Product Attribute Pictures v2.0 PLUS - Manual

Thank you for downloading shareware this product. Please note that some of the features mentioned in this guide are not available in the shareware version. To download the full version, lease visit the Product Attribute Pictures v2.0 Information Page.This software is a dynamic and flexible imageing solution for your osCommerce online store. Its features include easy uploading and management of image files together with fine-grained control over display options and bulk copying of images and settings to other products.

We hope you will find this software easy to install and use. The User Guide section of this document is also available online via the help buttons in the PAPs admin panel. If you have a support question or comment, please don't hesitate to contact us using the channels shown in the Further Support section, below. We understand that our success is based on your satisfaction and we will therefore continue to provide support to you until you are completely satisfied with the product and beyond.

System Requirements

Installation
Fresh Installation
Upgrade From Free Version

User Guide
  Uploading Images
  Adjusting Display Settings
  Bulk Copying

Troubleshooting

Further Support

System Requirements

PHP 4.0 or later
MySQL 5.0 or later (earlier versions may work)
osCommerce 2.2 Milestone 2 (earlier versions may work, but are not supported)
GD or GD2 graphics library installed on your server
Product model numbers MUST consist of only the following characters - 0123456789 and '-'

Installation

The installation process for this version of PAPS has been pared down to the minimum possible number of steps and file edits. For your convenience it is significantly more streamlined compared to the free version, requiring only:

5 steps
2 files to edit
2 database tables

If you are upgrading from a free version, you will be able to delete some redundant code (see below).

Fresh Installation

Step 1 - Copy all the files from the 'catalog' directory of this distribution to their respective folders.

Step 2 - Backup your database, and then run the code in the file sql/paps_v2.0_sw_osc.sql using your favorite database interface program. REMEMBER: if you are using prefixes for your database tables you need to add the prefix to the table names in the SQL file before you run the SQL commands.

Step 3 - Open the file catalog/admin/includes/boxes/catalog.php
Find the line: '<a href="' . tep_href_link(FILENAME_PRODUCTS_ATTRIBUTES, '', 'NONSSL') . '" class="menuBoxContentLink">' . BOX_CATALOG_CATEGORIES_PRODUCTS_ATTRIBUTES . '</a><br>' .
and add beneath it: '<a href="' . tep_href_link('paps.php', '', 'NONSSL') . '" class="menuBoxContentLink">Attribute Pictures</a><br>' .
Save and close the file.

Step 4 - Open the file /catalog/product_info.php
Place the following lines:

<?php include(DIR_WS_MODULES . '/paps.php'); ?>

At the point in the file at which you would like the Product Attribute Pictures to be displayed. When placing this line, please bear in mind the following points:

placement should be within an existing table - the display begins and ends with <tr></tr> tags
placement should be anywhere after the line: $products_attributes = tep_db_fetch_array($products_attributes_query);

If you are unsure of where to place this line, we would suggest initially putting it around line 205, immediately before a <tr> tag or immediately after a </tr> tag.

Step 5 - Create a new folder in the catalog/images folder. Name it 'paps' and make sure it is fully writeable.

Installation is now complete. You are now ready to proceed to the User Guide and follow the steps outlined there.

Upgrade From Free Version

To upgrade from an existing free version of PAPs, you need to delete some redundant code and then follow steps 1), 2) and 4) ONLY from the 'Fresh Installation' section, above. The steps marked [OPTIONAL] do not have to be completed in order to successfully use this version of PAPs. However the corresponding code is no longer used by the system, so you may want to delete it to avoid unnecessary clutter.

Step 1 - [OPTIONAL] Delete the following line(s) from catalog/admin/includes/filenames.php:
//start PAPS
define('FILENAME_PAPS','paps.php');
//end PAPS

Step 2 - [OPTIONAL] Delete the following line(s) from catalog/admin/includes/languages/english.php:
define('BOX_CATALOG_CATEGORIES_PAPS', 'Attribute Pictures');

Step 3 - [OPTIONAL] Delete the following line(s) from /catalog/includes/database_tables.php:
//paps
define('TABLE_PAPS_HEADINGS','paps_headings');
define('TABLE_PAPS_GLOBALS','paps_globals');

Step 4 - [OPTIONAL] Delete the following line(s) from /catalog/includes/languages/english.php:
//PAPs (Product Attribute Pictures)
define('PAPS_SELECTED_OPTION','Selected Option');
define('PAPS_HEADING','Product Options Viewing Area');
define('PAPS_INSTRUCTIONS','Click on any of the smaller images to see our product options, then select your chosen options
from the \'Available Options\' drop-down menus.');

Step 5 - [OPTIONAL] Delete the following line(s) from /catalog/stylesheet.css:
SPAN.productInfoSmall{font-family:Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10px;color:#000000;}

Step 6 - In /catalog/product_info.php:
Delete all code from:

To:

Step 7 - If you are upgrading from version 0.5, backup your database and run the following SQL statements on it using your favourite MySQL interface program:

ALTER TABLE `paps_headings` ADD `show_att_price` VARCHAR( 1 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0' AFTER `show_att_vals` , ADD `allow_att_sel` VARCHAR( 1 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0' AFTER `show_att_price` ;

ALTER TABLE `paps_globals` CHANGE `unlink_pas` `unlink_pas` VARCHAR( 1 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT '1';

If you are upgrading from any other free version, use the 'New Installation' SQL found in the /sql folder of this distribution.

Step 8 - Follow steps 1), 2)(only if upgrading from pre v0.5) and 4) from the 'Fresh Installation' section, above.

Installation is now complete. Please proceed to the next section to begin using this version of PAPs.

User Guide

Uploading Images

This is the first step to setting up your images for any given product.

1) In the Admin component, go to Catalog->Attribute Pictures via the menu on the left.
2) Select the product to which you would like to add images using either its model number or name. Use the dropdown menus to choose and then click 'Select'.
3) Initially, you will see a message stating that there are no pictures available for this product. Beneath this message, you will see the upload section.
4) In the uploads section you can choose between uploading images for a new or existing attribute for the current product. If you upload files to an existing attribute, the new images will be grouped together with the attribute's existing images.SUGGESTION: You should upload at least 2 pictures for each new attribute. Enter a number in the box provided and click 'Submit'.
5) You will now see a number of rows (the number which you entered in step (4)) allowing you to upload your product attribute images. You will need to fill every row before uploading. Each row has 2 columns:

Attribute Value - This is the specific name of the individual attribute (e.g. Red, Large, Gothic etc.)
File - This is the filepath and name of the file that you will choose by clicking on the 'Browse' button.

For example, if you wanted to upload 3 pictures showing different colors, your upload section would look like this:

Attribute Value	File
Red	[FILENAME].jpg
Green	[FILENAME].jpg
Blue	[FILENAME].jpg

SUGGESTION: Attribute Names and Values can contain spaces, but please avoid using apostrophes as these could affect the normal operation of PAPs. Attribute Values will be displayed exactly as you enter them here.
WARNING: If you plan to upload several large image files, make sure that the total aggregate size of all files added together does not exceed the 'upload_max_filesize' or 'post_max_size' settings in your web server's php.ini file.

6) When you have entered the information in all 3 columns of the uploads section, click 'Upload'. Congratulations! Your pictures have been attached to the selected product and you should now be able to see them if you look at the item's product info page in your store.
At this point, you can make adjustments to the way your pictures are displayed. The next section deals with these options.

Adjusting Display Settings

After you have uploaded a set of images for at least one attribute, you can now make various adjustments to the way in which the images are displayed. To make adjustments for images already uploaded for a different product simply select the product from the dropdown menus at the top of the screen.

You should now see the Current Images section, which has the heading: 'CURRENT PRODUCT ATTRIBUTE PICTURES FOR: ' followed by the product name and model number. Below this you will see the following product-level options:

Ignore product attributes (Yes/No):

'Yes' (default): your pictures will be displayed in the product info page even if you have not set up any attributes for the product via the 'Products Attributes' section of the Admin component. In effect, this means that you can add images that are unrelated to specific product attributes to the product info page.
'No': your pictures will only be displayed AFTER you have set up corresponding attributes using the 'Products Attributes' section of the Admin component. In this mode, you will have the option to show the price differential of each attribute value below its picture. You will also be able to allow customers to select their desired attribute using radio buttons below each picture. Please note, the Attribute Value and Attribute Names you use when uploading the image files must exactly match those that you set up in the 'Products Attributes' section.
NB - This setting applies to ALL pictures associated with the selected product.

Viewing Area Title:

Edit this textbox to change the main heading for PAPs viewing section on your product information page.

Viewing Area Subtitle:

Edit this textbox to change the text below the main title. This could include a brief instruction for users on how to use the viewing area.

Main Image Title:

Edit this textbox to change the text which will appear above the enlarged image which the user has selected.

Thumbnails Position: Choose the appropriate layout for the viewing area on the product information page.

Click 'Update' to save your changes.

Beneath these settings, you will see one column of settings for each product attribute name that you have already uploaded pictures for. Each column consists of the following:

A 'Current Product Attributes Pictures' table -

This table shows which pictures representing attribute values (e.g. Nylon, Cotton etc.) you have already uploaded to the server, and the attribute name (e.g. Material) with which they are associated. You can also view or delete any of the pictures via this table. If you have 'Ignore product attributes' set to 'No' and have set up corresponding product attributes in the 'Products Attributes' section, you will see an extra column in this table which shows the price differential of each attribute value.
NB - The fact that your uploaded pictures appear in this table does NOT necessarily mean that they are currently being displayed in the product info page.

Display Attribute Name:

'Yes' (default): the attribute name (general heading e.g. Material, Size etc.) will be displayed above the group of pictures showing the different attribute values.
'No': the attribute name is hidden.

Display Attribute Values:

'Yes' (default): the attribute value (specific title e.g. Cotton, Large etc.) will be displayed below each attribute value picture.
'No': the attribute value is hidden.

Display Attribute Prices (only available if 'Ignore product attributes' is set to 'No'):

'Yes': the price differential (e.g. +$2.00, -$3.50) will be displayed below each attribute value picture.
NB - the price differential should already be set via the 'Products Attributes' section.
'No' (default): the price differential is hidden.

Allow Attribute Selection: (only available if 'Ignore product attributes' is set to 'No'):

'Yes': a radio button will be displayed below each attribute value picture. Customers can select which attribute value they would like to purchase by clicking on the radio button. When the item is added to the shopping cart, the attribute value will be added to the cart, together with the price differential. The standard Product Attributes dropdown menu for the attribute name will not be displayed.
'No' (default): the radio buttons will be hidden, and customers will use the standard Products Attributes dropdown menu to select which attribute value they require.

Number of pictures per row:

Default: 3 - enter the maximum number of thumbnail pictures to be displayed per row next to the main selected picture frame.

Width of thumbnails (pixels):

Default: 80 - enter the width in pixels of each thumbnail (attribute value picture).

Width of selected pic (pixels):

Default: 300 - enter the width in pixels of the enlarged picture which displays the selected thumbnail.

NB - Only image widths can be set in order to maintain the aspect ratio of each image. You should always ensure that you upload pictures which are slightly larger than required because the system can reduce large images but will not increase the size of smaller images. Again, this is to maintain the quality of the image.

Bulk Copying

If you have uploaded a set of pictures which you want to use with a different product, you can copy an entire image set (i.e. all attibute value pictures for a specific attribute name), together with its current settings, to one or more other products. Please remember that if 'Ignore product attributes' is set to 'No', you will have to ensure that the necessary attributes have been set up in the 'Products Attributes' section for the images to display properly. NOTE: Bulk copying is not possible if thereare apostrophes in the attribute name.

Copy to products:

Enter the product model number of each product you wish to copy the current images and settings to. When copying to multiple products, separate each product model number with a comma, leaving no whitespace on either side of each comma (e.g. 11045,DVD-ABUG,30122). Then click 'submit'.

Troubleshooting

Q) I have completed installation, but the link to the PAPs control panel hasn't appeared in the Catalog menu on the left.

A) This is probably due to denial of access to the paps.php file (see below). To confirm that this is the case, try accessing the PAPs control panel from the index.php page of the Admin component. If access has been denied, see below.

Q) I have completed installation, but when I click on 'Attribute Pictures' in the Admin menu, I get an 'Access Denied' message.

A) If you have Administrator rights to the Admin component, then go to Administrator->File Access. Then select 'Catalog' from the list and click 'Store Files' on the right side of the screen. In the dropdown menu that appears, select 'paps.php' and click 'Save'. If you do noy have administrator rights, you will need to contact the administrator and ask him/her to do it for you. Now go back to Catalog->Attribute Pictures and you should see the control panel.

Q) I select a product name from the dropdown menu, but when I click 'Select', nothing happens.

A) Ensure you have attached a model number to the product via the product edit page in the admin component.

Q) My images are being displayed smaller than required even though I have set the image widths in the control panel.

A) You should create your images at least as large as the size required for the enlarged (selected) picture before uploading them.

Q) My product info page has been completely rearranged and has lost its original structure.

A) Try changing the position of the line <?php include(DIR_WS_MODULES . '/paps.php'); > in your product_info.tpl.php file. Please bear in mind the guidance about placing this line.

Q) Having upgraded from a free version of PAPs, I'm getting 'Division by Zero' errors where my attribute pictures should be.

A) Go to the PAPs control panel in Admin and select the product that has the problem. Make sure you enter values for the number of pictures per row and image sizes.

Q) When using the Bulk Copy function, the system says I have successfully copied images to another product, but when I check the PAPs for that product, the images haven't been copied to it.

A) This problem arrises when updating from a free version. Only images uploaded with this version of PAPs can be copied over to other products. Please delete the current attribute pictures, then upload again before copying.

Q) I'm getting an error similar to: 1146 - Table [TABLE_NAME] doesn't exist.

A) You may be using database prefixes for your database tables. In this case you should change the name of the two PAPs database table to reflect your chosen prefix. You can do this by running the following SQL commands on your database (remember to back it up first). Substitute your database prefix for the part in square brackets:

RENAME TABLE paps_headings TO [YOUR_PREFIX]paps_headings;
RENAME TABLE paps_globals TO [YOUR_PREFIX]paps_globals;

Further Support

Please remember to send us your versions of PHP, MySQL and osCommerce when sending a support query.

Open Source Services Website	http://www.open-source-services.com
Support & Discussion Forum	http://www.open-source-services.com/Forum/Product-Attribute-Pictures-v2.0-PLUS-Shareware-Version-osCommerce/
Support Email	support@open-source-services.com
Other Enquiries	http://www.open-source-services.com/component/option,com_facileforms/Itemid,52/

Product Attribute Pictures v2.0 PLUS - Manual

Contents