Cloning a product results in many product layouts?

[Geoffrey]

I have many variations of each product, such as different colors, etc.  I use the same layout for each product. 

I used the Clone product button to set up most of my products.

I now have many Product Layouts under the Layout dropdown menu.  Each product has it's own layout. 

Since my store only has ~25 products to start out, I only have ~25 product layouts. 

But if the store grows to 500 products, I'll have 500 product layouts?  I only need one. 

Did the Clone Product function cause a new layout to be generated for each new product, or was it something else I did? 

I can edit each product and assign it to a master layout, but is there a way to remove all the (copy) layouts from the system?

Thanks.

[Basara]

Hello.

If your product have not custom layout the Default Product Page is used. If you have a custom layout for the product it is obvious that clone will clone it right? 

[Geoffrey]

Thanks for the reply. 

From the perspective of a new AbanteCart user: 
1 - The most efficient way to set up new products is to clone a similar product. 
2 - The clone feature is a time-saving and useful feature.
3 - The clone feature has an unexpected side effect: when it is used to clone a product that has a custom layout, it will add an un-needed Layout Copy to the roster of layouts.
4 - This will rapidly lead to a very long list of unnecessary Layout Clones, esp for large stores.

When a user encounters an unexpected outcome, it is not uncommon for that user to ask whether the outcome should have occurred.  I did that above.  It's easy to see that an ever-expanding list of Layout Clones is not a desirable side effect of an otherwise useful product setup feature. 

Sometimes this process can help identify a problem that has a reasonable probability of recurring with other users. 

I have one remaining question.  I would be great to get an answer...

After going back and reassigning a single layout to my products, is there a way to delete all the Layout Clones that I inadvertently created while using the Product Clone feature, so that my Layout list is not clogged with a large number of unneeded layout clones?

Thanks. 

[Geoffrey]

Earlier today I noticed that unlike default layouts, user-created custom layouts have a little trashcan delete button.  That's nice. 

I edited every product to point each product at one single layout. 

Then i opened every unneeded layout clone and deleted it. 

Thanks for the suggestions and support.  It's great.