How do I add custom URL parameters to magento?

Question

I want to be able to list out all the products by a specific manufacture.

I've been able to get a list of all the manufactures

function getAllManu()
    {
      $product = Mage::getModel('catalog/product');
      $attributes = Mage::getResourceModel('eav/entity_attribute_collection')
                  ->setEntityTypeFilter($product->getResource()->getTypeId())
                  ->addFieldToFilter('attribute_code', 'manufacturer'); //can be changed to any attribute
      $attribute = $attributes->getFirstItem()->setEntity($product->getResource());
      $manufacturers = $attribute->getSource()->getAllOptions(false);

      return $manufacturers;
    }

But I don't know what to do next.

url string should be something like this:

website.com/manufacture/ (with pagination support)

EDIT

I'm guessing I need to do my own controller and extend extends Mage_Core_Controller_Front_Action

Answer 1

Yes, you're right, you need your own controller but it would be better if you'd extend the Mage_Catalog_CategoryController. This way you could reuse some methods.

So, create your new module and in config.xml place:

<config>
...
<frontend>
    <routers>
        <manufacturer>
            <use>standard</use>
            <args>
                <module>Namespace_Module</module>
                <frontName>manufacturer</frontName>
            </args>
        </manufacturer>
    </routers>  
</frontend>

And your controller:

class Namespace_Module_ManufacturerController extends Mage_Catalog_CategoryController
{

}

This way http://mymagesite.com/index.php/manufacturer/view/name/nike will point to viewAction() method with $_GET['name']='nike'.

Now, override the _initCatagory() & viewAction() to match your requirements.

Also, you will need to override Mage_Catalog_Block_Product_List (see: http://inchoo.net/ecommerce/magento/overriding-magento-blocks-models-helpers-and-controllers/) and apply a manufacturer filter to the product collection rendered.

To apply the filter, first you would have to get from the request (the $_GET):

$manufacturer = $this->getRequest()->getParam('name');

and then in the _getProductCollection of the overridden block, change

$this->_productCollection = $layer->getProductCollection();

to

$this->_productCollection = $layer->getProductCollection();
if(isset($manufacturer))
   $this->_productCollection->addAttributeToFilter($manufacturer);

I have not tested it but it should work.