Overriding Product Data

You can override the product model Nosto extension uses as data source for both the tagging in the store front and the API calls. Please read here the basics how to alter the functionalities of Nosto extension.

Note: As of extension version > 3.0.0 you must use getters and setters to populate and access Nosto product object attributes.

Required files and configurations

1. The module configuration app/code/local/My/Nosto/etc/config.xml

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<config>
    <modules>
        <My_Nosto>
            <version>0.1.0</version>
        </My_Nosto>
    </modules>
    <global>
        <models>
            <nosto_tagging>
                <rewrite>
                    <meta_product>My_Nosto_Model_Meta_Product</meta_product>
                </rewrite>
            </nosto_tagging>
        </models>
    </global>
</config>

2. The overridden product model app/code/local/My/Nosto/Model/Meta/Product.php

<?php

/**
 * Overridden product meta data model.
 * This model is used as the data source when generating the tagging elements
 * on the product page, and when making server-to-server API calls to Nosto.
 */
class My_Nosto_Model_Meta_Product extends Nosto_Tagging_Model_Meta_Product
{
    /**
     * @inheritdoc
     */
    public function loadData(Mage_Catalog_Model_Product $product, Mage_Core_Model_Store $store = null)
    {
        parent::loadData($product, $store);

        /*
         * Here you can modify any product property you need and it will
         * automatically be used both in the store front tagging and the
         * server-to-server API calls.
         *
         * Note that any new properties will not automatically be used.
         *
         * @see https://support.nosto.com/get-started/tagging-product-pages/
         */

        /*
         * Example 1
         *
         * Adding "tag2" and "tag3" properties.
         *
         * These properties are used to include more information about the
         * product that can in turn be used for more granular control in the
         * product recommendations.
         *
         * If you have a custom attribute (string value) stored in the Magento
         * product model, it can be added to a tag field like this:
         *
         * $this->addTag2($product->getData('my_custom_attribute'));
         *
         * Or by fetching the attribute text:
         *
         * $this->addTag2($product->getAttributeText('my_custom_attribute'));
         *
         * If you have values stored in a custom model that are linked to the
         * product, you could do something like this:
         *
         * $this->addTag2(Mage::getModel('my_extension/model')->getProductAttributes($product));
         * 
         * It is important to notice that the `addTag()` function receives a string as an argument
         * and can be called multiple times in order to add multiple arguments.
         *  If you call:
         *  $this->addTag3('example1');
         *  $this->addTag3('example2');
         *  You will have `example1` and `example2` as in the tag3 field.
         *
         * The `setTag` function takes an array of strings as argument and 
         * will override any previously assigned values to the tag:
         *
         * $this->setTag2(['example1', 'example2']);
         * $this->setTag3(['example3']);
         */


        // This can be removed when implementing this extension, it's here only to
        // check that the override works when implemented.
        $this->addTag3('nosto');

        /*
         * Example 2
         *
         * Changing the product image URL.
         *
         * If you are, for example, using a 3rd party cloud storage for your
         * product images.
         *
         * The url must be absolute and includes the protocol (http or https).
         */
//        $this->setImageUrl('http://example.com/p/example.jpg');

         return true;
    }
}

After this, you can modify the Product.php file according to your needs. Clearing the Magento cache will make the extension work.

Verifying

Once you have overridden the product model and customised whatever fields you may need, you should verify that it, in fact, working as expected.

A simple way to verify that the changes are working would be to view any product page with the Nosto debug-mode enabled. The debug mode can be enabled by adding the query parameter nostodebug=true to the end of any URL. This will cause a helpful debug toolbar to appear where you can view the tagged data on the page. For more information on the debug-toolbar, please refer to this guide titled Nosto Debug Toolbar in our Support Center.

If you were to extend the product model using the example given above, you would see that the "Tags" field in the debug-toolbar will read "nosto".

NOTE: Please note that in order to verify the changes using the debug-toolbar, you must have a Nosto account for the given store.