Web Design

[Baron_Samedi]

Thanks Markmifsud, looks like chosen host needs to support SSL then.

Why would you leave off credit card handling? Can anyone make a payment to a Paypal account or would you need a paypal account to make transactions?

Ta

Gary

 

[markmifsud]

Thanks Markmifsud, looks like chosen host needs to support SSL then.

Why would you leave off credit card handling? Can anyone make a payment to a Paypal account or would you need a paypal account to make transactions?

Ta

Gary

PayPal allow CC payments without you creating an account, so you can take PP and CC via the PP system

 

[Shude]

Is SSL provided by the ISP, host etc., or is something embodied in the code of the website?

SSL is something you will have to configure with your hosting company, I think you also need to turn something on within osCommerce so it automatically switches to https when personal details or payments are being used (normally the end of the buying process) and the certificate is supplied by a 3rd party, there are a few to choose from depending on how much you want to spend. If you buy an expensive cert it is more likely to be bundled with more browsers. I think that's essentially it.

How comfortable would you be if you were buying from a shop and your browser told you that the certificate was from an unknown source? This is why a lot of shops choose to use PP or worldpay or whoever as the security, certificates and other details are entirely their problem!

 

[Baron_Samedi]

Cheers!

Sounds like the way forward then

All I need to do now is think of a good domain name and get it registered.

 

[Baron_Samedi]

Looks like Easypopulate is a good way forward for Franey as he will have stock types changing frequently.

 

[flango]

I've got a friend they make customised shirts!

M.

Any chance you could let me have some details, one of the jobs I have on at present is new corporate wear for the Motorsport Outfit I work for, not sure how I got the job as it covers shirts, trousers, paddock wear etc, but if they do shirts, T's polos etc would be good

 

[franey]

So, I go to the osCommerce site and press what to get started?

All there appears to be are some update downloads etc but no 'Press here to create your website / shop' buttons!!

Once I have got past the first hurdle I think I could be ok, thanks

 

[Baron_Samedi]

Is there a software download?

Do you need to create the shop and upload it to your host?

I think it would be unusual for the shop to be created remotely ie on oscommerce's web site.

Good Luck!

 

[franey]

Now I am lost.

 

[wemorgan]

Now I am lost.

maybe this more general guide is of help:
PC Pro: Blogs & Analysis: Features: How to build an online shop

with a review of:
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/212478/oscommerce-online-merchant-2.html

 

[nick mercedes]

Thanks Markmifsud, looks like chosen host needs to support SSL then.

Quick and easy solution:

Set up your online shop today, from £11.95 a month | UK2

 

[Shude]

Now I am lost.

Right!

You need to find some web hosting for the front-end and some database hosting for the back-end. There are lots of places that do this You should arrange for your domain name to either be purchased at this stage or if you already have the domain name you should open up the zone file and point the www at the address provided by your host. Your host will help you with this and may provide all the services you need anyway!

Then you need to download the osCommerce software (it's tiny) and install (takes about 20 minutes). Half of the process sets up the front-end and the rest creates the back-end database.

Once the shop software is installed and the database is ready you can literally start putting items in the shop ready to sell, but I'd spend some time tinkering with it, try a few test sales (give us the URL so we can try it for you!) and make sure that a few transactions go through properly (list some dummy items for a penny).

You should get the shop customised to look how you want but the nuts and bolts work is done by now.

Any problems at any stage just let me know

 

[Baron_Samedi]

Another option, I am liking this

Just need to make sure the OP is able to keep up!

 

[franey]

I have the www.########.co.uk thingy with 'do your own website' but not happy that this is the way forward. It has 62 days subscribed service left so don't know what happens to the name after that.
In the mean time if I want to set it up with a different host(?) do I terminate from the original one?

 

[Baron_Samedi]

If the domain registration is in your name you should receive a certificate from someone (can't remember who... Nominet?)

With this indication of "ownership" you can choose your host as you please.

 

[Spinal]

For osCommerce (going through the steps now, but my host just crashed...)

1. Log in to your host (I use hostmonster, but I've heard gootd things of 1&1 as well). Create a blank database via your web hosting control panel (or use a remote GUI or terminal... whatever suits your fancy)

2. Download the osCommerce zip file from the downloads section of osCommerce, Open Source Online Shop E-Commerce Solutions, unzip it and extract the 'catalog' folder.

3. If you want your shop to be available at http://www.yourdomain.com/catalog then upload the whole of the catalog folder to the root directory of your website via FTP. If you want the site to be available at http://www.yourdomain.com then just upload all of the contents of the catalog folder, but not the folder itself.

4. Make sure that the permissions on all of the folders are set to 755, and if that does not work then set them to 777. Make sure that the includes/configure.php file and the admin/includes/configure.php file are set to 777 for the duration of the install. Once the install is complete reset to 644, 444, or 400 depending on your server setup.

5. Then go to http://www.yourdomain.com/install and begin the install procedure. Your DB Server will probably be 'localhost', your db user name and password (for mysql access) will have been provided to you by your web hosting company. The name of the database you already know - because you just set it up. Do not enable SSL, select to store sessions in the database and not files (untick the box), and do not enable persistent connections.

6. After the install create a folder called 'backups' inside the 'admin' folder (via FTP), and delete the install folder. Reset permissions on the two configure.php files.

7. Password Protect your 'admin' folder using the Password Protect feature in your web hosting control panel (or manually edit the .htacess file if that suits your fancy).

M.

EDIT: Full instructions here btw:
http://www.oscommerce.info/kb/osCommerce/Installation_and_Upgrades/41

To upload via FTP you can try FileZilla, it's free and fairly good...

 

[Sp!ke]

Companies like mamsoft offer some solutions starting at 7k which I cannot justify at the moment.

I think you could be looking at something fully setup for less than 10% of that cost using a slick, bespoke modern looking design rather than the off the shelf old fashioned front end of OSCommerce.

 

[franey]

All ears Spike!!

 

[Spinal]

In case you wanted to have a look at the osCommerce interface; here's the one I'm fiddling with...
<link removed - I just broke it all >
It's not live - so don't buy anything... you wont get anything

Took about 30 minutes to set up (mostly spent in typing in categories and debugging the Italian language module)

M.