Magento – Add compare products block to the left column 1.9 rwd theme

blocksmagento-1.9

I am using the rwd theme in magento 1.9 and want to add the compare products block below the "shop by" section. I thought i could do it be editing the catalog.xml file and moving the code for the block from under the right section to the left, but it didn't seem to work even after flushing the cache.

from catalog.xml:

<!-- Mage_Catalog -->
        <reference name="left">
<block type="catalog/product_compare_sidebar" before="cart_sidebar" name="catalog.compare.sidebar" template="catalog/product/compare/sidebar.phtml"/>
            <!--<block type="core/template" name="left.permanent.callout" template="callouts/left_col.phtml">-->
                <!--<action method="setImgSrc"><src>images/media/col_left_callout.jpg</src></action>-->
                <!--<action method="setImgAlt" translate="alt" module="catalog"><alt>Our customer service is available 24/7. Call us at (555) 555-0123.</alt></action>-->
                <!--<action method="setLinkUrl"><url>checkout/cart</url></action>-->
            <!--</block>-->
        </reference>
        <reference name="right">

            <!--<block type="core/template" name="right.permanent.callout" template="callouts/right_col.phtml">-->
                <!--<action method="setImgSrc"><src>images/media/col_right_callout.jpg</src></action>-->
                <!--<action method="setImgAlt" translate="alt" module="catalog"><alt>Keep your eyes open for our special Back to School items and save A LOT!</alt></action>-->
            <!--</block>-->

Best Answer

First you need remove default compare sidebar from category pages which is called in right side of all page using xml code: <remove name="catalog.compare.sidebar" /> and create new sidebar at category page then align it after layer navagation using after tag try this code

For Non-Anchor Category :

 <catalog_category_default translate="label">
     <remove name="catalog.compare.sidebar" />
        <reference name="left">
        <block type="catalog/product_compare_sidebar" after="catalog.leftnav" name="catalog.compare.newsidebar" template="catalog/product/compare/sidebar.phtml"/>
     </reference>
  </catalog_category_default>

For Non-Anchor Category :

 <catalog_category_layered translate="label">
<remove name="catalog.compare.sidebar" />
        <reference name="left">
        <block type="catalog/product_compare_sidebar" after="catalog.leftnav" name="catalog.compare.newsidebar" template="catalog/product/compare/sidebar.phtml"/>
     </reference>
  </catalog_category_layered>

Related Solutions

Magento – 1.9 RWD Theme – Layered Navigation

So firstly I am making a few assumptions.

That you want to remove the normal navigation from the top and move it completely to the left hand-side,
That you are going to style it yourself :)

Firstly want you want to do is create a local.xml in your theme so you can change the xml of pages easily.

Then you want to unset the current main navigation.

<reference name="top.menu">
    <action method="unsetChild">
        <name>catalog.topnav</name>
    </action>
</reference>

Now what you want to do is move this into the left column.

<reference name="left">
    <action method="insert">
        <block>catalog.topnav</block>
    </action>
</reference>

Now in the end your complete local.xml file will look as follows.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<layout version="0.1.0">
    <default>
        <reference name="top.menu">
            <action method="unsetChild">
                <name>catalog.topnav</name>
            </action>
        </reference>
        <reference name="left">
            <action method="insert">
                <block>catalog.topnav</block>
            </action>
        </reference>
    </default>
</layout>

Now one very important thing to think about here is that not all pages have a left column. For instance in a default set-up the homepage and other cms pages do not have this as well as all product pages.

Magento 1.9 – Showing New Products in RWD Theme

Double-check that you have declared any products as 'new' with the Set Product as New from Date attribute. You 'll have to declare both a start and end date.

Also, make sure you have re-indexed your site after you have declared products as new.

There are some 3rd party templates out there that pick up new products based on the date they were added to the system, but most do not. You have to force the 'new' status. I believe this is also true of rwd theme.

FWIW, here's what I use:

{{block type="catalog/product_new" template="catalog/product/new.phtml" products_count="15" breakpoints="[0, 1], [320, 2], [480, 3], [768, 4], [960, 5], [1280, 6]" move="1" pagination="1" centered="0" hide_button="1" block_name="New at SunshieldGlasses.com"}}

The breakpoint stuff in there you can ignore. I use it for forcing different numbers of products to display based on the customer's viewport width. Other values declared there are variables being passed into my new.phtml file which handles a lot of stuff related to formatting the output and, obviously, collecting the products to be displayed.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Magento – 1.9 RWD Theme – Layered Navigation

Magento 1.9 – Showing New Products in RWD Theme

Related Topic