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By BORNXenon - Mon 16 Jun 2014
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Can I request a feature for a future version?
It would be really handy to have a 'Weight by combination' option that works in the same way as the 'Price by combination' option.
If for example we sell a canopy that is 3m x 1.6m, we know that it weighs 38kg.
We also know that if we sell a canopy that is 3.6m x 2.1m, it weighs 55kg, so, some 17kg heavier. What we don't know is what percentage of that 17kg is the width and what is the length so we have to work that out adding additional time to the time it takes to put a product on.
In our product options we have selectable widths and lengths and we ship by weight so we need to add in the extra weight so that our shipping costs are accurate, however, because we don't know what weight is attributed to which option, it all becomes unnecessarily complex.
Also, the weights don't always follow as you would expect, for example, the weight difference between a 3m long x 1.6m wide canopy and a 3m long x 2.1m canopy is 6kg, however, the difference between a 6m long x 1.6m wide canopy and a 6m long x 2.1m canopy is 12kg so if I add +6 into the option for 2.1m wide the shipping price will be correct for a 3m canopy, however we will not be charging enough shipping for a 6m canopy, likewise, if we enter +12, the customer is overpaying for shipping on every canopy size smaller than 6m.
If we could assign weight by combination things would be much easier and much more manageable, especially when you throw in extra options such as 2.25m or 3m posts!
Cheers
Chris
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By Tiggywiggler - Sun 17 Aug 2014
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What you are suggesting is actually more involved than you allude to.
If you have a calculation that works out the weight for shipping you would have to have a calculation plus and offset. So for example let's say that we had a calculation that worked out what the weight was of the canopy and then used that to work out the cost of delivery:
A canopy 3 * 1.6 = 4.8 total size (sqm) for a weight of 38kg. This means we have a weight to size ratio fo 7.916 kg per sqm.
Unfortunately this is not consistent, so you cannot say that each sqm = 7.916kg because for the other sizes you get:
A canopy of 3.6 * 2.1 = 7.56 sqm, weight is 55 giving 7.275 kg per sqm.
A canopy of 3 * 2.1 = 6.3 sqm, weight is 44 giving 6.984 kg per sqm.
Now, using simultaneous equations we can work out what component of that weight is poles etc. but the problem is that the figure for poles etc. will still not be consistent so in short you cannot do what you want to because there is no calculation the software can do that will get to the answer you need.
If you could come up with a calculation that was consistent and worked with products other than this single one it could probably be done. This isn't a software issue, this is a maths issue.
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By Paul - Mon 18 Aug 2014
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This is true, one of the limitations of options is that they're independent of eachother. So each can apply a weight or price modifier, but not one that varies depending on another option selection.
So height/width options that affect price don't really work. For example, let's say you're pricing fabric. If it's a standard 1m wide, then you can have options for length with a fixed price modifier.
But if the width also varies, then you cannot, because if the fabric is 3m wide, then a length of 4m will add more cost than length of 4m for 1m wide cloth.
The way to do this in Kartris is to build a custom product control:
http://userguide.kartris.com/Default.aspx?headID=312
There are other reasons to use custom controls:
- cases where you have measurements to be entered (e.g. any length from 1cm to 10m... you don't want to have to set up 10,000 option values for every option between 1 and 10000).
- you need a customized interface such as uploading images, files, slider selection controls, validation on particular imports, etc
- retrieving pricing information from third party sources, either spreadsheets, external databases, web services, black box DLLs, algorithms, etc.
Custom controls gives you total flexibility over how an item is calculated; it requires some programming experience but Kartris already has the hooks in the basket and checkout to deal with this, so you can focus on the product page interface.
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By Tiggywiggler - Mon 18 Aug 2014
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I hadn't seen this part of the manual. I am currently setting up a page for a curtains and blinds shop, imagine my surprise when I saw the example given in the text!
Thank you mate. 
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By BORNXenon - Fri 22 Aug 2014
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Perhaps I didn't explain myself very well but what I meant was....
On this screen:
We can override the price and product code for a certain combination, could we not have a field to override the weight?
I know the field exists in the database, but it is set from the base product and is then not editable through any of the product screens.
Chris
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