DataFirefly Group Catalog: hide products by customer group and tablet catalog

Installation

Install the module from Modules > Module Manager > Upload a module by sending the ZIP file. On installation, the module creates its tables, registers its hooks and adds the Catalog > Group visibility tab.

When updating from an earlier version, simply upload the new ZIP: the upgrade script creates whatever is missing without touching your reserved products.

First setting: the staff group

The module distinguishes two kinds of customer groups:

• Staff groups see every reserved product and open the tablet catalog. This is the group of your in-store sales staff.
• Other groups, for example B2B resellers, only see the reserved products assigned to them.

First create a dedicated group in Customers > Groups, for example “Store staff”, with the same price conditions as your Customer group (group discount, prices with or without tax) so that staff see public prices. Then open Catalog > Group visibility, Settings tab, tick this group under Staff groups and save. Finally create one customer account per tablet or per salesperson and assign it to this group.

Reserve a product from its product page

On the product page, open the Modules tab (new product page in PrestaShop 8.1 and 9) or the modules section (legacy product page). The Visibility by customer group panel offers two choices:

• Public: the product follows its native visibility settings.
• Reserved: the product is hidden from the shop. It stays visible to staff groups and to the groups you tick just below.

Click Save visibility. Saving is immediate and independent from the product page save button.

What reserving does

The product switches to the native visibility Nowhere. It therefore disappears from categories, search, faceted navigation and featured-product modules. The module stores the original visibility to restore it on publishing. It adds three protections that native visibility does not cover:

• the direct URL of the product returns a not-found page, or the login page for a visitor who is not logged in when that option is on;
• adding it to the cart is refused;
• if a reserved product is already in a cart, it is removed at checkout and the customer is told why.

Manage visibility in bulk

The Catalog > Group visibility page, Products tab, lists the whole catalog with its status. Filter by name, reference, EAN or ID, by category (subcategories included) and by Public or Reserved status.

Then choose the scope (Checked products or all products matching the filter) and the action:

• Reserve for the checked groups: replaces the current groups.
• Add or Remove the checked groups: only applies to products that are already reserved.
• Make public now, with the option to enable ordering as well.
• Make public on a date, or Cancel the scheduled publication.

Apply an action to a list of references

The Apply an action to a list of references block accepts references, EAN, UPC or product IDs, one per line or separated by commas. A variant reference or barcode selects its product. Codes that are not found are listed after the operation, which helps you correct a supplier file.

Reserve new products automatically

In the settings, the Reserve new products automatically option makes every newly created product start as Reserved, with the groups checked by default. Handy when you prepare a collection before putting it online.

Scheduled publishing

A reserved product can become public at a precise date and time. On the product page, fill in Make public automatically on and optionally tick and enable ordering. In bulk, use the Make public on a date action. The Visibility column of the list shows the planned date.

When the time comes, the module restores the original visibility, enables ordering if requested and reruns search indexing. Without any setup, publishing runs on the first shop visit after the due time. For an exact time, call the cron address shown in Settings > Maintenance every 5 or 15 minutes. It is protected by a token specific to your shop.

The tablet catalog

Access and installation

The catalog address is shown in Settings > Store catalog for tablets, in the form /module/dfgroupcatalog/catalog. A link also appears in the My account area of allowed customers. On the tablet, log in once with the staff group account, open the address, then add it to the home screen: the catalog then opens full screen like an app.

Groups ticked under Other groups allowed in the store catalog can open it too, but only see public products and their own reserved products.

Search and scan

• Search covers the name, reference, EAN and the references or barcodes of variants.
• The scan button uses the tablet camera. On Android, the browser’s native detector is used; on iPad, a reading library bundled with the module takes over. The flashlight is offered when the device has one.
• A USB or Bluetooth handheld scanner works anywhere on the page, even when a product sheet is open.
• When a code exactly matches a product or a variant, the sheet opens directly on the right row.

The Categories drawer, the In stock only filter, sorting and, for staff, the Public or Reserved filter complete the search. Recently viewed products are shown at the top of the list.

The product sheet on the tablet

It shows the gallery with full-screen zoom, the price (struck through when discounted, with and without tax if the option is on), the quantity discounts of the logged-in group, stock, the back-in-stock date, features and description. The variants table gives, for each variant, the reference, EAN, price, stock and storage location when it is filled in. Tapping a variant shows its image. For staff, the sheet also shows which groups a reserved product is visible to.

Customer view and QR code

The Customer view button at the top of the screen hides stock quantities, locations, Reserved labels and the “Visible for” line before you turn the tablet to the customer. On a public product, the Show to the customer button displays a QR code that opens the product page on their phone.

Settings

• Staff groups, Other groups allowed in the store catalog and Groups checked by default.
• Reserve new products automatically.
• Visitors opening a reserved product: login page instead of a not-found page.
• Reserved products in shop listings: see the B2B section.
• For the tablet catalog: title, products per page, stock quantities, prices with and without tax, Customer view button.

Using the module for a B2B group

Create a reseller group, then tick it on the reserved products meant for it. These customers open the product page, add to cart and order as usual, while B2C customers see nothing.

By default, a reserved product does not appear in categories and search, even for an allowed group: it is reached through its link or the tablet catalog. The Reserved products in shop listings option shows them in categories and search for allowed groups. It only applies to those customers and only in categories that contain products reserved for them; there they see simple sorting instead of faceted filters. B2C customers are never affected.

Maintenance and uninstallation

Check reserved products hides again any reserved product whose visibility was changed outside the module, by an import or by an employee whose profile is not allowed to view the module.

Make all products public gives every reserved product its original visibility back. Use it before uninstalling: otherwise reserved products stay hidden, which is the safest default.

Troubleshooting

Staff do not see reserved products

Check that the account belongs to the group ticked under Staff groups and that the product is enabled, then log the account out and back in on the tablet.

A reserved product became visible again

Its visibility was probably changed by an import or by an employee without permission on the module. Run Check reserved products, then give the profile the “View” permission on the module in Advanced Parameters > Team > Permissions.

The scan button does not appear or the camera is refused

The camera is only available on a shop served over HTTPS. Allow camera access for the site in the tablet browser settings. A handheld scanner remains an alternative.

A scheduled product is not public yet

Without a cron job, publishing waits for the next shop visit. Open any page of the site or set up the cron address. Clear the cache if a page cache module is active.

Tablet catalog prices differ from the website

The catalog shows the prices of the logged-in account’s group. Give the staff group the same discounts and the same tax display as the Customer group.

Known limits

• Product feeds handled by other modules (Google Shopping, marketplaces, price comparison sites) are not filtered by group: exclude reserved products there.
• Accessory blocks added by third-party modules may show a reserved product linked to a public product.

Compatibility

• PrestaShop 8.0 to 9.x with the same ZIP, legacy and new product page.
• Native faceted navigation (ps_facetedsearch).
• ModuleAdminController architecture, no Composer dependency.
• Interface translated into French, English, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, Polish and Portuguese.