Book Image

Deep Inside osCommerce: The Cookbook

By : Monika Mathe
Book Image

Deep Inside osCommerce: The Cookbook

By: Monika Mathe

Overview of this book

osCommerce has been around since March 2000. At present there are over 10,000 live, registered osCommerce sites, and about 100,000 registered community members. Apart from providing ready-made solutions to problems, as well as a huge repository of information, the osCommerce community is a living entity with which we can all interact. With the rising success and popularity of this remarkable piece of software, things can only get better.

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Deep Inside osCommerce: The Cookbook
Monika Mathe
Oct, 2006 | 0 hours 0 minutes
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Table of Contents (17 chapters)
Deep Inside osCommerce: The Cookbook
Deep Inside osCommerce: The Cookbook
Credits
Credits
Foreword
Foreword
About the Author
About the Author
About the Reviewers
About the Reviewers
Introduction
Introduction
Free Chapter
1
Chop and Cream the Basic Design
Chop and Cream the Basic Design
1. Add Easy Top-Category Driven Stylesheets
2. Create Flexible Column Definitions
Summary
2
Serve them New Menus
Serve them New Menus
3. Show Active Subcategories only in Your Category Box
4. Create Separate Boxes for Each Top Category
5. Simplify Category Box Navigation by Defining Specific Colors for Each Level
6. Add Extra Links to Your Category Box
Summary
3
Spice Up Your Infoboxes
Spice Up Your Infoboxes
7. Move Your Infobox Header closer to Content
8. Make Your Infobox Header Taller
9. Add a Pop-Up Page from an Infobox Link
10. Add Images to Infoboxes
11. Add Extra Images to Your Columns without Framing Boxes
12. Hide or Show Boxes Driven by Language Choice
13. Add Boxes Dedicated to Specified Countries
14. Define Box-Image Size Independent of Product Thumbs
15. Show Manufacturers' Logos in the Manufacturers Infobox
16. Add Double Borders to Boxes with Background Matting
Summary
4
Stuff Your Product Display
Stuff Your Product Display
17. Add Parent Category in Product Listing
18. Add Top Category in Product Listing
19. Add a Separator Line in Product Listing
20. Add a Cell Background and an Image Border to Product Listing
21. Sort Product Listing by Date Added
22. Prepare a Quick 'n Easy Review System for Product Listing
23. Whip Up a Top-Category Driven Product Listing
24. Control Manufacturer Image Size
25. Call a Pop Up from Product Description in Product Info
26. Call Unique Code for a Single Product in Product Info
27. Show a Pop Up with Shipping Options in Product Info
28. Add an Anchor for Options in Product Info
29. Integrate Tell a Friend into Product Info
30. Offer an Ask a Question about a Product Link on Product Info
31. Sell Affiliate Products from Your Catalog
32. Fill Up Also Purchased Products Search Result
33. Limit New Products to Those with an Image
34. Set Column Count for New Products
Summary
5
Dish Up a Better Search
Dish Up a Better Search
35. Add Help Text to Your Search-Box Input Field
36. Set the Search-Result Value Independent of Admin Listings
37. Add an All Manufacturers Page to the Manufacturers Infobox
38. Customize Your Product Listing with Individual Boxes for Each Manufacturer
Summary
6
Grill that Checkout Process
Grill that Checkout Process
39. Make Removing Products from the Cart more Intuitive
40. Remove Delivery Address Modification from Your Shipping Page
41. Modify Shipping Method Display for the Confirmation Page
42. Add a Sophisticated Gift Wrapping Option to the Shipping Page
43. Add the Option to Donate during Checkout
44. Personalize Your Order Confirmation Email
45. Add Your Customers' Email Addresses and Phone Numbers to Your Order Confirmation Email
46. Add Your Customers' Fax Numbers to Your Order Confirmation Email
47. Add the Products' Manufacturers to Your Order Confirmation Email
48. Add the Products' Category Tree to Your Order Confirmation Email
Summary
7
Whip Up New Shipping Options
Whip Up New Shipping Options
49. Add Multiple Flat Rate Shipping Modules
50. Add Percentage and Base Price Support to Table Rate
51. Allow Free Postage for Free Items
52. Limit Flat Rate Shipping to a Specific Top Category Only
53. Hide Shipping Modules Driven by Weight
54. Create a Per Item Shipping Module with Two Price Levels
Summary
8
Season Your Payment Modules
Season Your Payment Modules
55. Hide Payment Modules from Public Eyes
56. Create Dependencies between Shipping and Payment Modules
57. Offer Customized Payment Options for Selected Customers
Summary
9
Cook Up a Multiple Banner System
Cook Up a Multiple Banner System
58. Set Up Category-Driven Banners
59. Create Rotating Banners that Link within Your Own Shop
Summary
10
Throw Together Dessert Extra Treats for You!
Throw Together Dessert Extra Treats for You!
60. Display a Dynamic Shipping Table for Table Rate Shipping
61. Restructure and Customize Your File Download Module
62. Create a Dual Website Combining Shopping Cart and Showroom Features
Summary
11
Beef Up Your Admin
Beef Up Your Admin
63. Reset Date Added for Products
64. Set an Expiry Date for Products
65. Limit Also Purchased Products Selection by Date
66. Display Full Information for Customer, Delivery, and Billing Addresses at a Glance
67. Highlight Orders According to their Order Status
68. Sort Your Administration Menu Configuration-Box Entries
69. Allow Entering Products in an Additional Currency
Summary

63. Reset Date Added for Products

This recipe is perfect for you if you want to specify which products are showcased in the New Products box of your homepage and category pages. The New Products box uses the value of the products_date_added column of the products table for sorting, which makes a change in display fairly easy to achieve. You may want to be cheeky and reset items on purpose to get them up on the list, or you may use this feature after updating a product thoroughly, so it is basically a new product indeed. If you use this tool in the cheeky way a lot, consider renaming the box, as New Products will not fit any more.

Presentation

The following screenshot shows Administration | Catalog | Categories/Products with the DVD Movie Speed highlighted. Here you are about to have it reset as new:

As soon as the reset button is clicked, the products_date_added and products_last_modified columns in the products table are modified to hold the current date as shown here:

Let's skewer this...

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