Unrecognized item options are options which do not follow the proper syntax for item options and options that are not defined in the Options field for an item in Store Editor or Catalog Manager. This second condition, items not defined in the Options field, may be present in stores of merchants using the Web Hosting functionality of their Merchant Solutions account. Not having item options defined within your account presents a security risk for your store.
We recommend that you don't allow items with unrecognized options to be placed in the shopping cart. Learn the implications of validating item options, and how to change this setting.
Security vulnerability
Turbify validates all options passed to the shopping cart when an item is placed in the shopping cart by a customer. Validating all options prevents someone from maliciously passing invalid options with an item that could reduce the price of an option or the item itself and thus result in a loss for the merchant.
To validate all item options, your options must:
- Follow the proper syntax.
- Be defined in the Options field of the item (Store Editor or Catalog Manager).
Proper syntax
Item options must follow an exact format in order for Turbify to validate the item options when added to the shopping cart with those defined in the Options field. Options with proper syntax follow the format:
- Attribute Value1 Value2 Value3 etc. . .
For example, if you are a merchant selling t-shirts you may have an item option with the attribute of Size with values of Small, Medium, and Large. In the Options field, this attribute would be entered as
The result of this entry is a pull-down menu labeled Size: with 3 options--Small, Medium, and Large.
Learn more about formatting the Options field properly.
Syntax errors
Any errors in syntax prevent Turbify from recognizing an option and as a result the item can not be added to the shopping cart when your Item Option Validation is set to not allow items with unrecognized options. In order to prevent valid item options from being rejected due to improper syntax, please review your item options for the following:
- More than one space between attribute values
- Spaces appearing at the end of a line; upon publish these spaces will be removed causing an unrecognized item option.
- Line breaks between attribute values
- Attribute values with multiple words (e.g. "Extra Large" or "Royal Blue") not enclosed in double quotation marks
- HTML in the Options field (not allowed)
- Using the HTML key name=value for any button or field name (Turbify looks for the name= key for options and thus using it within a form you create outside of the Store Editor will cause problems.)
- Using any of the Store-reserved names for button or field labels or names
Defining Options
Along with proper syntax, you must define all item options in the Options field for the item. You can define these options in Store Editor or Catalog Manager depending on whether you use Store Editor or an HTML authoring program along with store tags to create your item pages. Any item option included in the form for an item that is passed to the shopping cart must be defined in order for Turbify to have a copy against which to validate items added to the shopping cart.
In order to use the do not allow items with unrecognized options without the possibility of rejecting legitimate orders due to improper syntax or item with options not defined in the Options field, you should find items with unrecognized item options and then ensure those items options are recognized.
