Book Image

Building Online Stores with osCommerce: Professional Edition

By : David Mercer
Book Image

Building Online Stores with osCommerce: Professional Edition

By: David Mercer

Overview of this book

<p>The book can be read from front to back, but each chapter is self contained so the reader can skip chapters to read those that they are interested in. Each chapter will move from basic to advanced where applicable and also relate what the administrator (reader) is doing to how this affects what the client sees on the site.</p> <p>So, for example, the customization chapter will start off with a discussion on the concept of design and how to relate this to your business. Once the reader has a clear idea of what they need to do, we look at some really simple changes such as modifying the site's language, before moving to some advanced modifications which may involve some PHP programming. At the same time the discussion will demonstrate how the changes made affect the site.</p> <p>Throughout the book, much consideration is given to the "right" way to doing things. Readers will have the great advantage that they begin, from the very start, doing things properly. This will save them a lot of time and effort in the years to come as they build on and modify their site. Utilizing best practices and sound methodologies is a great asset for beginners and experienced users alike.</p> <p>At all times, the coverage given in this book pays homage to the fact that, ultimately, the reader has a business goal in mind. To this end, the material never gets bogged down in technical issues or long discourses, but rather focuses on what is practically important for the online business and then moves on. To complement this, there are plenty of suggestions and hints as to how and where to look for further information.</p>
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Building Online Stores with osCommerce: Professional Edition
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
Foreword
Introduction
Index

Tips and Tricks


As with any project, it is always nice to add finishing touches. This section will take a look at a grab-bag of different scripts or modifications, which will hopefully add a certain style or flavor to your already fully functional website. It should be stressed that none of these are essential in any way to the working of your site, so if you are in a hurry to get everything up and running, then it may be better to skip ahead to the deployment chapter, which follows.

If your need to begin earning online is not overwhelming, then it will definitely benefit you to take a bit of time to look at what's here. Even if there is nothing you decide to implement yourself, it may give you ideas for your own innovative changes (which hopefully you will share with the community some time).

Low Stock Reports

By default, osCommerce comes with a few reports, which you can use to monitor your site. However, in all likelihood, at some stage you will find you want either better or different...