Comments on: Back to the Drawing Board

By: Len

Len — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:12:09 +0000

I’d recommend looking at zen-cart. They’ve done an admirable job there in dealing with these situations. They call them attributes all the way around, and can approach them as choices or add-ons, where the shop owner can name the attirbute type and then give it a value.

Ultimately I want to move away from zen (we use them now) and toward wordpress with an e-commerce solution, for a variety of reasons. So I have high hopes for your research.

By: Jonathan Davis

Jonathan Davis — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:19:34 +0000

@Pete: Yes, shipping has been solved. In lieu of real-time shipping estimates from shipping carriers, there will be several custom shipping calculators that will provide Shopp owners with some pretty easy, but powerfully flexible shipping rate calculation options. The system is also modular (like payment gateways) so that real-time calculators can be added later.

By: Brett Dorron

Brett Dorron — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:55:12 +0000

Mm, difficult one. In different store or product situations, different terms could be appropriate. With your T-shirt scenario, product variations would seem more immediately understandable for size and color variations, than would attributes. Or even options, come to think of it. Size options and color options.

In my own situation, I’ll want to list individual art images with options or variations in print materials, finish and presentation. I’ll call these Print Options. Each of these print options will also have size options. Pricing will be influenced by the individual image or edition value, plus Print Option and the Size Option. Options may include fibre based silver prints, canvas, stretched canvas, framed prints etc.

By: Pete

Pete — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:08:03 +0000

I got lost after “I suppose it should have been expected…”
But it seems you’ve put a lot of thought into the problem, so i’d go with your gut instincts – words can easily be changed later if needed.

Have you worked out the different type of shipping/delivery options?

Well done so far

Pete