Product Category slider + use of product tags

[anton123]

Hi there,

I need to create a slider on the homepage that shows the main product category images only (so that the user can go the the product category of interest)

There aren’t any options for that in the product slider / carousel, so what is the best way to achieve this?

Also, there is no way to filter by tags, so is there no way to use product tags at all then?

Thanks very much

[alibey]

that is exactly what I am currently wrestling with right now 9 days before launch. My products can be grouped by categories (say, dog widgets, cat widgets, bird widgets) but then I want to add a time element (latest, oldest, on sale, etc). This would be best achieved by using tags. A Time Dimension is orthogonal to the Type of a widget, so to mix the two results in architectural puke. Is there any way via js or css (not php please) to have a slider select widgets by tags? If not tags, you could also add custom fields, so long as the sliders could see them.

[Rui Guerreiro – SUPPORT]

Hi,

@anton123 Not sure of what you want to achieve visually but I guess you can the Portfolio Carousel or the Revolution slider with an slide for each category and with some text and button to go to that specific product category.

@alibey At the moment it’s not possible with tags, it might work for you if you add an additional category that is tranversal through several products so you can achieve a similar categorization like using the tags.

Will forward your suggestion to the development team.

thanks

-Rui

[alibey]

hi i think additional category is a distasteful workaround

it mixes a drop down list of product type (eg cat and dog) with temporality (“new” or “old” categories values) — this is both inelegant and incorrect)

i would say you need an extra dimension in order to support the desired slider customization
for example
product type by category (eg cats and dogs) — this is supported now
but then add the allow the ability to additionally specify
product types by tags (eg tag value that support some finite temporal event, such as a SUPER DUPER SALE)

you would not want to do this off some SQL select by age call that picks up rows from when a product was entered in to the db

instead you should allow the merchant to add a simple (removable) tag value to a product (such as Clearance) which could be applied to old as well as new products that the merchant wishes to discount/or put a premium on (and thus is not as rigidly primitive as existing stored proc db calls in woocomerce that you see in storefront/boutique)

this can be done without extending the existing meta taxonomy of the wp db

just add some simple Atelier code that allows a user to pick up product instances dynamically by examining tags — this is not that difficult, and the added flexibility would be a major selling point for Atelier

this would also most likely give rise to some after market plug in by some clever programmer who would realize that you can offer the merchant a slick point and click interface to specify tag values and attach them to product instances

a tag of course would not only be applicable to custom temporal events: it is a flexible enough concept to support conceivably any way a merchant would want to slice and dice his or her inventory

[David Martin – Support]

Hi @anton123,

The homepage slider is powered by the Revolution Slider plugin, it is totally independent from anything to do with WooCommerce.

Your best approach would be to create new Slider items for your desired categories, then link each one to your category page.

@alibey, thanks for your feedback. It would seem you would need to work with a web developer to achieve some of your modification requests as they are beyond the scope of the theme and support.

Should you wish to do this, you can fill out a customisation request form here: http://www.swiftideas.com/customization/.

Though I should add, some of your queries in relation to how WooCommerce queries products are not theme specific, but rather would need to be directed towards WooCommerce: https://support.woothemes.com/hc/en-us

Thanks,
David.

[alibey]

hi I probably will pass on going any further with this as time is limited. The client currently will accept the solution of adding categories such as Clearance Items in order to meet the project’s deadlines. We will have usability testing with select customers this weekend, and will get customer feedback re this approach.

the only point i was making earlier is simply reflects what my client is telling me

which is, she thinks of her products as falling into various categories (such as dogs and cats)

but that a product instance (for example, a particular needlepoint canvas, which is what she sells) can be further classified, say, as a new arrival or a clearance item

thus if “clearance” or “new arrival” are added to an item’s tag field (which would remove the need for custom fields) then possibly a more intelligent slider could display items based on that additional refinement: not just dogs or cats, but dogs that are put on (and later taken off) a NEWLY ARRIVED bucket (and not, as woocommerce does it, categorized as new based on INSERT dates)

ideally an end user could then create sliders that would be more flexible that is currently possible using mono-dimensional categorization

also, creating category-based slider lists by hand is not really a viable option when you are dealing with thousands of products in a highly dynamic retail environment of constant price changes

therefore there should be a kind of meta WoCommerce panel that lists all the products and then the store owner could quickly add tags to them via point and click without have to go into the laborious individual product item page and click on these Category boxes

woocommerce would not have to do anything: a slider would simply need to pick up existing WP functionality, ie, tags, entered either manually or via this panel

[i would develop such a slider/panel product myself but after this project is over i am developing a very different sort of customization “plug in” (more of a standalone woocommerce js-based SPA extension, actually) that I’m reckoning will be of immense benefit to SMB retailers (such as my client) on the Stripe/Merchant Account end of things — but this has nothing to do with sliders etc]

but I will say that (after taking a quick look at Meteor etc) none of the other WP plug in sliders do this right now, though, so it is a possible market opportunity for people who are interested in writing sliders

thanks for your response!

cheers

ali

[David Martin – Support]

Hi Ali,

Ok, thanks for your feedback.

Thanks,
David.