We sell vehicle accessories. I want customers be able to filter by make+model+year and find all products that fit that vehicle.

Using attributes seems the correct route.  I created an attribute group called "Vehicle".  Then Created an attribute for Make, Model, and Year.  Here's where the trouble begins.  A single product might fit multiple makes, models, and years.  Example: Toyota Tacoma (2007-2011) AND Toyota 4Runner (2007-2011) AND Toyota Highlander (2008-2011).

I tried and it says I can only assign 1 make, 1 model, and 1 year to the product.  How do I assign all the necessary attributes?
thanks

We have a widget called the category filter that does pretty much just this.

Instead of using attributes you can categorize your products into each of these categories.

The structure could be 

Make > Model > Year 

This may be a better route as the selections will be dependent on the previous selection. (you must select Make before model, etc)

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Interesting.  I will try that and let you know how it works.

Edit: OK, I didn't get very far.  It still doesn't solve the problem of one product fitting multiple models and years. 

Using my previous example: Toyota Tacoma (2007-2011) AND Toyota 4Runner (2007-2011) AND Toyota Highlander (2008-2011).

So for the 2007 model year, I created one category for "Toyota", one for "2007" and TWO model categories (excluding Highlander).  But I have to recreate the entire structure for 2008 and can't reuse the categories.  By the end I have 5 categories named "Toyota" and up to 5 for each model.  Unless you nest the categories like this, the product looks like it fits a 2007 Highlander when it doesn't.

2007

     > Toyota

          > Tacoma

          > 4Runner

2008

     > Toyota

          > Tacoma

          > 4Runner

          > Highlander

2009

     > Toyota

          > Tacoma

          > 4Runner

          > Highlander

2010

     > Toyota

          > Tacoma

          > 4Runner

          > Highlander

2011

     > Toyota

          > Tacoma

          > 4Runner

          > Highlander

Throw in other makes, models and years and it quickly becomes convoluted and unworkable.  Am I missing something?

I realize this is more complex than it seems because each make/model/year combination is unique and products have a one-to-many relationship to the combinations.  Looking at it from the customer's side is easy.  They only shop for one vehicle at a time.

This looked to be the right track.

http://myamericommerce.com/blogs/feature_release_history_production_path/archive/2011/02/11/feature-category-filter-snap-in.aspx

Ii talks about a make|model|year drop down, but doesn't explain how to set it up in the back end or assigning products.

The link you sent is exactly what I was talking about.

The sites that have set this up before have done it opposite of your example and the same as what I mentioned

Make
---Model
------2000
------2001
------2002

 

This would require FAR less categories than doing it the other way.

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As well as our Feature Voting portal to vote on and submit new Feature Requests!

I would recommend creating makes and models as categories and adding the years as attributes, otherwise you will have lots of duplicate years in your category tree.

How do I limit it to products within the current category?

Dustin,

Will search engines see the individual products (product pages) that are filtered by the category filter?

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Best Regards,
Louis
TackleToyStore.com

Michael Mullen:

How do I limit it to products within the current category?

I'm not sure I understand your question. If what I suggested doesn't work for your catalog then there may not be a better way to set it up than what you originally planned or what Ryan suggested.

BMC Tackle:

Dustin,

Will search engines see the individual products (product pages) that are filtered by the category filter?

The category filter simply takes you to the selected category's page with the selected attribute filters applied, so it is really no different than navigating there through normal means.

This question was answered in another post of yours. The filter control is not crawlable and is a tool to help your customers. A search engine spider would still crawl through your site via normal navigation methods such as category links, etc.

http://myamericommerce.com/forums/permalink/4989/4989/ShowThread.aspx#4989

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dustin:

I would recommend creating makes and models as categories and adding the years as attributes, otherwise you will have lots of duplicate years in your category tree.

I was about to suggest the same thing. You don't want ANYTHING in there twice that would cause extra pull on a search, else results won't be as targeted/defined.