Product Filtering via Specification Attributes - How?

Hi guys,

I read in this post that Specification Attributes can be used to create filters on Category pages...

https://www.nopcommerce.com/boards/t/16724/what-is-defferent-between-product-product-attributes-and-specification-attributes.aspx

I have created a Specification Attribute, and I created a bunch of options inside of that Specification Attribute. I then assigned an option to 2 products:

Product #1:

Attribute type: Option
Attribute: Rack Units
Value: 8U
Allow filtering: Yes
Show on product page: Yes
Display order: 0


Product #2:

Attribute type: Option
Attribute: Rack Units
Value: 12U
Allow filtering: Yes
Show on product page: Yes
Display order: 0

I presumed that with the Specification Attributes set on the two products, that filters would appear on the Category page(s) where these products are listed. But no filters are visible...?

So, how can I enable product filters on Category pages? How can I enable product filters on Search Results pages?

*Please note: I do not wish to use an extension. I would like to utilize the built-in functionality of the framework, then (if necessary) build any customizations for that functionality myself.

Thanks in advance!

I also saw mention of this in the Documentation, but I am not seeing the filters displayed on this page:

http://docs.nopcommerce.com/display/nc/Filtering+the+Display

First you go to see this page to see the specification attributes.

Next thing you go to this page to create specification attribute.

last of all, go to edit page of that product and then go to Specification attributes tab to add specification attribute for product.

anik1991 wrote:

Thank you @anik1991,

I had all of the settings set properly, however I did not realize that categories in nopCommerce are not inherited...

Take the following categories for example:

1. Racks & Cabinets
    2. Racks & Cabinets >> Wall Mount Racks/Cabinets
        3. Racks & Cabinets >> Wall Mount Racks/Cabinets >> Wall Mount Cabinets

Before I added the products and assigned Specification Attributes to them, I first created my categories (above). After creating those categories, I created the products & their attributes. Finally, I assigned only the #3 category ('Racks & Cabinets >> Wall Mount Racks/Cabinets >> Wall Mount Cabinets')...

Apparently, nopCommerce does not assign the parent categories to a product when a child category is assigned to a product. This is strange to me... Anyways, I didn't see the attributes because the products were not displayed on the #1 category page, nor the #2 category page. And (for some reason), the attributes simply do not display on the #3 category page...

Hopefully I can find a setting somewhere to alter this behavior (enable category inheritance, enable attribute filters on the most deeply nested category)...

Thanks again!

Maybe it's just that Specification Attribute filters do not display unless the product is assigned to each individual category in the branch?

Yes I think so.

I suppose that is a topic for another thread. Thank you again for your assistance with this. I appreciate it!


For anyone who stumbles upon this thread:

The cause of my issue was that none of my products were assigned to the "tier 1" or "tier 2" categories. The problem wasn't that the attributes weren't displaying- it was that the products weren't displaying. I had to manually assign all 3 categories to each product for the attributes to display.

DerekFoulk wrote:
Hmmmm, maybe a bit late but there's a setting under Configuration > Settings > Catalog Settings called Include products from subcategories. As it's name suggests this means that products assigned to your tier 3 category should also be displayed under your tier 1 and 2 categories without having to manually assign them (assuming that tier 2 is a subcategory of tier 1, and tier 3 is a subcategory of tier 2). I haven't checked but I expect this would also display the relevant filter options by default. It might be worth checking out as it's going to be a lot easier and less error prone than manually assigning each product to all 3 categories.

See the nop admin demo for example: http://admin-demo.nopcommerce.com/Admin/Setting/Catalog

Is any one have custom code or plugin for filtering products using specification attributes range filter similar to price instead of check boxes.

Hi manjunatha.govindappa,

Pleas check our new plugin Custom AJAX Product Filter. With this plugin you can build your own product search filter based on both product and specification attributes. For each attribute you can choose if and how it should be displayed. Different types of sliders, checkboxes and dropdowns are available. On top of that they can be grouped within different compartiments by using a dividing line. It is a faceted search which means attribute values that are not available anymore with the selected combination of search parameters are disabled.
Finally you can easily choose where the filter should be placed. All data is reloaded very fast and instantly.

More info can be found at https://www.nopcommerce.com/p/2896/custom-ajax-product-filter.aspx . A demo of the plugin can be found at http://demo.nop-extend.com/wine/ . The admin demo can be found at http://demo.nop-extend.com/admin/ .

Best regards,

Pieter