Linked Options: link standalone products like variants

About the Extension

Standalone products look like variants, yet stay independent

New in version 1.3

• NEW: Selection right in the product box – colour swatches, images and sizes already appear in the listing below the price. A click swaps picture, name, price and buy button for the picked product without leaving the page; alternatively it opens the product page.
• NEW: Split by colour – combine, but keep a card of its own per option of one or several properties: e.g. one product per colour, with the sizes to pick in the box.
• NEW: Setting per category – each category decides in its custom fields whether to combine, split or show every product; subcategories inherit the setting.
• NEW: Choose the main product freely – a badge shows the main product, “Make main product” changes it without touching the order. In the overview a column shows the main product of every set, and a dialog changes it in one click.
• NEW: Canonical URL to the main product – optionally every product of a set points at the main product, so search engines index that one only; globally or per profile.
• NEW: Order by drag and drop – in the profile and on the product tab, also with arrow buttons; the position is kept when a product is saved.
• NEW: Profiles with tabs and a live preview – General, Variant sets, Display & SEO; next to them the product box as the listing shows it – with your design settings and before you save.
• NEW: Assign variant sets to a profile later – right from the overview. If properties or sales channel do not fit, a guided step adapts the assignment.
• NEW: Import and export through Shopware's standard – with readable options such as “Colour: Black|Size: M”, set, position, profile and main product.
• NEW: Design without code – colours, corner radius and swatch size for the product page and the product box, or taken from the shop theme; the property names can be hidden.

Why this plugin?

• Separate data, unified appearance: products with their own stock, URL or maintenance still look like variants.
• Familiar operation: customers pick colour, size or other options like in the standard configurator.
• No variant rebuild: no switch to real variants required, existing products are simply linked.
• Fast with many products: profiles link many products in one go instead of product by product.
• Like real variants up to the invoice: cart, order, documents and emails name the option that was bought.

Maintained on the product

• “Pseudo variants” tab on every product: choose the current product's options, add further products and assign them one option per property group.
• Multiple property groups per variant set, with exactly one option per group and product; options are picked in a modal with search.
• Searchable product picker showing variant options, any number of products per variant set.
• Mutual links: A knows B and C, B knows A and C, without duplicate maintenance.

Profiles: many variant sets in one go

• Define the property groups and the sales channel once, then link any number of variant sets without opening each product.
• Pre-filled: if a product already carries the matching properties itself, its options are taken over.
• One set of data: a product linked through a profile shows the same variant set in its own “Pseudo variants” tab – both ways write the same data.
• Own listing settings: each profile can override combining and the main product for its variant sets, or inherit them from the plugin configuration.
• Safe to delete: deleting a profile keeps its variant sets; they only lose the shared configuration.

Overview under Catalogues

• Order by drag and drop and a clear main product: sort the products of a set in the profile and on the product tab, also with arrow buttons. A badge shows the main product, “Make main product” changes it without changing the order; in the overview a column shows the main product of every set and a dialog changes it in one click. The position is kept when a product is saved.
• Assign to a profile later: existing variant sets move into a profile without being recreated. If properties or sales channel do not fit, a guided step adapts the assignment and can switch missing products visible in the channel.
• Profiles with tabs and a live preview: General, Variant sets, Display & SEO – next to the product box as the listing shows it, with your design settings and before you save.
• Canonical URL to the main product: optionally every product of a set points at the main product.
• Import and export through Shopware's standard Settings → Import/Export: product number, options as “Colour: Black|Size: M”, set, position, profile and main product – with the same checks as in the Administration.

Storefront selection in configurator style

• Multiple groups in the style of the standard configurator; a click on an option leads straight to the matching product.
• Current selection marked, including hints for screen readers.
• Non-purchasable pseudo variants can be hidden, shown disabled or shown disabled with a slash.

Combining in listings and sliders

• Which product is shown: the chosen main product or the position in the variant set, highest stock, most sales, lowest price, highest price, newest product or name ascending.
• Split by a property: combine, but keep one product per option of one property – e.g. one product per colour with the sizes combined.
• Per category, per profile, per sales channel: a category's custom fields decide whether its listing combines, splits by a property or shows every product; subcategories inherit it. Otherwise the profile applies, then the plugin configuration.
• Skip non-purchasable products: products without stock and with active closeout do not become the main product. If no product of the set can be purchased, one is still shown so the set does not vanish from the listing.

Selection right in the product box

Properties in cart, order and documents

Safeguards

• Each combination only once: two products with the same combination (e.g. both “Size: L”) are marked and cannot be saved; the overview flags variant sets that already contain a duplicate combination.
• Matching the sales channel: the “Pseudo variants” tab only offers products visible in at least one of the product's sales channels. If a linked product is missing in one of them, a hint names the channels concerned.
• No links into other sales channels: in the storefront, a product the current sales channel does not show is never linked or offered. If fewer than two products of a variant set remain visible there, they behave like standalone products.

Support & further development