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This document introduces two on-line store builders, encloses
instructions on how to enable them and consists of the following
sections:
* This document isn't a storefront management guide. For
instructions on how to operate your on-line shop visit the
corresponding companies sites.
General: Miva vs osCommerce
Your plan may allow you to create an online store with two
online shop builders and managers:
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on-line store
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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.
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osCommerce
www.oscommerce.com
version 2.1
osCommerce is an open source e-commerce solution
and is released under the GNU
General Public License (GPL). |
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features
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- 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 email
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
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- 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
- Forseen 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
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To check which is available under your plan, go to Billing
-> Online Price.
Where can I find it in my
account?
To get at the page where you can start with building your
on-line store, select Domain Info in the Domain
Settings menu:
Then, pick the domain on which you intend to enable shopping
cart and go to the webservices page by clicking the Edit
icon next to the Web Service label:
This will take you to the Web service page. Find Miva
or osCommerce e-shop and launch the wizard.
Miva Merchant
When you have launched MIVA, click the Apply link:
- After you have enabled the Miva shopping cart, new links
will appear:
- Next, you need to set up Miva database. To do so, click
the Setup icon, then press the Install button:
- After you have set up Miva database, you can administer
your Miva shopping cart. You can access it either by clicking
the Edit link or by going directly to the Miva administration
panel. When it prompts you for a login and a password, enter
those that you use for your FTP account.
Click the View icon to see how your online store looks
from the Internet.
Click the Uninstall icon to remove MIVA Merchant
database with all its entries.
osCommerce
When you launch osCommerce, you'll be prompted to select
from the existing MySQL databases or create a new one to be
used for your online shop:
The same is true of MySQL user.
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 as "(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.
When you are through with assigning MySQL DB and user to
manage it with for your osCommerce on-line store, set permissions
to "admin" directory (INFO -> Quick Access ->
Web protect). This is done to restrict the access to osCommerce
configuration.
Finally, let's look at your osCommerce e-shop contols integrated
to your account control panel:
- ON/OFF - toggle the button to enable/disable the
resource.
* Switching off your osCommerce will irretrivably remove
all your osCommerce settings, databases, etc. So the next
time you enable it, you'll have to do it from the scretch
and you migth be charged the outstanding fees set by administrator.
- EDIT - click the icon in case you somehow corrupted
the templates and want to get them fixed. Also, use it if
you set your e-shop to use SSL secureity sertificate.
* 'Editing' your osCommerce e-shop you recreate the config
file using the current hosting settings and restore the
osCommerce files from 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.
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