1. Joomla 1.5.x

2. Virtuemart 1.1.0 to 1.1.5 (has been tested in these versions).

3. PHP 5 x
   

4. MySQL 5 +

The installation is the typical installation of every joomla extension.

Into the cat_filters folder there are the com_catfiltering and the mod_catfiltering.

Go to:

Extensions -->Install/Uninstall-->Browse to find one of these files in your hard drive

and then press Upload File & Install.

*Do the same for the other File.

Notice:

In order to use the CatFilters component it needs the existance of Categories in the Virtuemart component.

Before Using CatFilters it can be configured to meet users needs.

The Configuration mainly concerns the frontend representation of the results page.

The above image dsplays the relation between the configuration and the front-end representation.

Products Per Row: How many product each row will have in other words the number of columns.

Display Pagination: Display or not the joomla Pagination. The Pagination settings are those set in the joomla global Configuration.

Display Number of results Found: Display or not the Counter of the products found after the search, at the top of the page.

Display Sorting Drop Down: Display or not the drop down menu with the sorting (ordering) options.

Products Sorting: Active checkboxes means that those sorting options will be displayed in the sorting dropdown of the template (If the display sorting is active). The default sorting is the primary sorting done to the products by default.

Filters

As filter is being consider every drop down list displayed to the site front end.

Category Filters

Press New for creating a New Categry  Filter. This will guide you to a form with these options.

Name: It is the name that will be appear as the drop down list 1st option (--Select filter_Name--).

Publish : Enable it if you want your filter to be displayed in the Front end.

Multiple Select : This option enables multiple selection from every filter pressing the ctrl button. It is advised to give a Size more than 1 if you want to use it.

Size (Rows) : Decides how many rows (height) will this drop down have.

VirtueMart Categories : The categories that consist this filter. These categories will be the contents of this filter's drop down list.

Order : The order of that filter in the fron end

From here the user could create filters with ranges. The types of range filters are:

• Width
• Height
• Length
• Weight
• Price

So using these types the user could filter the approprate fields of VM products such as Dimensions and Price.

Title: It is the name that will be appear as the drop down list 1st option (--Select Title--).

Type: With the type the user selects the VM field that wants to filter.

Unit of measure : The unit of measure will appear next to the range. For example if you set € will display 30 € - 50 € to the dropdown

Published : Enable it if you want your filter to be displayed in the Front end.

Multiple Select : This option enables multiple selection to that filter pressing the ctrl button. It is advised to give a Size more than 1 if you want to use it.

Size (Rows) : Decides how many rows (height) will this drop down have.

Ordering : The order of that filter in the fron end.

Ranges

From that section the Ranges could be Managed.

Adding Ranges : Give values to the From and the To input boxes and press the Add button for adding a new range.

Editing : Editing is locked for security reasons until the edit button is pressed  (button with pencil).

Deleting : To delete a Range needs the delete button to be pressed (button with trash can).

Trends is a high level statistic tool.

The main benefit of using it is that it offers a clear image of what users want. In other words the profile of the users that use the e-shop.

Its main difference from other statistic tools that concern VirtueMart is that it does not track the orders or the sales the e-shop does but what the possible consumer really want. This way it can be very usefull for the inventory improvement.

The Module displays the filter form in the site front end.

Parameters

Display Categories filters: Display or not the created 'Category filters' from the component.

Display Range filters: Display or not the created 'Range filters' from the component.

Display Price filter: Displays the Price filtering text boxes

Display Manufacturers Filter: Displays the Manufacturers drop down list

Currency Symbol Position: Decides where to display the currency symbol (before or after the textboxes)

Hold Selected Criteria: If enabled holds the last selected criteria after pressing the search button. This could be used as a reminder for the search criteria.

Display Reset Button: The reset button could be used to reset the holded criteria. So if the "Hold Selected Criteria" is enabled pressing the reset button will reset all the holded criteria in order to start a new search.

Display Info Button: Displays a button in the module. Putting the mouse over that button will display some information about its function.