BIG problem with attributes!!!

[spott]

Hi PrestaShop team. I need ASAP some solution for huge problem with attributes.
I have printing shop - where is possible to order T-shirts with custom slogans.

Now - I want to add new product to my shop. T-shirt
I added fallowing attributes:
Shirt colors - 23 colors
Shirt sizes - XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL
Print position - front, back
Print color - 8 colors
Print fonts - 10 fonts

And attribute generator generates me - 22080!!!!! products. As I chose quantity - 10, so it was 220800 products!!!
PrestaShop cant handle this quantity and so its generates (after long long waiting) empty list - no attributes at all! Saddly I can't get the screen-shot of this long list, where attributes are only --- marks.

So - PrestaShop needs some good solution for attribute handling. Some virtual attributes - whats are not products.

Second problem with pictures. When I am adding 10 pictures to my product, what diffrent attributes - then when I am choosing some attribute (size) - then 1.2 doesn't show any more pictures. I understanding this, that each attribute needs to have picture - but when I have so many attributes - its impossible to add them.


So - what is solution for my problems? Back to ZenCart, what doesn't have this problem or forward to Magento? I really like PrestaShop - its easy, nice etc, but attribute handling is one weakest thing in Presta.

[Carry IT]

I have the same problem and posted twice about this. But unfortunately nobody seems to respond.
Also with other people who have reported this, nobody responded.

Again, I understand this is all volunteer work and believe me, I do appreciate that.

But this problem is a really big problem!

I too am now considering my options. Prestshop looks really great and everything works better than Zen Cart, zo I do not really want to go back. But unfortunately with this not solved, I cannot use Prestashop for my notebook store.

So please pick up this problem and solve this.

In Zen Cart and osCommerce you can add loads of attributes or options and it works well. So why doesn't it work in PS?

Sorry for me ranting, but I am really enthusiastic on Prestshop and could have completely transferred my store to Presta if it wasn't for this problem...This is a real turn off :-(

Marcel

[spott]

So here are screenshot also.
And I have those lines 22000!!!
When I want to leave this page, then I am getting JavaScript errors also.

[Melinda]

Same problem here with no response.

[spott]

Can we get at least some information from official PrestaShop team members?

[KeK0]

one more with same problem

[Patric]

Did somebody post this problem into the bug tracker ?

[Melinda]

I have Patric ... here:
http://www.prestashop.com/bug_tracker/view/2498/

Several have posted in the features section also.

Another "new" post:
http://www.prestashop.com/bug_tracker/view/566/
was posted last October.

There is no response and this is a serious problem with those attributes.

[Patric]

I have Patric ... here:
http://www.prestashop.com/bug_tracker/view/2498/

It seems you posted several different things in this report. Matthieu fixed one of them.

I have the same problem and posted twice about this. But unfortunately nobody seems to respond.
Also with other people who have reported this, nobody responded.

Where did you post about that. Have you got the URL ?

Everybody, please, post the problems you meet in the Bug Tracker :
* in english,
* describe only 1 bug by report,
* don't hesitate to give details (screenshot, related topics' links, etc.).

Thanks.

[Melinda]

I couldn't get a screen shot because the page wouldn't load and had to go into the db to remove some before the page would load.

Matthieu said he wouldn't help because I altered the db when, in reality, I was explaining exactly what happened.

The attributes do not work and are very frustrating to even try when you have more than one. This is the one drawback that I see.

[henribaeyens]

Hi PrestaShop team. I need ASAP some solution for huge problem with attributes.
Shirt colors - 23 colors
Shirt sizes - XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL
Print position - front, back
Print color - 8 colors
Print fonts - 10 fonts

looks like prestashop generates all possible permutations.

23 colors * 6 sizes * 2 positions * 8 colors * 10 fonts = 22080 permutations.

You should rethink your attribute setup.

For instance, do you offer one 8-color print or 8 one-color prints?

[spott]

Why I need rethink my attribute setup? When with other carts its easy to add and manage attributes and its doesn't mean always new products to database.

To my is the same - is the order Red t-shirt, size XL - red text, back, Arial Black or is this order - Red t-shirt, size XL - blue text, front, Tahoma

Three attributes from this list are these, where I don't need any stock.

[Carry IT]

You should rethink your attribute setup.

For instance, do you offer one 8-color print or 8 one-color prints?

It is not a matter of changing the attribute setup. It is about a flaw in the design of PrestaShop!

Take my shop: I seel notebooks that are custom made.
You select the model notebook you want and then configure it to fit your need/wishes.

So you have at least 6 or 7 different CPU's to choose from. Different memory modules, harddrives, optical drives, windos versions and even more options than these.

So far osCommerce and Zen-Cart have no problem in handling these attributes. Heck, they add them as options you can choose. But PS creates a load of combinations and turns that into options to choose from. As it quickly adds up to massive amounts of combinations, the page crashes.

So it is not about how the shop owner sets up the attributes, it is about the way PS is designed. And it is designed to handle only a very limited number of attributes.

For those who continue with PS, I'm happy the subject is finally picked up. For myself, I am now working with Magento and although it is very complex, it fits me needs and is still a huge improvement from osCommerce and Zen Cart, so I have something to work on.

Peace,
Marcel

[henribaeyens]

I agree with you. Prestashop needs to handle configurable products better.
Probably part of the answer would be to make a conceptual and programmatical distinction between an attribute and an option. For instance, the size and color of a shirt are attributes that describe a particular product, a configuration. Printing the phrase "mort aux cons" in arial on the shirt would be an option.

Magento is powerful but heavy, over engineered, resource-hangry and generally not meant for mom-and-pop type stores: the back end admin is way too complicated.

[Melinda]

I have no choice and have had to put one client back on oscommerce because of these attributes and the tax bug that was released with the 1.2 final versions and has not been fixed nor responded to.

I would not use magento as it is just as henribaeyens says.

PrestaShop if you want to be number 1 ecommerce solution then please do not release final versions of your store with bugs like the attributes and tax not working along with paypal problems. I, among others, are always willing to test any of these final releases before posting as a final version on the major issues especially the tax issues and paypal which affects how the store functions for payments. This is not good when you post a "final" release and after setting it up you cannot even use it and the bug report is over a week old with no solution and you have removed the previous versions so nobody can go back to one that did work. I have tried to help by posting bug reports and testing but am disappointed with the way this latest final version is and that there is not a proper response to posts or emails to your team.

[Carry IT]

Magento is powerful but heavy, over engineered, resource-hangry and generally not meant for mom-and-pop type stores: the back end admin is way too complicated.

Henri, I agree..Magento is quite a challenge. Almost the oppsoite of PS :-)
I could have had my shop running entirelty on PrestaShop in little over a week, provided the attribute/option problem was not an issue. and then i would have a really cool looking shop.

I am not so good at the artwork, so I was looking for a shop solution that looked good.

My current shop runs on Zen Cart and is very stable, but i am not happy with the looks. That is why I am giving Magento a try. But I must say, I am slowly getting the hang of it, after a few days tinkering. My work so far: http://www.carryit.nl/shop.

I will keep an eye on PrestaShop, but most of it will depend how they intend to solve the attribute issue. If that is picked up and solved quickly, I may decide to switch back...time will tell.

Peace,
Marcel

[spott]

So - what thinking PrestaShop team members? Can You now understand, that this attribute problem is real problem to many store owners.
When we can wait some solution for this? For next release?

[henribaeyens]

well, there's agoracart. I have a store running on agoracart (theartofwoop). It's a no-fuss, barebones, cart system written in perl. It works well, is customizable (with some programming) but needs better seo. Nice package, nice but small community. Linux, of course, is highly recommended.
I've given up on both osc and zencart, like many php packages, they're too bloated.
There's also actinic, but the software's expensive, comes in different versions, and windows only, site admin occurs offline, you need M$ Access (both a real bummer), and the whole site is generated locally before being uploaded to the server. Fast and seo-friendly. All pages are static html. Handles configurable products pretty well.

Hey, I'll write my own!! Based on zend and pear

[Informatique]

I have also the same problem with attributes. As soon as I add more than a certain number I get an empty attributes page (just header) and a broken product. Then have to delete entire category to clear the log-jam.
It's a great shame, because other than that it's a great cart system.
Looking at this thread, I'd have to ask, do the PrestaShop team have any plans to acknowledge there's an issue and tell us if it will be tackled and when?

[spott]

I think the best way is to add more options to Customization area. When we have there dropdown list, radio buttons etc possibilities - then its all fine.
All stockable things - we can play with attributes - other are customizations. Very good will be, when its possible to add some small pictures also to these customization fields (like font styles pictures - this is possible at ZenCart) - but this is not so important at beginning.

So - what developers thinks - when it is possible?


EDIT: I made now Feature request also: http://www.prestashop.com/bug_tracker/view/2701/

[FSpearz]

Last May, 2009, I sent a message to PS developers (click here to see my posting) asking them whether more attributes will be added to the new version 1.2? Their response was, no.

I agree, adding more attributes will make PS more attractive and appealing.

[Informatique]

Yes, I did see that post. However, my biggest issue is that there appears to be a bug which causes it to crash, which doesn't seem to be acknowledged.
The attributes are one of the few weakness's in the system, it's a great shame that there doesn't seem to be any interest in improving this area.

[Carry IT]

It is a real shame the PS core team responded negative to that request. The fact that they hardly given a decent reply to this thread, gives me the feeling do do not care much for the people who use it or want to use it. And I believe they made the software for people to use it.

Unfortunately I lack the programming skills and have no knowledge of php, otherwise I would have been happy to help solving this issue.

Still, this response from the PS team makes me decide to really drop Presta Shop. I will not be able to create the shop that I want with PS :-(

About Magento: I have gotten the hang of it and although it looks very intimidating, it is easier than it looks. And with that I can make the shop I want/need :-)

Peace,
Marcel

[spott]

I don't want to change to Magento - not yet.

So PrestaShop team - what You think about my idea to add more possibilities to Customization area?

[spott]

And still no reply from developers. As I understand, official opinion is, that there is no problem with PrestaShop and attributes. Page load issues with thousands of attributes are not related to PrestaShop. But other possibilities we don't have to offer products.

And more and more users asking the same things - they want better customization and attributes options - as in ZenCart, Magento, osCommerce.

[Carry IT]

I find it a real shame the Presta Core team does not respond in any way! No explenation, no reason why not...This shows me they do not listen to the users of their software and that is a really bad thing!

I say: If you want a simple shop with simple products, PrestaShop is OK.

But if you want to offer more options and bundled, grouped or configurable products, do not use Presta Shop.

Given my experience so far with Magento, I say go with that!

Peace,
Marcel

see my Magento shop: http://www.carryit.nl/shop

[voodoo1967]

I dont want to go off topic - but Magento is very heavy on resources, has issues with PHP modules, and runs better (apparently on a dedicated server) , where as Prestashop is light and fast (depending on how many combo's you have.
Now back to the topic - Prestashop developers - come on please give us a reply ?

Im sure there are developers on this forum that would help out both with coding and testing etc

[Carry IT]

I guess you are right about Magento. However, so far it runs OK on my side. But, I have a very good hoster :-)

Still, I would love to go with Presta Shop. But seeing how the core team responds to 'our' cries for help regarding the attribute issue, I fear that will not happen soon. This issue is a really big obstacle...or rather, deal breaker, as i need many options for my products.

But I will keep an eye on this thread to see if the issue will be solved one day ;-)

Peace,
Marcel

[spott]

And as I am thinking - its easy to fix also. Right now - attribute generator is very good thing - until some quantity of products. But when we haven possibility to use more product customization possibilities - then we don't need generate thousands of attributes. We can make desison - is it separated stock product or some modification only.

[Carry IT]

You do have a good point there! This attribute generator only adds a lot of pressure on the database. And that is the problem. Other ecommerce solutions like osCommerce, Zen Cart and Magento have a different and in my opinion a much better solution: each attribute is a sort of stand alone product that can be added to the main product via a dropdown menu or radio buttons or whatever. Magento even let's you add other main products as additions, they call it 'bundled products'.

These are very good solutions and if Presta Shop would adopt that way, they can solve this issue and make a lot of people happy!

However, as I said before...I have very little confidence the PS members will listen to their customers. EVerytime I log onto the forum I see at least a few team members are online, but so far only one responded and not in a way that would inspire faith that this issue would be taken seriously.

But...by keeping this topic active, it stays on top and hopefully many people will read it and maybe others will support this cry for help.

On a side note: if I would have the skills, I would take on this issue myself, but unfortunately I have no programming skills whatsoever :-(

Peace,
Marcel

[emms]

Other ecommerce solutions like osCommerce, Zen Cart and Magento have a different and in my opinion a much better solution: each attribute is a sort of stand alone product that can be added to the main product via a dropdown menu or radio buttons or whatever.
Marcel

That is the biggest issue for my business. I want to sell only 40 items a week of one product .. but I want every item to have choices .. I dont want 1300 products, I want 40 items with a total of 1300 combinations not 40* 1300 combinations! I end up closing that part of my site down every week because of this.

Also I upgraded.. unwillingly as I didnt have the time TBH, and then the attribute price increase actually stopped working.. I thought the fix for this problem.. a new problem.. was 1.4 but it doesnt seeem to be the case!!!!!

I dont want to have to swap to another piece of software, I'm not sure how I'd get all my customers and products across .. it would be hell!!!

for instance.. I want to sell one nappy with lots of variables.. I've already slit the item into about 5 with 600 combinations each LOL please please help!! I will pay for someone to fix this.. I think this is getting annoying for alot of ppl here.. I've been a lurker since I downloaded this a few months ago and yes, I've never actually posted.. I only registered today because I need answers!!

My website is .. www.puddlekins.com/shop

thankyou!!
emma.


In the mean time I will need to go back to 1.2 as my shop cant run with no options. or without options working with a price increase!

I did come across lots of intresting reading in my pursuit of a fix....
http://tinyurl.com/pbvav3 I shortened it because the URL is erm.. rather damning!!!

[FSpearz]

PS team; ETA on adding more attributes such as radio button and checkbox? Pull down attribute won't work for us, since we have many variables with detailed description.

[spott]

Hi

I am updating this theme again
This is not yet solved issue.

[Carry IT]

Good thing you bumped up this topic. Since I had not heard any news on it, I decided to check in.

To my surprise I found there is a new version of Presta Shop, but appareantly this issue has not been included. And still none of the Presta Shop team members have not responded about this.

I get the feeling the Presta Shop team does not take us users seriously and does not see this as a serious issue.

For the moment I will keep an eye on PS and hope, againts my better judgement, that this issue will be solved. But since I have almost completed the structure of my Magento Shop and I have already added some 100 products in it, I do not think I will get back to Presta Shop...too bad...

Peace,
Marcel

[spott]

I played now with Magento Options and its good. You have lot of choices (input text, multiple choices, drop down menu etc), you can even place special price for some options.

So - when we can see similar things at PrestaShop?

[tomerg3]

I came across the same problem a few days ago, for a shopping cart I'm working on for a glasses site.
They require special customization for lenses, prescription, extras, etc...
I was a bit disappointed when I loaded all the attributes, created the combinations, and saw that the product stopped working because 60k+ records were added to the database.

I was able to get around it using my "Special Instructions" MOD, and a bit of coding...

You can see how it looks and functions in http://lensesrx.com/shop/19-glasses-10.html
When you click "BUY NOW" a popup comes up which lets you customize the glasses, some choices affect the price and some just get added as text to the product.

my contact info is in my signature

[spott]

But these features are important to be inside core shop. Not available with some third party commercial module.

tomerg3 - this is great, what You have done, but whats happening with upgrade? Or You have sick and can't update the module. So its with risk to buy this module - you newer know how long time developer has interest to upgrade this module also.

[tomerg3]

You are correct, however, if like me, you have spent time and money on customizing your cart, and then you find out that it doesn't work anymore, because you can add the option to customize your cart, you are left with few options, and this is probably the cheapest and quickest way to fix it.

As for upgrades, a site is not like an operating system where you need to upgrade when a new version comes out.
If you site works as you want / need it, why bother with upgrades that may lead to new bugs and problems?

[spott]

But upgrades fixes also known bugs. Also site, what is not upgraded - this is also big security risk.

[Senteevs]

Got the same problem and haven't found any solution. I really hope the developers are aware that this is a critical issue.

[tomerg3]

I would not expect a solution anytime soon, it would be a major change to the way attributes are handled, and unless they already started working on it (which there is no indication of), it would be a while...

Contact me if you need an immediate solution.

[spott]

There is no needs for rewriting attributes system. Best way is to add more features to product customization.

[tomerg3]

There is no needs for rewriting attributes system. Best way is to add more features to product customization.

Without sounding too harsh, I think you have no idea what you are talking about.

The way Prestashop handles multiple attributes is by creating a new database record for each possible combination.

For example:

Color - 10 options
Screen Size: 4 options
CPU: 5 options
HD size: 6 options
Video card: 5 options

Prestashop will generate 10 * 4 * 5 * 6 *5 = 6,000 combinations, and this is for one product!
At some point, this numbers becomes too much for the system to handle, and it just stops working.

Instead of generating all these combinations, I believe each attribute should be added independently, which will not create thousands of records per product.

I don't see how "adding more features to product customization" will solve this problem.

[spott]

Look how this problem is solved at Magento - You can add at customization area dropdown lists, file uploads, text areas, radio buttons, check boxes etc. These are not attributes and not separated products.
Same idea is in ZenCart.

Attributes are for real products. Like shirt sizes. At customization area you can add more features for your product. Like print color for shirts.

So - I know very well, how PrestaShop handles attributes and how other carts are find solutions.

[Tomasz Słomiński]

i just posted the solution : http://www.prestashop.com/forums/viewthread/14644/#140037

[spott]

And I am updating this problem again.

I looked today PrestaShop 1.3.0 (SVN version), and there is nothing made with attributes or customizations.

[ladivito]

then when we are able to get the solution ?

[spott]

I am updating this thread again. It seems still, that no changes are made in SVN version to fix this issue.

[spott]

I'ts seems, that I am going to Magento in next year.
Its sad, that Presta doesn't want add these features, what other carts has by default.

[emms]

would I be able to get my customer database etc over to magento.. or would I have to start over?

[tomerg3]

I am working on an Attribute Wizard module, the first version won't solve this issue, but the next one will allow you to bypass the combinations and add as many attribute groups and items as you want.

V 1.0 should be ready in a few days, you can see it in action at http://www.presto-changeo.com/11/laptops/6-macbook.html

[spott]

But why there is no official modification? Magento has much better customization handling, also ZenCart has it. OSCommerce also. Presta add to 1.0 version file upload and text field possibility and thats all. Now they aren't develop this area and competitors are now better situation.

[tomerg3]

I have no idea why, I guess they're priorities are different, and as I mentioned this before, this requires some serious changes to the core files.

Every cart has their advantages and disadvantages, I think prestashop has many more good features than bad ones.

[tomerg3]

I have just released the first version for Attribute Wizard, there's the thread for it http://www.prestashop.com/forums/viewthread/38061

[scottyboy]

I am working on an Attribute Wizard module, the first version won't solve this issue, but the next one will allow you to bypass the combinations and add as many attribute groups and items as you want.

@Tomerg,
I will definately be looking forward to your next version of this modual as, I am sure, hundreds of other prestashoppers will be as well. I just want to say a big thankyou for tackling this issue and coming up with a soloution that has caused so many of us to have to consider changing to a different cart.

[daye]

@tomerg3

just to clarify, will attribute wizard deal with the following information:
colors: 21 options
fabric: 5 options
length: 5 options
size: 15 options
straps: 2 options

My question is will attribute wizard be able to deal with these attributes without me having to set up combinations? or do I still need to create combinations? Obviously, the number of options I have are causing the same problems that others are experiencing. Your demo does exactly what I need, but I want to make sure the backroom workings are just as easy and not as messy as it is by default in the PS store.

On another note, I find the lack of communication from the PS team on this issue sad. Since I've put in so much work getting things set up I don't want to move on to another shopping cart since I'm more or less complete. I came to this error when my client wanted to add one more attribute group. I would have never known about it otherwise, as this was after I did a lot of testing with the demo and at least felt the flaws I saw where not that much of an issue. The fact that documentation is severely lacking did not drive me off and in retrospect, that should have been my first clue to the struggle ahead.

[tomerg3]

@tomerg3

just to clarify, will attribute wizard deal with the following information:
colors: 21 options
fabric: 5 options
length: 5 options
size: 15 options
straps: 2 options

My question is will attribute wizard be able to deal with these attributes without me having to set up combinations? or do I still need to create combinations? Obviously, the number of options I have are causing the same problems that others are experiencing. Your demo does exactly what I need, but I want to make sure the backroom workings are just as easy and not as messy as it is by default in the PS store.

On another note, I find the lack of communication from the PS team on this issue sad. Since I've put in so much work getting things set up I don't want to move on to another shopping cart since I'm more or less complete. I came to this error when my client wanted to add one more attribute group. I would have never known about it otherwise, as this was after I did a lot of testing with the demo and at least felt the flaws I saw where not that much of an issue. The fact that documentation is severely lacking did not drive me off and in retrospect, that should have been my first clue to the struggle ahead.

The current version of my module still requires you to use the attribute combination generator.

for you example, it would create 15750 combinations for a product, I don't know if that number does break it, but just to give you an idea:

* each combination has is own database record, which means 15k+ records for each product, while the database can handle it, it can get out of hand when querying your db.

* each combination has a javascript command added to the product page (front end), so your product page will have 15K+ new lines in there that call a function to add that info into a javascript object (which is used to make sure a combination is valid), this make the page much bigger, and takes longer to load and be ready.

I am going to start working on V2 of this module soon.

The way I am thinking of doing it is that you will not use the combination generator, but rather add the attributes the normal way.
You will choose a group, and add all the items from it as 1 item, my module will read that and handle the rest.

You will be able to assign a price and weight impact for each attribute group, which will affect all the item in there.

If you need to have a different price impact for members of the same group, you will need to add them separately.

Later on I may add the option to have "Global Attributes", and an easy way to copy the attribute from one product to another.

[daye]

@tomerg3

thanks for the clarification AND the quick reply. i'll wait for V2, if I'm still dealing with PS then. I'm moving over to ZenCart or one of the others. The PS backend is so much more friendlier for the client, but it's definitely not meeting the clients needs.

thanks again!

[Alex75]

Hello everyone!
I have same problem with attributes: they don't load in BO (page is blank when you click on Combinations) but item itself works fine.
I have no idea why Presta Team keeps ignoring this issue as it appears to be a major one and lots of people have to switch to other cart because of it.
I think Presta is overall a fantastic solution, PLEASE fix this issue so it can work properly.
Best regards,
Alex

[Alex75]

Hello everyone!
I have same problem with attributes: they don't load in BO (page is blank when you click on Combinations) but item itself works fine.
I have no idea why Presta Team keeps ignoring this issue as it appears to be a major one and lots of people have to switch to other cart because of it.
I think overall Presta is a fantastic solution, but PLEASE fix this issue so it can work properly.
Best regards,
Alex

[spott]

They don't care as this solution is needed only small amount of users. So, when You haven't build your store yet - look other solution.

[Melinda]

Put in a bug report.

[spott]

There are bug reports and feature requests. Bug reports are closed - PrestaTeam don't takes this as a their software problems and feature request - look how "active" these request are.

[scottyboy]

@spott

I know what you mean. I've had to go over to Interspire shopping cart because this offers a complete soloution to my attribute combinations - albeit at a hefty price tag!
I'm still gutted that I had to abandon prestashop because of this small glitch though!

[ChrisU2R]

I'm joining in with the request to sort this attributes issue. Love Prestashop but without a more efficient attributes solution I will also have to move to another platform which would be very disappointing as I've already invested so much time on Pretashop installations.

I think the answer has to be to make the developer aware of this issue by shouting some more - Perhaps someone using the paid for prestabox service might replicate this issue and force their hand by demanding a resolution to this problem.

Prestashop must make their money from the sale of Prestastore modules however I won't be making any purchases unless I can feel confident this issue will be dealt with.

I'm afraid I'll have to prepare to migrate to Magneto if there's no word soon. Perhaps being cynical here, but wouldn't be surprised if the CSV export function promised shortly, doesn't get put back to prevent or hinder migrations !

Come on guys, we want to support you and make you No.1 but this is a major issue !

[spott]

To me is the most annoying - that PrestaShop team even doesn't giving any information what they plan.

[ChrisU2R]

I'm lucky that I've not got enough attributes yet to crash the system but to manually have to scroll down a list of over 1000 items and edit specific attributes one by one is nuts. It's one hell of a lot of scrolling and it's almost impossible not to get lost as to where you got to.

(Unfortunately the Product combinations generator won't allow me to assign additional/alternative images or change specific prices)

A great help would be to be able to update entries directly in the combinations tab/page list rather than having to select the item in the list, scroll up, edit, save and then have to scroll down 1000 products to find the next entry to edit.

I think there's a mass update module out there but it won't handle attributes unless I'm mistaken.

[spott]

And I am updating this issue again.

[ChrisU2R]

Perhaps this is going to be looked at in the next release and the developers are too busy with this to keep us posted.

I'll wait and see what the next stable release has to offer but unless I can get hold of a multiple attribute manager module then I will reluctantly have to move my development to Magneto.

I certainly can't recommend Prestashop for shops with products needing more than a couple of attributes right now and if I move to another platform I will have to be committed to that.

It's a real shame as I love the feel of Prestashop and a major opportunity will be missed if this problem isn't addressed in a similar way to Magneto's popularity being stalled by performance issues back in the day. Please sort this guys !

[spott]

And I am updating this issue again. Still no answer from PrestaShop team.

[JoopS]

When will there finally be an solution for this freakin' problem.
I'm getting sick of this problem, spend weeks to figure out why it doesn't work!!!!
I know I should have gone through this forum earlier, but there was not realy an error on the page, it just doesn't work....

COME ON PRESTA PEOPLE Help us out!!!!

[ChrisU2R]

I'm not a coder but would guess this problem is a fundamental one which would perhaps require a complete re-structuring of the database and the way in which prestashop works. This issue is probably being ignored as most shops only use a couple of attributes and will never hit a wall like we are doing. The developers may be looking into this for future revisions but i'm beginning to get the feeling Prestashop won't remain free for long going by the shiny newsletters and features about new partners etc. It wouldn't surprise me if the attribute functionality will be 'sold' to us as an add on or part of a paid for edition much like the Magneto enterprise edition. Perhaps it was too soon to move away from Zencart. ??

[JoopS]

Chris,

Arhg, that are some nasty conclusions... hope your wrong ;-)
It's a bloody shame to hear or see nothing from these guys.
If I knew this problem from the start, I wouldn't bother using this great package.. again it's a shame!!!!
Now I got a site running for 99.9% and the last 0.1% is gonna kill the site.

Prestashop should put in huge capital characters on their frontpage: THIS PACKAGE IS NOT WORKING TOTALY CORRECT! or something like that.
That way people know there's something wrong.....

[ChrisU2R]

I've committed myself quite heavily to this package with several clients sites up. My only suggestion is to try and split the attributes down into separate products to eliminate the attributes pyramid. For example rather than having 1 product with attributes to cover all bases, you could make things more manageable by creating separate products:

For example

Rather than 1 product with attributes, 1 colour, 2 size, 3 memory etc..

set up products as several products eliminating one of the attributes so that you have

product 1 in red with attributes, size and memory
product 1 in blue with attributes, sixe and memory
product 1 in green etc...

Does that make sense ?

In short, if there's no developer backup (why should there be for a free product) we have to try and work around it.
To some extent, if the developer did jump on this it would be more concerning as they would be more interested in preserving the reputation of the product to be able to market it further down the line.

There is of course an aspect of this worth exploring. If you buy an official module to go with the core (free) software, that module has to offer warranty. As the core software has to work correctly to support the module, it might make the core software have to comply with the module warranty.

This would either force the developer to make an official disclaimer stating that only x-amount of attributes are supported with this software or start providing refunds for modules. If this were the case (I'm no lawyer) then claims would be legitimate for time and expense involved with setting up of payment gateways with banks and time paid for by companies in populating their sites with product. I might just buy a prestashop module to force the issue.

I've not seen this issue addressed in the latest Alpha version - perhaps it's worth posting something in that relevant forum as they might be paying attention there ...

[ruilong]

Why didn't you guys post a bug report?
as stated by the developers, Melindas report was about another bug and this bug was included in the comments, so no one will read it or fix it..
I have posted a new bug report about this issue here
http://www.prestashop.com/bug_tracker/view/3718/

lets see what happens now

[ChrisU2R]

I think several bug reports have been posted - On another thread it was suggested the developers are aware of the problem but not to expect it to be addressed until v. 1.4 or later.

This is a shame as I love Prestashop but won't be able to deploy on new sites requiring more than a couple of attributes until fixed - by then I will have lost my enthusiasm for Prestashop and will have 'got into' an alternative.

One contributor on this forum is due to launch a module/patch to bypass this issue at a price which I will have to apply but this will require some patching of core files. I'm afraid I thought I'd moved on from my Zen Cart days !

[ruilong]

I think several bug reports have been posted - On another thread it was suggested the developers are aware of the problem but not to expect it to be addressed until v. 1.4 or later.

This is a shame as I love Prestashop but won't be able to deploy on new sites requiring more than a couple of attributes until fixed - by then I will have lost my enthusiasm for Prestashop and will have 'got into' an alternative.

One contributor on this forum is due to launch a module/patch to bypass this issue at a price which I will have to apply but this will require some patching of core files. I'm afraid I thought I'd moved on from my Zen Cart days !

I search the bug tracker and only found one other bug related to this issue, but that was the "time out when creating bug" and not the "white page when viewing after creation bug"

Anyway, I hope they fix it soon so you guys can continue to use your carts without modding core files.

[ChrisU2R]

I think this is less a bug rather than a problem with the basic architecture. The fix without altering the architecture would be to limit attributes in such a way as not to crash a database but perhaps this wouldn't look too good on the specs.

I've gotta go to a different platform - I can't afford to spend any more time on this - it was fun while it lasted.

[tmouse]

Yep, currently large amount of combinations wont work. I can only add my vote for this feature as I think current approach is broken or at least should have second way of adding product (no stock keeping, but no combinations generation).
Its not that hard as I've mentioned before. Even my newly acquired skills in php/JS enabled me to work around the problem ( i dont have combinations displayed in backoffice but I dont use it for product management anyway - everything is prepared externally and imported, reimported as needed

[Matthieu Biart]

Hi everyone!

Firstly I want to apology for the "team no-reply".
We weren't aware of this thread (I mean the forum topic). There is no valid excuse for this since it is 6 pages long :red:

Secondly, I'd like to confirm that we are aware since a moment of this issue: the PrestaShop's product combination interface is really bad.

Thirdly, we owe you an explanation about the situation:
The current product combination feature is a big part of the software. We admit it is really badly designed and need to be completely rebuild.
Regarding this, rebuilding such feature takes a long time and is very dangerous for the software stability.

And finally some news on the subject. We are working on this issue since a while and the conception stage is now over. The development should start soon but, due to the too close 1.3 release (which has to be the most stable as possible) deadline, won't be included before the 1.4 PrestaShop version.

I hope to have been clear enough, and one more time apology for the delayed reply.

[spott]

Thanks

Lets wait now 1.4 realease.
Also - tomber3 is at final stage with new module - that can give some solution for these users, who needs faster that features.

[tmouse]

Thanks for the reply, for the new users this will be a major improvement.
Any chance of seeing this conception of yours?
I mean you probably don't have time to discuss every feature with community but maybe new one is also flawed in some way and we could help spot it.
Before its too late and you invest man-days and man-days into something that in the end only slightly improves experience.

I will be keeping eye on this, even if i already have solution developed, I mean hacked , in my version.
Regards.

[scottyboy]

At last, a decent reply from the presta team - thanks.

I'm going to purchase tomerg3's module as soon as it's released and I would advise anyone who's experiencing the same problems to do so as well. I've heard that his moduales are very well designed and his reputation on these boards is second to none - can't wait!

[ChrisU2R]

Thanks for your update Matthieu,

this is encouraging news as long as I can stall my clients expectations. I am tempted to try Tomerg3's module but as I suspected, the attribute part of Prestashop is quite a biggie so Tomerg's module can at best be a temporary workaround until version 1.4 - at this point I would be concerned about creating compatibility issues with future prestashop releases and of course Tomerg is charging for the module which I would have pass on to clients.

Would you have a wildly approximate time for release of v1.4 ? weeks, months ??

[Matthieu Biart]

You're welcome.

Would you have a wildly approximate time for release of v1.4 ? weeks, months ??

As usual we do not provide release date, but what is sure is that it won't be a matter of weeks!
Weeks would be more related to the final 1.3 release.

So months is quite appropriated for talking about the 1.4.

Just to make clearer a point.
I did not said that it will be included on the 1.4 release but that it will not be implemented before the 1.4 release.
Understand that we do not know yet what exactly will be part of the next (I mean 1.4) release serie, and that I do not want to make unrealistic promises.

[ChrisU2R]

OK Matthieu,

I'll give Tomerg's module a go otherwise my customers will burn me at the stake !

It might be worth keeping in touch with him as I think quite a few people will buy his module and will become fraustrated further down the line if it's
unable to work with future releases.

Glad to see you getting your hands dirty

[serycurtis10]

I hope there would be an announcement when the module is released, and hopefully they will post something on this thread because a lot of people who posted here are waiting for that.

[tomerg3]

I will obviously post here when it's ready, if you can't wait, follow my twitter or facebook...

[Eck!]

This isnt a solution, but you can stop the backoffice hanging in order to get to the combinations generator without having to hack the URL or database.

Open AdminProducts.php and search (round about line 2470 - I have a modified bersion so it may be different on yours) for the line...

$combinaisons = $obj->getAttributeCombinaisons(intval($cookie->id_lang));

...then just comment it out.

// $combinaisons = $obj->getAttributeCombinaisons(intval($cookie->id_lang));

This prevents the combinations from being listed by the Ajax script. Im having the same problem with just 720 combinations - it seems to hang after about 500.

[tomerg3]

I have just released my Attribute Wizard Pro module which offers a solution for this problem...
See http://www.prestashop.com/forums/viewthread/47363/

[shopper99]

I have just released my Attribute Wizard Pro module which offers a solution for this problem...
See http://www.prestashop.com/forums/viewthread/47363/

This looks like a fantastic module, however the price tag is rather hefty... especially as I only need it for what should, theoretically, be only 4 separate attributes.

I was trying to add a date selection to my shop. I shall explain... the shop is for DVDs that are recorded during boat trips, so I have a product for the DVDs. In the product, customers can choose one of 7 boats which they took a trip on, on which the DVD was recorded. They also need to specify the day, month, year and time of the trip, so that we can match up their order to the correct recording.

Unfortunately this has caused a BIG problem, as the attributes generated run into the 1000s! We have 7 boats x 31 days x 12 months x 2 years x 12 possible sailing times = 62496 separate attributes!!!

Now... try and add all these with the correct photo for the correct boat...? Cat in hell's chance!

This is needed ASAP in the CORE files as the system is most definitely flawed.

I did buy your attributes ordering mod though, tomerg3, as that was in my price range.

[tomerg3]

I have just released my Attribute Wizard Pro module which offers a solution for this problem...
See http://www.prestashop.com/forums/viewthread/47363/

This looks like a fantastic module, however the price tag is rather hefty... especially as I only need it for what should, theoretically, be only 4 separate attributes.

I was trying to add a date selection to my shop. I shall explain... the shop is for DVDs that are recorded during boat trips, so I have a product for the DVDs. In the product, customers can choose one of 7 boats which they took a trip on, on which the DVD was recorded. They also need to specify the day, month, year and time of the trip, so that we can match up their order to the correct recording.

Unfortunately this has caused a BIG problem, as the attributes generated run into the 1000s! We have 7 boats x 31 days x 12 months x 2 years x 12 possible sailing times = 62496 separate attributes!!!

Now... try and add all these with the correct photo for the correct boat...? Cat in hell's chance!

This is needed ASAP in the CORE files as the system is most definitely flawed.

I did buy your attributes ordering mod though, tomerg3, as that was in my price range.

If you compare my prices to other shops you will see that they are on the low end.

Attribute Wizard Pro is the most expensive module in my shop, since it took a long time and a lot of work to write.

If you change you mind, you can always upgrade the attribute order to the Wizard Pro and pay the difference.

You can also use the Prestashop Customization option and add a text box for the user to input the date.

[ds-pizza]

I have the same problem and no way to solved it

If someone know how to desactivate the stock... I just need the information for rewriting it in my company software

http://www.ds-pizza.com/base-tomate/56-marguerite.html you will see the memory problem

Sam

[oVen]

Have somehow solved this problem?

[voodoo1967]

The last I heard was that Prestashop had finally acknowledged the problem and that it would be addressed in a later release - unfortunatley I couldnt wait that long. I had a quick look around these forums but cant see any news - anybody else know the latest information ?

[rocky]

I can't see any improvements to the attributes in PrestaShop v1.4. Hopefully, they will improve the attributes before releasing v1.4. If not, you will have to wait until v1.5 or later.