the more i work with the product options of 3dcart, the more i find i am limited to what i can do.
The problem:- It is impossible to create a system that enables owners to manage their product options that can account for every type of situation. The current system may be acceptable for products that simply have a 'red/green/blue' type option. But many products require much more involved options systems.
- The current options system is very time consuming for products with many options. In fact, many of our products take up to 1 minute to load in the administration!
- design is very limited. on some options, i may want to apply special styling to draw attention or provide illustration. this is not possible to do on the current system
in a previous post i had requested the possibility to add custom styling to each option...but as i become more familiar with this system, i believe that this is not the right path.
The solution:
In exactly the same way I LOVE how 3dcart gives complete flexibility on the design of the website through the use of templates, i would like the same process applied to the product options. instead of (or in addition to) the current list of product options, each product should have space for completely custom code for product options. basically, everything within the form tags.
example limitations:- suppose you have a product that has 20 sizes and 20 colors. however, certain size/color combinations are not allowed. this is currently not possible
- you are selling car parts and visitors must select a make/model. you would have to force visitors to see every model car regardless of the make!
- what if you want to promote a specific option that no other companies offer. ex: FREE laser engraving, just put your name here:....but it doesn't receive much attention because it blends with all the other options
- what if you want image rollovers to help illustrate what each option is...but they don't fit because you have no control where the images are shown...it doesn't work!