New to prestashop development... why is everything confusing?

[Gabrax]

I'm working on the front page of my test shop and I'm unable to make a simple call to display certain products from certain categories. It looks like I have to do a lot of unnecessary work just to display 3-4 products on the home page by making a module for it.

 

Is there any other way around this? I don't feel that displaying 3 products warranting a custom module. In fact I don't want anything to do with modules just to get some simple features on the site's home page.

 

Can anyone who has done this feature manually point to some helpful text on calling products via the smarty class without modules?

[vekia]

you can modify homefeatured module, in module php file define new categories products:

$category = new Category(Context::getContext()->shop->getCategory(), (int)Context::getContext()->language->id);
$nb = (int)Configuration::get('HOME_FEATURED_NBR');
$products = $category->getProducts((int)Context::getContext()->language->id, 1, ($nb ? $nb : 8));
$category2 = new Category(ID_OF_CATEGORY2, (int)Context::getContext()->language->id);
$products2 = $category2->getProducts((int)Context::getContext()->language->id, 1, ($nb ? $nb : 8));
$category3 = new Category(ID_OF_CATEGORY3, (int)Context::getContext()->language->id);
$products3 = $category3->getProducts((int)Context::getContext()->language->id, 1, ($nb ? $nb : 8));

also add these $product variables to smarty array:

$this->smarty->assign(array(
'products' => $products,
'products2' => $products2,
'products3' => $products3,
'add_prod_display' => Configuration::get('PS_ATTRIBUTE_CATEGORY_DISPLAY'),
'homeSize' => Image::getSize(ImageType::getFormatedName('home')),
			));

then in module .tpl file create additional foreach loops on variables you passed to smarty array

{foreach from=$products2 item=product name=homeFeaturedProducts}
				{math equation="(total%perLine)" total=$smarty.foreach.homeFeaturedProducts.total perLine=$nbItemsPerLine assign=totModulo}
				{if $totModulo == 0}{assign var='totModulo' value=$nbItemsPerLine}{/if}
				<li class="ajax_block_product {if $smarty.foreach.homeFeaturedProducts.first}first_item{elseif $smarty.foreach.homeFeaturedProducts.last}last_item{else}item{/if} {if $smarty.foreach.homeFeaturedProducts.iteration%$nbItemsPerLine == 0}last_item_of_line{elseif $smarty.foreach.homeFeaturedProducts.iteration%$nbItemsPerLine == 1} {/if} {if $smarty.foreach.homeFeaturedProducts.iteration > ($smarty.foreach.homeFeaturedProducts.total - $totModulo)}last_line{/if}">
					<a href="{$product.link|escape:'html'}" title="{$product.name|escape:html:'UTF-8'}" class="product_image"><img src="{$link->getImageLink($product.link_rewrite, $product.id_image, 'home_default')|escape:'html'}" height="{$homeSize.height}" width="{$homeSize.width}" alt="{$product.name|escape:html:'UTF-8'}" />{if isset($product.new) && $product.new == 1}<span class="new">{l s='New' mod='homefeatured'}</span>{/if}</a>
					<h5 class="s_title_block"><a href="{$product.link|escape:'html'}" title="{$product.name|truncate:50:'...'|escape:'htmlall':'UTF-8'}">{$product.name|truncate:35:'...'|escape:'htmlall':'UTF-8'}</a></h5>
					<div class="product_desc"><a href="{$product.link|escape:'html'}" title="{l s='More' mod='homefeatured'}">{$product.description_short|strip_tags|truncate:65:'...'}</a></div>
					<div>
						<a class="lnk_more" href="{$product.link|escape:'html'}" title="{l s='View' mod='homefeatured'}">{l s='View' mod='homefeatured'}</a>
						{if $product.show_price AND !isset($restricted_country_mode) AND !$PS_CATALOG_MODE}<p class="price_container"><span class="price">{if !$priceDisplay}{convertPrice price=$product.price}{else}{convertPrice price=$product.price_tax_exc}{/if}</span></p>{else}<div style="height:21px;"></div>{/if}
						
						{if ($product.id_product_attribute == 0 OR (isset($add_prod_display) AND ($add_prod_display == 1))) AND $product.available_for_order AND !isset($restricted_country_mode) AND $product.minimal_quantity == 1 AND $product.customizable != 2 AND !$PS_CATALOG_MODE}
							{if ($product.quantity > 0 OR $product.allow_oosp)}
							<a class="exclusive ajax_add_to_cart_button" rel="ajax_id_product_{$product.id_product}" href="{$link->getPageLink('cart')|escape:'html'}?qty=1&id_product={$product.id_product}&token={$static_token}&add" title="{l s='Add to cart' mod='homefeatured'}">{l s='Add to cart' mod='homefeatured'}</a>
							{else}
							<span class="exclusive">{l s='Add to cart' mod='homefeatured'}</span>
							{/if}
						{else}
							<div style="height:23px;"></div>
						{/if}
					</div>
				</li>
			{/foreach}

{foreach from=$products item=product3 name=homeFeaturedProducts}
{math equation="(total%perLine)" total=$smarty.foreach.homeFeaturedProducts.total perLine=$nbItemsPerLine assign=totModulo}
{if $totModulo == 0}{assign var='totModulo' value=$nbItemsPerLine}{/if}
<li class="ajax_block_product {if $smarty.foreach.homeFeaturedProducts.first}first_item{elseif $smarty.foreach.homeFeaturedProducts.last}last_item{else}item{/if} {if $smarty.foreach.homeFeaturedProducts.iteration%$nbItemsPerLine == 0}last_item_of_line{elseif $smarty.foreach.homeFeaturedProducts.iteration%$nbItemsPerLine == 1} {/if} {if $smarty.foreach.homeFeaturedProducts.iteration > ($smarty.foreach.homeFeaturedProducts.total - $totModulo)}last_line{/if}">
<a href="{$product.link|escape:'html'}" title="{$product.name|escape:html:'UTF-8'}" class="product_image"><img src="{$link->getImageLink($product.link_rewrite, $product.id_image, 'home_default')|escape:'html'}" height="{$homeSize.height}" width="{$homeSize.width}" alt="{$product.name|escape:html:'UTF-8'}" />{if isset($product.new) && $product.new == 1}<span class="new">{l s='New' mod='homefeatured'}</span>{/if}</a>
<h5 class="s_title_block"><a href="{$product.link|escape:'html'}" title="{$product.name|truncate:50:'...'|escape:'htmlall':'UTF-8'}">{$product.name|truncate:35:'...'|escape:'htmlall':'UTF-8'}</a></h5>
<div class="product_desc"><a href="{$product.link|escape:'html'}" title="{l s='More' mod='homefeatured'}">{$product.description_short|strip_tags|truncate:65:'...'}</a></div>
<div>
<a class="lnk_more" href="{$product.link|escape:'html'}" title="{l s='View' mod='homefeatured'}">{l s='View' mod='homefeatured'}</a>
{if $product.show_price AND !isset($restricted_country_mode) AND !$PS_CATALOG_MODE}<p class="price_container"><span class="price">{if !$priceDisplay}{convertPrice price=$product.price}{else}{convertPrice price=$product.price_tax_exc}{/if}</span></p>{else}<div style="height:21px;"></div>{/if}


{if ($product.id_product_attribute == 0 OR (isset($add_prod_display) AND ($add_prod_display == 1))) AND $product.available_for_order AND !isset($restricted_country_mode) AND $product.minimal_quantity == 1 AND $product.customizable != 2 AND !$PS_CATALOG_MODE}
{if ($product.quantity > 0 OR $product.allow_oosp)}
<a class="exclusive ajax_add_to_cart_button" rel="ajax_id_product_{$product.id_product}" href="{$link->getPageLink('cart')|escape:'html'}?qty=1&id_product={$product.id_product}&token={$static_token}&add" title="{l s='Add to cart' mod='homefeatured'}">{l s='Add to cart' mod='homefeatured'}</a>
{else}
<span class="exclusive">{l s='Add to cart' mod='homefeatured'}</span>
{/if}
{else}
<div style="height:23px;"></div>
{/if}
</div>
</li>
{/foreach}

[Gabrax]

Ahh I understand why this is happening, this is so people have to either spend hours trying to learn the arbitrary ways of doing stuff in prestashop or buy a module.

 

Thanks for your help anyways. I didn't expect a simple call for data to be a new level of achievement. A few lines should have suffice to obtain 3 products per category.

 

I'll just try to invest in making a custom module and hooks. Hopefully the user guide explains why it has to take 3+ files to display 3 products from a category on the home page lol...

Edited October 30, 2013 by Gabrax (see edit history)

[bellini13]

Using the free and included featured products on home page module, it will show any products that you want to show on the home page.  You simply add the products to the 'home' category.

 

Is that really difficult to understand or manage?

[math_php]

If you want you can do old static html using cms.