User Groups help

I'm attempting to create user groups for my vendors (Admin  > Configuration > Users > User Group).  I'd like to limit their access to certain operations like adding, deleting, and editing products inside pre-existing categories.  Well, I guess that's pretty much it.  That and their contact/manufacturers' information.  When I go into adding a user group, I see a scroll box with different functions listed and a modify box with the same functions listed.  But I can't modify them, just able to view them.  I'd love to specify their access to just specific products, but this general access is good for now, but they shouldn't have access to the same functions as a Top Administrator.

Also, is there a way to add or edit manufacturers information?  I know it exists in OSCommerce and ZenCart...are you planning on including it in the update?

I'm using version 0.6.  I love the simplicity of the back end, and I'm hoping I can modify the hell out of the default shop layout and colors.  But I'd like to provide my vendors with some access to their products and information.

Another question: about Tax Classes and GeoZones...in the US, I need to charge Sales Tax to all California residents.  Residents in other States or outside the US don't need to pay sales tax.  Under Geo Zone, I created a Geo Zone called US Tax Zone, and inside that a Zone called California.  Does that mean I'll only charge sales tax to just California residents or all US residents?

Thanks!


other problems/questions/suggestions:

Taxable goods show total price as sale price + tax instead of just sale price...tax in the US is only added for residents in the same State as retailer, not applicable for all US residents.

Is there a way to show shipping price not as a total with sales price, but as another product detail in the product page itself?

For the pop-up product image, is it possible to add 10-20 pixels to the window size so the entire image shows up without being cropped at the edges?

Is there a way to combine image upload with insert product?

Is there a way to create options specific to a product?  Right now, I can create options globally, such as color, size, speed, etc.  If I have 2 different T-Shirt products, and btoh come with their own set of color options, it'd be nice to create or list those specific options while inserting that specific product rather than having to create those options generically/globally and then coming back and adding them to that product.

Is there a way to hide categories that have been created?  I have plans for more categories, but no products for them yet...I'd like them to show up when I do have products for them, but until then, no show.  And deleting them and then coming back and creating them later seems like a lot of work for my unreliable memory.

Thanks again!

A very long question!

Can you break it down a bit.

No problem, I'm longwinded sometimes.  It's actually a bunch of questions 

1. User Groups: I'd like to control the powers non-administrators have.  In the current version, it gives me a list of their powers to view, but I can't modify that list.  For example editing categories.  If I gave vendors access to my back end, I'd only want them to be able to upload and edit their images, no one elses.  And I'd like them to be able to edit their products, no one elses.  As it stands now, they can pretty much do what I do.

2. Sales tax: By law, i'm supposed to charge sales tax to all California state residents who shop at my site.  I do not want to charge anyone else sales tax other than those I'm legally required to.
           a. As the system is now, it's either all or none.
           b. As the system is now, it displays the tax-already-added price
               instead of just the sales price with no-tax-added.
                     i. This hurts me because I lose sales with higher prices displayed.

3. Shipping cost: I would like to show the cost of shipping next to the sale price of the product.  For example, if something cost $3.99 and shipping is $2.00, I'd like the product page to display 2 prices - one for product price, and one for shipping.  This way there are no surprises when the buyer checks out.

4. International shipping: For shipping in the US, a flat rate for me is about $2.  For shipping internationally, it's about $6.  I'd like to be able to set the shipping price depending on their location in relation to me.

5. Pop-up Product Image: When enlarging the product image, it shows up in a Pop-up window.  The window itself is slightly too small to fit the entire image.  Adding 10-20 pixels to the image size can be done with a simple script so that the Pop-up window never crops the enlarged product image.

6. Category Hiding: with products, I can choose whether they are enabled or disabled in this current version.  It would be nice to be able to do the same to categories as well.

7. Image Upload/Product Insert: When I insert a product, I can only choose a product image from a list of images I've already uploaded.  It would be nice to have a way to upload an image while inserting a product.  Perhaps below the list of images there can be an image upload feature...sure I can upload the image first or insert the product and then upload the image, and then come back and link the image to the product, but it'd be easier for absentminded folk like me who like to work irratically.

8. In the options for insert products and insert categories, there's an option to select an image to act as a thumbnail for that product or category.  It would be nice, especially for designers like me who don't want to use thumbnails for categories, if there was a "no image" option in the list.

9. When inserting a product, I can select multiple categories.  AWESOME!  But the list's box is so small.  Making it twice as long would make use sooo much easier for me and others who assign products to multiple categories.

I hope that's clear enough.  My mind is all over the place and I'm anxious to get my site done.

1. User Groups: I'd like to control the powers non-administrators have.  In the current version, it gives me a list of their powers to view, but I can't modify that list.  For example editing categories.  If I gave vendors access to my back end, I'd only want them to be able to upload and edit their images, no one elses.  And I'd like them to be able to edit their products, no one elses.  As it stands now, they can pretty much do what I do.

You should be able to modify the list. If you want vendors to have accessto your site I would recomend you build another login system that can be accessed from the front end. I'm not intending to add this sort of feature.

2. Sales tax: By law, i'm supposed to charge sales tax to all California state residents who shop at my site.  I do not want to charge anyone else sales tax other than those I'm legally required to.
           a. As the system is now, it's either all or none.
           b. As the system is now, it displays the tax-already-added price
               instead of just the sales price with no-tax-added.
                     i. This hurts me because I lose sales with higher prices displayed.

You should be able to charge california tax by adding califonia into the zones to geo zones than adding that geo zone to to a newly create tax

If you set your store location zone to californa in the admin/settings then your store will display califonia taxes.

You can set the prices not to be displayed with tax then it shoudl be totaled with the califona tax at the end of the checkout confirmation.

3. Shipping cost: I would like to show the cost of shipping next to the sale price of the product.  For example, if something cost $3.99 and shipping is $2.00, I'd like the product page to display 2 prices - one for product price, and one for shipping.  This way there are no surprises when the buyer checks out.

This is a feature that you would have to add your self. The current way open cart works the shipping is calculate sperate from the product prices.

4. International shipping: For shipping in the US, a flat rate for me is about $2.  For shipping internationally, it's about $6.  I'd like to be able to set the shipping price depending on their location in relation to me.

You sould be able to do this using a custom shipping module and setting a geo_zone with all the states / zones close to you at a lower rate.

5. Pop-up Product Image: When enlarging the product image, it shows up in a Pop-up window.  The window itself is slightly too small to fit the entire image.  Adding 10-20 pixels to the image size can be done with a simple script so that the Pop-up window never crops the enlarged product image.

This is a bug I will correct this problem. There is a problems with differn't popup scripts because of all the differn't browsers its hard to get it to work with every one.

What browser are you using?

6. Category Hiding: with products, I can choose whether they are enabled or disabled in this current version.  It would be nice to be able to do the same to categories as well.

This might be a good feature. It would not be hard to do. I could just have a category status which will notshow when set to disabled.

7. Image Upload/Product Insert: When I insert a product, I can only choose a product image from a list of images I've already uploaded.  It would be nice to have a way to upload an image while inserting a product.  Perhaps below the list of images there can be an image upload feature...sure I can upload the image first or insert the product and then upload the image, and then come back and link the image to the product, but it'd be easier for absentminded folk like me who like to work irratically.

I sort centered the image system on opencart to avoid problems when images are used by more than one product. This way you can change the image once and it effects all the products using it.

8. In the options for insert products and insert categories, there's an option to select an image to act as a thumbnail for that product or category.  It would be nice, especially for designers like me who don't want to use thumbnails for categories, if there was a "no image" option in the list.

The image can be removed using the template system or you can change the image size in the catalog/plugin/category.php to resize the image to your prefered size.

9. When inserting a product, I can select multiple categories.  AWESOME!  But the list's box is so small.  Making it twice as long would make use sooo much easier for me and others who assign products to multiple categories.

Good point! I will update this for the v0.7 release. I was thinking about having checkboxes next to the image names.

Hey Daniel,

Thanks for the help.  I think I got # 1 & 2 sorted out.

What's the newest IE?  The one released before that is mine.

Also, I get your logic behind the central image upload.  Not a big deal for me.

I like the idea of using check boxes for #9 as well.  I was going to suggest it, but then thought of the logistics of create a list of all the categories with check boxes next to them.  I didn't think it would be possible to have them automatically listed in such a way.  great idea if you can do it.

For # 4, you mean I'd have to write my own shipping modules?  Are there any existing shipping modules out there for Open Cart yet besides flat rate?  I don't know shit about programming, and my programmer is handling all that.  I'll talk to him about it.

For # 3, Okay.  So regardless of whether I buy 1 product or 100 products, shipping is charged by shipper, not product.  Other carts calculate by products.  For example, with the flat rate shipping module, they'd calculate shipping for 10 products as flat rate X 10.

I like your feature and it would work great with a multiple vendor option.

I'm trying to figure out how to display shipping price as calculated by product ala those other carts, and pleasantly surprise the customer in checkout if he buys all his products from one vendor...maybe even have links in the product page to other products where he can save on shipping by buying from the same vendor using your shipping calculating methods...maybe if I charge a flat rate per product and display that...that way I can charge a lower flat rate?

For #1 Doh!  Of all the carts that would go great with multiple vendors, yours would be the best.  Any clues or ideas about how I can implement it?  Any particular reason you're not interested in doing this?

For # 2

Here's the link to my store:

http://www.slimhost.com/~deptap/Shop/

2a. On the front page, I'm seeing the price + tax.  But on the category and product pages I'm seeing price without tax.  What are you seeing?

Checkout seems to be working fine...some odd things though:

2b. I created a Nevada account, but when checking out, in the shipping method screen, the default address was the store's address as well as my own customer account's address (same address).  The same deal with the payment option screen.  I had to select a different address from the address book rather than being able to use, by default, the address attached to that out of state Nevada account.


10. A new suggestion: on the main catalog page, only the latest uploaded products show up.  It'd be nice if all the products in the catalog had a chance to shine there.  I think products showing at random there would be best.  What do you think?

11. There is some information about the product I'd like to display in the "description" of the product.

http://www.slimhost.com/~deptap/Shop/in ... duct_id=31

For this, i had to create an html template which I pasted into the description of the product.

I was wondering if there was a way to add custom fields to the product insert function and display that information in the product page.