Shopping Carts

[KRS1]

How exactly do shopping carts work?

Any recommendations for a free easy to use shopping cart implementation?

I'll have around 2000 web pages so id like to move away from Paypal on this one, I'd like a shopping cart that i can implement into my .html pages. All tips appreciated.

Thanks !

Edited January 20, 2013 by KRS1

[keeniau96]

Many web hosting sites eg. Godaddy.com, 1and1.com etc. have stock web templates and shopping carts.

[carlsum1986]

drop me a pm and i can help u

[JakeBKK]

take a look at uebercart

[draftvader]

For implementation in html pages you should look at this google answers thread:

http://bit.ly/WUqxK5

JakeBKK is recommending a powerful tool that is available for free in conjunction with Drupal. There are also Joomla! and Wordpress (along with Magento and more) options too. However for the conversion of a 2,000 page site this is going to be a LONG process.

When looking at adding an html shopping cart solution to your site also consider the benefits of moving over to a CMS solution (i.e. Joomla!, Drupal or Wordpress). User management, security, better SEO and much more. The work you are going to put in to learning this html shopping cart along with the time you will take to implement it successfully might be similar to porting over to one of the 3 leaders (though on a personal level I would only recommend Joomla! or Drupal with any seriousness for an e-commerce solution).

Good luck with this.

[KRS1]

For implementation in html pages you should look at this google answers thread:

http://bit.ly/WUqxK5

JakeBKK is recommending a powerful tool that is available for free in conjunction with Drupal. There are also Joomla! and Wordpress (along with Magento and more) options too. However for the conversion of a 2,000 page site this is going to be a LONG process.

When looking at adding an html shopping cart solution to your site also consider the benefits of moving over to a CMS solution (i.e. Joomla!, Drupal or Wordpress). User management, security, better SEO and much more. The work you are going to put in to learning this html shopping cart along with the time you will take to implement it successfully might be similar to porting over to one of the 3 leaders (though on a personal level I would only recommend Joomla! or Drupal with any seriousness for an e-commerce solution).

Good luck with this.

Thanks for that detailed response, thanks to the others as well.

Is there nothing like the Paypal shopping cart buttons where i can simply copy php code and paste onto the web pages? It then redirects to a secure Paypal shopping cart page...I can get the code onto a single page in about 2 minutes this way.

Ive considered wordpress, but id need an seo plug in that requires an ongoing monthly fee. Joomla and Drupal are like speaking a foreign language to me....im stuck with Dreamweaver for now, but luckily my seo kung <deleted> is strong......

I figure if i do 50 pages a day it'll take me about 2 months to finish (gotta take a break and have fun sometime !) I'll also be hiring content writers, this is where most the work is.

Edited January 23, 2013 by KRS1

[draftvader]

For implementation in html pages you should look at this google answers thread:

http://bit.ly/WUqxK5

JakeBKK is recommending a powerful tool that is available for free in conjunction with Drupal. There are also Joomla! and Wordpress (along with Magento and more) options too. However for the conversion of a 2,000 page site this is going to be a LONG process.

When looking at adding an html shopping cart solution to your site also consider the benefits of moving over to a CMS solution (i.e. Joomla!, Drupal or Wordpress). User management, security, better SEO and much more. The work you are going to put in to learning this html shopping cart along with the time you will take to implement it successfully might be similar to porting over to one of the 3 leaders (though on a personal level I would only recommend Joomla! or Drupal with any seriousness for an e-commerce solution).

Good luck with this.

Thanks for that detailed response, thanks to the others as well.

Is there nothing like the Paypal shopping cart buttons where i can simply copy php code and paste onto the web pages? It then redirects to a secure Paypal shopping cart page...I can get the code onto a single page in about 2 minutes this way.

Ive considered wordpress, but id need an seo plug in that requires an ongoing monthly fee. Joomla and Drupal are like speaking a foreign language to me....im stuck with Dreamweaver for now, but luckily my seo kung <deleted> is strong......

I figure if i do 50 pages a day it'll take me about 2 months to finish (gotta take a break and have fun sometime !) I'll also be hiring content writers, this is where most the work is.

I thought that Paypal offered a more complex cart functionality for a small monthly fee? If so it would just be a direct cut and paste batch in Dreamweaver (10 minutes on a decent computer).

[KRS1]

For implementation in html pages you should look at this google answers thread:

http://bit.ly/WUqxK5

JakeBKK is recommending a powerful tool that is available for free in conjunction with Drupal. There are also Joomla! and Wordpress (along with Magento and more) options too. However for the conversion of a 2,000 page site this is going to be a LONG process.

When looking at adding an html shopping cart solution to your site also consider the benefits of moving over to a CMS solution (i.e. Joomla!, Drupal or Wordpress). User management, security, better SEO and much more. The work you are going to put in to learning this html shopping cart along with the time you will take to implement it successfully might be similar to porting over to one of the 3 leaders (though on a personal level I would only recommend Joomla! or Drupal with any seriousness for an e-commerce solution).

Good luck with this.

Thanks for that detailed response, thanks to the others as well.

Is there nothing like the Paypal shopping cart buttons where i can simply copy php code and paste onto the web pages? It then redirects to a secure Paypal shopping cart page...I can get the code onto a single page in about 2 minutes this way.

Ive considered wordpress, but id need an seo plug in that requires an ongoing monthly fee. Joomla and Drupal are like speaking a foreign language to me....im stuck with Dreamweaver for now, but luckily my seo kung <deleted> is strong......

I figure if i do 50 pages a day it'll take me about 2 months to finish (gotta take a break and have fun sometime !) I'll also be hiring content writers, this is where most the work is.

I thought that Paypal offered a more complex cart functionality for a small monthly fee? If so it would just be a direct cut and paste batch in Dreamweaver (10 minutes on a decent computer).

Paypal standard is free. The other options with fees are Advanced @ $5 per month (onsite processing)..and Pro for $30 per month (onsite processing). Honestly though, i dont see any need for the fee based Paypal options yet, the need may exist in some way i haven't yet encountered.

The only thing that sucks about the free option is that your email shows up right at the top of the payment page.Not really a problem though and ebay purchases are processed the same way, you leave ebay and pay on paypal, then get sent back... Albeit they are the same company.

A frozen Paypal account is my biggest concern. There is new management being put in place right now so maybe, hopefully... they will start to be more intelligent before they lock down innocent accounts.

Ebay on the other hand has changed a lot nowadays, and now you can even speak to a live person without having to search for the contact number.

Edited January 24, 2013 by KRS1

[dave111223]

The only thing that sucks about the free option is that your email shows up right at the top of the payment page.

Sounds like you need to enter your company name in the profile settings, and this will show up instead of your email address. (Or you can have a logo show up instead)

[draftvader]

This link on paypal explains how to set up a multi-item cart.

http://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/ebook/PP_WebsitePaymentsStandard_IntegrationGuide/shopping_cart.html

As dave111223 states above you can modify the look and feel of your paypal checkout as described in this link here.

https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/mer/cowp_summary-outside

This still won't be as seamless as you want, but anything more complex would involve you looking to move onto a dedicated CMS/e-commerce solution. Don't be freaked out by this as there are quite a few companies offering near complete solutions for reasonable money (less than the cost of your time if your shop is successful) that only require a minimal amount of customisation to have a seriously professional looking site.

[JakeBKK]

depending if you got static pages or cms sites it is a different approach than. I update content on 20 sites at a time. I use Drupal and drush. So to update a singe site i simply type: dush up.

Handling 2k pages without a proper control panel sounds a bit bonkers to me. Anyway; Build or get one payment solution and link your pages to it. If the pages are on the same server, write a small batch script and change your html that way. that would be effective.

Take a look at Aegir. depending on what you do, a good solution for large scale deployments.

Another pointer to think about are fees, paypal is quite expensive. There are other players on the market.

[draftvader]

depending if you got static pages or cms sites it is a different approach than. I update content on 20 sites at a time. I use Drupal and drush. So to update a singe site i simply type: dush up.

Handling 2k pages without a proper control panel sounds a bit bonkers to me. Anyway; Build or get one payment solution and link your pages to it. If the pages are on the same server, write a small batch script and change your html that way. that would be effective.

Take a look at Aegir. depending on what you do, a good solution for large scale deployments.

Another pointer to think about are fees, paypal is quite expensive. There are other players on the market.

Very interesting. I like the sound of this. Still think the OP wants to stick with html no matter how hard we try

[KRS1]

depending if you got static pages or cms sites it is a different approach than. I update content on 20 sites at a time. I use Drupal and drush. So to update a singe site i simply type: dush up.

Handling 2k pages without a proper control panel sounds a bit bonkers to me. Anyway; Build or get one payment solution and link your pages to it. If the pages are on the same server, write a small batch script and change your html that way. that would be effective.

Take a look at Aegir. depending on what you do, a good solution for large scale deployments.

Another pointer to think about are fees, paypal is quite expensive. There are other players on the market.

I can upload (update) different sections of the site easily, i just have to point at a folder or ctr+select any group of folders. Or I can upload the entire site by selecting the main folder.

To make a common change to any part of the webpage including php scripts, i can make instant changes using the 'find and replace' function...100 pages takes about 8 seconds. CSS as ya know is also awesome at making sitewide changes, that just requires uploading the css stylesheet.

Dreamweaver is my control panel

[KRS1]

depending if you got static pages or cms sites it is a different approach than. I update content on 20 sites at a time. I use Drupal and drush. So to update a singe site i simply type: dush up.

Handling 2k pages without a proper control panel sounds a bit bonkers to me. Anyway; Build or get one payment solution and link your pages to it. If the pages are on the same server, write a small batch script and change your html that way. that would be effective.

Take a look at Aegir. depending on what you do, a good solution for large scale deployments.

Another pointer to think about are fees, paypal is quite expensive. There are other players on the market.

Very interesting. I like the sound of this. Still think the OP wants to stick with html no matter how hard we try

I really need to learn more php, but the time it will take to become proficient will be too long for this project.

While were on the topic, could you explain some of the benefits of coding a website in php over html (of course i will compare positives and negatives) ? I really have to update myself. But just dont know where to start.

Why Drupal and Joomla, what is it they can do that Dreamweaver cannot?

[diddums]

Another pointer to think about are fees, paypal is quite expensive. There are other players on the market.

Any recommendations on a good and reliable 'player'?

[JakeBKK]

polity said: you need to understand the basics first. Dreamweaver is kinda frontpage for the 20.th century. How about to let me look at one of your two thousand pages, if you like some advice ?

draftvader had a point saying: Still think the OP wants to stick with html no matter how hard we try

you are talking about learning php, but you speak html only with google.translate (dreamweaver) instead seeing the matrix ( I use this program )with an editor.

I do understand why people do not want to mess with code or shells. if you don't know your code, it is really easy to mess things up. If you do know it: you can (stir - not shake)create a nice,clean, html pages (containing php and java code )that are light and fast at the same time.

You where asking earlier : Why Drupal and Joomla, what is it they can do that Dreamweaver cannot?

Drupal and joomla are running on a webserver.They are CMS (contend management systems) solutions. Dreamweaver is a HTML editor with build-in ftp client ( and it putsout pretty messy code ) Look at this. Clientside vs Serverside

Ah, one last thing - you said: Dreamweaver is my control panel - Gosh, first i thought you meant the one you'd open by clicking on the start button.

To be frank: 2k pages with dreamweaver? Somebody shoot me please !

P.S. flame/ironic mode off

Edited January 25, 2013 by JakeBKK

[KRS1]

polity said: you need to understand the basics first. Dreamweaver is kinda frontpage for the 20.th century. How about to let me look at one of your two thousand pages, if you like some advice ?

draftvader had a point saying: Still think the OP wants to stick with html no matter how hard we try

you are talking about learning php, but you speak html only with google.translate (dreamweaver) instead seeing the matrix ( I use this program )with an editor.

I do understand why people do not want to mess with code or shells. if you don't know your code, it is really easy to mess things up. If you do know it: you can (stir - not shake)create a nice,clean, html pages (containing php and java code )that are light and fast at the same time.

You where asking earlier : Why Drupal and Joomla, what is it they can do that Dreamweaver cannot?

Drupal and joomla are running on a webserver.They are CMS (contend management systems) solutions. Dreamweaver is a HTML editor with build-in ftp client ( and it putsout pretty messy code ) Look at this. Clientside vs Serverside

Ah, one last thing - you said: Dreamweaver is my control panel - Gosh, first i thought you meant the one you'd open by clicking on the start button.

To be frank: 2k pages with dreamweaver? Somebody shoot me please !

P.S. flame/ironic mode off

so how is it better then?

Im just waiting for someone to explain why Joomla or Drupal is better. Im not being a smartass i just want to know what they can do that Dreamweaver cant.

My code is clean I have 1st page 1st result on many pages.

.

[JakeBKK]

My code is clean I have 1st page 1st result on many pages.

.

Here we go again ! How about a URL ( link to a website) for one of your 1stpage1st than?

© UOA

• Both Dreamweaver and Drupal are tools for developing web sites.
  
• Both require training to create a site and enter information into a site.
  
• Depending on how the site has been set up, adding new content does not require knowledge of HTML, but it does require understanding of the tools being used in either Dreamweaver or Drupal.
  
• Both can deliver the same end product (that is, you cannot tell just looking at a page if it is a Drupal site or a Dreamweaver site).
  
• Drupal is driven by a database. The fields in a database (such as events) can be used in multiple parts of the site, and only have to be entered once. If there are a lot of updates to a site, it is better to have a database behind the site.
  
• Because anyone with Internet access can be given access to a Drupal database, with the approval of the administrator, more people can be involved in providing direct input into a Drupal web site, without purchasing software. Input to a Drupal site is done through a web browser. Special software does not have to be on the local computer.
  

Edited January 25, 2013 by JakeBKK

[KRS1]

My code is clean I have 1st page 1st result on many pages.

.

Here we go again ! How about a URL ( link to a website) for one of your 1stpage1st than?

© UOA

• Both Dreamweaver and Drupal are tools for developing web sites.
  
• Both require training to create a site and enter information into a site.
  
• Depending on how the site has been set up, adding new content does not require knowledge of HTML, but it does require understanding of the tools being used in either Dreamweaver or Drupal.
  
• Both can deliver the same end product (that is, you cannot tell just looking at a page if it is a Drupal site or a Dreamweaver site).
  
• Drupal is driven by a database. The fields in a database (such as events) can be used in multiple parts of the site, and only have to be entered once. If there are a lot of updates to a site, it is better to have a database behind the site.
  
• Because anyone with Internet access can be given access to a Drupal database, with the approval of the administrator, more people can be involved in providing direct input into a Drupal web site, without purchasing software. Input to a Drupal site is done through a web browser. Special software does not have to be on the local computer.
  

Im not interested in flexing my seo muscle to show off, but i will if enough of you bug me about it and your going to feel stupid when i do it. I know where i rank and its good.

So the main advantage is input to a database where information can be extracted. So if i have 2000 items, i would still have to enter information 2000 times, then i would have to have a script to retrieve it im guessing. Then i would still have to spend time writing that script correct?

I can see where this would be helpful for something like a dating website that pulls up multiple profiles according to criteria...or a product search on a website. So its beneficial for dynamic pages. But for static pages it actually looks like more work.

I still cant figure out how it is better for updating a site. << really, not being a smartass.

[dave111223]

My code is clean I have 1st page 1st result on many pages.

.

Here we go again ! How about a URL ( link to a website) for one of your 1stpage1st than?

© UOA

• Both Dreamweaver and Drupal are tools for developing web sites.
  
• Both require training to create a site and enter information into a site.
  
• Depending on how the site has been set up, adding new content does not require knowledge of HTML, but it does require understanding of the tools being used in either Dreamweaver or Drupal.
  
• Both can deliver the same end product (that is, you cannot tell just looking at a page if it is a Drupal site or a Dreamweaver site).
  
• Drupal is driven by a database. The fields in a database (such as events) can be used in multiple parts of the site, and only have to be entered once. If there are a lot of updates to a site, it is better to have a database behind the site.
  
• Because anyone with Internet access can be given access to a Drupal database, with the approval of the administrator, more people can be involved in providing direct input into a Drupal web site, without purchasing software. Input to a Drupal site is done through a web browser. Special software does not have to be on the local computer.
  

Im not interested in flexing my seo muscle to show off, but i will if enough of you bug me about it and your going to feel stupid when i do it. I know where i rank and its good.

So the main advantage is input to a database where information can be extracted. So if i have 2000 items, i would still have to enter information 2000 times, then i would have to have a script to retrieve it im guessing. Then i would still have to spend time writing that script correct?

I can see where this would be helpful for something like a dating website that pulls up multiple profiles according to criteria...or a product search on a website. So its beneficial for dynamic pages. But for static pages it actually looks like more work.

I still cant figure out how it is better for updating a site. << really, not being a smartass.

With a database driven site you could put all 2000 products into a spreadsheet and then import them, and your site has 2000 new pages.

Say that you want to increase all your prices by 5%. With a database driven site that would take a few seconds. How long would it take you to update the price on 2000 HTML pages?

Edited January 25, 2013 by dave111223

[KRS1]

My code is clean I have 1st page 1st result on many pages.

.

Here we go again ! How about a URL ( link to a website) for one of your 1stpage1st than?

© UOA

• Both Dreamweaver and Drupal are tools for developing web sites.
  
• Both require training to create a site and enter information into a site.
  
• Depending on how the site has been set up, adding new content does not require knowledge of HTML, but it does require understanding of the tools being used in either Dreamweaver or Drupal.
  
• Both can deliver the same end product (that is, you cannot tell just looking at a page if it is a Drupal site or a Dreamweaver site).
  
• Drupal is driven by a database. The fields in a database (such as events) can be used in multiple parts of the site, and only have to be entered once. If there are a lot of updates to a site, it is better to have a database behind the site.
  
• Because anyone with Internet access can be given access to a Drupal database, with the approval of the administrator, more people can be involved in providing direct input into a Drupal web site, without purchasing software. Input to a Drupal site is done through a web browser. Special software does not have to be on the local computer.
  

Im not interested in flexing my seo muscle to show off, but i will if enough of you bug me about it and your going to feel stupid when i do it. I know where i rank and its good.

So the main advantage is input to a database where information can be extracted. So if i have 2000 items, i would still have to enter information 2000 times, then i would have to have a script to retrieve it im guessing. Then i would still have to spend time writing that script correct?

I can see where this would be helpful for something like a dating website that pulls up multiple profiles according to criteria...or a product search on a website. So its beneficial for dynamic pages. But for static pages it actually looks like more work.

I still cant figure out how it is better for updating a site. << really, not being a smartass.

With a database driven site you could put all 2000 products into a spreadsheet and then import them, and your site has 2000 new pages.

Say that you want to increase all your prices by 5%. With a database driven site that would take a few seconds. How long would it take you to update the price on 2000 HTML pages?

good point, its answers like this i am looking for.

thanks

what would you have to do to increase prices by 5%?

[dave111223]

what would you have to do to increase prices by 5%?

Most database driven carts will have a script to allow you to do this, and if they dont it's very easy to add, it's just running a query against the database, for example something like:

UPDATE products SET price=(price*1.05)

[draftvader]

depending if you got static pages or cms sites it is a different approach than. I update content on 20 sites at a time. I use Drupal and drush. So to update a singe site i simply type: dush up.

Handling 2k pages without a proper control panel sounds a bit bonkers to me. Anyway; Build or get one payment solution and link your pages to it. If the pages are on the same server, write a small batch script and change your html that way. that would be effective.

Take a look at Aegir. depending on what you do, a good solution for large scale deployments.

Another pointer to think about are fees, paypal is quite expensive. There are other players on the market.

Very interesting. I like the sound of this. Still think the OP wants to stick with html no matter how hard we try

I really need to learn more php, but the time it will take to become proficient will be too long for this project.

While were on the topic, could you explain some of the benefits of coding a website in php over html (of course i will compare positives and negatives) ? I really have to update myself. But just dont know where to start.

Why Drupal and Joomla, what is it they can do that Dreamweaver cannot?

The simplest answer to your question is flexibility, scalability and reliability. A bit further down the line I will get to professionalism. It is true to say that looks wise there is nothing I can do that you can't. Almost all the sexy jquery applications that I can install in Joomla! are also available as a standalone that can be plugged into html with a little sense. However when it comes to the actual user experience a CMS stands above html purely because it allows people to code a well structured flow that their customer can follow.

It must be added at this point that I am realistic. A well coded html site will still impress me more than a poorly coded/built CMS site. That said you need to know that you will need NO php training to create a decent CMS using Joomla! and, at a guess, Drupal. If you know html and css you are 99% there and ahead of a lot of other people using these solutions. I provide support through the Joomla! forums (Joomla!'s key advantage over Drupal is the community...useful for newbies) and I answer basic questions for people who have been using their Joomla! site for 2 years+

If you were to take the next year of your life twice....

1) html - 2,000 page edit....3 months as you say and then you are still using html and have none of the power of a CMS

2) CMS - 3 month learning curve, 1 month port and now you are ahead.

Remember that both Joomla! and Drupal can be set up on your local machine using XAMPP (please correct me if I am wrong JakeBKK) so you don't have to launch a half baked site. If you do use Joomla! then remember Akeeba Backup for your launch....that's all!

[dave111223]

I'd say Wordpress with a cart plugin has a much shorter learning curve than Joomla or Drupal (and Joomla Virtuemart is buggy at best, or do you suggest a different Joomla cart extension)

Although most the sites I do these days deal with Wordpress, or Joomla (Joomla becoming less and less so), I'm still an osCommerce fan for a purely eCommerce site, but I wouldn't start an osCommerce if I didn't know anything about PHP.

Edited January 25, 2013 by dave111223

[draftvader]

I'd say Wordpress with a cart plugin has a much shorter learning curve than Joomla or Drupal (and Joomla Virtuemart is buggy at best, or do you suggest a different Joomla cart extension)

Although most the sites I do these days deal with Wordpress, or Joomla (Joomla becoming less and less so), I'm still an osCommerce fan for a purely eCommerce site, but I wouldn't start an osCommerce if I didn't know anything about PHP.

Hikashop is an excellent e-commerce solution for Joomla! I moved over to Hikashop for e-commerce when Virtuemart 2.0 came out and just became more and more complex. The support for VM has always been shaky, whereas the support for Hikashop is excellent (even the free version). The paid versions are well priced and have world class support.

Wordpress vs Joomla! Really don't want to go there, I have better things to do with my life. Wordpress has its place, as does Joomla!, as does Drupal, etc etc etc

[KRS1]

thanks for the info guys, I really want to get into php, because this would really get me to the next level...there are quite a few more ideas i want to attempt, but they all require databases.

what is a good resource to learn how to make php driven websites? Id like to look into it in more depth and what it entails if its written instead of using a CMS. (not that im going to write any code but its good to know what drives it)

If you could explain the basic function of a php driven site and exactly how it works, thats exactly what i need to know, and would really appreciate it.

Im wayyyyy out of date and its time to man up and get caught up. Good thing is that i know html and CSS like the back of my hand, so im not that hopeless.

[draftvader]

thanks for the info guys, I really want to get into php, because this would really get me to the next level...there are quite a few more ideas i want to attempt, but they all require databases.

what is a good resource to learn how to make php driven websites? Id like to look into it in more depth and what it entails if its written instead of using a CMS. (not that im going to write any code but its good to know what drives it)

If you could explain the basic function of a php driven site and exactly how it works, thats exactly what i need to know, and would really appreciate it.

Im wayyyyy out of date and its time to man up and get caught up. Good thing is that i know html and CSS like the back of my hand, so im not that hopeless.

http://www.w3schools.com/

Sorry for short reply, baby girl in arms

[KRS1]

ok, thanks i thought that was only a html site.

[dave111223]

Note that your actual database will not be PHP, the database will, in most cases, be MySQL.

So you need to learn PHP and MySQL together if you want to build your own database driven site.

[JakeBKK]

Note that your actual database will not be PHP, the database will, in most cases, be MySQL.

So you need to learn PHP and MySQL together if you want to build your own database driven site.

it doesn't harm to have an idea about jquerry and java as well. unless you wanna do dumping stuff direct into the tables or fancy db syncs over multiple sites, there is no need to dive into sql. knowing a bit about phpmyadmin should be enough. IMO there is no need to learn sql when all what the average user does is: create a db , add a user and the rest is done by some front-end.

Edited January 27, 2013 by JakeBKK