Better Together Admin Page

Better Together Admin simplifies the process of adding discounts to Better Together.

Background: See the Zen Cart Matrix-o-discounts for a perspective on Better Together.

Relevance: Zen Cart™ 1.3.5 and forward. You must have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Cost: $60

Current Version: 1.0.3

Support Thread: My commercial software is not supported on the Zen Cart forum. Please email me questions instead.

FAQ: click here

Installation: click here

Bugs: click here

Overview:

This pages assumes a basic familiarity with Better Together.

Better Together is a very popular module, but many people have told me they dislike need to edit a file in order to add "linkages" (the term I used to describe associating one product with another for the purpose of discounting). So I created an admin page which allows you to add linkages in a way which will be familiar to users of the Zen Cart admin system.

Better Together Admin Page

The page is broken into two areas: on the top, a list of existing discounts, and on the bottom, a form to allow you to add new linkages to create new discounts.

Discounts are listed in the order they were created. Discounts can currenly be deleted but not edited directly; instead, to edit a discount, delete the existing one and create a new one.

Once you select a linkage type, the appropriate fields are filled in for the first product or category and the second product or category. For instance, in this example, the Linkage Type "A product and a category" (add_prod_to_cat) is selected. The "Buy" dropdown is automatically populated with a complete list of categories, with a list of products for the selected category, and the "Get" dropdown is automaticallly populated with a complete list of categories. Choose the correct category, then the correct product within that category for the "Buy" item. Then choose the correct category for the "Get" item.

Better Together Admin - Add a new linkage - step 1

You then select the discount units (% or $ off), fill in the amount, and press "Submit."

Better Together Admin - Add a new linkage - step 2

The page refreshes, and you see your new linkage at the top of the list.

Better Together Admin - Add a new linkage - step 3

Prior to Installation:

1. Upgrade to the latest Better Together first.
2. Go into Admin -> Tools -> Store Manager, and click on "Reset ALL Products Master Categories ID".

Installation Instructions:

1. Back up everything! Try this in a test environment prior to installing it on a live shop, and please be sure to upgrade to the latest Better Together first.
2. Two zip files are provided. Unzip both, and copy the contents of the two unzipped folders to the root directory of your shop.
3. Run the bt_admin.sql file against your database.
4. Edit the file

   includes/modules/order_total/ot_better_together.php
   

   In the setup() function at the bottom of the file, add the lines:

            if (!IS_ADMIN_FLAG) { 
               require(DIR_WS_MODULES . 'better_together_admin.php'); 
            }
   

   You should delete all manually entered discounts here so that all your discounts will be visible through the admin panel.
5. Better Together Admin will now be available in the admin panel under Tools.

Installation Problems:

The most common installation problems for this module are as follows:

1. Forgetting to modify includes/modules/order_total/ot_better_together.php as described above.
2. Installing Buy The Set, which changes includes/modules/order_total/ot_better_together.php and forgetting to reapply the modification noted above.
3. In Better Together Admin 1.0.2 and below, the file

   includes/extra_configures/better_together_admin_defines.php
   

   should be moved to

   includes/extra_datafiles/better_together_admin_defines.php 
   

If you are having trouble installing this module, you should also refer to my Guide to Mod Installation on Zen Cart. I'm also happy to install any of my mods for a fee.

Bugs

• Carts which use PayPal IPN were not handling Better Together discounts properly when Better Together Admin was used. This bug was reported in Better Together Admin 1.0.2 and below. To fix, please move

  includes/extra_configures/better_together_admin_defines.php
  

  to

  includes/extra_datafiles/better_together_admin_defines.php.
  

FAQ

Q: Why do all my categories not show up?
A: The definition of a "category" in Better Together is "the parent category of a product." See the Category Issues page for a discussion of the treatment of categories in my mods.

Q: Why do I have to enable Javascript to run the Better Together Admin Panel?
A: Because it uses AJAX, a Javascript based technology. This creates a faster, more responsive user interface. If you do not enable Javascript in your browser, you will see a flashing red error message at the top of the page, and the Better Together Admin Panel will not operate.

  I charge a fee of $60 for the Better Together Admin Page.


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