[mfgid] Malfuction on Product Template Page

[TMS Clint]

UPDATE: This problem has been fixed and was due to my own template editing.
TL;DR: The "product_id" id replaces everything contained in it's element (most likely a <span>) with the combined [id]s of the product and product options.

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I just recently discovered that the [mfgid] variable, which populates with the "MPN" on product pages, is instead populating with the "ID/SKU" when the product has options available. I'm bringing this to attention on the forums because if you, like me, were identifying the MPN via microdata on your product pages and specifying the [mfgid] variable, then you could be sending out the wrong information for your products and that could result in decrease in organic traffic to those products.

I opened a support ticket that was not taken very seriously, but at the time I believed the problem was localized to the listing_dd.html template. Now that I know the problem extends to all product pages, I've updated the ticket and hopefully it will be taken more seriously.

[Shift4Shop-Henry]

Hi TMS Clint

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
I tracked down the ticket and assigned it to the rep's supervisor to have it looked at more seriously.

Thanks again for the heads up!

[massagestore]

3dcart-Henry I can't thank you enough! I see that you have actively been addressing a number of forum posts.. including the one where a 3dCart customer ended up being banned. I am so happy to see the forum take strides towards what it was intended to be.. a community of 3dCart users helping others make their selling experience, and ultimately, the platform better. I also believe it is a great place for 3d support to learn how to continually improve the platform in an expedient fashion (along with support tickets, uservoice, etc).

I have to admit that the amount of negativity posted here has upset and scared me at times, and made me question whether or not I had chosen wisely with 3dcart as my ecommerce platform. I then remembered that usually the people who don't have good things to say are often times the ones that speak loudly / the most. I started noticing the same user names in the complaint posts, and began taking everything with a grain, if not a shaker of salt. That said, I also understand the frustration that comes from not feeling heard / understood / answered, and also know how intense these feelings can be because we, as the end users, use these selling tools every day, and unresolved issues can make or break us. That said, I believe that a more active presence from your team here will go a LONG LONG way towards making everyone feel supported.. I know it is doing it for me.

This is my livelihood - it puts food on the table, pays the mortgage, is going to start putting my daughter through college next year, etc etc. I am glad to see that your team at 3d have thick skins and see beyond posts that are complaint oriented, and are keeping focused on the fact that for every one that complains, there are so many more that don't, and need your support.

My level of confidence is increasing with each post I see from you and Carlos, and look forward to seeing more of your team check in. Please do keep up the excellent work. I look forward to the next iteration of 3dCart, future features, etc, and truly hope that the dev team is able to get some of the beta issues under control before pushing it out to the masses.

ind regards, Andrew

[TMS Clint]

Here's a small flow-chart to see if this issue affects your products/store:

• Do your product pages pull the [mfgid] variable?
  • If not, then this isn't an issue for you.
  • You can check by opening up your product page template and searching for "[mfgid]" (Settings >> Design >> Template Editor)
• Do your products have product options?
  • If not, then this isn't an issue for you.
  • You can check by looking at your product's "options" tab in the back-end; some sellers rely on product options heavily, some don't use them at all.
• Are the ID/SKU and MPN different?
  • If not, then this isn't an issue for you.
  • If they are identical, then it doesn't matter if the system switches them.

I just wanted to make sure people weren't fretting unnecessarily -- if sellers don't mess with their HTML or page templates themselves, they may not be sure whether this issue affects them and I thought I would make it easy for them to check.

[Shift4Shop-Henry]

Hi TMS Clint

Sorry for the delay in someone getting back to you.
I've been advised that the supervisor will be reaching out today.
In the mean time, I did a little testing on my own and I'm afraid I was not able to duplicate the issue as you're describing.

Just to make sure I understand correctly:

• If the listing_x.html or listing_dd.html templates have the variable [mfgid] inserted into them, it normally inserts the product's MPN data into the rendered page.
• However, if the product has options, the [mfgid] variable swaps out MPN for the product's ID/SKU which is the [id] variable.

Please correct me if I may have misunderstood.

In any event, I tested this a few times and was not able to duplicate this effect.
Here are examples to show what I'm seeing.

1. I made a few copies of a product in my test store and I inserted the [catalogid], [name], [id], [mfgid], and [gtin] variables into both the listing template and the daily deal template.
2. I then tested this with and without options, as well as daily deals with or without options.

Here are my results for review:
(look beneath the product's name to see the added div with the inserted variables)

• Product with NO options - click here
• Product with NO options on DAILY DEAL - click here
• Product with options - click here
• Product with options on DAILY DEAL - click here

Again, if I misunderstood the described effect, my apologies. As I mentioned, the supervisor will be reaching out today, so hopefully we can iron out whatever is causing this for you.

Thanks for your time!

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ADDENDUM

Incidentally, in case the issue as you described might have something to do with the way the variables were added to the templates; here's the coding I used for my examples:

<div style="background-color: #e9e9e9;">
Here's the product Info
<strong>Catalog ID:</strong> [catalogid] <span style="font-size: x-small; color: green;">using &#91;catalogid&#93;</span>
<strong>Name:</strong> [name] <span style="font-size: x-small; color: green;">using &#91;name&#93;</span>
<span style="background-color: lightgreen;"><strong>ID:</strong> [id]</span> <span style="font-size: x-small; color: green;">using &#91;id&#93;</span>
<span style="background-color: yellow;"><strong>MPN:</strong> [mfgid]</span> <span style="font-size: x-small; color: green;">using &#91;mfgid&#93;</span>
<strong>GTIN:</strong> [gtin] <span style="font-size: x-small; color: green;">using &#91;gtin&#93;</span>
</div>

These were placed directly beneath the following areas of both templates

<h1 itemprop="name" class="page_headers">[name]</h1>

[TMS Clint]

3dcart-Henry Yes, that is the problem I was experiencing. Seeing that your code worked flawlessly, I redoubled my efforts and found the real cause of the problem: the "product_id" id.

Here's the code as it appears in the unaltered template:

<div class="product-id">[product_id]:<span id="product_id">[id]</span></div>

Here's my code:

<div class="product-id"><a href="browse_bymfg_[manufacturer]-7-1.html"><span itemprop="brand">[manufacturer_name]</span></a> [product_id]: <span id="product_id" itemprop="mpn">[mfgid]</span></div>

The ASP or Java that replaces what's in the "product_id" id with the combined [id]s of the main product and its option is used to replace a normal [id] typically, not a [mfgid].

This was my mistake, but I'm sure you can understand why I jumped to the original conclusion that I did. Thank you for taking the time to address it. I wouldn't have pinpointed the problem without your working examples above!