OpenCart Community

SimonFilters is a module that allows your customers to filter the products they see on your site.

It started its life back in November 2011 as a simple and innocent filtering extension for Attributes and Options. It was, as far as I know, the first one of it's kind: AJAX driven and theme agnostic(well, you do have to configure it for your theme! There's no auto-magically configurator! YET!).

Constant nagging by its users (you know who you are!) transformed it into the most comprehensive, customizable, feature packed, complex and, I confess, least documented filtering extension available for OpenCart. I can't, quite simply, keep up documenting new features. It's insane. That's why I offer free install for typical installations. If it doesn't work in your store I'll refund you. Total refunds issued in the last 12 months: 3.

Features are almost too much to list(this description field does have a char limit, you know?) and they're constantly being updated but here is a limited list:

-Filtering options are:Attributes, Categories, Options, Tags, Manufacturers, Stock statuses and Price.
-Most filtering options can start either expanded or collapsed, be either radio buttons, check-boxes (OR or AND) or sliders, be presented in one or two columns, have vertical scrollbars or "more/less" buttons. HTML <selects> are next.
-AJAX or normal links with parameters in the querystring (use .htaccess to make them look pretty!)
-You're using a custom theme and would like to use AJAX? No problem. Just tell the module about the HTML container where your products are. There's a central database with the most used ones and I'll configure the rest for free.
-All filtering options (except tags in oc1541, for now) display product totals with or without cache!
-Third party caching friendly. Just enable the "cache buster" feature.
-Enter multiple attributes separated by a char (a ! or a, or a ; etc ) on your product's page and just tell the module which character you used. Done!
-Hide zero quantity products!
-Your customer clicked on some filters and he goes to a product page. Want him to have those filters pre-selected for him when he visits the same category again? Go to the module's admin and click on a checkbox.
-Filters can either sit still as the user clicks them or dynamically change to progressively present only the possible filters in each scenario. Again, a checkbox in the admin.
-You need to show ALL FILTERS even those that make no sense because your client says so? A checkbox in the admin.
-You got tired of the stock look? Go to the built-in theme builder and adapt the existing or create your own.
-Working in stores with more than 50000 products. Some insane people even have 10000 or 20000 categories and 4000 or 5000 manufacturers. Takes a bit more of work from you (you do have to go to each attribute/option/manufacturer and explicitly say you want SimonFilters to acknowledge its existence) but extreme circumstances call for extreme measures. Too much work for you? Throw me ideas!
-and much more...

Demo store: http://opencartmodules.simonoop.com/SimonFilters
Demo admin: http://opencartmodules.simonoop.com/Sim ... ule/filter (login:admin, pwd:admin)
Support email: oc@simonoop.com
Support forum: http://opencartmodules.simonoop.com/forum/
IM contacts: Messenger: oc@simonoop.com - Yahoo: simonooppt - Skype: simonoop
Next: Writing script for a Youtube howto video.

Ajax Layered Navigation module.

Main features:
-Automatic creation of filters for Manufacturers, Attributes, Options, Prices and Stock Status.
-Navigation is done with Ajax. No pesky "search" button for your clients to click.
-Context is saved for all categories and brands. When you enter a product page and go back to the category page, all previously selected filters will be selected automatically.
-Simple and easy to install
-English, Greek, deutsche, hungarian and portuguese native Support
-Compatible with Opencart 1.5.x
-Placeable on Category and Brand Layout only. More to come.
-Remote debug console for me to, well, remotely debug the app real-time. No need for ftp account or admin account. Fully configurable by you.
-Smarter (I hope!) cache management.

Will provide compatibility with other versions for free if reasonable.
Language Packs provided at no cost. See support forum for more detail.

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demo: http://opencartmodules.simonoop.com/SimonFilters
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demo's admin: http://opencartmodules.simonoop.com/SimonFilters/admin (user:admin, pwd:admin)
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Support forum (please register to have access): http://opencartmodules.simonoop.com/forum/
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Customizations and new features by request. See official forum for more details.

This module will be in continuous development. New features will be added.

SimonFilters can be bought from: http://www.opencart.com/index.php?route ... on_id=4057

Hmmm. Deleted the subdomain where the images on this post were hosted. *sigh* I'll make new ones and post them here ASAP.

Version 1.2 Released!

New features:

-Filters work both in Categories and Manufacturers Layout
-You can now select from 3 Filter Types

-Default type demo in Categories and Manufacturers Layout
-"Checkbox" type demo in Categories and Manufacturers Layout

-"Dropdown" type demo in Categories and Manufacturers Layout

Version 1.2.1 Released!

New features:

-Admin can opt to show number of products by filter on all 3 Filter Types
-Database access fully cacheacble

A new build of version 1.2.1 will be made in a few minutes to solve a bug on the admin side that's preventing from selecting all SimonFilters options when adding a new module.

The problem is easily circumvented by re-editing Simonfilters (extensions->modules->SimonFilters) and you'll find the missing options.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

simon

[edit at 15:25]
Done!

Hi!

Version 1.3.1 is out. Changes are:

-You can now choose which filters to show to the client
-You can now choose which filters are shown Expanded or Collapsed (when using Collapsible checkboxes)
-Compatible with Shoppica theme

Simon

Very nice. Can you add the ability to use tags for filters?

Hi, labeshops!

Noted!Next version will bring that!

Simon

Version 1.5.3 is out on the wild!
SimonFilters 1.5.3 motto: Now with less bugs. Maybe!

Hi,

I am using Simonfilters 2.1.0 and also using VanityShop as the template but i have had extream difficulty incorporating the filters for all the pages, specially the search pages.

What can do ? here is the temp site... http://sobek.lunarservers.com/~model49/ ... ommon/home

I realized that the search filter will work only if the class name, id name, div structure is similar to the standard default theme structure.

Please help

V2.4.0 is finally out!

Changes since v1.5.3:

06022012 simonfilters_2.0.0 Beta Build 0004
-OpenCart v1.5.1 support still needs a bit more of work. Don't try this Beta on OCv1.5.1!!!
-Price filter support suspended while in Beta. Working on prices with taxes.
-Changed readme1st.txt
-Removed remote debug console and replaced it with a simpler solution.
-Admin can now choose if he wants the filters to be remembered when a client returns to a previously visited category/manufacturer page (previous always remembered)
-Droped usage of dedicated AJAX call to set filter Session var and a second one to do the filtering. Now there is only one AJAX call that both sets the Session var and executes filtering.
-Filter cache files are now created only when there's actual data to cache. That's the end of empty cache files.
-Front end warning of possible error in config
-Only active filters are now saved into the Setting data structure in order to support XLarge stores.
-Session Filter Data structure rebuilt. Size droped by 3 orders of magnitude.
-"Infinite" category depth supported. Previous was 3.
-JavaScript usage droped by some 60%
-new Stylesheet css file. If a stylesheet file for a custom theme is not available, the default is used.
-Dropped theme specific container id list on the inline code. Now the admin just pushes a button and the config for his theme is retrieved from a central server.
-Central server support for themes shoppica, granule and RetailUniverse. More to follow.
-Added admin-side detection of required changes to root's index.php and admin/index.php
-Added horizontal filter support for content_top
-The module can now only be added on Category and Manufacturer pages (the only ones supported).
-No more huge filter data array on client side. All is done using css classes to decide which filter item is set.

06022012 simonfilters_2.0.0 Beta Build 0005
-Added some forgotten DB_PREFIXES
-Corrected admin "allow_debug_data" theme name sent in the debug url
-Filter headings now only appear on allowed routes (product/category and product/manufacturer/product)
-Corrected problem in admin attribute section that was preventing dropdown change event from showing attributes groups other than the first.
-Corrected bug that was placing attributes in the wrong attribute group
-Added totals to attributes and options int the manufacturer/product page

06022012 simonfilters_2.0.0 Beta Build 0008
-Corrected bug that listed attributes even for disabled products
-Urlencoded simonfilters version on "allow_debug_data"
-Admin email is sent along allowed_debug_data so I can send you an email if I find something wrong in the data sent (or if I see you're using a non-supported theme)
-Added front-end detection of required stylesheet
-Admin can now choose to turn off frontend diagnostics messages
-Solved a bug that was sending some javascript code to the screen for a split second
-Filter heading now only appears if there are any filters to display
-Removed restrictions to module placement added on Beta 2 Build 0004. It seems some people are using SFs on custom layouts!

22022012 simonfilters_2.1.0 Build 0006
-Changed readme1st.txt file (thanks, Amy)
-Added forgoten call to lang file as Manufacturer and Stock titles were stuck in lang file array key names 'manufacturer' and 'stock'
-Finally solved (I hope!) a bug that was sending some javascript code to the screen for a split second.
-CSS is now defined in the admin. Multiple CSS can be created.
-Some buttons on the admin were visually broken in OC1.5.1. Fixed.
-When Persist Data was turned Off, paging wouldn't work. Fixed! Thank's to RTW for the heads up!
-Included Light Version of Admin SimonSaveAndStay
-Solved bug in catalog/controler/filter.php when route is none(homepage)
-Support added to homepage & search page
-Tabs in admin where visible while loadind. Fixed.
-Solved bug in catalog/controller/module/filter.php when current filters is empty
-Added code to execute all javascript inside <script> tags on the html captured by AJAX and removed the now unecessay call to VIEW function.
-Price filter re-enabled. Possibility of choosing price with or without taxes. Problems with price filters:
-Not yet compatible with horizontal filters.
-Price doesn't contamplate specials yet. Will have to correct that.
-Price selection ignores currency change. Will have to correct that.
-Attributes may now contain multiple entries separated by a configurable char.
-Added fronted warning when no filters are selected (thanks, Amy) or not enough filters are selected. The message is presented only if "frontend diagnostics" is enabled.
-Sorting is finally supported! yay!
-Dropped the admin files for other languages than English. Just use the english file!
-Solved bug when no option was selected on the admin side sometimes an index error would be issued.

24022012 simonfilters_2.1.0 Build 0008
-Attributes are now passed by GET
-Empty attributes were still being displayed which caused some awkward filter behavior.
-Client side diagnostics had a bug on the admin side that didn't let user turn it off!

27022012 simonfilters_2.1.0 Build 0012
-There was a bug when DB_PREFIX was used that broke options sql.
-After-Post Javascript wasn't correctly eval'ed on IE 9.

21032012 simonfilters_2.2.0 Beta Build 0003
-Encapsulated all After-Post Javascript in try catch to deal with hypothetical faulty third-party code.
-Filter scaffolding was completely rebuilt.
-A forgotten <?}?> in admin/view/template/module/filter.tpl was causing some distress on servers that don't support php short tags. Replaced with <?php }?>
-Redone Tag system to save resources on XLarge stores
-Added Admin side detection of larger than 64KB data structures that would cause PHP errors. The user is given the change to disable enough filters so the datastructure fits a MySql Text field.
-Fixed bug when no Tags where defined.
-Fixed categories relevant to homepage and search pages (thanks Alex!)
-Fixed some bad HTML on admin Attribute section
-Added some messeges on the admin to warn that when there are no available filters
-Changed the color of the Admin Attributes Tabs so it's more easy to identify which tabs belong to attributes and which belong to config et al
-Fixed bug in Attributes that would make invalid matches, for example: if there was an attr named DDR, the module would match both DDR and DDR2. Now using a combination of LIKE and REGEXP that will, hopefully, represent little burdon to the database
-Finally found why in some cases some javascript and stylesheet code would be outputted to the screen on filter selection. It was a bad css selector that is, finally, fixed!
-Fixed a problem with jquery event delegation.
-Filter execution is now completely isolated from filter scaffolding which allows for dynamic awareness filters! yay!
-Added dynamic filtering! At last!!!
-Added the possibility to hide options with zero quantities.
-Solved bug with siblings in store frontend jquery fadeout
-Added possibility of showing all available filters instead of only the currently valid ones.
-Jquery Price Slider Step can now be configured on the Admin side.
-Added DOM ID for homepage.
-Moved debugging admin features from "General" to "Debug". Admin interface is getting a bit crowded! :S Need to find a better layout!
-Moved domid detection method to controller-side
-Price filter would be presented even if min and max prices were the same. Fixed!
-"Force Rebuild" on Admin side will now also delete any relevant VQmod cache Files.

03042012 simonfilters_2.3.0 Build 0001
-Prices now take into consideration specials. Configured in admin.
-Filter Items are now ordered Alphabetically. Still not final as some of the ordering is made with JavaScript on the client side.
-Price filter would show when disabled but "Show Prices with taxes" was enabled.
-Added DOM ID for search page. Filter HTML grabbing now takes into account original and target pages because in some custom themes the containers can be different.
-Solved bug in horizontal filters that was hiding last <LI> on the list.
-Solved bug in product ID retrieval that was ignoring dynamic filters.

04042012 simonfilters_2.3.1 Build 0001
-Some queryes lacked DB_PREFIX.
-Compatible with oc 1.5.2.1

04042012 simonfilters_2.3.1 Build 0004
-Solved bug in id retrieval cache handler

26042012 simonfilters_2.4.0 Build 0014
-Saw the light and moved on to VQmod
-Solved bug with utf8_strtolower on OC 1.5.1
-Added support for After-AJAX-Script-Ignore so problematic third party javaScript scripts can be ignored.
-Solved bug in tag and options system. Only main language was being presented
-Solved bug on separator algorithm. If enabled and empty would issue an error.
-Added support for category filtering!
-Filter items in each filter group can now be sorted either by OpenCart's core sort_order or Alphabetically
-Solved bug with price slider's change event that could initiate an infinite loop on some OC 1.5.1 and OC 1.5.2.1 stores.
-Changed readme1st.txt

Latest changelog:

05062012 simonfilters_2.5.0 Build 0001
-Finaly got the stock filter working 100%!
-Solved bug in prices with taxes
-Improved reliability of tag sub-system
-Improved reliability of char separated Attributes sub-system
-Improved reliability of price filtering
-Simplified the logic in back-stage filter validation. Much less DB access!
-Added debug option to delete all relevant cache files on each reload. Can be useful for debugging.
-Product totals were being affected by simonfilters filters even when not needed. fixed.
-Product totals are no longer calculated when the call is generated by an AJAX request. Simple fix that should bring a performance boost.
-Solved bug in Attributes Separeted by chars with spaces. Eg: "Attr1 | Attr2 | Attr3 " would be listed but would not be found!
-Added Mutually Exclusive Options.
-When filtering on a page>1 the module would still be on that page even if no products were available to list. Module now default to page 1 when executed on page>1. Not the best solution but current engine has limitations.
-Solved problem with price slider when prices where not integer (that also solves the problem with brices between 0 and 1)
-Added Mutually Exclusive Attributes. All other filters will be next

05062012 simonfilters_2.5.0 Build 0002
-Removed forgoten print_r for debug in /catalog/controller/module/filter.php
-Changed compatibility status. compatible with OC 1.5.3 and 1.5.3.1

05062012 simonfilters_2.5.0 Build 0004
-added support for placement in product/product
-manufacturers, tags, categories and stock status can now be collapsed/expanded

06062012 simonfilters_2.5.0 Build 0006
-solved bug in catalog/model/catalog/filter.php's product_id retriever (thanks, Vladimir)
-solved stock and tags expand/collapse.

New developments:

Users report out-of-the-box compatibility with custom theme Shopicca 2

On the works: custom defined logical operators for each options group. And more!

v2.6 will be released, FSG willing, at the end of the day!

Hello,

I have this shop in three languages (English, hongkong, Chinese). The Bed size and color tone options are shown correctly in english language. When i select Hongkong or Chinese, it again shows english but i have updated all languages in Admin. I went through the codes also. everything looks fine but it's been very difficult to find exact problem.

My shop is http://store.linenhouse.com.hk

Will you please help me to resolve this issue?

Regards,
Ghale

v2.6 released!

Release notes:
-Dropped compatibility files for non-vqmod
-Still a place where single quotes could cause problems needed solving.
-Normally, each time you save the module's admin, cache is deleted and client's filter session data is reset. Added support to disable that feature on the admin for debugging purposes.
-Added a new layer of option configuration. Now you can choose if you want OR or AND as the logical operator between options groups.
-Performance related features in the VQMod file were removed. Too much conflicts and problems reported by users with heavily modified OC core files. These features will be ported to anther VQMode xml file so users can enable and disable at will.
-Bug with atributes that had some regexp reserved chars in the name. For now protections has been added for the chars *()
-Solved bug on Attribute product count
-External javascript files can now also be eval'ed on post ajax requests. User can choose to ignore arbitrary files.
-Price wasn't being rounded when no taxes where applied.
-Fixed language related bug on options names
-Fixed bug with page numbers on SEO enabled urls
-Added 3 different behaviors for options: RadioButtons - List products that match only the selected item, CheckBoxes - list products that match at least one of the selected items and CheckBoxes - list products that match all of the selected items
-Radio button support was added!

Most dramatic change is the possibility to have RadioButtons as well as Checkboxes.

v2.7 Released!

Changes:
-added "more..." and "less..." to the filters. Configured under General on the Admin. Language can be changed on /catalog/language/*/module/filter.php
-Added support for product/special
-Changed the way the price filter works with special prices. Now should be more accurate.
-Now all attributes querys are treated for reserved chars.
-Price filter now also supports price intervals instead of just the "horrid" (Hi Chris! price slider! Sorry: No product counter for prices yet!
-Added detection of old simonfilters code on catalog/model/catalog/product.php from when simonfilters didn't support VQmod. Running that old file at the same time of the VQmod causes the ARRAY() error on the SQL query!
-Added code to try to make the necessary changes to the root's index.php and admin/index.php
-Price filter selection no longer impacts on the list of filters being presented. That way the customer can deselect invalid filter selections.
-Added code to try to create database indexes on some tables to improve performance

Here's a snapshot of the demo site:
Notice the new "more/less" trigger and the new price intervals!

v2.9.0 Beta Build 0002 released!

More new features and some bug fixes!
-support for non vqmod stores added. The admin will try to submit your /catalog/model/catalog/product.php to my server and add the needed code! Think of it as a remote vqmod!
-the filter module was only considering current category. it now works recursively
-fixed bug with ClearFilter status for tags
-added support for OC 1.5.4.1
-added support for hiding the price filter if number of products shown is less then and configurable number
-forgot stock quantity can be less than zero! That was causing problems in the stock filter.
-fixed a bug in tax class.
-fixed a bug in attribute's product count
-fixed a bug in price filter. When "Special prices" was enabled, the query would search for special prices only. But some products don't have special prices. Now searches on all prices.
-category filters now only show relevant categories
-tags and categories titles are now also defined on the language file.
-fixed product count when quantity<=0 for attributes
-if General->Hide Zero-Quantity Options is checked then filters whose products with actual quantity<=0 won't be presented.
-added support for a scrollbar instead of the "more..." link on attributes and options. Remaing filters will be next!
-added support for 1 or 2 columns in attributes and options.
-removed a lot of javascript from the admin so stores with lots of attributes won't stall!
-changed the layout of the admin to find space for *more* options.
-you can now choose in which categories to show the module.
-moved the "show totals" to the general tab. this now affects all places where the filter is presented.
-some stores have thousands of attributes and the store owner only wants to use a couple. Thousands of attributes can make JQuery crash. You now have to go to Catalog->Attributes->Attributes and say which should appear in SimonFilters

Will move away from beta in a few days!

v2.9.1 Build 0002 released!

-the filter module was only considering current category. it now works recursively
-fixed bug with ClearFilter status for tags
-added support for OC 1.5.4.1
-added support for hiding the price filter if number of products shown is less than an a configurable number
-forgot stock quantity can be less than zero! That was causing problems in the stock filter.
-fixed a bug in tax class.
-fixed a bug in attribute's product count
-fixed a bug in price filter. When "Special prices" was enabled, the query would search for special prices only. But some products don't have special prices. Now searches on all prices.
-category filters now only show relevant categories
-tags and categories titles are now also defined on the language file.
-fixed product count when quantity<=0 for attributes
-if General->Hide Zero-Quantity Options is checked then filters whose products with actual quantity<=0 won't be presented.
-added support for a scrollbar instead of the "more..." link on attributes and options. Remaing filters will be next!
-added support for 1 or 2 columns in attributes and options.
-removed a lot of javascript from the admin so stores with lots of attributes won't stall!
-changed the layout of the admin to find space for *more* options.
-you can now choose in which categories to show the module.
-moved the "show totals" to the general tab. this now affects all places where the filter is presented.
-some stores have thousands of attributes and the store owner only wants to use a couple. Thousands of attributes can make JQuery crash. You now have to go to Catalog->Attributes->Attributes and say which should appear in SimonFilters
-fixed bug on client-side sorting
-categories were being presented even when not belonging to the current displayed products
-fixed some issues with horizontal filters: slider and intervals weren't working properly, and the layout would expand horizontally indefinitely
-negative prices are no longer considered
-due to a faulty css selector, when removing filters with checkbox layout the checkboxes would turn to radios. fixed!
-final product.php query wasn't filtering out products whose option quantity was zero. Solved.
-a clear:both in the css was causing problems in horizontal filters. it is now issued only for vertical filters.
-you now have to go to each option and say you want that options to be seen by simonfilters. Extra large stores with thousands of options would break jquery.

Latest release notes:

07122012 simonfilters_2.9.3 Build 0001
-moved display_type from the module table to the general tab. Noone seems to be using different display_types in different modules so it doesn't make sense.
-added a cache buster feature to admin->general
-added an inline SimonSeesMe switch to the Catalog->attributes->attributes, list. Just click the SimonFilters column!!!
-added an inline SimonSeesMe switch to the Catalog->options, list. Just click the SimonFilters column!!!
-added an inline SimonSeesMe switch to the Catalog->manufacturers, list. Just click the SimonFilters column!!!
-fixed layout glitch with the price filter
-added RadioButtons/CheckBox to Attributes
-Attribute's Mutually Exclusive behavior had a bug that was doing the opposite of what was selected. Oops!
-Added slider support for attributes
-Added support for cache in the queries that calculate the totals
-Changed the name of the variable that holds placement info. It was too large and would break in XL stores.
-Reworked final query construction to fix a bug in OC1541 and in the process eliminated a lot of complexity in the vqmod file.
-Rebuilt a great part of the VQmod XML file. More compact (20% smaller) and less prone to collisions with other modules!
-Added new supported route for product/manufacturer/info
-Created manual install txt generated in real time from the vqmod file. Manual Install instructions will never be out of date!
-Finally found a way to replace internal Product ID retrieval with a direct call to catalog/model/product->getProducts! YAY!!!
-A misused static var was forcing execution of the getSimonAttributes algorithm over and over again. fixed!
-Some glitches fixed on the client-side filter sorting function sortli()

07122012 simonfilters - 2.9.3 Build 0003
-fixed a glitch in the clear filters with dynamic filters off when the customer arrives at a place he had previously visited. now reloads the filters.
-added range:true to the sliders so they now share the same look as the price slider

18122012 simonfilters - 2.9.4 Build 0001
-fixed bug with "account/wishlist" for OC1.5.4.1
-added product count to categories filter
-added product count to manufacturers filter
-added product count to stock filter
-the query for discovering identical tags was duplicated, ie: it was being execute twice!!! Shame on me!
-added product count to tag filter
-fixed bug in admin's tag finder for oc1.5.4.1
-fixed bug in product page count on oc1.5.4.1 (thanks, Mach!)
-removed all REGEXP and replaced them with conventional LIKE statements

New release! And this time it's for real: no more new features will be considered!!!! V3 is on the works! Completely new paradigm, native OC 1.5.5 filter support, full dropdown/radio/slider support!

26012013 simonfilters - 2.10.0 Build 0001
-deleted a forgotten debug message in the admin
-admin can now force the price filter to be in any currency instead of the store's default.
-heading_title on the english front-end language file was "Filters1". It was a forgotten debugging string.
-tags changed from a independent table to a field in the product_description table. The detection algorithm was failing if the store was an upgrade from earlier versions of OC instead of a fresh install.
-some users of OC1541 have tags separated by a comma and a space! That creates chaos in the tag discovering algorithm. Added the possibility to run a script to sanitize tags in the Admin! Agh!
-tag filtering was being made using MATCH AGAINST. Changed it back to LIKE. Silly me!
-admin can now choose to show either all categories filters or only the current & child categories.
-you can now force current category to be pre-selected when entering the first time
-you can now force current manufacturer to be pre-selected when entering the first time