make item (A) a related item on the item (B) side, you have to then go to (B) and repeate the procedure.

Would be nice to have like a second check box in the related items screen, beside potentially related item (B), that when checked, would also make item (A) show as related item also on item (B), all in one step.

[Apologia]

Re: Miva Merchant 5.5 Dream Features

Need to add the ability when uploading an image, to also have a field to enter an "alt" tag content; this would greatly improve SEO tracking for the site.

[Mark Hood]

Re: Miva Merchant 5.5 Dream Features

It may already be in here somewhere but short and long names for both category and product pages without a work around. Changeable from the category page for instance. You could have the short name in the tree and the long name as the title.

It would also be great to be able to make it so the attribute machine would grey out the secondary attribute until the first one is selected. So in other words they have to select size first and then see available colors.

[kayakbabe]

Re: Miva Merchant 5.5 Dream Features

I disagree about forcing them to choose size first and then be able to select from colors. If it could work so that they could pick ANY attribute first then the other attributes or options would 'filter' down to show available.. that would be okay.

But I for one... I don't like when people limit me and how I search... my customers are seemingly random too... it all depends on what is most important to them at that moment.

what if I want to look for a green shirt... i have no idea what sizes will have green ones in stock and I don't care about the size (so long as it is mine).. what I really really want is a green shirt... So I'm going to pick green first... then see if they have my size afterward.

Next week, I might come shopping for an XXXL shirt for my friend who is big... then XXXL matters more than color... and choosing XXXL is more important. I will hunt for XXXL first.

You will lose the first sale if you make it impossible to find green becuase I have to choose sizes first. You will lose the 2nd sale if I can't find BIG shirts first.

[Mark Hood]

Re: Miva Merchant 5.5 Dream Features

http://www.cabelas.com/product/True-...Id%3D104797080

Not talking about limiting them. You can see that selecting a size opens up both. If you then change the size it changes the color attribute back to select one. The current attribute machine makes this change but can also change one or the other without telling you. Basically as I said you could have a primary and secondary set up.

I disagree about forcing them to choose size first and then be able to select from colors. If it could work so that they could pick ANY attribute first then the other attributes or options would 'filter' down to show available.. that would be okay.

But I for one... I don't like when people limit me and how I search... my customers are seemingly random too... it all depends on what is most important to them at that moment.

what if I want to look for a green shirt... i have no idea what sizes will have green ones in stock and I don't care about the size (so long as it is mine).. what I really really want is a green shirt... So I'm going to pick green first... then see if they have my size afterward.

Next week, I might come shopping for an XXXL shirt for my friend who is big... then XXXL matters more than color... and choosing XXXL is more important. I will hunt for XXXL first.

You will lose the first sale if you make it impossible to find green becuase I have to choose sizes first. You will lose the 2nd sale if I can't find BIG shirts first.

[kayakbabe]

Re: Miva Merchant 5.5 Dream Features

I disagree... That cabelas example is exactly what I don't like. I can not choose my color first. I have no choice but to choose a size first before I can choose a color. that's no bueno in my book.

What if the customer is buying multiple shirts all the same. Then color is the most important variable to the customer. size is secondary. This method that cabela's is employing will make it hard to find multiple sizes in one color.

This method limits the customers ability to choose. It disempowers the customer.

NOW.. if the customer could choose whichever attribute they want first.. THEN after that first choice.. the other options are limited by what is available. that would be way cool. But limited the choices a customer can make right at the beginning is limited.

I don't think the way cabelas does is all that good. It could be much better.

Take a look at Bass Pro Shops.. .they allow you to choose either attribute first and then the other attributes/options are then limited. They do a much better job of this.

This shirt is in their clearance area... if it's gone look for another in their clearance section for an example as that area of their store more likely has product variants that are out of stock. Try medium size and then look at colors available. Try other sizes and you will see that colors will be limited. Return the size setting to the default, then try choosing diff colors and you can see what sizes are available in each color. They do it right.

http://www.basspro.com/Natural-Refle...03442/-1731554

[Bruce - PhosphorMedia]

Re: Miva Merchant 5.5 Dream Features

...and here's where i get in trouble....

this discussion is why i wish Miva would stop adding "features". What feature works for one, does not work for the other...and its impossible to have all flavors. Even something as basic as coupons are almost NEVER the same between Merchant's.

rather, i wish Miva would work on making Merchant easier to customize. Yes, that means, if you can't understand basic logic, can't spell HTML, don't know AJAX from ADHD, you'll have to hire someone to do this...but, then, you could spend more time actually doing what you know? (How many on-street business owners do their own remodeling, re-wire their office, etc. Yes, there are some, but few do it well...and if they did, they might be more successful at running a Remodeling Business.

[kayakbabe]

Re: Miva Merchant 5.5 Dream Features

Bruce, I agree with you 100%.

I absolutely love that miva has been a pretty solid platform which you can extend.. by yourself or by buying third party modules which plug into it. The extensibility is what makes Miva Merchant so wonderful.

I do not think miva should try to provide everything for all customers. I think they should work on exactly what you said.. making it easier to customize and extend.

I do think there will always be people who do not 'get' coding.. no matter how simple or easy.. and there will always be a place in the world for developers and third party modules.

[Bruce - PhosphorMedia]

Re: Miva Merchant 5.5 Dream Features

those that love to emulate Amazon should learn that the first thing Bezos did (after hooking in three investors based on a business plan alone) was hire 3 developers<g>.

also, it always surprises me, such as in this case, that the sites folks want to emulate features from are almost always based on "ground up" frameworks...meaning LOTS of custom programming.

[Mark Hood]

Re: Miva Merchant 5.5 Dream Features

those that love to emulate Amazon should learn that the first thing Bezos did (after hooking in three investors based on a business plan alone) was hire 3 developers<g>.

also, it always surprises me, such as in this case, that the sites folks want to emulate features from are almost always based on "ground up" frameworks...meaning LOTS of custom programming.

I'm not sure where Amazon came into this was so I'm a little confused by that. I thought the whole point of this particular forum posting was for feature request so please do forgive me if I was wrong.

Kayakbabe: I am glad you are very happy you like like the current attribute machine because what you describe is exactly how it works now. The only difference is that it does not change the other selection back to (select one) This makes it so that if the choose color and then size then surprise the color may have changed. The bass pro shop example would also solve my problem and would also be an improvement.

I will agree to disagree in this case and leave this alone. I hope more people will come buy the blue shirts even if all we have left is 6XL's :)

[kayakbabe]

Re: Miva Merchant 5.5 Dream Features

now to return to our regular programming for this channel..

I want to wave my hand in the air again for regular expression checking on custom fields (and other fields too). I think it's been slated for the next version.. but just to reinforce my vote... I'm poking Miva Merchant again.

I know regular expressions are a programmers wet dream and a noob's nightmare.. but dang sure they would make things so much nicer for data input and validation.

[Mark Hood]

Re: Miva Merchant 5.5 Dream Features

I'd also like to go back to my original post to continue asking for short and long name fields. One for the category tree and one for the title if it's ok.

[lesliekirk]

Re: Miva Merchant 5.5 Dream Features

Dynamic ability to add additional pages to the SMAP - perhaps a checkbox selection of what to add. It would be nice to be able to pick & choose the categories and products too.

Leslie

[donpro]

Re: Miva Merchant 5.5 Dream Features

Increase the Category Code limit. 50 is too short.