VirtueMart quick tip: show brand/manufacturer logo in product details

I recently had to provide a VirtueMart/Joomla solution for a customer. If you don’t know what VirtueMart is – it’s an open source ecommerce platform and it’s pretty good too.

They wanted a brand logo to be displayed in the product details, along with some other details. VirtueMart supports Manufacturer details but by default it just shows the manufacturer’s name in brackets, with a javascript pop-up window, that looks pretty ugly.

Fortunately we can add the logo by using the description field of the Manufacturers details and by hacking one file.

The following is tested and works for VirtueMart 1.1.3 and 1.1.4

So, open /administrator/components/com_virtuemart/html/shop.product_details.php

at around line 517, it looks like this:

if( $manufacturer_id && !empty($manufacturer_name) ) {
    $link = "$mosConfig_live_site/index2.php?page=shop.manufacturer_page&amp;manufacturer_id=$manufacturer_id&amp;output=lite&amp;option=com_virtuemart&amp;Itemid=".$Itemid;
    $text = '( '.$manufacturer_name.' )';
    $manufacturer_link .= vmPopupLink( $link, $text );
 
    // Avoid JavaScript on PDF Output
    if( @$_REQUEST['output'] == "pdf" )
    $manufacturer_link = "<a href=\"$link\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"$text\">$text</a>";
}

replace it with:

if( $manufacturer_id && !empty($manufacturer_name) ) {
$manufacturer_link = $manufacturer_name;
  $q  = "SELECT `manufacturer_id`,`mf_name`,`mf_email`,`mf_desc`,`mf_url` FROM `#__{vm}_manufacturer` WHERE ";
  $q .= "`manufacturer_id`=$manufacturer_id";
  $db->query($q);
  if($db->next_record())
  {
  $mf_name=$db->f("mf_name");
  $mf_email=$db->f("mf_email");
  $mf_desc=$db->f("mf_desc");
  $mf_url = $db->f("mf_url");
  }
  if (!empty($mf_desc))  $manufacturer_link = "$mf_desc";
}

Product page showing the brand (manufacturer) logo

In the example above I’m using just the description (to show the logo) but you can use it to show other fields, just replace $mf_desc with $mf_name, $mf_email, $mf_url or a combination.

Just one warning: this is an unsupported hack, so when you upgrade VM, you must reapply it.

Share and Enjoy:

7 responses to “VirtueMart quick tip: show brand/manufacturer logo in product details”

Osiris
October 31, 2009 at 22:01 | Permalink | Reply
Hello Armand:
Thanks for the tutorial!
I did all your parameters, but is not working for me. Could you help me with that?
Thanks!
Osiris
1. Armand Niculescu
  October 31, 2009 at 22:22 | Permalink
  Hmm, what happens?
  Does the manufacturer link appear at all? By default it looks like this:
  ( Manufacturer Name )
  and when you click on it, a window pops up.
  If you don’t see a link at all — are you using the default template or something custom?
Osiris
November 3, 2009 at 22:58 | Permalink | Reply
Hello:
Thanks for respond!
Yes I am using a custom template (RocketTheme Mynxx) and I think that is the problem!
1. Armand Niculescu
  November 3, 2009 at 23:31 | Permalink
  OK, that explains it. Fortunately I tested the change on Mynxx so I know it works.
  Edit the file /components/com_virtuemart/themes/vm_mynxx/theme.config.php and locate the line that says showManufacturerLink=0, change it to showManufacturerLink=1. Save it and it should work now.
  Additionally, if you want to change where the link is placed in the product description, edit /components/com_virtuemart/themes/vm_mynxx/templates/product_details/flypage.tpl.php. You will see some code like this:
```
< ?php  if( $this->get_cfg('showManufacturerLink') )
{
    echo "<div class=\"manufacturerbox\">$manufacturer_link</div>";
}?>
```
  You can move it for example above the product description or something.
  Good luck!
Dimitri
November 12, 2009 at 00:11 | Permalink | Reply
Hello,
BIG THANK for the help about the logo. Do someone knows how I can add the manufacturerlogos by the browsepage? For the examle:
The buyer list the categori TV and see many Tv like Sony Smasung Philips etc. and I want to display under each product the small logo because it is difficulty ti read what is is for the each product, but with small logo its is ok.
Please help me if You can.
Best regards
Keith
March 6, 2010 at 18:30 | Permalink | Reply
This is a great hack but i can’t get it to work in version 1.5.10 with Mynxx there is no line 517! Any help to get this to work in the newer version of VM would be great!
1. Armand Niculescu
  March 6, 2010 at 20:44 | Permalink
  1.5.10 is Joomla version number, Virtuemart component is still at 1.1.4 and I tested with the Mynxx theme.
  Please make sure you are editing the right file (/administrator/components/com_virtuemart/html/shop.product_details.php)
  If you still can’t find the code, contact me privately.