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 9. Advanced Features

In terms of the development of the site, the majority of the heavy lifting has now been completed. This chapter (and to a lesser extent, the one that follows) represents the last of the work that is to be done on the site before deployment. As things stand, you should have a version of your site (in development) that already distinguishes itself from the competition in terms of look, feel, and security—even though you may be waiting for deployment before you can implement your security fully. There are still a few things missing though, before you can say that your site is a good alternative to any of the major online retailers out there.

This chapter will introduce functionality that is intended to bridge the gap between sites like Contechst Books (in other words, those with smaller budgets) and the larger e-commerce sites (that is, those with considerably more resources at their disposal). As a result, we are going to look at several examples of some less common...