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

Testing


What is the goal of testing in this instance? Well, between now and the end of the chapter, we want to go from where we are to a fully functional, and most importantly, live and operational site. In order to get there, we need to ensure not only that everything works as expected from the customer's point of view, but also that the site's security is properly implemented and that we can administer the site properly from the administration tool. Knowing this, we can break this section down into three main phases: testing the online store, re-implementing security, and testing the administration tool.

Once you have completed the testing phase, it is probably a good idea to make a backup of your live site because this now represents the only working live copy you possess. Sure, you can easily redo everything from the RTP copy you saved earlier, but why take the chance of having to redo your security settings, or any other changes you may have already made? Bear in mind that some of you...