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<?xml version="1.0"?>
<config>
  <frontend>
    <product>
      <collection>
        <attributes>
          <custom_shoe_type/>
          <custom_shoe_sizes/>
        </attributes>
      </collection>
    </product>
  </frontend>
</config>

You can add many more custom attributes to this xml, like ; can_be_trailered, weight_of_shoe, etc…

Step 2. Customize the catalog page.

The Template Mod

First, go to your backend and create the attributes, custom_shoe_type and custom_shoe_sizes. Then assign the attributes to your attribute set according to the product(s) you want to customize. After, this you want to edit your products, and add your text to the input, for each custom attribute. Now go, inside your /magento_install/app/…/template/catalog/product/list.phtml page, apply any of the following codes from the examples to both or one of the layouts; Grid Mode or List Mode to get the following desired results.

Example 1:

In this how to example, I will show you how to display custom shoe type above all the product images within this attribute set:

Optional: You can add style by enclosing the php with divs and assigning my_personal_style class.

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<li class="item">
<!--insert custom attribute-->
    <?php if($_product->getcustom_shoe_type()): ?>
<div class="my_personal_style">
    <?php echo $this->htmlEscape($_product->getAttributeText('custom_shoe_type')); ?>
    </div>
 
    <?php endif; ?>
<!--//end insert custom attribute-->
<p class="product-image">

So, in this example we used a getAttributeText, which will do just that. It will get the the custom_shoe_type attribute text, which in this case is either sandals, dress shoes, or sneakers. It will display one of these shoe types above the image.

Example 2:

In this how to example, I will show you how to display all the shoe sizes available for that particular product below all the product information, i.e. Add to Wishlist, Add to Compare..

Optional: I have added a, ul, li style by enclosing the php with ul, li and assigning my_personal_style2 class, with list-style:none, and styling a bit.

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<a href="<?php echo $_compareUrl ?>"><?php echo $this->__('Add to Compare') ?></a>
<?php endif; ?>
 
<!--insert custom attribute-->
     <?php if($_product->getcustom_shoe_sizes()): ?>
<ul class="my_personal_style2">
<li><?php echo $this->htmlEscape($_product->getData('custom_shoe_sizes')); ?></li>
</ul>
 
     <?php endif; ?>
<!--//end insert custom attribute-->
</li>
 
<?php if($i%3==0 || $i==$_collectionSize): ?>

So, in this example we used a getData, which will do just that. It will get the the custom_shoe_sizes data text, which in this case is any of the following, size 8, size 9, size 10, and so on. It will display all the available shoe sizes for that particular product.

Summary

Help Links to AWStats and WAMP

So with these examples, you can pretty much create your own custom catalog with your own attributes or use an existing magento attribute.

Note: Keep a local log of the files you modify, especially core files. What I do is keep folders and log each change accordingly. By naming one file to /mods/core, and the other to /mods/template and placing each mod into the corresponding folder.

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