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

Chapter 3. How osCommerce Works

I'm sure everyone is just itching to get started with osCommerce. You've got customers waiting, products to shift off the shelves, money to be earned, deals to be made, and a million other things that need to be dealt with. Why on earth, then, do we need a chapter on how osCommerce works? Why don't we jump straight ahead to the chapter on configuring osCommerce, or better yet, why not jump straight to data entry and manipulation? There are several answers to these questions, and the most important one is that I won't be comfortable if I know that there are thousands of business owners out there basing their livelihood on a technology that they don't understand. And that's my answer!

The answer you probably want, which is equally correct, is that by learning how to use osCommerce properly, you will become far more efficient and more importantly good at building your online retail site. In order to be efficient, you need to have a sound appreciation of how things...