Upload pdf one time - How to

-- HikaShop version -- : 3.1.1
-- Joomla version -- : 3.7.5
-- PHP version -- : 7.1.8
-- Browser(s) name and version -- : Chrome 60

Hi guys,
I have this scenario: All Registered Users can buy, only one time, a "free" Product where they have to upload a pdf, when the order is confirmed they are added to the "Checked" usergroup forever. So:

0 - I create a Product in my Store setting "RESTRICTIONS AND DIMENSIONS > Access level" to Registered. It will be visible only to Registered group;
1 - I want limit the purchase of the Product only to 1 in all User life, Can Limit product quantity feature be the right solution ?
2 - I don't set prices to the product, so the product is considered as Free;
3 - With Custom fields I create a new "Required" pdf upload "File" item / order field (may be order field would be better because I will find this information on the order details and/or the orders listing on the back end). Please,
- What do you think about item / order ? Which is it better solution in your opinion ?
- What is the difference from FIle and Ajax File ?
- The Custom Fields documentations page seem to be a little bit dated, so I'm confused. Please, How to limit the upload file to pdf, set the max upload file size, and set the directory where to save it ?
4 - Order "Created". How to set only for this Free Product Orders to stop on "Created", and pending the manually "Confirmed" status ?
5 - I can read and check the pdf file, and than confirm the Order. So the order status from "Created" will be "Confirmed" and, as the point 6 will be completed, to "Shipped".
- Wanting assign to a Special User the work to check pdf and confirm order, Please, Do you have any suggestions ?
- How "Custom fields > DISPLAY > Front-end" feature works ?
- Can I create an "Email Order status notification" just for this product when its status is changed from "Created" to "Confirmed" ?
6 - Setting in "Products > CUSTOM FIELDS > Usergroup after purchase to "Checked" group, when the Order is been Confirmed the User will be added to the "Checked" group forever. Order "Shipped".

Many Thanks for support

Hi Nicolas,
many thanks for answers and suggestions. Just some clarifications, Please:

3 - How to limit the pdf max upload file MB size ?

4 - "If you don't want free orders to be automatically confirmed, you can deactivate the HikaShop validate free orders plugin via the Joomla plugins manager" = This means that all the free orders will need to be manually confirmed, right ?
Practically I need to visualize the pdf file, if is good the purchase process is completed and the User added to the "Checked" usergroup.
May be, Do you have any suggestions to obtain the same result in another way ?

5 - "If you want to create a custom order status notification for that product for a specific status change" = Do you have any suggestions ?:
A - How to assign an Email to a specific product ?
B - Is there a way to duplicate the Email/s as base where make the modifications before to assign it to a specific product ?
C - When an Email is assigned to a specific product it exclude the standard Email notification ?
D - Is there a way to limit (for some products like this one), the purchase process only to 1 product in the cart ? I mean, when a user buy this product, can only buy that product on the store. Cannot add other products to the cart.

Hi Nicolas,

3 - I think you mean the "upload_max_filesize" value. Well, it's really something not "usable" beacause:
- some Components need a value really too big for a simple file (like Akeeba Backup require a value of 10M);
- for a jpg we can fix it to 100 KB without any "issue", while to have a pdf document we would have to permit at least 1 MB
Really, a File uploader should have a way to set that each time we use the field, I think is a "must" to prevent misuse of users.
Is it anything complicated to obtain ?
Please, before to move this as "Feature Request", Could you give us all instructions on "where and how" (files and how do you want it) to evaluate it with a developer (always with the think, when it is ready, to give it to HikaShop team) ?!?

4 - Nicolas, any problem with that, only the fact that this means that all the free orders will need to be manually confirmed. The store will have a lot of Free Products, so I'm looking for a way to have a manual confirmation only for that product.
Would be not a good thing a way to disable the "validate free orders plugin" into the Product ? (A product disabling related)

5 - Thanks, I'm going to move this into Feature Requests forum and will take a look with developer and let you update on it

Hi Jerome,
thanks for reply. About:

3 - Please, to add the "upload_max_filesize", Do you think would be better work on "Ajax file" or the normal "file" type ?


4 - I'm used to invest more time writing ordered posts, using few colours and bold letters trying to do that people can understand better and quickly what I mean.
I'm also used to try to improve myself, so I would like to know where I would not explain. On the first post of this thread I worte:

I have this scenario: All Registered Users can buy, only one time, a "free" Product where they have to upload a pdf, when the order is confirmed they are added to the "Checked" usergroup forever.

a "free" Product = Singular

4 - Order "Created". How to set only for this Free Product Orders to stop on "Created", and pending the manually "Confirmed" status ?

only for this Free Product = Singular
...Orders = Plural, each order can be created from users for that Free Product.


Anyway, without any problem, thanking Nicolas, I simply took his suggestion pointing out that in my case it was useless. Before wondering if there was any other suggestion and later asking a technical opinion before to move it on "Feature Request" forum:

4 - Nicolas, any problem with that, only the fact that this means that all the free orders will need to be manually confirmed. The store will have a lot of Free Products, so I'm looking for a way to have a manual confirmation only for that product.
Would be not a good thing a way to disable the "validate free orders plugin" into the Product ? (A product disabling related)

Hi Nicolas,

3 - Thanks

4 - I know the list Thanks, and "you say that the customers will have only one product in their cart, but HikaShop being a cart system, customers can have several products in the cart some time": you are right. This thing can be managed only when we are sure 1 Product per Cart.
So, We are thinking on two possible solutions:

First solution A custom plugin that works on the "Product", )where in this case I can set "Product: "free upload PDF" > Quantity per order: 1" just to avoid a user to "buy" several in the same time) where when product price is not entered it ask us if disable the "validate free orders plugin", rememebring that without a Limit on Cart (with other products in the Cart" the disabling will not run.

Second solution A custom plugin that works on the "Limit" or improve the Limit feature:
I add a "Limit" like: Period: Cart / Type: Quantity / Value: 1 / Product: free upload PDF"
(And maybe in this case adding a second Limit like: Period: Forever / Type: Quantity / Value: 1 / Product: free upload PDF").
Here in the Limit creation, before the Access Level selection for example, we would add the option to disable the "validate free orders plugin"

Please, How "Cart" works ? Selecting the Product:
A - "the quantity of the "free upload PDF" Product in the cart", but I can add other products in the Cart
or B - the total quantity of the Products into the Cart and the Limit will be applied only when the Selected Product is added to the Cart

Please, What is the best way in your opinion ?

nicolas wrote: If you set a limit to be based on the main category of your shop and all its sub categories, with a max quantity of 1, I think that you'll be able to force the customers to have only one product per cart, no matter what they do.

Practically, Do you mean to Assign the Limit to the Category Root, right ?

So, Limit - Cart is working as in my A example. The only way would be to force User to buy 1 item per time in the entire Store (a bad solution).
In my opinion "Cart" should work as in B example: "the total quantity of the Products into the Cart and the Limit will be applied only when the Selected Product is added to the Cart"
Because,:
1 - for each Product we have yet the possibility to set "Quantity per order" and limit maximum quantity to 1 for example, (and at least the same "Quantity per order" limit could be added as feature into Category. Anyway Product by Product is a Category ).
2 - with "System > Configuration > Main > Cart: Maximum number of items in the cart" we canyet obtain a Cart "Root" Category limitation
Don't youthink ?

In Limit creation right now, don't having a way to manage separately Cart and Period time like for example:

Cart Type: Quantity
Cart Value: 1

Period: Forever (daily, weekly, monthly etc.)
Type: Quantity
Value: 1

Can I add and apply two Limits ? Like:
Period: Cart - Type: Quantity - Value: 1 - Category: Root (Will force all customers to have only one product per cart)
Period: Forever - Type: Quantity - Value: 1 - Product: "free upload PDF" (Will force all customers to be able to "buy" only one time one Product forever)

I think that using the limit feature is indeed the simplest to enforce that rule.
However, that still require modifying the validate free order plugin to apply only in some cases based on the content in the cart.

Thanks, we put this investigation on our roadmap ...