Setup Guide : Adding options to your products

Adding options to your products is simple. All you need to do is add a few lines to the product. You can also have unlimited options.

Here is an example of the tags required for an drop down option list:

<SELECT NAME="OPTION|Option_Number|Product_ID">
<option value="">Select Option</option>
<option value="Option One|Price|Weight">Option One $1.00</option>
<option value="Option Two|Price|Weight">Option Two $2.00</option>
</SELECT>

  1. The name is "OPTION|Option_Number|Product_ID"

    The NAME tells the script that this information is an option. It is broken down into 3 fields just like the item id above: 

    • The first field is always "OPTION". 
    • The second field is the option number (if you have multiple options per items you MUST make sure each option has a different number), 
    • and the last field is the corresponding Product ID number.
  2. The Value is "Option One Name|Price|Weight"

    The Value tells the script what option is being applied. This also has 3 fields. 

    • The first field is the name of the option. 
    • The second field is the price that is added to the base price of the product for this option (NO NOT add a $), 
    • and the last field is the weight that is added to the product if this option is applied.

    NOTE: The weight of an option IS added to the default product weight. It does NOT replace the default product weight value when selected.

NOTE: You may include as many options as you want for a item.  The only thing that will be different is that each option must be given a separate number.

NOTE: If you want to require a option be selected, specify the first value as =error=Error message you want displayed.

NOTE: You MUST put this input code inside of the corresponding product code <FORM> tags or the option will not be applied properly to the product when the user adds items to their cart.

There are 3 types of form inputs for options. The user can select options:

  1. from a value in a Select Box
  2. by clicking on a Radio Button
  3. by clicking on a Checkbox

Here are some examples of each input type:

Select Box:

<P>Color<BR>
<SELECT NAME="OPTION|1|1">
<option value="NA">Select Option</option>
<option value="Red|2.00|0">Red - Add $2.00</option>
<option value="Green|3.00|0">Green - Add $3.00</option>
<option value="Blue|4.00|0">Blue - Add $4.00</option>
</SELECT>

This is what the code above would look like:

Color

Here is the same code using Radio buttons:

Red - Add $2.00 <INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="OPTION|1|1" VALUE="Red|2.00|0">
Green - Add $3.00 <INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="OPTION|1|1" VALUE="Green|3.00|0">
Blue - Add $4.00 <INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="OPTION|1|1" VALUE="Blue|4.00|0">

This is what the code above would look like:

Blue - Add $4.00 Green - Add $3.00 Blue - Add $4.00

And Checkboxes (This will allow you the user to select multiple options):

Red - Add $2.00 <INPUT TYPE="checkbox" NAME="OPTION|1|1" VALUE="Red|2.00|0">
Green - Add $3.00 <INPUT TYPE="checkbox" NAME="OPTION|1|1" VALUE="Green|3.00|0">
Blue - Add $4.00 <INPUT TYPE="checkbox" NAME="OPTION|1|1" VALUE="Blue|4.00|0">

This is what the code above would look like:

Blue - Add $4.00 Green - Add $3.00 Blue - Add $4.00

Here is an example of adding an option to an item. The most important thing to remember is to add the option between the beginning of the <FORM> and the </FORM>

<FORM METHOD="POST" ACTION="http://www.myshopcart.com/cart/shop.cgi">
<INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="merchant" VALUE="Merchant_Name">
<INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="item-Product_ID|Price|Produce_Name|Weight" size="3">

<!--START OPTION-->

<SELECT NAME="OPTION|Option_Number|Product_ID">
<option value="">Select Option</option>
<option value="Option One Name|Price|Weight">Option One $1.00</option>
</SELECT>

<!--END OPTION-->

<INPUT TYPE="submit" NAME="add_to_cart" VALUE="Add to Cart">
</FORM>