Thread: V9 want Multiple Dropdowns (2+) or Kit XML

So it seems you can only have two drop-downs on a regular template and Kit Products now can not use XML files. The Kit issue causes other problems including the inability to offer multiple customizations. Is there other options I am not aware of or is this it.

Initially all I wanted was a third drop-down... found kits, a wonderful surprise only to realize XML was out. Loving the bleeding edge change.

MSD

Changing from XML doesn't prevent you from modifying whatever you want for kits. Kit pages are created by a combination of the kitproduct.aspx(.cs) file, and a couple of controls that are in the {root}/controls/kit folder - no source code required.

Scott:
You over simplify the change here. Its not a 1-to-1 trade here.

I think the original poster was not concerned about the inability to modify the kit page layout, but rather the inability to have multiple kit page layouts. For example in ML8 we could have a "prodcuts.MyKitPage1.xml.config" and "products.MyOtherKitPage.xml.config" in the same storefront. These two kit pages could be radically different in look and feel.

I'm not sure if this is always necessary, but it is a difference between the old and the new. It could also present some extra maintenance if say you release a updated/patched kitproduct.aspx.cs file while we've customized the original.

MSD:
Although these are very real changes, I'm not sure if it is any better/worse than before. There are plus and minus aspects. I've always believed in seperating data, logic and presentation. In the past this was NOT well done by ASPDNSF with html and css mixed into source all over the place. This is improving over time...

With the new kit pages I'd be inclined to move any style/presention/color/font changes into your CSS file. To help maximize your ability to offer different kit pages, you could use an extra field from the products as a wrapper div's class name or id in the kit page layout. This way you could pull out all the styling differences into CSS based on the products class/id page wrapper.