Configuring Products

[Gary Tayman]

New user, I've just spent some more time setting up the store.

 

I've set up all the categories and subcategories; this was a BREEZE! Very easy to do, and it's set exactly as I want it.

 

Now time to start putting in the products. With the first one comes some questions: It first asks for the Product Name. Sounds simple enough, but is there a separate place for the SKU number? Or should the SKU number go here and the product name be placed in the text box? I'll follow your recommendation on this.

 

Next is the price. Looks like the "NET" price is the retail that is displayed. Either way, the software calculates the other price. What are the two prices for?

 

Next, products model: Might this be the box for the SKU number? Please clarify.

 

Images: These are very easy to upload, but the result is short, fat icons, and the product photos are huge. Do you have a recommended pixel size for the icons and the products?

 

Then finally, the British Flag is displayed several times on this setup page. While I'm certainly friendly with the Union Jack, this isn't going to appear on the store, is it? The products come from Florida and California.

 

Last but not least, before I downloaded this software I saw there are some online instructions, and also a book that's available. Looking for them later I cannot find them. Can you show me a link to these?

 

Thanks for your help.

[Gary Tayman]

Edit:

 

It appears I'll need to use the SKU number for the Product Name, and the description for the Product Model, as the Model is limited to only 12 characters and the SKU cuts off. Unless there is a way to expand the model box by a few characters.

 

For the icons and product images, it appears ideal is around 150x150 pixels. Large images of course are larger.

 

Net and gross prices appear to be before and after sales tax. Hopefully I can ignore the gross as it appears in the products box.

 

Union Jack is only on the edit page it seems. Cute, and nothing wrong with displaying the software country of origin.

 

Still on the learning curve, but learning it much, much faster than some of the other programs I've tried and given up on. Still, is there a URL for the instruction database and the book?

[♥kymation]

Instructions are in the package that you downloaded -- the name is documentation.pdf. I have no idea about the book. There are several osCommerce books available, but all the ones I have seen are outdated.

 

The length of any field can be changed in your database. Look in the products table for the products_model field. The default is 32 characters, so I'm puzzled by your 12 char limit.

 

Image sizes can be set in your Admin >> Configuration >> Images. Images may be distorted if you set both width and height.

 

The software country of origin is Germany (primarily). You can get an American flag in the Addons section if you want. Any other English-speaking countries ... you're on your own. Other languages come with the appropriate flag in most cases.

 

Just a hint -- you will get better results asking one question per post.

 

Regards

Jim

[Gary Tayman]

Okay, this may sound like a really stupid question, but where is the Products Table database?

 

I don't see this in the menu anywhere.

 

Is this something where I'll have to go into my site with Filezilla, and tinker with the code?

 

The SKU number that it won't take is COM-KCHV-68/2A. It cuts off the 2A.

 

If I can get this into the Product Model correctly, I think this is the final hurdle and I'm ready to start loading up the website with plenty of products. BTW I found the image sizes and adjusted accordingly.

[♥kymation]

Before getting into the database, what version of osCommerce do you have? The Model field should not be that short. If you don't know, log into your store's Admin panel, then click Tools and then Server Info in the left column. Post the version here. If it's anything less than 2.3.0 you have a problem.

 

To change the database you need to use your host's database manager. Look in your hosting control panel for a database management function. This varies by host, but is usually a copy of phpMyAdmin. If it is, find the products table in the left column and click on it. Click the Structure tab if you need to to see the table structure. Find the products_model field in the table structure and click the pencil icon to edit it. Change the length to any number up to 255.

 

Regards

Jim

[Gary Tayman]

Before getting into the database, what version of osCommerce do you have? The Model field should not be that short. If you don't know, log into your store's Admin panel, then click Tools and then Server Info in the left column. Post the version here. If it's anything less than 2.3.0 you have a problem.

 

To change the database you need to use your host's database manager. Look in your hosting control panel for a database management function. This varies by host, but is usually a copy of phpMyAdmin. If it is, find the products table in the left column and click on it. Click the Structure tab if you need to to see the table structure. Find the products_model field in the table structure and click the pencil icon to edit it. Change the length to any number up to 255.

 

Regards

Jim

 

I looked; could not find anything.

 

At this point I'm wondering if we're on the same planet. I can tell you this much -- I installed this using Hostmonster's own install program. Maybe this is why I didn't see these databases and such.

 

Going into my website using Filezilla, under the oscommerce folder I find more folders -- admin, download, ext, images, includes, and pub. Browsing through all of these, I do not see products table, nor do I see documentation.pdf.

 

My version BTW is 2.3.1.

 

At this point I think I'll keep the sku and descriptions as they are, but would still like to find that documentation file.

[♥kymation]

This is the problem with installing from a host's install program instead of the osCommerce installer. In any case, you can get the real thing by clicking Website at the top of the page, then Solutions near the middle of that page. Given the problems you are having, you might be better off deleting everything and installing the copy of 2.3.1 from this site. At least then you know what you have. I don't think what they installed for you is really 2.3.1, or at least not a completely clean copy.

 

You won't find the database using FTP. As I said, you need to use your host's control panel and find their database manager. Or install your own copy of phpMyAdmin, but that's another can of worms entirely.

 

Regards

Jim