Creating an Online Store

Creating an Online Store
Your control panel comes with two on-line store builders, Miva Merchant and osCommerce. •Miva Merchant vs. osCommerce •Setting Up Miva Merchant •Setting Up osCommerce •Updating osCommerce to version 2.2-MS1 * This document isn't a storefront management guide. It only explains how to run integrated e-stores from your control panel. For instructions on how to operate your on-line shop visit the corresponding company site
Miva Merchant vs. osCommerce
on-line store	Miva Merchant www.miva.com/products/merchant version 4.xx Miva Merchant is a dynamic browser based storefront development and management system that allows merchants to create multiple online stores. Read the license.	osCommerce http://www.oscommerce.com/ version 2.2 (see below on how to update your version) osCommerce is an open source e-commerce solution and is released under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
features	Store management (simple wizards and sophisticated tools) Account management (provide frequent shopper programs, discounted pricing and special product availability) Catalog Management Associating complimentary products to give shoppers the opportunity to purchase others that are similar . Configuring multiple sales tax methods, configures multiple sales tax methods and instant order e-mail confirmations. Secure transactions with SSL Driving targeted shoppers to your store with a search engine and "shop box" that is displayed on popular web sites. Affiliate Program Inventory Tracking Advanced and simple mode administrative interfaces Product Attribute Template Site Traffic and Sales Statistics Quick Selection when administering your storefront Calculating shipping costs as a percentage of the total order	Add/Edit/Remove categories, products, manufacturers, customers, and reviews Categories-to-categories structure Statistics for products and customers Dynamic product attributes Tax zones, classes, and rates Configuration parameters in database for remote editing Not tied together with the catalog module (admin module can be installed on another server) Payment and shipping modules Backup tool Customer accounts Customer address books (other shipping destinations) Order history Temporary (not logged on) and permanent (logged on) shopping carts Search catalog for products or manufacturers Product reviews by customers E-mail notifications Foreseen checkout procedure Secure transactions with SSL Number of products in each category are shown Bestseller lists Display what other customers have brought (relating to the current product displayed
Setting Up Miva Merchant
To set up Miva Merchant, do the following: 1.Select Domain info in the Domain Settings menu. 2Click the Edit icon in the Web Service field. 3Enable Miva E-Shop for your e-commerce domain. 4Agree to charges. If you get the message "Run out of MIVA Merchant licenses", report to technical support. 5Click the Apply link in the Status column. 6 Click the Setup icon that has appeared next to the domain name. 7Click the Install button and complete the installation: 8Click the Edit icon to configure your Miva shopping cart. Alternatively, you can do it using Miva administration panel. When it prompts you for a login and a password, enter those you use for your FTP account. 9.Click the View icon to see how your online store looks from the Internet. 10.To remove Miva Merchant database with all its entries, click the Uninstall icon.
Setting Up osCommerce
To set up osCommerce online shop, do the following: 1.Select Domain info in the Domain Settings menu. 2.Click the Edit icon in the Web Service field. 3.On the page that shows enable osCommerce for the online store domain. 4.Agree with charges, if any. 5.Create a database and a user. osCommerce uses MySQL databases to store your commercial data, such as products, catalogues, etc. WARNING: Assigning a previously created MySQL database for use by osCommerce will clear contents of all its tables. The databases used by osCommerce will show among your MySQL databases marked "(Locked By osCommerce)". You can manage osCommerce databases with any MySQL GUI client or the built-in phpMyAdmin control panel. * For more information on MySQL please refer to MySQL Support chapter of this manual. 6.Set permissions to the "admin" directory using the htProtect utility. This is done to restrict public access to osCommerce configuration. Now let's take a look at the osCommerce controls: ON/OFF - enable/disable the resource. Switching off your osCommerce will permanently remove all your osCommerce settings, databases, etc. So the next time you enable it, you'll have to configure it from scratch and you will be charged the osCommerce setup fee. EDIT - click the icon in case you somehow corrupted the templates and want to get them fixed. Also, use it if you have just set your e-shop to use SSL certificate. This option resets the config file using the current hosting settings and restores the osCommerce files from the bundle. E-SHOP - click the icon to go directly to your on-line store. ADMIN - click the icon to go to your osCommerce administrative panel.
Updating osCommerce to version 2.2-MS1
online store building software to version 2.2-MS1: Back up all your custom osCommerce settings. In your control panel, go to the osCommerce settings page. Choose the domain you are running your online store on and click the Edit icon. That will update osCommerce scripts. Click the Upgrade icon. This will update osCommerce database: Important: Please make sure that your current osCommerce version is older than 2.2-MS1 before performing the upgrade. When updating osCommerce IGNORE the following message: Warning: Installation directory exists at: /hsphere/local/home/your_account_name/domain_name/catalog/install. Please remove this directory for security reasons. Complete the update and only then remove this directory.