[not a bug] 5.3.9 - hidden product groups showing to customers

[Si]

The groups don't appear in the cart menu, but in the past, if a client went to a hidden group url, they were thrown back to the index page of the shopping cart and could not view the hidden product group. Now, they can see the hidden product group.

 

Anyone else seeing this?

[brian!]

I can see this too - even if you hide all the products in the hidden product group, it still shows the empty hidden group.

[TekStorm Inc - James]

I'd not consider this to be a bug. We have many 'hidden' product groups that are either linked from other groups and/or which have their URLs available by other means.

 

While when we hide a product group, we do want for it to not be included within the category chooser, we do want it to still be displayed when its URL is visited directly. The same as if a product were hidden, we'd still want for it to be ordered if its add to cart URL were directly visited; assuming, of course, that it had a positive stock.

Edited September 3, 2014 by TekStorm Inc - James

[Si]

I'd not consider this to be a bug. We have many 'hidden' product groups that are either linked from other groups and/or which have their URLs available by other means. While when we hide a product group, we do want for it to not be included within the category chooser, we do want it to still be displayed when its URL is visited directly. The same as if a product were hidden, we'd still want for it to be ordered if its add to cart URL were directly visited; assuming, of course, that it had a positive stock.

 

It's a bug. Just because you don't really want hidden products/groups hidden doesn't make it ok for everyone else. We hide product groups so that they are only seen by certain groups of clients, (that's one of the points of 'hidden groups') but now that whole scenario is null and void because everyone can see them. (Even discontinued products can now be seen and ordered up by snooping customers and old links on google which are working rather than redirecting to the default product group). Nightmare.

 

Please don't turn this into a discussion about whether we or anyone else uses hidden groups correctly or not, the point is, hidden groups are no longer hidden. Fix please?

[TekStorm Inc - James]

Juts because you want it to be doesn't make it a bug any more than my not does. You've got your opinion, I've got mine. With that said, this isn't something that's changed recently with v5.3.9

 

If you have a product that you don't want ordered any longer, why not set it to a "0" stock?

Edited September 3, 2014 by TekStorm Inc - James

[Si]

Yawn.....why is there always one? If ordering products was my issue I would have raised it originally. IT IS NOT THE ISSUE or the point of this thread. Stock zero, hidden products / groups still showing. They shouldn't be.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

With that said, this isn't something that's changed recently with v5.3.9

 

Is that an official line which you have from WHMCS or just something you wanted to throw in?

[TekStorm Inc - James]

This is a discussion forum is it not? Save the personal attacks/insults/whatever and discuss the actual issue(s).

 

We've clearly got 2 different opinions at the moment. If you don't want to discuss it, then you shouldn't have posted here; you should have just opened a ticket in private... this is a public discussion forum; you're not the only user with specific use case(s) any more than I am.

 

Groups and products are 2 different things though. As for the products specifically, hidden products don't show on our order form. We've got almost 100 hidden products that don't display in our order form. You need to visit their add to cart URL to see them; hidden products aren't showing within product groups.

 

Is that an official line which you have from WHMCS or just something you wanted to throw in?

We've been doing as previously mentioned for quite some time. This isn't something that's recently changed.

[Si]

Title of thread - Hidden PRODUCT GROUPS showing to customers

 

Question asked: anyone else seeing this?

 

Thank you brian! for confirming you see the same thing. no-one mentioned hidden products - it's not the issue. Hidden products don't show for me either. Hidden groups do. That's the point. they shouldn't. Now,

 

So, if you are going to discuss, don't digress it to something irrelevant. Keep to the topic - I hate it when threads are hijacked and pulled away from the issue. That's the point.

[TekStorm Inc - James]

no-one mentioned hidden products - it's not the issue. Hidden products don't show for me either. Hidden groups do.

You did, specifically...

 

Just because you don't really want hidden products/groups hidden doesn't make it ok for everyone else.

hidden products / groups still showing.

 

You mentioned hidden products.

 

You'd also mentioned about products being ordered that you didn't want ordered. I'd simply asked why you don't just set those to "0" stock.

Edited September 3, 2014 by TekStorm Inc - James

[Si]

yada yada yada - YES - because I have products that are NOT hidden within HIDDEN GROUPS - and the reason for that is because they are allowed to be ordered up by certain clients from a specific GROUP. But at this moment - ANYONE CAN ORDER THEM - that's the whole point. They wouldn't / shouldn't be showing if hidden groups where just that - HIDDEN.

 

Where I no longer want products ordered, they have zero stock. But that's not appropriate all of the time.

 

(Sheesh - Aren't I now doing exactly what I said this thread should not be doing - ie discussing 'how people use the damn things'. )

 

Now, can you please stop being pedantic and get back to the issue - PLEASE!!!!?

 

If everyone is still able to follow the VERY SIMPLE premise of this thread - Is anyone else seeing where hidden product groups are not hidden any longer.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Si

[Si]

and further, the whole point of coming here first before opening a ticket was because I wanted to see if it was something unique to my installation or if it was more widespread, in which case it could be moved to BUG or commented on publicly by WHMCS.

[brian!]

if this is a bug, then I don't think it was introduced with v5.3.9 - i've just hidden a group on the whmcs demo site and that's still using v5.3.8... and the hidden group is shown.

[TekStorm Inc - James]

Simply put, as far as I'm concerned at least; but, what do I really know about WHMCS anyway though, eh?

 

Hidden !== Retired !== Unavailable

 

Hidden groups aren't shown within the cart's category chooser, but can be accessed directly though. The same goes for hidden products; they aren't shown within the cart, but they can be accessed directly though.

 

There are in-built ways to prevent products from being ordered. Simply hiding a group wouldn't really be a resolution for preventing a product from being ordered though. One could simply guess Product IDs and add them directly if they have stock, regardless of their group's visibility.

 

If anything, I'd think that this is working as it should. Perhaps, you'd want a new feature to disable certain groups altogether?

 

 

I don't think it was introduced with v5.3.9

Correct, this isn't anything new.

Edited September 3, 2014 by TekStorm Inc - James

[Si]

For the past number of years we have hidden product groups and only made them available to customer of a certain client group to order using both <if> statements in the tpl files and also using add-ons. This is not about making products hidden so they are not able to be ordered......WHY do I have to keep saying this and why do you keep interrupting this thread with pedantics that are irrelevant.

 

The only way this worked was because (before all this changed) when customers (who where either not logged in or not part of the particular client group) tried to see those groups, they got redirected back to the default shopping cart page. The only people who could see the hidden group were the assigned client group. It's a feature which no longer works because hidden product groups are now seen by everyone. I don't know when it changed (it can only be recently) but it has changed and it ****'s up a lot for us.

 

Hidden does not = retired = nor unavailable. (It might do for you - but not for everyone). So butt out!

 

I wish you would stop interrupting and let others (including someone from WHMCS 'here's hoping') officially comment on what is going on here. There are now add-ons which no-half-pixels and serverping.net have built on the back of this 'feature' which have been rendered useless because of this 'change' or 'bug'.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Si

[WHMCS Nate]

Hello,

 

There is some back and forth discussion in this thread that is not super helpful. As someone who has to talk about if something is a bug or a feature request every day, that its not always clear cut. I would rather have someone suggest something here, have an internal conversation, and communicate the results of that discussion then not ask a question at all.

 

I discussed this with some of our other developers and we consider hidden groups being visible if you know the direct URL to be the expected behavior. The goal of a hidden product group is to not show in the list of categories at the start of the cart process, not to prevent viewing a hidden group via a direct link on the interface.

 

Thus I am marking this thread as "Not A Bug". I am also closing this thread, the goal for this specific section is provide a specific place to post known issues, for a WHMCS employee to reply and confirm it has been reproduced, and then to serve as a clear archive that people can search and quickly read later on before reporting a duplicate issue.

 

Have a great day,

 

Nate C