Basic configuration of osCommerce, concluded - Summary
(Page 5 of 5 )
It is at this point that I should confess that I have lied to you ever so slightly. Recall that our aim in this chapter was to get 80% of the configuration done for only 20% of the effort; well, that's not really what has happened. There are quite a few more tasks to perform before we can consider the site to be more or less configured—we have done maybe 30-40% in reality, with many of the settings subject to change on the live site. That's not to say you should get despondent about how much further there is to go, because there have been some very valuable lessons learned in this chapter for very little effort.
What we have done is gone through the very basic and most general settings, which in turn has forced us to think about how we want our osCommerce application to behave in the end, which is always a worthwhile exercise. This is extremely important, as you have now been exposed to the type of things one needs to contemplate before making decisions that influence the running of the site. Furthermore, you have seen how to relate the changes in settings to the changes customers will see. Also not to be ignored is the newly learned ability to make use of the administration tool, which will form a big part of the site's development and administration in the future.
The rest of the configuration settings coincide with more specific development tasks—such as populating our product database and implementing payment facilities—and as a result are going to be discussed in their specific chapters. But for now you should feel safe in the knowledge that you have learned much about the way in which osCommerce works, and have (hopefully) built up a set of development notes that will help you pinpoint the settings to be looked at during the deployment phase.
Building Online Stores with osCommerce: Professional Edition
The modern-day entrepreneur, or indeed a business of any kind, small or large, can scarcely do without some form of presence on the Web. The pervasiveness of the Internet has brought about a new reality for business people. No longer is it sufficient to set up shop somewhere and sit quietly waiting for customers. Instead, the initiative must be taken with goods and services being marketed and sold online, reaching hitherto unheard-of sizes of consumer markets, nationally and internationally.
With the added burden of the acquisition of IT skills, many small- to medium-size enterprises have found themselves being outstripped by their larger cousins, who have the resources and manpower to harness and utilize the Internet properly. Prohibitively expensive development costs or ill-fitting off-the-shelf applications have hampered SME's ability to compete on an even footing. Up until now that is!
With the advent of osCommerce and other open-source technologies like it, the door has been opened for anyone with a bit of determination to set up a sophisticated online store that will hold its own against any other site out there. It's not surprising that osCommerce is growing in popularity as more and more people switch to the advantages of building and running their very own e-commerce website.
Unfortunately, while running and administering your own site is now within your grasp, it's not to say that you don't have to work at it. There is a lot of information you need to know, plenty to learn about installing, configuring, customizing, securing, and running osCommerce, and indeed the technologies you will be basing your business on. You can also benefit from some general wisdom and knowledge that programmers apply to their everyday work. Providing you with this knowledge is why I have written this book!
The advantage you will derive from learning about the technologies you are using, while you are building your online business, will help you to not only gain a foothold in the competitive world of e-commerce, but also ultimately to outstrip your competitors. That's what a successful business is about after all! I wish you the best of luck…
What This Book Covers
Chapter 1 discusses the not inconsiderable task of ensuring that you understand fully the resources both, in terms of time and money, that this project will require. A large part of this requires us to discuss the design and construction of your site and relate these to the needs of your business.
Chapter 2 provides an oversight of how to set up your development environment, which will provide you with a place to experiment and most importantly, learn your way around osCommerce without having to endanger your online business by working on it directly.
Chapter 3 presents a brief overview of how osCommerce works and makes use of its underlying technologies. As well as this, we take a quick tour of a standard website and then discuss how you can benefit from and be of benefit to the osCommerce community.
Chapter 4 deals with the most common configuration settings, which you will need to familiarize yourself with.
Chapter 5 gets right to the heart of the matter with an in-depth look at data in osCommerce. Here you will learn not only how to add and remove products and manufacturers as well as administer orders and customers, but also how to properly design your category/product hierarchy. Finally, this chapter also covers the addition of a community contribution, that handles automated uploads to your database, making your life a whole lot easier.
Chapter 6 is where the standard look and feel of osCommerce gets a face-lift. After reading this, you will have a sound knowledge of design and how to relate it to the dictates of your business. Additionally, we will discuss the all-important topics of stylesheet modification, images, and language and show how to deal with them effectively. Get ready to get your hands dirty as there is plenty of work in here.
Chapter 7 takes you one step closer to running an online business by comprehensively dealing with taxes, payments, and shipping. Strategies for implementing various policies pertaining to money matters are also scrutinized and by the end of this chapter, you will be well versed in your site's money matters.
Chapter 8 is arguably the most important of all. If you only read one chapter, make it this one. The integrity of your e-commerce site (and for many of you, your livelihood) rests on how well you can implement security and disaster recovery policies. Follow along here to learn how to gain a peaceful night's sleep, safe in the knowledge that your precious business is safe.
Chapter 9 looks at some advanced additions like cross-selling and up-selling features, discount and gift vouchers, as well as feed aggregation to enhance both the appeal and sophistication of your site. This chapter really narrows the gap between what you as a smaller business can produce and the large, expensive e-commerce sites with all their fancy features.
Chapter 10 introduces you to some important tools, which will no doubt make your life a lot easier in the time to come. As well as this, it takes a more lighthearted look at some neat tricks and how to make a few nice touch additions.
Chapter 11 covers moving what you have developed over the past ten chapters to the live site where it will be available to the public. Once again, there are a lot of issues involved in doing this right, so put on your thinking cap.
Chapter 12 takes you one step further by looking at how you can get ahead in the online business world. Marketing and advertising on the Web is covered in detail, as well as some handy and innovative schemes for boosting revenue and exposure. Naturally, search engine optimization is put in the spotlight here as well.
Appendix A provides you with a look at various methods that can be used to effectively deal with problems and errors. Having a programmer's perspective and embracing a sound methodology will save you countless hours and frustration and is applicable to a wide range of software, not just osCommerce.
Where to buy this book
You can buy Building Online Stores with osCommerce: Professional Edition from the
Packt Publishing website: http://www.packtpub.com/professional_
oscommerce/book.
Free shipping to the US, UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and India.
Alternatively, you can buy the book from Amazon, BN.com, Computer Manuals and most internet book retailers.
| DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware. |
|
 This article is excerpted from Building Online Stores with osCommerce: Professional Edition, written by David Mercer (PACKT, 2005; ISBN: 1904811140). Check it out today at your favorite bookstore. Buy this book now.
|
|
/ 5 
