New to osCommerce

[GoreStore]

Hello,

I'm going to open my own online shop pretty soon (got most distribution deals that I want and so forth). But now I need to decide which shop I'm going to use. I've looked into others and osCommerce. And from what information I've gathered osCommerce looks more professional than any of the other shops.

 

However I just want to check the compability of this product since I'm almost 99% sure that this is the shop that I'll end up using. So if someone could answer my questions, I'd be more than happy.

 

Q1: I've noticed that most shops that uses osCommerce look alike, well this can be because of people that just are plain lazy and doesn't care about that and so forth. I'm looking for a different look actually and I wonder if it's easy to make your own template. I have some good knowledge in both HTML and CSS, but when it comes to PHP I'm almost lost. Installing the shop isn't a problem (I've actually tried it out once) but I just want to know if it's easy to make your own design.

 

Q2: Almost the same as the above question, but this question goes more into detail. Basicly I want to move around certain things. I'm looking for a design that kind of looks like this. I'm not going to copy the layout just the position of some elements. And instead of having the shop centered I want it placed to the left and optimized for 1024x768 (just like the site I showed you.) Is this easy to do? And basicly how do you do it? CSS?

 

Q3: Is there any way to add the same price, weight and so on on multiple products at once? Since my shop is going to focus on clothing (and offer many shirts and so forth) the weight is going to be the same really, and most prices.

 

Q4: How does the "Users that has bought this product has also bought.."-function work? Is it included at all? I think I have seen it one some other osCommerce shops. And is there any way to edit this yourself? I also want to know if you can decide for yourself which products that should show up at the front page (like some shops do with very popular products).

 

Q5: Another thing I have been thinking of is that each band (yes the clothes I'm selling are band t-shirts) should have it's own page. Where all products from that band are represented on that page and perhaps some more information about the band that I've written. Is this possible?

 

Q6: Last question! What makes osCommerce better than it's "rivals". I know this is a question that easily can be answered with a "Try them yourself"-answer. But I'm basicly just looking for people's opinions on osCommerce. What made you choose osCommerce?

 

I'm sure that more questions will pop out of me. But I'll start with these. Any kind of response/answers to these questions are highly appreciated.

 

Sincerely

Pontus

[Guest]

I dont have time to answer all your questions, so will just stick with one. In regard to 'bands' - if you are not using the functionality of 'manufacturers' it is ideal for bands - it will show all the band products with a single click and you can even put a link to the band/artist website :)

 

Matti

[Guest]

Hi.

 

I am also making the transition to an ecommerce site from a client side site and what I have found out so far may be of help.

 

I am also in the same shoes as you regarding knowledge of php & mysql.

 

In regard to your questions:

 

Q1. Having had a look at many "free progs', it appears that most of them are based on osCommerce; or if they are not, they lack the depth for being able to get the site up and running with all the features without a lot of coding (not my option at the moment).

 

Q2. Yes. The site is based on a liquid display. I also use 1024 and gear my graphics for this. If it is viewed in say 800, it will still show all of the page as long as you set the image/graphic widths properly (html & CSS code).

 

Q3. I seem to recall seeing a contribution for just this situation (more about contributions later). I cannot remember where, as it was something that I do not require. I am sure someone else will be able to help you out there.

 

Q4. The client or you can access this when you/they log in. They can view their purchase history.

 

Q5. As Matti said. It can be done that way. What you can also do is name your Categories folder to the name of the band. Have a look at the default site. you can rename the categories such as hardware, software, etc to whatever you want to simply on the admin pages.

 

Q5. The 2 prime things that made me choose osCommerce is that it is a complete package, and it has a fantastic support base.

 

I have been able to customise my site to how I want it (well 95% of the time) so far by using the contributions posted by others, and by reading through previous posts.

 

The help you get on this forum is invaluable (you just got 2 answers in 1 1/2 hrs).. You are not alone if something goes wrong.

 

Hope this helps.

[GoreStore]

Thanks to the both of you (and thanks Matti for editing my post). I guess I'll spend this whole month just trying out different layouts and so forth.

 

One other thing I've been thinking about is to make the whole site look alike. Therefore I'm not going to have a "Shop section" only. I want to have a blog, news etc on my site. Is there a possibilty to make your own menu and put it at the top of the site? Let's say my site url is www.myshop.com. I'll probably register a subdomain that's shop.myshop.com which ofcourse is going to be the store itself. Can I make the menu to link to let's say, blog.myshop.com etc? In clear words; can I add my own menu? ;)