A group save can change hundreds of products in one click, and there is no undo. This page lists the messages of the module and the habits that keep your catalog safe.
Messages in the product list
| Message | When |
|---|---|
| You have added products to the group | After Add selected products to group. |
| You have removed products from the group | After Remove selected products from group. |
| You have removed all products from the group | After Remove all products from group. |
| Number of added products: N | After the group action Add to category. |
| Number of removed products: N | After the group action Remove from category. |
| Warning: You do not have permission to modify products! | A group action without the Modify permission for catalog/product. Nothing is changed. |
| Success: You have modified products! | After a save of the product form. The group products are saved too if fields were checked. |
| Option "X" was deleted from N products. | Added to the success message for every option deleted with Delete this option from the products. N counts the products that had the option, the edited product included. |
Add all products to group shows no message. Check the counter Products in group after it.
Confirmations in the product form
The browser asks for a confirmation before saving in two cases. OK saves the form, Cancel returns to the form without saving anything.
| Confirmation | When |
|---|---|
| These options will be deleted from N products (this product and the group products): "X", "Y". Continue? | At least one Delete this option from the products is checked. N is the number of group products plus the edited product if it is not in the group. |
| All options of N group products will be replaced with the options of this product. Their other options will be removed. Continue? | Replace All Options is checked and the edited product has options. N is the number of group products without the edited product. |
| This product has no options. All options of N group products will be removed. Continue? | Replace All Options is checked and the edited product has no options. |
With Replace All Options checked, only its confirmation is shown: the delete checkboxes are ignored in this mode.
Read the number in the confirmation. If it is bigger than you expected, click Cancel, go back to the product list and check the group with the Group Products Only filter.
There is no confirmation for other fields. A save with a checked Price changes the price of all group products without a question.
Habits for safe group editing
- Back up first. Make a database backup (System > Maintenance > Backup / Restore or your hosting tools) before a big change. A group save cannot be undone.
- Check the group. Before you open a product, look at Products in group and, if in doubt, at the Group Products Only list.
- Try it on a small group. Do a new kind of change on two or three products, look at the result, then build the full group.
- Check the checkboxes, not only the values. A changed but unchecked field is saved only in the edited product. A checked but unchanged field is still copied.
- Clear the group when you are done. The group stays after a save. Clear it with Remove all products from group so that a later save with a checked field does not change the same products again.
- Be careful with lists. Categories, filters, stores, downloads and related products replace the whole list in the group products. To add or remove a single category, use the Group actions.
- Be careful with options. Copy replaces the values of an existing option, Replace All Options removes all other options, Delete removes the option everywhere. Options that customers have in their carts or orders are referred to by id: the module keeps the ids of the options and values that stay, but deleted options and values are gone.
If something went wrong
- Wrong value copied: fix it in the edited product, check the same field and save again with the same group.
- Wrong products changed: restore the database backup, or fix the products with a new group save.
- The save stopped in the middle (for example, a PHP time limit on a very big group): some group products were saved, others not. Repeat the same save; the products that already have the values are not harmed. See Limitations, Troubleshooting and FAQ.