Example of Using the Same Product Characteristic for a Category and an Attribute in Magento

This question came from someone in Iceland. It is a good example of how to use a category and an attribute, for the same product characteristic.

The administrator wants to enable customers to sort shoes by style, and then drill down into the size. He also wants his customers to be able to start with size, and then see the styles available. I have edited the original question and my answer for clarity, but the content is the same.

Question

Hello.

I have been reading your book - the first chapters. It has FAR better descriptions then the magento user manual...

Here is the setup I will be using:

I will have 2 stores (to begin with).

Store1 will sell clothes and Store2 will sell shoes.

What I am trying to figure out is what to do with attributes for shoes - I would add color to them and some other attributes.. But should i add Size to them as an attribute? Almost all our shoes come in the same sizes. So if a user clicks the size in Layered navigation the will show the customer all shoes we have anyway. What i need is for the customer to be able to click a size and then magento will show them all shoes that we have size and are also in stock. Say a user selects size 39 - the website should only show shoes that we still have in stock in that specific size... is that possible ?

I know i must add each shoe as a configurable product and then simple products for each size of that shoe (because i want to count stock on each and every size)

Regards, Hedinn

Answer

To enable customers to sort shoes by style, and then drill down into the size:

1. Ceate a category for each style, such as high heels, pumps, sandals.
2. Then, create an attribute for the size of the shoe. Make that attribute filterable in the navigation menu.
3. For Position, enter 0 (zero). This will place Size at the top of the layered navigation menu, on the left side of the page.

Your customers will select a category to see the style of shoe they want. After they select the category, the layered navigation menu will display on the left side of the page. They will see Size at the top of that menu. Now, they can filter that shoe style by size, and see only their sizes.

To enable customers to see all shoes in their size:

1. Create a category called Find Your Size.
2. Put every pair of shoes that you have into that category.

Then when the customer clicks the Find Your Size category, she sees the layered navigation menu on the left. Remember, Size will be a filter at the top of that menu.

By the way, you're the first person who has written me from Iceland. Cool!

Regards,
William