A hardware bundle with dependencies
Not every power supply fits the case. How the configurator locks groups, hides them and opens them only once the decision before is made.
With hardware, choice is rarely free. A large power supply does not fit a small case, only certain processors fit a mainboard, and some combinations are simply nonsense. A configurator that offers everything produces returns.
That is why the plugin knows dependencies between groups. Its own help text puts it like this: “A stream can be hidden or disabled until a definable condition (e.g. product A selected in stream B) is met. Only as soon as at least one of the defined conditions is fulfilled, the stream becomes visible and active.”
Two ways to lock a group
Hidden
The group is not there at all. Good for steps that would only confuse the customer while the basic decision is missing.
Disabled
The group is visible but greyed out. The customer sees that something is coming - and what has to be decided first.
Four conditions to choose from
| Condition | It is met when |
|---|---|
| Has any product | anything at all is selected in the named group. |
| Has a product from | one item from a list you define is selected there. |
| Has no product from | none of the items on that list is selected there. |
| Has no product | nothing at all is selected there. |
The reference is either one particular group or “Any stream”. Several conditions can sit side by side; it is enough for one of them to apply.
Visible since a case was chosen. Only what fits is offered.
Disabled until a power supply is set - the space depends on it.
Offering variants cleanly
Hardware products have variants, and you rarely want to show all of them. Two settings handle this. Fan out variants shows every available variant directly instead of the parent product, so each one is selectable on its own. Variant properties as name makes the list read “Colour: black, 140 mm” rather than the same product name three times over.
And if one particular variant should not be offered, you block it on the Filter tab. The help text names exactly this case: “If you have a T-shirt in the variants red, yellow and green in the stream but only want to make the variants red and yellow available for selection, you can select and block the variant green here.”
Order is part of the advice
Dependencies only work as well as the order of the groups. Put the decisive question at the bottom and the customer sees nothing but greyed-out boxes above it. The position of every group is free - start with the decision everything else hangs on.
A sensible starting state
An empty configurator is an empty page. On the Preselection tab you decide which products are already chosen on the first visit - typically the most common combination. The customer immediately sees a complete build with a price and changes only what they want differently.
One thing goes with it: if you set a preselection, set Price in listing to match. Otherwise the category shows a “from” price while the product page, with its preselection, names a different number.