Adding New Variations

Hello there,
Please clarify this for me. For example do you have only 1 Variation class (for example Color) or do you have more vatiation classes (Color, Size, Length) ?

I have tested like this:
Variation Class: Color
Variation Class: Size

First i added only Color to the product with 3 different options. Saved the options. Everything Ok so far. Now i wanted to add 1 more color to my Color class (Pink).
What i did was to go to the Variations setup page (Under Products) and add Pink under the Color Variation set. Then i went to the product, variations, Setup tab and i checked the Pink box and it was added to my existing variations WHILE keeping my existing ones.

Now when you want to add another class for the product, for example Size, WP e-Commerce NEEDS to recreate all variations because it works by making a combination from each different variations that you select.

So if you have 3 variants for Color and 3 for Size WPEC will generate 3 * 3 total variations. And because it works this way you will have to setup the variation info for each new combination.

Hope you understand what i`m trying to say here

So if you want to add a new variation option to an already existing set of variations, will it reset them? Like if I have red, white, and blue, but want to add pink? Can I add that without losing my existing color variation settings? I have pictures attached to each variation, so that is why this has become a problem. Are you saying that adding a new variation should reset things (such as i have size and color and want to add the new variation of pattern)?

Not quite sure…
I believe that if you have more than 1 variation Class for a product, adding another Class will reset them because they need to be recreated using the new Class.

So if i have currently:
Product A

Variation Class: Size
Variants for Class: Small, Medium, Large

And now i want to add Color class with for example Red, Blue as Variants t my Color class then the original Size variants will reset because they have to be redone using the Color variation too.

Sorry but i`m trying to be as clear as i can.

Yes, that makes sense then. What about jus adding a new class, like I have color and variants of red, blue, and white and want to add pink?

Then go into Products -> Variations
In the top box Variation Set make sure to select the Color class as a “parent”.

After that go into the product you want to edit, variations, setup tab and check the box for the new variant for Color.

I tested this on my first reply here and it did not reset my existing variations added to the product.
Make a backup in case it “might” reset them for you. ( i was using latest WPEC version .13.2)

Regards
Mihai

Okay thanks. I think the developers should create an addition to this plugin so that existing variations do not get reset (but additional ones get added) if a new variation is added. Because this causes a lot of reworking for my client. I will try your method and see fi it works for me.

I know what you mean but at the moment that is how WPEC works.
By creating combinations of all the variants selected.

Product A:
Color (Red, Blue)
Size (Small, Large)

will make WPEC reate an adition “4 products”:

Product A (Red, Small)
Product A (Red, Large)
Product A (BLue, Small)
Product A (Blue, Large)

Okay thanks for your input. That will help me explain to the client.

Glad i could help.
At the moment that`s how WPEC works, by associating variation options.

Regards
Mihai

I have tested it the way you told me you did it, but it’s still resetting the previous variations each time. I even tried editing the product after disabling all plugins but the wp-ecommerce one, but it still reset. What else can I do? Maybe I am doing it wrong still? Can I make you a video showing you what I am doing?

I`ve recorded a video on how to add a new Variant to an existing variation.
This will not reset your existing variations.
Only use it if you have ONLY 1 Variation Class (Ex.: Size) added to a product. If you have Size and Color for example any new addition will reset them.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16683640/Screenshots/2014-01-13_2020.swf

After recording the above video i tested with Color and Size added to the product. If you have those added but you also now want to add the color Pink to the existing ones then do it as in the video and then add it to the variations. In my test just now the existing variations did not reset and the new variation was added.

Regards
Mihai

Just as a note, i was referring to a Variation Set using the Class term.
Format is like:
Variation Set (Size)
– Variant (Small)
– Variant (Large)
– Variant (Tiny)

posting this just to avoid confusion.