Configurable to Simple
Configurable to Simple
The problem
Usually when you have configurable products in Magento you must use the “Associated Products” menu in the admin panel to specify how different options affect the price.
The problem with this is, what if you need more control? For example, if a particular size of t-shirt in a particular colour is a different price for some reason. Another problem is the amount of manual entry it takes to set up the different prices for each attribute option when you setup the configurable product. The pricing data is already there in your simple products (along with your descriptions and images) so you might as well use them!Another issue with the way configurable products work is when they are added to the cart. The way they are displayed can make issues for your distribution staff, and the complex nature of configurable products after the cart can make them a developers nightmare.
Essentially the aim with configurable products is to narrow down the simple product the customer wants by selecting a few options, beyond that, why should it be treated any differently once added to the cart and purchased.
Features
- Turns a configurable product into the chosen simple product in the cart and beyond
- Uses configurable product pricing rather than complicated pricing via “associated products” in the admin panel
- Allows the images of the configurable product to be set using the images of one of the simple products (or via upload as normal)
- Implements new gallery (the page which is displayed when clicking an icon in the “More views”) which updates as options change (only updates option as images change if simple product images are enabled for the product)
- If your simple product’s aren’t visible in the catalog, their URL points to the configurable product they belong to.
- Updates description as you change option
- Changes images as you select options