Call for Pricing feature

[ahuot]

Contractually we have several products that we are looking to designate as "Call for Pricing" on our storefront. I know there are various ways of performing this, was looking for a mod to perform the function of replacing the PRICE field with text"Call for Pricing". Is there an easy way of doing this ? Anybody doing ? Any information would be much appreciated ? Thank you !!

[lesliekirk]

Perhaps the "easiest" way to do this would be to use a Product Custom Field and the combination of a 0.00 price. Something like:

<mvt:if expr="l.settings:product:price EQ 0">
&mvt:product:customfield_values:customfields:You_Custom_Code;

<mvt:else>

The product price code here.

</mvt:if>

You will need to create a Product Custom Field to use. Then once the coding is in place wherever you display a product price on your site, you will go to the individual products and change the price to 0.00.

Note: If you have other products that have a 0.00 price then some further thought will need to be put into this. That's why I suggested using a Product Custom Field. If this is the only time you might use 0.00 for the price, then you don't need to create a Product Custom Field. You can just insert your "Call for Pricing" message instead of the Product Custom Field.

[Mark Stephens]

A custom PROD page template is another way. Create another product page template, I'd start by copying and pasting the current one over then modifying it. Remove the order form and replace it with the messaging you need for "call for pricing".

The custom field method above is faster. No doubt about it!

But I can tell you from experience that sometimes it pays to have separate PROD templates. We have an awful lot of customizations using conditionals and custom fields and they get really messy and tricky the more you have.

[lesliekirk]

A custom PROD page template is another way. Create another product page template, I'd start by copying and pasting the current one over then modifying it. Remove the order form and replace it with the messaging you need for "call for pricing".

The custom field method above is faster. No doubt about it!

But I can tell you from experience that sometimes it pays to have separate PROD templates. We have an awful lot of customizations using conditionals and custom fields and they get really messy and tricky the more you have.

That is also a good option and I understand your concerns - I've encountered a few PROD pages with so many Product Custom Field conditionals that trying to follow them is like trying to find my way out of a maze. On one hand I find myself very frustrated but on the other I'm in awe of someone who could keep up with all of it.

[Bruce - PhosphorMedia]

Its definitely a balance thing. Back in the Product Display Manager days (3rd party modules) I saw many instances where people would use a new 'template' for AS the one conditional on the page. So, if a product template change was needed, you often had to update several to dozens of templates.

Clarity is probably a good barometer as, even if a change needs to be done on multiple templates, if you can clearly see the difference, than it might be worth the additional work.

But clarity can also be achieved in other ways:

1) Comment, comment, and comment on your comments...seriously. Every bit of code you change or add should have a comment...if only to say you've inserted it and can therefore find the difference between standard and customized templates. Typically, we tried to note: a) who is making the change. b) the RESULT desired. c) requirements, for example, 'l.settings:some_array:variable from some-other customization. i.e., <mvt:comment> accepts the difference from price/cost from g.myOwnVar:diffprice and displays it as percentage of savings -BWG</mvt:comment>

2) Formatting: Keeping the tab indentations consistent helps a lot in reading code:

<mvt:if expr="l.settings:thisVar"> 
   <p>Do this</p>
<mvt:else>
  <p>Do something else</p>
</mvt:if>

<mvt:if expr="l.settings:somotherVar"> 
   <p>Do this</p>
<mvt:else>
  <p>Do something else</p>
</mvt:if>

is much easier to read through than

<mvt:if expr="l.settings:thisVar"> 
<p>Do this</p>
<mvt:else>
<p>Do something else</p>
</mvt:if>
<mvt:if expr="l.settings:somotherVar"> 
<p>Do this</p>
<mvt:else>
<p>Do something else</p>
</mvt:if>

3) Cleanup after yourself. I see far too many templates with code commented out. Unless you plan on switching the code back in, if you comment out code as a test to see if the desired results are achieved, and you succeed. For pete's (and your) sake, REMOVE THE CODE. (Pro Tip: add a comment to the template notes like: Removed Wish List Code - Not Used.

[AHerb]

Comment, comment, and comment on your comments...seriously. Every bit of code you change or add should have a comment...

Absolutely agree! The more you comment the more time you save next time.

And also NEVER-NEVER-NEVER do anything like that:

 
 <mvt:if expr="l.settings:somotherVar">       <div> This is a test message <mvt:else>     <div> This is a test message </mvt:if> </div>

Code above is just killing me... and I see it over and over again

[AHerb]

Sorry, can't edit my previous post. Code formatting didn't work properly. Supposed to be like:

<mvt:if expr="l.settings:somotherVar">
    <div> This is a test message
<mvt:else>
    <div> This is a test message
</mvt:if>
</div>

[Bruce - PhosphorMedia]

my fav is:

<mvt:if expr="l.settings:something">
Here's what we need to happen
<mvt:else>
</mvt:if>

not that is matters...just makes an already irritable old person even more irritable. and to make up for venting, here's a coding speed tip:

<mvt:if expr="'SomethingHere' CIN l.settings:thisVar"/>

is slower than

<mvt:if expr="somethinghere' IN tolower(l.settings:thisVar)"/>