What the module does and why it’s worth it
- One controlled place for recommendations – a consistent block on the product page and in the cart (instead of scattered suggestions).
- Rules‑based selection – recommendations come from criteria, weights and limits, not from manual “gut feel”.
- Add‑to‑cart under control – the “Add to cart” options and the “add‑to‑cart ready only” filter reduce frustration and dead clicks.
- Scales with low operational effort – results are cached and refreshed after product changes.
- No theme conflicts – the carousel can use Slick, but you can disable loading the library if your theme already includes it.
Use cases
- Shops with large catalogues where fast product prompting is key, without manual curation.
- Industries with complementary purchases (e.g. accessories), where effective cross‑sell and “bought together” matters.
- Shops running promotions and sales that want to highlight discounted products in a logical context.
- Shops (B2B/B2C) that require consistent presentation on mobile and desktop.
Features – Back Office
1. Block headings
You set what the recommendations section is called in two places.
- Separate heading for the product page and the cart.
- Multilingual – headings depend on the shop language.
- Fallback – when left empty, the module will use the default text.
2. Display limits (desktop/mobile + per criterion)
You control the number of products so the block stays effective and doesn’t overload the page.
- Global limit separately for desktop and mobile.
- Per‑criterion limit – each recommendation source has its own cap so it won’t dominate the result.
3. Add to cart & eligibility (one consistent logic)
You define when a product can be added to the cart and whether non‑purchasable products should be hidden.
- Enable “Add to cart” + validation – the button appears only when the product meets the conditions for purchase.
- Filter “purchasable only” – optionally removes recommended products that cannot be added to the cart.
- Products with attributes – allows showing “Add to cart” for products that have variants.
4. Block layout: grid or carousel (Slick)
You choose UX to fit your catalogue: quick scanning in a grid or browsing by scrolling in a carousel.
- Grid mode or carousel mode – without changing the theme (Classic theme compatible).
- Slick – the module can load the library or only initialise it (when the theme already includes Slick).
- Responsive – breakpoints and the number of visible products.
- Carousel behaviour – autoplay, speed, arrows/pagination, loop, scrolling.
5. Recommendation criteria (10) + weights/limits + “From category”
You build your selection logic: choose recommendation sources and set how strongly they affect the final result.
- 10 criteria : tags, category, best sellers, bought together, accessories, promotions, on sale, margin, recently viewed, manufacturer.
- Enable / Weight / Limit for each criterion.
- “From category” (where available) – restricts to the context category: product (product category) / cart (categories of products in the cart).
6. Configuration analytics
You quickly verify how the current settings distribute emphasis between criteria.
- Overview of active criteria and their parameters.
- Influence % – percentage share of a criterion’s weight within the sum of weights of active criteria.
- Limits summary for desktop/mobile.
7. Cache, refresh and updates
The block stays fast and keeps itself up to date after catalogue changes.
- Cache separately for the product page and the cart.
- Automatic cache clearing after product add/edit/delete.
- PPUpdater – update availability information in the module panel.
Features – Front Office
1. Where the block is displayed
Recommendations appear where customers most often make the purchase decision.
- Product page – recommendations in the context of the currently viewed item.
- Cart – suggestions just before checkout.
2. Theme‑consistent look
The module doesn’t force its own widget – it uses the standard product presentation.
- Product miniatures rendered in the theme’s standard structure (consistent UI).
- Heading comes from configuration – separately for the product page and the cart.
3. Grid or carousel (Slick)
The same set of products can be displayed as a grid or as a carousel – depending on configuration.
- Grid – quick scanning of multiple products.
- Slick carousel – scrolling and configurable responsive behaviour.
4. “Add to cart” (recommendations + listing)
The module can shorten the path to purchase, but only where adding to cart is genuinely possible.
- Button in recommendations – if enabled in configuration.
- Button on listings – the module can inject “Add to cart” into product lists.
- No dead clicks – the button is displayed only for products that meet add‑to‑cart conditions.
- “Add‑to‑cart ready only” option – further restricts recommendations to products that can be purchased.
Automation and operating logic
- Recommendations are built from active criteria and configured weights and limits.
- The same product may appear in several criteria – its score is combined and it rises in the ranking in a stable way.
- Depending on settings, the module checks add‑to‑cart eligibility (for the button and/or filtering the list).
- The whole block is cached and refreshed automatically after product changes.
Impact on sales and SEO
- More items in the cart – extra exposure in the cart increases the chance of adding complementary items.
- Fewer “dead clicks” – the “add‑to‑cart ready only” option reduces cases where the customer can’t add the suggested product.
- Stable content section – recommendations create a repeatable block of content on high‑value SEO pages (product/cart).
- Better exposure control – weights and limits let you test layouts and compare effects in shop analytics.
Who is this module for?
- Sales teams – to organise cross‑sell and increase basket value without manually arranging lists.
- Administrators – for safe recommendation configuration, availability control and easy maintenance.
- PrestaShop developers – for deployments that require predictable behaviour, caching and minimal theme conflicts.
- SEO specialists – to build consistent content sections on key pages and support offer visibility.
Summary and CTA
If you want to deploy recommendations based on clear rules and keep control over what customers see on the product page and in the cart, configure PPSmartRecommendations and set criteria to match your catalogue.
Call to action: Install the module and start configuring criteria and limits to match your sales goals.
Alert
Before installation or upgrade, back up your files and database. If your theme already loads Slick, disable the module option that loads the library to avoid conflicts and duplicate assets. After configuration changes, verify the appearance on mobile and desktop.
## [1.1.2] - 2025-12-25
### Added
- **Separate headings per context**: introduced two independent, multi-language block headings:
- `PPSMARTREC_HEADING_PRODUCT` (product page)
- `PPSMARTREC_HEADING_CART` (cart summary)
- **Translation-ready defaults**: default heading texts are set via `l()` so they can be translated (e.g. in `translations/pl.php`).
### Changed
- **Recommendation configuration snapshot**: recommendation building now uses a cached config snapshot to reduce repeated `Configuration::get` calls.
- **Cart cache key stability**: cart widget cache ID is now stable (product IDs are sorted before hashing), preventing cache misses caused by ordering.
- **Availability check memoization**: availability checks are memoized per request to avoid repeated expensive checks on the same products.
- **Back Office asset scoping**: admin CSS/JS for the module is only loaded on the module configuration page.
### Fixed
- **Criteria helper compatibility**: added missing namespace imports so `CategoryProductSearchProvider` and Product Search classes resolve correctly.
### Notes (Multistore)
- Module configuration is stored using PrestaShop `Configuration` and follows the current shop context selected in Back Office.
- SQL queries use `context->shop->id` and `*_shop` tables where applicable.
- The module updates `PS_ATTRIBUTE_CATEGORY_DISPLAY` (a PrestaShop core configuration). Its scope depends on your multistore context in Back Office.
## [1.1.1] - 2025-12-24
### Added
- **Admin configuration UI**: configuration split into tabs (General / Display / Criteria & weights / Analytics).
- **Carousel integration**: added optional Slick carousel support with responsive breakpoints and behavior controls.
- **Update checker**: integrated the PP updater component for update notifications in Back Office.
### Changed
- **Recommendation algorithm tuning**: scoring and limits adjusted to better balance multiple criteria in the final list.
## [1.1.0] - 2025-12-16
### Added
- **Multiple recommendation criteria**: tag similarity, same category, top sellers, bought together, accessories, promotions, on sale, highest margin, recently viewed, and same manufacturer.
- **Cart recommendations**: added recommendations block in cart summary.
- **Product list integration**: optional add-to-cart button in product listing contexts (when allowed by availability rules).
### Changed
- **Frontend rendering**: introduced a unified template and product presenter helper to keep product tiles consistent.
## [1.0.0] - 2025-10-01
### Added
- **Initial release**: product-page recommendations block with configurable global limits.
- **Basic caching**: template caching support to reduce repeated rendering.
- **Install/uninstall flow**: default configuration setup and cleanup on uninstall.
