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

Catalog


The Catalog section of the administration tool is a pretty nifty piece of content management software. You can control your stock with a fine tooth comb from here, and although it is not complete on its own, using some of the community contributions to extend the default functionality provided should give you all the help you need to run and maintain the stock on your site.

Before we begin by looking at the subsections of the Catalog administration tool, there are a few things that you should know before hand. Above and beyond the standard functionality provided, osCommerce also gives you a drop-down navigation list to help find your way around your data directory structure, as well as a search tool. If you open up the Catalog page, you will be presented with something like this:

Use the Search textbox (type in the name of the product or category and hit Enter) to find products or categories quickly, or use the drop-down list to navigate to various sections without having to click...