Link directly to product page

-- url of the page with the problem -- : bh-implants.com/
-- HikaShop version -- : Essential 2.3.5
-- Joomla version -- : 3.3.6

Hello,

I have a weird issue which I could not resolve no matter what I tried.

I have a category listing holding several other categories. But, three of this categories have only one product in them. I would like to keep the categories as other product will be added in the future but right no there is no need to drill down to the category itself.

So, if you'll take a look at the following example, the first category has two products in it so that's o.k. The second category has only one product in it and it goes right to this product. The two other categories have only one product in it but instead of going straight to this product like the second one it goes to the category first. Where can I redefine this please?

Link: bh-implants.com/index.php/en/products/surgical-instruments

Thank you in advance,

Guy.

Hi,

It's neither weird nor an issue, but it's the way you've set it up, and you have total control over it. And if you think you've lost control, you can gain it easily back.

On the linked page, a category listing, the 1st, 3rd and 4th categories are behaving as per default: clicking leads to a product listing of all products in this category, one or multiple.

For the 2nd category you must have entered for its canonical URL the direct link to the product it leads to. (And obviously, you've set the canonical URLs to be used in the system main configuration - which isn't a bad thing.)

It seems from what you're saying that the behaviour of the 2nd category is what you want for all categories containing only a single product, for as long as that's the case.
Well, like for the 2nd category now, you could also for other "single product" categories enter the valid direct link to the product as canonical URL. Doing so for the 3rd and 4th categories will skip the step of the product listing, too.

Only, once more products would get added to such categories, you'd need to empty/delete the canonical URLs in the relevant categories again to have them behaving "regularly" and displaying a product listing upon click... (EDIT:) and depending on your configuration of canonical URLs, either let the system generate a new URL, or enter the valid URL to the product listing manually.

Hello lousyfool,

Thank you for your detailed replay.
I've assumed it has to do with some settings but I still can't find where to enter this canonical link.
Found the Canonical URL option at the bottom of the category but it's empty in all three occasions. Tried adding the link to one of them with no effect.
Checked the product itself, checked the categories and the menu items, no apparent change between the three

Guy.

AFAIK, unless you're either utilising canonical URLs or have been editing PHP files in a very specific way, it's hardly possible for the 2nd category to link to a product directly.

We could try to dig deeper into the "why" it is what you're having right now.
Or, more "result-oriented", just get you going towards what you want.

For the latter, as already indicated, you want to configure canonical URLs to at least "Use canonical URL if specified" ( see here - the screenshot is outdated, but the last bullet point below is speaking truth), then enter a direct product link as canonical URL for the categories containing only a single product.
And again, empty the field later again once more products are being added.

Try that?

Got everything except for the link/image

Ooops, sorry. Edited my previous post and added the link.

Thanks again.
Something is definitely not working for me.
I've checked the "Use canonical URL if specified" is set under "SEF url options" and entered the product's canonical URL under the category. Still it will drill down to the category itself. I'm puzzled

Hi,

If it is not working this way, it is potentially due to view overrides.
Some views seems to be using the function "hikashop_completeLink()" instead of "hikashop_contentLink()".

Please try to do backups of the view "category / listing_img_title" (or another one based on the one you are using), then remove the override and see if it is working as expected.

Thank you Xavier,

I will contact the developers of my template and ask for a proper solution.

Guy.