Copying products from one Category to another with no links

[SueJBakula]

I've bee running a website (kitzidesigns.com) with internal Javascript db's since 2002 but the last time my domain came up for renewal I was ill and someone pipped me to the post and nicked it and they never did anything with it.

So now, as I'm getting older and my memory's getting a few holes in it, I decided to upgrade. I have at Infinityfree and have installed version 1.0.8.20 from their Control Panel on 15 October. After the evening of day 4 and I had only copied & pasted 4 Categories from my original db's. I was finding it very laborious and I had another 57 to enter, so started searching for a solution. Every category is identical apart from the images and the Product GTIN.

I have no knowledge of PHP, SQL or My-SQL and I have read the previous posts here on this subject and to me they were all written in a language by "Roald Dahl". SORRY. Give me HTML, Javascript, CSS and (C++, Pascal, SuperBasic or any of the old script languages I used many years ago in another life) and I'm all set. My website is nothing but HTML, Javascript and CSS with the installed version 1.0.8.20.

What I need is a main db from which many sub-db's can pull out all of the tedious duplicates but leave all of the sub-db's un-linked. So when I update, I only update the main db and the sub-db's increment in number.

Sorry for the long post but I thought I needed to explain and just to let you know it is a Wedding Stationery website with bulk and individual items of 61 styles/categories and 22 items in each category.

Any suggestions? Plain speak would be helpful

[burt]

What you are doing is the correct way as it is "safe" and cannot harm data even though it is boring and time consuming.

There are ways to manipulate database, after all, everything is stored in DB and anything stored can be copied hundreds of times. However, it is technical, and not possible to explain in "plain speak". One wrong move when playing with databases could be a world of hurt.

Maybe someone knows an addon that you could utilise.
Hopefully you'll get some other shopowners pitch in with ideas.

[SueJBakula]

Thank you "hurt" for your reply. I have added another 2 Categories since my last post 55 to go and then on to the 1,342 single products. Very slow going but I suppose, as you say, safer in the long run.

I've started looking at phpforkids.com for some insight and W3Schools for extras. I'll probably do the same for mySQL.

Okay, I'll stop here otherwise it'll end up being a full length novel again.

Thanks for any support offered,
Sue

[burt]

I just remembered there is a "Copy" functionality on products.
Add 1 product in a category. Click "Copy To";

copy.jpg

In the next screen of options there is;
a category chooser
duplicate product
link product

I *think* you'd need duplicate product as that creates a whole new separate product.

That might reduce your boredom time a little bit.

[burt]

You would then need to go into each newly copied product and amend;
images
gtin
product name?
set status to on

[SueJBakula]

"hurt" I tried that, but when you alter the copy, it alters the original too. Somehow the original and the copy are linked and whatever you do to one it does it to the other - delete one and the other goes too.
Luckily, I only tried it on a couple of products, so it was easy to enter them again - that's why I came here, to see if there was a different solution, a different way of copying products to another category.
Sue

[heatherbell]

but when you alter the copy, it alters the original too. Somehow the original and the copy are linked and whatever you do to one it does it to the other - delete one and the other goes too.

No, that is not native behaviour.
Duplicate the product and it creates a new product. It is not linked to the original.

[Dan Cole]

Change the copy method to Duplicate Product and it'll make a copy that isn't linked.

Capture.JPG

[SueJBakula]

Dan Cole: I'm not getting that on my products input screen.

[burt]

I just remembered there is a "Copy" functionality on products.
Add 1 product in a category. Click "Copy To";

copy.jpg

In the next screen of options there is;
a category chooser
duplicate product
link product

I *think* you'd need duplicate product as that creates a whole new separate product.

That might reduce your boredom time a little bit.