SEM Truth

I wanted to share a quick snippet of code that I created for adding a custom navigation section to your Magento left column area. I currently created this navigation area for a client to replace the layered navigation. The layered navigation has a lot of great features and organization but probably better severs as a multi -select drop down. Also in the previous versions of Magento the layered navigation was not search engine friendly.

This is not currently the case but I still find that there is not enough control over the category / subcategory display within the layered navigation. This custom navigation block could be used above some of the other build in features such as price, manufacturer etc. that is simple to accomplish with the layered navigation.

Also of note, I have found including other SEO centralized developers, that the layered navigation simply refreshs that page, so should you have content on the main category page, the layered navigation link creates confusion becuase the page content continues to display. [Read more...]

Unfortunately Magento does not have the function built into its setup to allow you the option to change a products attribute set once you have created a simple product. However, with the following coding updates, you can add the functionality to change a simple products attribute set directly on the Catalog > Manage Products page:

In app/code/core/Mage/Adminhtml/Block/Catalog/Product/Grid.php around line 253 ad:

$sets = Mage::getResourceModel(‘eav/entity_attribute_set_collection’)
->setEntityTypeFilter(Mage::getModel(‘catalog/product’)
->getResource()->getTypeId())->load()->toOptionHash();

array_unshift($statuses, array(‘label’=>”, ‘value’=>”));
$this->getMassactionBlock()->addItem(‘attribute_set’, array(
‘label’=> Mage::helper(‘catalog’)->__(‘Change attribute set’),
‘url’ => $this->getUrl(‘*/*/massAttributeSet’, array(‘_current’=>true)),
‘additional’ => array(
‘visibility’ => array(
‘name’ => ‘attribute_set’,
‘type’ => ‘select’,
‘class’ => ‘required-entry’,
‘label’ => Mage::helper(‘catalog’)->__(‘Attribute Set’),
‘values’ => $sets
)
)
));

And then in app/code/core/Mage/Adminhtml/controllers/Catalog/ProductController.php (anywhere in the class) add a new function:

public function massAttributeSetAction(){

$productIds = $this->getRequest()->getParam(‘product’);
$storeId = (int)$this->getRequest()->getParam(‘store’, 0);
if(!is_array($productIds)) {
$this->_getSession()->addError($this->__(‘Please select product(s)’));
} else {
try {
foreach ($productIds as $productId) {
$product = Mage::getSingleton(‘catalog/product’)
->unsetData()
->setStoreId($storeId)
->load($productId)
->setAttributeSetId($this->getRequest()->getParam(‘attribute_set’))
->setIsMassupdate(true)
->save();
}
Mage::dispatchEvent(‘catalog_product_massupdate_after’, array(‘products’=>$productIds));
$this->_getSession()->addSuccess(
$this->__(‘Total of %d record(s) were successfully updated’, count($productIds)));
} catch (Exception $e) {
$this->_getSession()->addError($e->getMessage());
}
}

$this->_redirect(‘*/*/’, array(‘store’=>(int)$this->getRequest()->getParam(‘store’, 0)));
}

Once you have added the two snippets of code you will now be able to select products from teh Manage Products list and update any products Attribute Set from the actions dropdown menu.

Simply Select ‘Change Attribute Set’ and select the appropriate attribute set from the new dropdown menu that appears to the right of Actions.