osCommerce Installed, How Do I Link To My Site?

[robert23]

I finally got osCommerce installed using apache_1.3.34-win32-x86-no_src.exe , mysql-essential-5.0.16-win32.msi , mysql-administrator-1.1.5-win.msi & php-5.1.1-Win32.zip.

 

When I punch localhost/catalogzzz into the browser it goes to the osCommerce sample page:

 

"This is a default setup of the osCommerce project, products shown are for demonstrational purposes, any products purchased will not be delivered nor will the customer be billed. Any information seen on these products is to be treated as fictional."

 

and if I type localhost/catalogzzz/admin into my browser it goes to the page with:

 

"Choose an action.. Configuration, My Store, Logging, Cache, Modules, Payment, Shipping," etc....

 

but what's really unclear to me is how do I actually link all this with my website? I went into osCommerce Configuration and started editing a few things, scanned the Adobe index of the 114 page document and zeroed in on page 12 but am really unclear as to how I actually link the new install to my website http://myshopname.com ? There's nothing I've read yet of how to do that, so right now the website looks no different than it did before. Can anyone please give me a clue as to what to do next?

[Jack_mcs]

If you are asking how to link to it, then just use a regular html link

<a href="http://yourdomain.com/catalogzzz

But if you are asking hjow to integrate it into your shop, you can't. The best solution is to remove your html site altogether and convert oscommerce to function as the whole site.

 

Jack

[robert23]

If you are asking how to link to it, then just use a regular html link

<a href="http://yourdomain.com/catalogzzz

But if you are asking hjow to integrate it into your shop, you can't. The best solution is to remove your html site altogether and convert oscommerce to function as the whole site.

 

Jack

 

Jack, Thanks for the rapid response. The site I want to eventually use this on is hosted through Yahoo Small Business Web Hosting and from what I've scoured in the forum Yahoo is a poor choice for an osCommerce installation. I've read it's best to use their MySQL and I'm not even sure if the MySQL I've installed on my Windows XP system will work with Yahoo. Also I've read that Yahoo does not allow any files beginning with a dot, meaning the .htaccess and .cvsignore files are unusable. I may possibly give it a try with Yahoo once I have a better understanding of this or I may also switch to another server that is more accomodating to osCommerce.

 

I've got 2 other sites through free hosts where my store name is after the .com/ and I consider all 3 of my sites as amatuer and there's no great money at stake here. I'm really just trying to learn some new skills at this point. I was just reading up on the free sites and if I want to use FTP I would have to upgrade and one site doesn't support PHP or Perl files so that's out of the picture as far as osCommerce is concerned. I'm not sure about the other one as far as PHP or Perl, but I suspect the same thing is true.

 

Right now I just want to test things out and play with this thing so I can figure things out. It seems I need follow your second suggestion to make my shop functional. I can re-enter my data data manually to osCommerce and build within their framework. So does osCommerce become a free web hosting server for me if I understand you correctly? I read about people having osCommerce based shops that don't look anything like typical osCommerce sites. How do they do this, through other web hosting servers and then using a link code like the one in your first suggestion?

 

 

Robert

[Jack_mcs]

The oscommerce package doesn't offer hosting. You will need to find somewhere to host your site (shouldn't be Yahoo) and then install oscommerce on it. Think of the hosting as your computer and oscommerce as some program that runs on it. You can install a package like EasyPHP that will allow you to run oscommerce on your computer.

 

Jack

[robert23]

Jack,

I've already got php-5.1.1-Win32.zip on my C drive with the edited php.ini file in place and the Apache description in Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services reads "Apache/1.3.34 (Win32) PHP/5.1.1". osCommerce is already installed so I'm just tring to find a way to make it work with my website.

Robert

[Guest]

Robert,

 

From what I understand, you want to "hook-up" the osC on your computer to the store you have on the internet. I really hate to break this to you, especially since you spent so much time to get all that working on your computer, but you can't add it to your website like it is.

 

Here's a rather unique way to look at it. The osC that is currently working on your computer is located next to a swamp, down a dirt road that requires 4-wheel drive to get to. The internet is a superhighway with a bazillion lanes going both ways. To get the osC on your computer set up to have people on that superhighway use it, it needs to have a much better location. On a website, not your computer.

 

The one on your computer is a great way to figure out what changes will do to which part of the code and layout, and whether or not you want to have that change on the "public" layout, but you can't incorporate it into a site. You need to install the osC to your site/server and have it run from there.

 

Another way to put it, localhost/catalog is only accessable to you. You need to have osC come up with www.a-domain-name.com/catalog. Once you get it to come up that way, then you can have it work with your website. And the only way to get it to do that is to have it installed on a server somewhere out there on that superhighway.

 

Chin

[robert23]

Robert,

 

From what I understand, you want to "hook-up" the osC on your computer to the store you have on the internet. I really hate to break this to you, especially since you spent so much time to get all that working on your computer, but you can't add it to your website like it is.

 

Here's a rather unique way to look at it. The osC that is currently working on your computer is located next to a swamp, down a dirt road that requires 4-wheel drive to get to. The internet is a superhighway with a bazillion lanes going both ways. To get the osC on your computer set up to have people on that superhighway use it, it needs to have a much better location. On a website, not your computer.

 

The one on your computer is a great way to figure out what changes will do to which part of the code and layout, and whether or not you want to have that change on the "public" layout, but you can't incorporate it into a site. You need to install the osC to your site/server and have it run from there.

 

Another way to put it, localhost/catalog is only accessable to you. You need to have osC come up with www.a-domain-name.com/catalog. Once you get it to come up that way, then you can have it work with your website. And the only way to get it to do that is to have it installed on a server somewhere out there on that superhighway.

 

Chin

 

Chin,

 

That makes a lot of sense, you explained it a way I can understand. I'm going to quote you on this in Cybersilly's thread and see if he's ready to pull Little Cat B out of his hat! LOL Thank's for the response.

 

Robert