Customising Search Function

[lizp]

Hi, I have recently signed up with vodahost and have downloaded OsCommerce through fantastico. I was told that OsCommerce had the inbuilt capability to perform the following search function:

1) My customer selects printer brand from a drop down box, e.g. canon, HP, Lexmark etc.
2) Depending on brand selected in 1) above, a second drop down menu will then become populated with the various printer models for that brand. Customer selects model and then results return all the products / cartridges that are for that particular brand and model of printer.

I have watched all the OsCommerce tutorials but cannot find any information on customising the search function. If anyone can assist it would be greatly appreciated.

[Vasili]

Re: Customising Search Function

As addressed in the other thread, the heirarchy of Search will display according to the structuring of your pages and navigation (with indentations in the list, not dynamic slide-outs). You need to input the data for it to be read: built-in Search heirarchy will display Category and Sub-Categories.

To display all the products within a sub-category, for instance, is asking for a lot, IMO, and off the top might not be possible whatsoever in any cart. You should be looking in the "contributions" library at the osC website for an add-on that might well enable an enhanced Search along the lines you seek.

However, you seem to actually be describing a dynamic Menu system ..... which will in fact display with slide-outs or drop-down categories and sub's that you can set up as you describe. This too, is configured in the Admin panel based upon how you create pages and associate them to one another. Keep in mind also, that this becomes the main structure to follow when loading/categorizing your inventory.

You will find a selection of add-on Menu systems in the Library as well if the default is not acceptable.

[lizp]

Re: Customising Search Function

Thanks heaps, my apologies for posting same thread in different area; for some reason when i went to check my original thread for replies i couldn't find it and thought maybe it had been removed because i posted in wrong section. Obviously that wasn't the case.

Anyway as always you have been most helpful and I can once again see light at the end of the tunnel!

[Vasili]

Re: Customising Search Function

Anytime!

.... and on we go!