This document offers the basic knowledge for installing , configuring and using the Product Bundles plugin. This document is copyrighted © 2014-2023 breakdesigns.net. The document is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/]. You can distribute it freely as long as you do not modify it and state its source and/or author. You cannot use this document or any portion of it for commercial purposes. If you require such use, for example to deliver it to your clients as part of your site building service,please email the author in order to acquire such a license and the source to this document.

1. Joomla 3.8.2 and higher
2. Virtuemart 3.2.x
3. PHP 5.3
4. MySQL 5

After downloading the installer file, from our site, just install it using the joomla installation process.

The installer will install and enable all the necessary plugins. No other action required.

Go to Components > Virtuemart > Custom Fields and press New. Then as Custom Field Type select “Plug-ins”.
Set Cart Attribte to No and Cart Input to No. Fill in the rest fields till the end of the page.
In the “Select a plug-in” select “Product Bundles”

After selecting the plugin type, the parameters of that plugin will be loaded.

The correct configuration of the plug-in is essential to the plug-in's behavior. So it follows an explanation of the settings found here.

1. Bundle's front-end title: The title that will be displayed at the top of the bundle
2. Products: The products that consist the bundle. You can add, delete and order the products you want to use. You can add the products from here or by adding that custom field directly at each product that conisists the bundle.
   Here you can set some additional parameters for each product :
   1. Quantity : Refers the the quantity that each product will have within the bundle
   2. Quantity limit for discount : Some users could exploit the bundle discount and buy the products included in the bundle, in big quantities. You can limit the quantity of each product that could be bought in discounted price, in a session.
3. Display only to main product: Main product is considered the 1st product of the bundle. If you enable this setting, the bundle will be displayed only to that product's page. It is usefull when you want the user to buy a main product with auxiliaries.
4. Display bundle if any product is not orderable: There are cases when a product of a bundle cannot be ordered. The reasons can vary from being out of stock to having no price. This setting will define if the bundle will be displayed in case a product is missing.
5. Display product custom fields: Display or not the custom fields of each product
6. Display icon between the products: Display or not separator icons between the products.
7. Price to be displayed at each individual product: The price that you will select here should be enabled in the VM configuration
8. Display discount amount: The discount should be enabled also from the VM configuration
   

The next settings regard the discount of the bundle. For each bundle a new calculation rule will be created. So what actually happens here, is the configuration of that Calc. Rule.

• Type of discount: The type of calc. rule
• Math Operation: The math operator of the calc. rule
• Discount Value: The amount of the discount. Enter the number that will be used for discount e.g. 25 for 25%

The discount of the bundle is not applied. Why?

When you create the custom field for a bundle, a calculation rule is created as well. This calculation rule is applicable only to the products of that bundle and has the same name as the bundle custom field.
In order a calc. rule to be applicable at a product, the setting beside the final price of a product (in the product's form), should be other than "Apply no rule". There, should be selected either the "Apply generic rules" or the calc. rule that concerns the bundle (same name with bundle).

Also the final price of the product cannot change when there is a price override. In this case Virtuemart ignores any calculation rule and custom field in  the price calculation. This will be always the final price. So if you want to use the bundle discount or any other calculation rule, the price override should be avoided.

My bundle is not displayed. Why?

In order a bundle to be displayed the following should happen:

A bundle needs to have at least 2 products. Also the used products should be orderable. A product is orderable, if it is published, has price and stock (in case the stock control is active in your shop).
You can display the bundle, even if some products are not orderable, by enabling the setting "Display bundle if any product is not orderable".

A bundle, as any custom field needs to be loaded inside a layout position (Layout position setting), which exist in the template. Do note that cart attributes/selectable and non cart/attributes (like the bundles) custom fields, are usually loaded in different layout positions. Loading the bundle in the area where the selectable/cart attribute custom fields are loaded, can cause a problem in adding the products to the cart.

How can i display the bundle in a different position?

The positon of the bundle is defined by the field "Layout position" setting of the custom field. Each layout has specific positions for displaying the custom fields. You should ask your template developer for more details.

The bundle adds only 1 product in the cart, why?

Possibly, the bundle custom field is loaded within the product form (usually addtocart position). Since it uses it's own form, you are adviced to load it in another layout position, outside the product/cart form.

Can i add a product in a bundle, from within the product view in the backend?

Yes this can be done by assigning the corresponding custom field to the product.

Virtuemart Configuration

The Product Bundles plugin is using some of the Virtuemart's scripts to work properly. These scripts have to be loaded to the product details page.

Please go to:
Virtuemart > Configuration > Checkout and enable the setting "Display modal popup upon 'Add to cart'"

Order of Assignment

In case your products use other plugins (beyond the bundles) as custom fields, the order of assignment of these custom fields can affect the display and the functionality of the bundles plugin in your front-end.
We suggest putting the bundles custom field 1st among your other custom fields.