INSTALLATION The "OnlineShop" package contains all the instructions, files and scripts required to install, configure and use your "OnlineShop" software. The scripts are for use on your (Unix) based Internet server. They will not work on your PC. It is however, a good idea to copy the contents of this CD or download file to a directory on your computer as a back-up. For the purposes of this manual where CD is mentioned it also refers to the download file.

README BEFORE INSTALLING INSTALLING "ONLINESHOP" RE-INSTALLING "ONLINESHOP" UPLOADING THE STANDARD GRAPHICS UPLOADING THE STANDARD INI FILES BASIC RULES BASIC SITE SET-UP PROCEDURE

THE ADMIN MENU The "Admin Menu" is a web page interface and the heart of "OnlineShop". The "Admin Menu" enables you to configure the "onlineshop.pl script" online without any CGI programming knowledge, update and administer the daily running of the site. It has two levels of access "login" which is intended for authorised staff that use the software on a daily basis and "admin" that provides full access to all of the "OnlineShop" configuration features. Admin access is only intended for use by the sites administrator or webmaster. To gain access to the "Admin Menu" you need to login using the "login web page". This is located in your sites home directory under the name of "login.html". You will need to enter either your "login" or "admin" password to gain entry. Full online help is available for all of its features. If "OnlineShop" has just been installed you are prompted to read our basic rules and site configuration page. This is displayed in big red text at the top of the screen. This text disappears after you have entered a main product category and at least one suppliers details. If you are your own supplier then enter your own name. The full features of the "Admin Menu" are described here. If you are new to "OnlineShop" then we recommend that you first visit our basic rules and set-up procedure before you start. If you do not know HTML then you should talk to us or a web design company in your area that can help you.

SITE SET-UP VIEW CURRENT HOME PAGE CREATE DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE CREATE CUSTOM SITE TEMPLATE CONFIGURE YOUR DATA ENTRY INPUT FORMS CREATE DEFAULT SEARCH TEMPLATE CREATE CUSTOM SEARCH TEMPLATE CREATE DEFAULT PRODUCT PAGE TEMPLATE CREATE CUSTOM PRODUCT PAGE TEMPLATES REFRESH SITE MAP EDIT DEFAULT SITE GRAPHICS SET POSTAGE VARIABLES YOUR CONTACT DETAILS PRICE CHECK & CURRENCY CHANGE DEFAULT IMAGE SIZES SERVER SETTINGS SITE BACK-UP UPLOAD SITE DATA FROM FILE Controling the site content from your local Database TO ADD or EDIT an EXISTING SUPPLIER TO ADD or RENAME a MAIN CATEGORY TO CREATE CUSTOM CATEGORY PAGES CREATE CUSTOM CATEGORY LINKS IN THE MAIN MENU CHANGING THE ORDER THAT MAIN CATEGORIES ARE LISTED ADD/EDIT CATEGORY DETAILS CONTENT MANAGEMENT TO ENTER A NEW PRODUCT ADDING A NEW SUB CATEGORY TO EDIT EXISTING PRODUCT TO EDIT PRODUCT PHOTOS and MOVIES TO DELETE AN EXISTING PRODUCT LIST ALL PRODUCTS OUT OF STOCK LIST ALL PRODUCTS LIST ALL PRODUCTS ON SALE LIST PRODUCT IN "NO~1" POSITION REMOVE CUSTOMER TESTIMONIAL INVOICE PAYMENT CHOOSING YOUR PAYMENT GATEWAY CONFIGURING YOUR PAYMENT GATEWAY CASH CHEQUE PRO-FORMA INVOICES MANUAL OR AUTOMATIC INVOICE ENTRY ORDER UTILITIES OVERRIDE SCROLLING TEXT TO VIEW AN INDIVIDUAL ORDER LIST ORDERS BY MONTH OR YEAR SEARCH FOR CUSTOMER ORDERS

READ ME Before you start installing "OnlineShop" please ensure that: Your server is running under Unix. We do not currently have a "Windows" version. Perl 5 or above must be loaded (this is standard on nearly every Unix server). Your server web space must include a "cgi-bin" or valid scripts directory that allows you to run CGI scripts. This must be set-up by your ISP. You cannot just create one using "add new directory". Internet connection is required as all installation and configuration of the scripts are done online. To load your files to the server you will need FTP software. If you do not have this then we provide a copy of "Filezila" as a "ZIP" file on the CD, in the FTP directory. Filezila is a well known FTP program. To use FTP you will need to know the host name, user name and login password to your server. This information is available from your ISP. For help installing and using the Filezila FTP program visit http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/documentation Other considerations before starting full installation Deciding your directory structure Before you start to install "OnlineShop" you need to decide the directory structure where your home page for the site is to be located if it is different from the default. Deciding on the number of sub category levels a main category should include. When creating a main category you have the option to include further sub categories if required. Sub categories enable the customer to easily navigate the site from the main category to either 1 or 2 extra sub-category levels. A main category can have many sub categories. Each sub category can then optionaly have a further sub category level if required. Using this system "OnlineShop" can provide your customers with easy site navigation to your products. Unfortunately, these options cannot be changed at a later date once selected or it would create problems with the sites indexing system. It is therefore important to decide before creating a main category whether you want the "main category" to also include further sub category levels. Making scripts executable Server scripts once uploaded to the server must first be made "executable" before they can work. If they are NOT made executable then they will give you a "server error message" when called. To make a script executable first upload it to your cgi-bin using the Filezila FTP software. Then highlight it with your mouse pointer. Press the right mouse button to display a drop down menu. From the menu select "File attributes". A new dialog box will open. Along the top row tick the "Execute" box. Then press the "OK" button. The file is now executable. Checking for Remote or Local Photo Uploading. Before you install the "OnlineShop" software you should first test your server to ensure that the necessary Perl libraries exist, which allow the "local" photos.pl script to work on your site. The Perl libraries required are Image::Magick and Image::Size or GD. Not all servers have them installed. We provide you with two test scripts that can identify if the Perl libraries are available. They are "IM_test.pl" that looks for "Image::Magick and Image::Size", "GD_test.pl" looks for "Image::Magick and GD". From the "cgi-bin" directory on the CD upload the two scripts "IM_test.pl" and "GD_test.pl" to your servers "cg-bin" directory. You now need to make these scripts executable or they will not work. See above. From your web browser now enter the http:// URL to the script "IM_test.pl". Example. http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/IM_test.pl If the libraries are available for "IM_test.pl".a message will be displayed, If not then you will get an internal server error message. If "IM_test.pl" does work then upload the photos.pl script located in the cgi-bin/imsize_photos directory on the CD to your servers cgi-bin and make it executable. If "IM_test.pl" did not work now try the script "GD_test.pl". From your web browser enter the http:// URL to the script "IM_test.pl". Example. http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/GD_test.pl If the libraries are available for GD_test.pl".a message will be displayed, If not then you will get an internal server error message. If "IM_test.pl".did work then upload the photos.pl script located in the cgi-bin/gd_photos directory on the CD to your servers cgi-bin and make it executable.. If either one of the two test programs work select the "local" option, when installing the main "OnlineShop" software. If neither of the two test programs work then you will need to select the "remote" option. When this is selected your product photos are uploaded to our server first and then sent back to your site in the proper formats and sizes. This process takes a little longer but ensures that the photo upload process works properly. It should be noted that we do not store your photos. They are placed into a temporary file and overwritten each time a new photo is uploaded. If in doubt select the "remote" option this is guaranteed to work. Please note: if you select the "local" option and the relevant Perl libraries do not exist on your server, you will get an" internal server error message" when you try to upload your product photos. Back to installation menu INSTALLING "OnlineShop" Using your FTP software upload the files "onlineshop.pl" and "productupload.pl" to your servers "cgi-bin". Do not forget to make them executable or they will not work (see above). The files are located in the CD's "cgi-bin" directory. Now make sure that you are online and open up your Internet web browser. To start the installation process for the first time you need to now enter a simple command that calls the "onlineshop.pl" script on your server and tells it exactly where it is located on the Internet so the script can save the information to an INI file. To do this you need to call the script and pass it a variable that states it's exact URL location. The variable that does this is "af". Example: http://www.mydomain.com/cgi-bin/onlineshop.pl?af=http://www.mydomain.com/cgi-bin/onlineshop.pl NOTE: "Mydomain.com" exampled above should be substituted with your web sites domain name. The question (?) character is a delimiter command. The parameter "af=http://www.mydomain.com/cgi-bin/onlineshop.pl" is then sent to the script in much the same way as entering information from a form. In this case the "af" parameter is your server URL to the" onlineshop.pl" script. Please Note: If the first part of this command is not correct (before ?) you will get a "page not found" error message. If the second part of this command is not correct (after ?af=) you will get a "page not found" error message at the second stage of the installation. If you have not made the "onlineshop.pl" script executable you will get a server error message. If you need to re-install the software at a later date see "Re-installing the software" section below. It requires a different command from that used above. NEW SITE CONFIGURATION FORM Once you have called the "onlinshop.pl" script with the command above you will then be directed to the "New Site Installation Form". ENTER YOUR CD AUTHORISATION CODE Enter the 13 character "authorisation code" sent to you by email or located at the top of your "OnlineShop" CD. Remember, this authorisation code allows you to install "OnlineShop" to one web site domain. Do not use the code from an old disk. It will not work. Once you have completed the installation we recommend that you write the web site URL on the disk to prevent this from happening. If you have already installed "OnlineShop" using the free 30 day trial version. Log into your "admin menu" and select "Server Settings". Enter your new authorisation code there to re-activate the script. ENTER A MAIN DIRECTORY NAME When you install "OnlineShop" it creates a sub directory that contains the sites web pages and photos. It is useful to name this directory with a relevant name that relates to your business. This helps with search engine optimisation. The default is "shopping". This field cannot be altered at a later date once selected. CURRENCY SYMBOL Enter the currency symbol that you wish to use when displaying prices. Some currency symbols may have to be entered in HTML format such as "& pound;" for the UK £ symbol. Can be altered later if required. PRICE CHECKER (cost & sale price must be entered when adding new products). If you select "YES" then the price checker is active and ensures that you enter the cost and sale price of products when being entered. The "price checker" is a simple check to ensure that you are making a profit. If you select "NO" The prices become optional. The price check is also switched off. Can be altered later if required. SITE MAP FORMAT. OnlineShop produces a site map both in HTML and XML format when you use the “Refresh Site” link (see admin menu). The XML format can be registered to the major search engines as a feed file. The site map links can be dynamic script URL's or links to actual web pages. Create dynamic site map. Dynamic script URL's do not require web pages to be produced and can save massive amounts of disk space. Dynamic links are registered by search engines in just the same way as standard web pages and work just as well. Can be altered later if required. Create HTML web page site map. Some web designers do not like dynamic URL's so we also provide the option to create actual HTML based web pages. When this option is selected and the “Refresh Site” link is clicked the script requests the HTML output of each dynamic URL found and produces an actual web page. The links to this web page are then displayed in the site map rather than the dynamic links. The down side to this is that it takes a lot longer for this process to complete and it also uses up great amounts of web space. Can be altered later if required. USE LOCAL OR REMOTE SITE FOR UPLOADING PRODUCT PHOTOS. Before installing the "OnlineShop" software to your server you should have tested it to ensure that the necessary Perl libraries exist, which allow the "local" photos.pl script to work on your site. See above. If in doubt select the "remote" option this is guaranteed to work. Can be altered later if required. Please note: if you select the "local" option and the relevant Perl libraries do not exist on your server, you will get an" internal server error message" when you try to upload your product photos. THE SERVER PATH This is your servers directory path to the directory that you wish your "home web page" to be located in. It is required so that the script knows where to open and save files, photos and web pages. It is not your home page http://URL. It is the servers directory path to your web site. This can vary from server to server. Luckily, we can provide the path to your CGI-BIN. Remove the "/cgi-bin" or "/scripts" text at the end of the line. If your server uses a separate "httpdocs" directory then this will need to be added at the end along with any other sub directories if required. Example server paths: /var/web/hosts/getbiz4u.com/ /var/web/hosts/getbiz4u.com/httpdocs/dropshipping /var/web/hosts/getbiz4u.com/subdomains/products/httpdocs/dropshipping If you get this path wrong your information will not be saved. It can be edited later if required. ENTER YOUR "MAILPROG" PATH. This is the server path to the "mailprog" cgi library that controls the sending of emails. It is available on nearly every Unix server. However, the path can be different depending on the servers configuration. In most cases it is usually "/usr/sbin/sendmail" or "/usr/bin/sendmail". If neither of these options work you will need to contact your "ISP" Internet service provider and find out what it is. The best way to test this is by sending yourself an email using the contact form we generate for you. If you receive it then it works, if not, try another option. YOUR "ADMIN" PASSWORD This password is required to access the full features of "OnlineShop" and should not be confused with the "login" password entered in the next stage of installation that only provides limited use of the programs features. This "admin" password is intended only for use by the sites administrator or webmaster. It can be the same as the login password if you want anyone with login access to also have full administration access. Your password should only include standard letters or numbers. Try to avoid other character symbols. CONTINUE TO THE NEXT STAGE The program now needs to save your settings. We also need some basic contact information from you. To continue to the next stage click the "SUBMIT" button at the bottom of the page. NOTE: If you get a "page not found" message this is because you did not enter the second part of the initial "?af=" command line correctly. Do not worry! Just go back and repeat the process above ensuring that the right url is used. YOUR CONTACT DETAILS Here you need to enter at least some basic information about yourself. The information is used by the default contact form that we create for you and for correspondence to your site where required. It is essential to enter your correct email address. Please Note: Any changes to this page activates an email to you as confirmation. The minimum details you need to enter are; Your Trading/Company Name. Your contact email address This sites full URL This is the full URL including the "http prefix" to this sites home directory. If it is not correct then the site will not work properly as the script uses this link to create the site map, html web pages, save and display photos. Your login password to this site When we create your site a login page is automatically produced. It is located in this sites home directory with the file name "login.html". The login page is used to access your "Admin" menu and provides all authorised users limited access to the daily operational functions of "OnlineShop". For full access the "admin" password is required. The login password you wish to use for "login entry" must be entered in the box provided. Your password should only include standard letters or numbers. Try to avoid other character symbols. All other input fields are optional for CMS customers. These details are only required for billing and contact information. Your VAT (Value Added Tax) Number. When you enter your VAT number it is displayed on any invoices/orders to inform your customers that they can claim the VAT element of the invoice back. To finish the installation process, press the "SUBMIT " button at the bottom of the page. Your site details are then saved to an INI file. We also create a "LOGIN" page for you. This provides access to your "Admin Menu". The URL for the login page is displayed for your records. It is important to make a note of this address, as the "admin menu" is the main interface that allows you to configure and operate the "OnlineShop" program online. To see your "Admin Menu" click the "Click here" link. THE ADMIN MENU Back to installation menu RE-INSTALLING ONLINESHOP In certain circumstances you may want to re-install the software. To do this you simply repeat the process described above. The only difference is that the initial command is slightly different. We add two new parameters to it. This is your "admin" password and "rdo". "Rdo", is simply an abbreviation for "re-do" and lets the script know that it is being re-installed with the same authorisation code. Example of the new command line http://www.mydomain.com/cgi-bin/onlineshop.pl?af=http://www.mydomain.com/cgi-bin/onlineshop.pl&val=rdo&adpas=your_admin_password Back to installation menu UPLOADING GRAPHICS & ZOOM SCRIPTS The site uses graphics for certain links such as "Add to Basket", "Checkout" etc and some Java scripts that perform special zoom effects. These files now need to be uploaded to your servers, main directory. This is where your sites home page will be located. The graphics can be altered at a later date should you want to replace them with your own. If they are not uploaded then you may get error boxes instead of the graphic when configuring the site. All the standard graphics and special effect files are located in the "home directory" directory on your CD. Open this directory to display all of the files then using your FTP software copy them all to your servers main directory where your home page is located. ONLY COPY THE CONTENTS OF THIS DIRECTORY not the directory itself. Unlike scripts they do NOT need to be made executable. Back to installation menu UPLOADING THE STANDARD INI FILES When you start to configure the site settings with "OnlineShop" all of the form parameters are blank by default and require you to enter them from scratch. We provide some default INI files that will give you basic default settings. We expect you to change them. They are simply there to help you understand and identifying what the relevant parameters do. If you wish to use our standard INI files they are located in the "dat" directory. The files contained in this directory then need to be copied to the sites "dat" directory where your sites home page will be located using your FTP software. Unlike scripts you do not have to make them executable. Please note: If you have already created another site using "OnlinShop" or used our "Demo" software you may like to download those INI files to your PC and use them instead. Back to installation menu BASIC RULES FOR CONFIGURING & DESIGNING SITE TEMPLATES This manual is designed to provide you with help at every stage of the scripts configuration process. “HELP” links are always available to the appropriate sections of this manual at all stages. When you open any “HELP” pages it is created in a new browser window. To go back to where you were located just simply minimise or close the “HELP” window you are in. All help pages are written as simply as possible to avoided confusing technical jargon. We expect that you have a reasonable knowledge of HTML or Flash, Java and can write, copy, cut or paste (CTRL+V) the code or content that is required in the appropriate fields. This script produces both "DYNAMIC" and "STATIC" HTML web pages. Dynamic web pages are created by the script. Any changes you make when configuring or adding to the site will instantly take effect in viewing mode because the script is producing them. Site Map links (dynamic or html) will only be upgraded when you press the "REFRESH SITE" link. It is important to keep your site map up to date as it is used by Internet search engines to drive traffic to your site. OnlineShop uses templates to display the sites web site content. Templates come into 3 main categories (although more are available). Main Site Configuration Search Configuration Product Page Configuration These templates can be created by either using our "Default Template" links or overwritten by your own custom code using "Custom Template" links. Default template links provide an option menu that you configure to generate a template. Only basic HTML knowledge is required. Custom templates use a different technique. You design the template from scratch. It can be any valid HTML coding including CSS files, Java, multimedia.. etc. Variables generated by the script then replace various <#commands#> that we provide and have been positioned into your source code at the appropriate places. WHEN USING DEFAULT TEMPLATES All font colours can be entered as prime colours or in the HTML number format such as "black" or #000000 for black. Global font sizes in "DEFAULT SITE SETUP" are in pixels. Unless otherwise specified ALL OTHERS are in HTML format 1-6. Size 1 being the smallest and 6+ being the biggest. Where enter "HTML" is shown you can paste any valid HTML coding, image tags or scripts. Just ensure that any links have the full http:// URL and any output they generate (such as images) fit into your selected column width or the site may not be displayed properly. Relative links will not work. WHEN CREATING CUSTOM TEMPLATES You decide what can and cannot be done. The only restrictions are as follows. Where you enter links, scripts or graphics in your "Custom html" code. Just make sure they have the full URL path. In other words they begin with http://. Relative links will not work simply because you are using a script and you are in a “cgi-bin” directory. If you are using OnlineShop as a "Shopping Site": Photo and multimedia URL links are allowed to display graphics, but do not enter any web page links in your code other than the <#command#> links we provide for you. These <#command#> links are required to track customers and what they have in their shopping basket. If you link somewhere else this information is lost. Do not try copying any HTML “links” from the output source code as this will not work either. If you are using OnlineShop just as a "Content Management Site": Both graphic and web page URL links are allowed. This is because we do not need to track your customer orders. To view any changes you make it is a good idea to have 2 browser windows open. One for making changes and the other to view them. A link to your "DYNAMIC" home page is included in your "Admin Menu". Back to installation menu BASIC SITE SET-UP PROCEDURE From the "Admin Menu" enter at least one supplier and complete the basic details required. If you are your own supplier just enter your own details. From the "Admin Menu" create at least one main category. From the "Admin Menu" click "CONFIGURE DATA ENTRY INPUT FORM/S" and select "Create Standard Entry Form". The default entry form will be displayed. Change it to meet your requirements.. From the "Admin Menu" click "CHANGE DEFAULT IMAGE SIZES" and make sure you are happy with the default settings. If not change them to meet your requirements. NOTE! Even if you intend to use your own custom templates it is important to be familiar with our "Default Templates" first. Once you are comfortable with these then you can move on to producing your own "Custom Templates". Go to "CREATE DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE" This is the default site configuration page. Have a look at it first. Some of the replace commands used to create custom templates use the default settings here. We especially draw your attention to creating the top and side category menus along with the “top 10” facility. These can be configured in this section and then imported into your custom pages where required using special replace commands. From here you can; Select Site and Column widths (1,2 or 3 column). Enter Global Defaults for colours, backgrounds, fonts, tables and mouse-over. Enter Default META Commands. Enter Custom HTML Code to Create your Header. Creating Main Category Menus. Display a “Keyword Search” as a sub Header (optional). Create Custom HTML areas for advertising or information. Enter Custom HTML for your Home page. Create Postage, Terms, Contact and About-us pages (optional). Configure & Display Shopping Basket (optional). Configure & Display your TOP 10 Products (optional). View your Alterations. Save as Default. If you have uploaded our default INI files you will have some default data entered into the fields. This is just to give you an idea of what the various options can do and the type of coding that can be entered. You should of course change them to suite your needs and design requirements. To make your site a shopping basket/cart ensure that the “ADD BASKET” option is set to “yes” or it will be a (CMS) site only. To view any changes you make scroll down to the bottom of the input page and select “SHOW ME BEFORE” and then press “SUBMIT”. To save any changes select “DEFAULT”. The changes will then be saved in dynamic mode. To create a site map and upgrade your "static" pages where selected click the red “REFRESH” link. The site is pre-configured with standard graphics such as “Add to Basket” and the delivery photo. If you do not like them you can change or stop them from being shown. If you want to do this now visit “EDIT SITE GRAPHICS”. The Main Category list on the left hand side of the screen is displayed in standard text. If you want to customise these links, Change the order in which they appear or even make them into graphic buttons now visit “CREATE CUSTOM CATEGORY LINKS”. When you click a main category link by default it takes you to the “Category Search Results” if you wish to override this with a custom entry page then visit “TO CREATE CUSTOM CATEGORY PAGES”. It is now nearly time to enter your first products. Before you do this visit “SET POSTAGE VARIABLES”. If you are selling goods online that require postage then complete the appropriate fields. If not then select "NO POSTAGE REQUIRED" and save. You are now ready to upload your first products. Visit the “TO ENTER NEW PRODUCT” section. Select the main category that you wish to list the product under and press “RETURN”. From the input page select your “Supplier” for this product (if required). Then either create a new sub category that the product is to be listed under or select an existing one (if required). Enter your supplier product code (if required). If you do not have one make one up. If “Price Check” was set to “yes” in your registration then you will have to enter your Cost and Sale prices. To switch this default off see “PRICE CHECK & CURRENCY” in the main “admin menu”. If you decide to select the “NO” option for “IN STOCK” your product will not be displayed in the “Category” search results. The rest is fairly straight forward. Press “CONTINUE” to go to the next page. Depending on how many site layers you selected when creating a sub category you may be asked to select another sub category layer or be directed to the confirmation page. If “price check” is set to you “yes” then you will get a profit loss report based on the prices you entered in your your sites “postage” and “supplier” tax configuration. You may also see a “POSTAGE WARNING”. This is where your postage costs have not been entered or if the minimum postage variables have been exceeded. These are prompts that ensure you have not made any mistakes and that you are indeed making a profit. If you previously selected “yes” to either “Additional Accessories” or “Additional Options” you will be asked to enter them or leave blank. We also create the default “meta commands” for your products. You can keep these defaults or alter them. To save your product details press the “CONTINUE & SAVE” button. You are now asked to upload your main photo. This will also be used in the search results. To do this click the “browse” button and find the photo you want to upload on your local computer. Once you have selected a photo then press the upload button and wait until you see the confirmation. This can take some time if you are uploading a large image so be patient. To view or enter more photos click the “CLICK HERE” link. Your main photo will then be displayed. If you wish to add a product brand logo or up to 6 more photos just repeat the “photo upload” process above. To ADD/EDIT or DELETE products see “TO EDIT EXISTING PRODUCT”, “TO EDIT PHOTOS and MOVIE” and “TO DELETE AN EXISTING PRODUCT”. Where it says “enter the site reference number” this is a unique number that your OnlineShop generates each time a new product is entered. Where it says “enter the suppliers product code” this is a unique number that your supplier has provided for the product you uploaded. You now need to configure how you wish your “SEARCH RESULTS” to be displayed. They can be shown in various formats and column widths. To do this visit “DEFAULT or CUSTOM SEARCH TEMPLATES”. You now need to configure how you wish your “PRODUCT PAGES” to be displayed. To do this visit “DEFAULT or CUSTOM PRODUCT PAGE TEMPLATES”. After designing a site using “Default Templates” you can now take a look at producing your own “Custom Templates”. Here there are virtually no design restrictions. If you are using online shopping by selecting “ADD BASKET” “yes” from the “CREATE DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE” input form, the rest is done automatically using either default or custom site templates. If you are using the "DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE" option background and border colours for these sections are defined in the “CREATE DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE” global settings. See “Table Background colour for centre pages” in global settings. CONFIGURING YOUR PAYMENT GATEWAY FOR CREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS The standard payment gateways for credit card transactions are PayPal and Worldpay. We include the necessary templates that are required to pass payment information to them. If you are using any other “payment gateway” select the “Custom” option from the drop down menu. You can then easily create your own custom template. If you wish your customers to be re-directed to the site after payment and have your invoice loged "AUTOMATICLY" this can be done also for an extra fee. Costs depend on your chosen payment gateway and what you want the script to do. The basic return payment scripts for PayPal and WorldPay are included free (see paypal_payment.pl and worldpay_payment.pl in your CD's cgi-bin directory). The default is “MANUAL ORDER PAYMENT”. This is where the “payment gateway” sends you a confirmation email with your purchase order number on it. To view the order you just login to your “ADMIN MENU” and enter the order number into the “MANUAL ORDER PAYMENT” field. The order is then displayed and saved. The rest is up to you or your client. Basic order searches are available that suite most companies. See our “Shopping” section in your “Admin Menu”. Back to installation menu THE ADMIN MENU VIEW CURRENT HOME PAGE In the “ADMIN MENU” we provide a link to your sites “dynamic home page” after it has been created. Your "dynamic home page" can be produced by the following methods. Using the "CREATE DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE" and entering the home page HTML into the appropriate text box. Using "ADD CUSTOM SITE TEMPLATE" and using the <#results#> command to display the the home page HTML entered in the "CREATE DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE" above. Creating your own Custom home page template using "CREATE CUSTOM CATEGORY PAGES" and selecting "home". This “home page” is produced by the script so that any changes are instantly displayed. IMPORTANT!! Please note that this "Dynamic" home page is not your real "home page". We do not create your real home page for you. This is simply because you may not want the scripts home page to be the actual home page when visiting the site. It may be that your real home page is designed differently. A good example is doorway pages. If you wish to use the scripts default home page as your real home page then view the source and copy it to the appropriate index.html or home.html file. Then upload it to your sites home directory using FTP. Back to main menu CREATE DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE This is the main default site configuration page This area only requires a minimal knowledge of HTML. It enables you to very quickly produce a standard site template. For more advanced control over the look and design of your site see “Custom Site Templates”. From here you can; Select Site and Column Widths (1,2 or 3 column). Enter Default META Commands. Enter Global Defaults for colours, backgrounds, fonts, tables and mouse-over. Entering Custom HTML Code to Create your Header Display Main Category Menus). Display a “Keyword Search” as a sub Header (optional). Left Column settings (Main categories, sub categories & Custom HTML). Enter Custom HTML for your Home page. Right Column settings (Shopping cart, Top 10 products & Custom HTML). Entering Custom HTML Code to Create your “Bottom” header Create Postage, Terms, Contact and About-us pages (optional). Viewing and Saving your Alterations. Select Site and Column Widths This feature allows you to experiment with different site and column widths. For single column enter site width only. For 2 columns enter site width + left column width. For 3 columns enter site width + left column width + right column width. The “Site width” creates a main table that all of your sites content is contained within. When you enter the "Site width" parameter it dictates the width of this table. It also provides the maximum width for your custom "header HTML" and "bottom HTML" that you enter. For example graphics or tables etc. If they do not match this width then your site may not be displayed properly. The left column is (optional) although important, as this is the column width that your main categories will be displayed in. When you enter the “Left col” parameter it dictates the width of this column. It also provides the maximum width of any “custom HTML” that you enter in this area. For example graphics or tables etc. If they exceed this width then again your site may not be displayed properly. The right column is (optional) if you set this to “0” you will be creating a 2 column site. If you wish to have a 3 column site the “Right col” parameter dictates the width of this column. It also provides the maximum width of any “custom HTML” that you enter in this area. For example graphics or tables etc. PLEASE NOT: The right column is the (default) column that your shopping basket and TOP 10 Products will be displayed in. If this column is set to “0” width the shopping basket (where selected) will be then displayed at the top of the left column. Any TOP 10 options or custom HTML for this area will be ignored. The centre column width where required is automatically worked out based on the settings above. Please note: Where this column is calculated to be below 150 pixels the site may automatically be shown in 2 columns. It depends on how you have configured your "Search" and "Product Page" settings. The “Cellspacing for columns section” allows you to enter “cellspacing” between the columns contained within the sites “main table”. The “cellspacing” will then be displayed in the colour entered in the “Global Background Colour” (see below). This is the background colour for your site. We recommend that this value should not exceed more than 10. It is useful for providing spaces between columns. If you do not want this then set the option to “0”. Centre column border. This is only required if you are using a shopping basket. It effects the “cellspacing” when displaying the shopping basket/cart confirm results. Center column "width" manual override The center column width is basically calculated by deducting the left column and right column values from the total width. In certain circumstances you may want to trick the script into believing that the center column is wider or shorter than it automatically calculates. You can do this here. This value can also be used to calculate the total display width of your search results when using "custom templates" and the search results are set to default. It becomes particularly important if you are using custom templates that import default search results. Back to main menu Back to site parameter options META COMMANDS When you enter your products we provide you with the Meta commands for that product. The META commands here are used as an extension or (Default) phrase that is always tagged to the beginning of every web page. If you leave it blank your “home page” will have no META Commands as it is not a product page. It is a good idea to put generic “Meta” commands here. For example your main line of business or company name etc. Back to main menu Back to site parameter options GLOBAL SETTINGS Please Note: The font sizes here are in pixel sizes. This is because they are being used by a "Style Sheet". Unless otherwise specified the rest of the font sizes on this site are set in standard HTML format 1-6. Global These are the default settings for text that is outside the main sites content. The most important field is “Global Background color” as this sets the screens background colour. Table Settings Only These are the default settings for text that is included in the main sites content and are used as defaults. They will also effect your HTML code unless otherwise overwritten or when using the default configuration page for searches and product pages. The “Table Background color for center pages” field dictates the colour of the tables when using the “Add to Cart” and “View Cart” pages. URL links normal These are the default settings for any URL links included on the site. They will also effect your custom HTML code unless otherwise overwritten. URL links HOVER These are the default settings for any URL links included on the site when the mouse pointer is placed over them (Mouse-over). They will also effect your custom HTML code unless otherwise overwritten. If this font size is different from normal links then you can produce some interesting effects that can look especially good in the main header category display. Back to main menu Back to site parameter options ENTERING CUSTOM HTML "TOP" HEADER CODE Enter Custom HTML Code to Create your "Top" header. Here you can enter your own custom HTML to create an eye catching display at the top of the page. It can include any valid HTML, Flash, Java or multimedia code. Please Note; The width of this area is dictated by the code you enter. It is always a good idea to contain it in a “table”. This is so you can easily change the width if required. Back to main menu Back to site parameter options DISPLAY MAIN CATEGORIES AT THE TOP (OPTIONAL) The "Top Menu" once configured here can also be imported into your custom templates using the <#top_menu#> command. Please Note: Main categories are always displayed in the left column. If you select a single column site then this will be the only means of linking to your product categories. The option to also display them across the top of the page is up to you if you have selected either a two or three column site. It is useful for search engine optimization and also where large amounts of sub categories are displayed by provideing a quick link for the customer to the main categories. Unlike the main categories displayed on the left they are available in default text only. They will not be effected by any changes you make using the "Create Custom Category Links" utility. Display main categories at the top Simply select "Yes" or "No". If you select "YES". You now need to decide if you want your main categories displayed in fixed width tables or as centred links. Display main categories in fixed width tables By selecting this option your main categories will be displayed in fixed width tables this is determined using the "Categories per line" option below. Display main categories as centred text links By selecting this option your main categories will be displayed as centred text links. Spacing between the links can be controlled by using the "Space between centred links in pixels" option below. The number of links displayed on a line is also determined using the "Categories per line" option below. Space between centred links in pixels This option is only available if you have selected the "Display main categories as centred text links" option above. It allows you to control the spacing between links. Enter the pixel spacing size into the input box provided. It can be very useful as a design tool or where the number of categories per line is on the border between one or more rows (see the "Categories per line" option below). Show drop-down sub categories The main categories can be displayed as simple hot links or with a drop down option that shows the sub categories. If you wish to display the sub categories as drop down menus select "YES". If not select "NO". If you selected "YES" to the "Show drop-down sub categories" option then you will need to enter the following parameters. If not you can skip the "DROP DOWN" section below. DROP DOWN DISPLAY OPTIONS IF SELECTED Drop-down font size in pixels This is the font size in pixels that the drop-down sub-category names will be displayed in. Drop-down font name Enter the font name that the drop-down sub-category names will be displayed in. Drop-down font colour normal Enter the font colour that the drop-down sub-category names will be displayed in when mouse over (hover) is not over the link. Drop-down font colour hover Enter the font colour that the drop-down sub-category names will be displayed in when mouse over (hover) is over the link. Drop-down border width 0-9 Enter the border width of the drop-down menu. It is recommended that this should not exceed 5 pixels. Enter "0" for no border. Drop-down border colour Enter the colour of the drop-down menu border. Drop-down background colour (normal) Enter the background colour of the drop-down menu when the mouse is not over the link. Drop-down background colour (hover) Enter the background colour of the drop-down menu when the mouse is over the link. MAIN CATEGORY DISPLAY OPTIONS IF SELECTED Categories per line This simply allows you to tell the script how many categories are to be displayed in each row (line). If left blank the default is 8. Border color for set width option or table background colour for the centred links option. Depending on whether you chose the "display main categories as centred text links" or "display main categories in fixed width tables" above this input field will provide either the value for the "set-width" border colour or the table background colour for centred links. Background Colour These are the background colours that you want displaying when the main categories are displayed. LINKS "hover" and "out" act like Mouse-over. Override Global default "URL links normal" settings The font colour default and size is set in the global URL links section. This option allows you to override the default and display the text links in a different colour. If you use this option the Mouse-over font sizes are also overridden and fixed at the size you enter here. Back to main menu Back to site parameter options SHOW KEYWORD SEARCH This site uses two types of searches. A category search is when you press a main category link. This shows you sub categories and products listed under the main category heading. We also provide a “Keyword” search. This behaves in a different way. It goes through all the products listed on the site and displays the results only if the words entered match the products content text. If you want a keyword search then simply select “Yes” if not you may wish to still use this area and enter some custom HTML to display additional information, graphics etc. If this is the case you should also select “Yes”. If you want this area to be blank then select “No”. If you select “YES”. To create a “Keyword Search” simply enter the description of the search in the “Search text for keyword search” input field. If you want to use this space for your own custom HTML enter it in the box below called “OVERIDE with custom text”. This will then disable the keyword search and show your html code instead. You can create default settings for this tables background colour and font styles using the fields provided. If you enter your own custom HTML the default settings may be overriden. Please Note: We have many areas where you can include your own custom HTML code. You may like to display a "Keyword" search box else where. To do this you can simply generate the Keyword search and copy our "Keyword search" input forms source code and use it where you want. Back to main menu Back to site parameter options LEFT COLUMN SETTINGS Left Column Settings The main purpose of this column is to display your Main and Sub categories. The features below allow you to configure these and enter custom HTML code above and below the category listings. The "Main Menu" once configured here can also be imported into your custom templates using the <#main_menu#> command. Please Note; If you select a 2 column display and also select “Add Basket” Yes, then the shopping basket table is displayed at the top of this column. Enter the number of sub-categories that you want to display. This dictates how many sub categories will be listed below the main categories that are not open. When you open a main category all the sub categories are displayed. It is useful in providing an appetiser or hint to what is included in the full list. Where more sub categories exist than the value you enter a link to the full list is also provided. To only display the main categories leave this option blank. Table Background Colour This is the background colour for the left column. Top box description for main categories The original idea of this box was to provide a header description for the main categories. In reality it is now a custom HTML box where you can enter your own custom code above the main category listings. Below you can enter the default font and table background colour should you just require a text heading such as "View our catalogue". Table settings for MAIN Categories These fields allow you to configure the default text display settings for your main categories such as text, background colour and Mouse-overs. For more advanced features such as custom buttons, graphics see “CREATE CUSTOM CATEGORY LINKS” in the main “Admin” menu. This area allows you to enter your own custom HTML code that overrides the default text settings and also dictate the order in which the main categories are listed. Enter custom code below left main menu This area allows you to enter any custom HTML below the main categories and any additional links you select such as postage, terms, contact etc. It is ideal for such things as “Google Adsense”, news or advertising links. Table settings for SUB categories. These fields allow you to configure the default text display settings for your sub categories such as text, background colour and Mouse-overs. Unlike the main categories we do not provide advanced display features for this section. Back to main menu Back to site parameter options HOME PAGE CUSTOM HTML CONTENT Customised your scripts home page html code Here you can enter your own content for the “scripts home page”. It can be any valid HTML. The size of this area is dictated by the column widths that you have entered. If you have selected 3 columns it will be displayed in the centre section of the site. Where you select 2 columns it will be displayed on the right side of the site. When writing your custom code please remember the basic rules below. Where you enter links, scripts or graphics in your “Custom html” code. Just make sure they have the full URL path. In other words they begin with http://. Relative links will not work simply because you are using a script and you are in a “cgi-bin” directory. If you are using "OnlineShop" as a “Shopping Site”: Photo and multimedia URL links are allowed to display graphics, but do not enter any web page links in your code (even this sites home page). The “OlineShop” script tracks customers and what they have in their shopping basket using the category links. If you link somewhere else where, this information is lost. Do not try copying our “links” as this will not work either. If this is a problem then contact us. For a small fee we will customise your links into our script before we send it to you for uploading. If you are using "OnlineShop" just as a “Content Management Site”: Both graphic and web page URL links are allowed. This is because we do not need to track your customer orders. Back to main menu Back to site parameter options RIGHT COLUMN SETTINGS Right Column Settings The main purpose of this column is to display your Shopping Basket, TOP 10 products and or custom HTML . The features below allow you to configure these options and enter custom HTML code where required. Add Basket If you want your site to include an online shopping basket select “YES”. If not then select “NO”. Check Out Box Table settings. If you have selected “YES” to the “Add Basket” option you can create the look of your “Checkout Box”. This is displayed by default at the top of the right column unless you choose to have a 2 column site. It is then displayed by default at the top of the left column. R-Font Dictates the font settings for the prices. L-Font Dictates the font settings for the text to the left of the prices. Table Background Colour. Enter the background colour for your “Checkout Box”. Please Note; The following only needs to be completed if you choose the 3 column option. If you select a 2 column display and also select "Add Basket" Yes, then the shopping basket table is displayed at the top of the Left column. With a single column display it is displayed at the top only when products have been added to the basket. The features listed below will be ignored. Right Side Table Settings Here you can select the default text and background colour settings for your right column. TOP 10 Products The "Top 10" once configured here can also be imported into your custom templates using the <#top_10#> command even if the site is not set to 3 columns. This feature is optional. If you wish to feature your TOP products then you simply enter the “site reference number” for the product into 1 of the ten boxes provided. They are displayed in the order 1-10. Number one being at the top of the list. The site reference number is provided when you add your product to the database. It is a unique number that we provide for you and should not be confused with your suppliers product reference number. Ruler colour. Each TOP 10 product is separated by a ruler. You can change the colour of this ruler here. Top 10 settings This area allows you to configure the font styles for your products name (Text), RRP and Sale price. You can also select the width of the products photo. Warning! If your configuration of these variables exceeds the column width then your site may not be displayed properly. It can cause the columns to be pushed to one side. OR Display Custom HTML This box allows you to enter your own custom HTML. However, it will only be displayed if no TOP 10 products have been entered. Enter custom html code below top 10 results. This box allows you to enter your own custom HTML below the TOP 10 results or the optional HTML code above. Back to main menu Back to site parameter options ENTERING CUSTOM HTML "BOTTOM" HEADER CODE Enter Custom HTML Code to Create your "Bottom" header. Here you can enter your own custom HTML to create a display area at the bottom of the page. It can include any valid HTML, Flash, Java or multimedia code. It is ideal for entering standard keyword phrases for search engine optimisation, reciprical links, affiliate programs or just whatever you want. Please Note; The width of this area is dictated by the code you enter. It is always a good idea to contain it in a "table". This is so you can easily change the width if required. Back to main menu Back to site parameter options ADDITIONAL WEB PAGES Apart from the main categories that are displayed in the main menu, you may also want to include the following links to additional web pages that are standard on most sites. The "HTML Text" entered here is only displayed in the results column. It is also used by your custom templates where the <#results#> command is used. Create a Delivery and Returns page. If you wish to include a postage link in your main menu then select “yes” for this option. Then enter your content for this page in the custom HTML box provided. This option also includes one of our standard graphics as default. If you wish to change this or stop it from displaying see “EDIT SITE GRAPHICS” in the “Admin” menu. Create a Terms & Conditions page. If you wish to include an “terms” link in your main menu then select “yes” for this option. Then enter your content for this page in the custom HTML box provided. Create a "Contact" page. If you wish to include a contact page link in your main menu then select “yes” for this option. If you select “yes” for this option and leave the custom HTML box empty then a default contact page is automatically generated for you. This includes an email response form to the email address that you entered in your “contact details”. If you wish to override this default page then simply enter your own code into the custom HTML box. Your new code will then be displayed. Create an "About Us" page. If you wish to include an “about us” link in your main menu then select “yes” for this option. Then enter your content for this page in the custom HTML box provided. Please Note: The main category links that are displayed in the main menu by default link to the “category search” facility. If you want to override this and produce a custom introduction page for your chosen main category then see “CREATE CUSTOM CATEGORY PAGES” in the “Admin” menu. Back to main menu Back to site parameter options VIEWING & SAVING ALTERATIONS Viewing your Alterations To view your alterations simply scroll down to the bottom of the form and select “SHOW ME BEFORE” and then press the “SUBMIT button. Your “DYNAMIC” home page will then be displayed based on the configuration information provided. Please Note: We provide standard graphics for this site. If you wish to change them see “EDIT SITE GRAPHICS” in the “Admin” menu. If you you have configured the "ADD CUSTOM SITE TEMPLATE" and it is set to "yes" this will override the default settings entered above and be displayed. Saving your Alterations. To save your alterations simply scroll down to the bottom of the form and select “DEFAULT” and then press the “SUBMIT button. Your “DYNAMIC” home page will then be displayed and the sites configuration details saved into an INI file. To create a site map and generate real web pages where selected click the red “REFRESH” link. Back to main menu Back to site parameter options CREATE CUSTOM SITE TEMPLATE This area allows you to create your own custom site template. You design it just like you would any normal web page. Do not feel restricted! You then enter our special “replace commands” into your template where you want them to appear. A full list of replace commands available for this template is shown below. How does it work?. The script looks at the template and replaces the commands with the appropriate HTML code generated by the script depending what action it is carrying out. The HTML code that encloses the replace commands is up to you. There is just one command that is required to be entered here and is called <#replace#>. The rest are optional. The “replace command” inserts the appropriate HTML category, search and product page results into your web page template depending on the action that the script is performing at the time. NOTE: Replace commands can replace whole bodies of code e.g. <#replace#>,<#top_10#> or just a single values e.g. <#basket_total#>. It really is that simple. All you need to do is make sure they are available and properly configured first so we know what you want the commands to do and if required, how they are to be displayed. NOTE: If you are using custom templates for the first time we strongly recommend that you first create a very simple template that includes the replace commands you wish to use. Once you are confident and understand how they work then proceed to include them in your desired custom template code. A very simple example of how to use replace commands is displayed at the bottom of this section. To save a custom template and make it active always ensure that the “YES” button is ticked at the top of the page. If it is not the default template will still be used. IMPORTANT! If you are using the site as a shopping basket and need to enter internal links other than those imported from the "DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE". Obtain them by clicking the link shown below on the custom template page. Full instructions are provided there. (If you wish to add internal links within your customised page code below click here for a full list.) REPLACE COMMANDS DESCRIBED IN DETAIL The main command you must use here is : <#results#> This command replaces the appropriate body text or HTML generated by the script. It includes your default home page body text, delivery, contact info etc entered in "CREATE DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE" and default or custom search results and product page code. Important!! Where the results command is used to import search results the default centre column width may be used to calculate the total table width that the search results are contained within. If need be the centre column value can be manually changed to meet your requirements. See “Centre column width manual override” located in “CREATE DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE”. If you are creating custom search templates this value is set using the main table width value see "ADD CUSTOM SEARCH TEMPLATE" . If the boxes are ticked as “yes” this value overrides the default or manual centre column width described above. Other (optional)commands that can be used are; * Denotes created using the "CREATE DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE". There are a number of features that you can configure in the “DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE” that you may wish to retain and use in your custom template. Good examples are the menu options and Top 10 results. The plus side to using these commands is that they will always reflect the current status of the site and will not need changing when alterations are made. <#main_header#> Your header code*. If you have already entered your header code in the “DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE”, usually your logo, header banner, then you can import it into your template using this command. <#top_menu#> Top menu*. If you have configured the top menu in the “DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE” and you like it then you can import it into your template using this command. You can “Over-ride” the default “Top Menu width” using the input box provided to resize it to your requirements or leave blank for default size. This replace command should only be used once in any given template. <#main_menu#> Main menu for left right colums*. If you have configured the main menu in the "DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE" and you like it then you can import it into your template using this command (Highly reccommended). You can "Over-ride" the default "Main Menu width" using the input box provided to resize it to your requirements or leave blank for default size. The main category links can also be customised to your desired format using the “CREATE CUSTOM CATEGORY LINKS IN THE MAIN MENU” section located in the admin menu. The alternative is that you customise each link you use with our custom links. This can be quite a task. <#top_10#> Top 10 results* If you have configured the TOP 10 listings in the "DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE" and you like it then you can import it into your template using this command Here you can also over-ride the default Top10 item column width to a new size or leave blank for default. List your top 10 results Vertically or Horizontally by ticking the apropriate button (default is vertical). If you select horizontal display you will also need to provide the tolal table width they are to be diplayed in. See "Set your top 10 display (total table) width for the Top10 results". This value is used to calculate how many items are displayed on each line based on the values entered above. Shopping Basket <#basket_items#> The number of items in your shopping basket. <#basket_total#> The total cost of items in your shopping basket. <#viewbasket_link#> Link to view basket page. Eg. < a href="<#viewbasket_link#>" View Basket < /a > <#checkout_link#> Link to checkout page. Eg. < a href="<#checkout_link#> >" Go to checkout < /a > META tags <#meta_title#> Your META title text. <#meta_description#> Your META description text. <#meta_keywords#> Your META keywords text. <#hidden_keywords#> A combination of META title, description and keywords that can be added to your body text. To add Keyword search If you wish to add a keyword search box to your template simply cut and paste the code below into your template code. Table width and font etc, can be altered to suit your design. NOTE:The form tags < form .... > < /form> can act like paragraph breaks. You may wish to place these else where in your template. <form action="<#script#>" method="get"> <input name="keywords" type="text" value="Enter Keyword(s)"> <input type="Submit" value="GO"> <#search_values#> <input type="hidden" name=val value="search"></form>

Enter your custom site html below. This is the area that you enter your template code. A very basic template is shown below that illustrates how the various replace commands work and lists them down the page.. It assumes that the data required is available or the replace commands will be ignored and not displayed. Copy it to your site to see how it works with your configuration. <html> <head> <title><#meta_title#></title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> <meta name="description" content="<#meta_description#>"> <meta name="keywords" content="<#meta_keywords#>"> </head> <body> <center> < table width=850><tr><td> <center><#main_header#> <br><font face=arial><#top_menu#> <#form action="<#script#>" method="get"> <input name="keywords" type="text" value="Enter Keyword(s)"> <input type="Submit" value="GO"> <#search_values#> <input type="hidden" name=val value="search"></form> </td></tr></table> <table width=850><tr><td valign=top> <#main_menu#> </td><td valign=top width=500> <font face=arial size=3> <#results#> </td><td valign=top> <#top_10#> <font face=arial size=2> The number of items in your shopping basket = <#basket_items#><br> The total cost of items in your shopping basket = <#basket_total#><br> <a href="<#viewbasket_link#>"> View Basket </a> <br> <a href="<#checkout_link#>"> Go to checkout </a><hr> <font face=arial size=2> meta title text = <#meta_title#><br> meta description text = <#meta_description#><br> meta keywords text = <#meta_keywords#><br> Hidden Keywords = <#hidden_keywords#> <hr> </td></tr></table> </body> </html> Back to main menu

CONFIGURE YOUR DATA ENTRY INPUT FORMS The data input form allows you to configure the data input fields for entering your products. When you click this link you are presented with a choice. Create Standard Entry Form This sets a global template for the whole sites data entry and overrides the default settings that we provide. Create Selected Data Entry Forms This allows you to select a main category from the option list and create a customised data input form for the category specified. It will not affect any other categories that use the “standard entry form” or have their own customised data input form. Once you have made your selection press the “Enter” button. CONFIGURE YOUR DATA INPUT FORM Here you can create your own form for entering product details. Depending on which option was chosen previously it can be for the whole site or selected main categories. For example. If you only wish to enter your products name and a brief description then you would simply un-tick all the boxes in the “Display” column and “Required” column. The data input form for your products will now only show these two data entry fields, along with your sub category options if you requested them when creating your main directory. NOTE: If you have a box ticked as “required” and the “display” box is not ticked the form will still assume you want that field displaying when it is saved. The form is split into two halves. Default This area contains fields that are generally used and we supply as defaults. If they are not required simply remove them. However, care must be taken to ensure that the relevant fields for postage and price check are still available where your postage configuration requires them. Special consideration should also be given to the “brand name” field. If data other than your brand name is entered it will confuse things greatly if you wish to upload “brand name” photos. This is simply because it uses the data entered in the "brandname field" to name the the brandname photo. The "ADD TO SHOPPING CART" field provides you with an option that allows your product to be purchaced online or not. This field should not be used for anything else. NOTE: For this to work you should still ensure that the "ADD TO BASKET" option in the "CREATE DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE" section is still selected as "yes". This area also includes 7 special input fields. <#item_options1#> to <#item_options7#>. They are special fields reserved to allow your customer to make selections when purchasing a product. They are displayed on your product pages. EG. colours, patterns, sizes etc. If you are selling hotel accommodation it could just as easily be type of room, seasonal prices etc. The <#item_option1#> field is the only field where a “sub supplier code” can be entered up to a maximum of ten items. The others contain options only but are unlimited in size (see entering new products for further information). Custom Custom entry fields are there simply if you require more product data input fields than we provide. It is however, important to understand that where "selection boxes" are selected in this area they only provide you with drop down options when entering product data. They are not selection boxes displayed on the product page that your customers can choose from. Only <#item_options1#> to <#item_options7#>above allow this. COLUMN DESCRIPTIONS Display Simply denotes whether the product input field is to be used (ticked) or not (blank). Required Simply denotes whether the product input field is to be required. If it is selected then an error message will be displayed on your product entry form when the data is not inputted. NOTE: If you have a box ticked as “required” and the “display” box is not ticked the form will still assume you want that field displaying when it is saved. Default Entry Name This is the name of the field you are entering and is displayed in the product entry form. You can re-name it to suit your requirements. Where <#item_options1#> to <#item_options7#> are selected the content of this field is also the default header displayed to the customer in the product page. This default header can be changed when entering a product if needed. NOTE: Where custom fields are selected this name is also displayed in bold above the data entered on your product page. Command Name This is the replace command name used to import data into your custom search or product page template. If it is N/A it is currently not available. Select Input Type Tells you the display types that are available. If it is fixed it cannot be changed. Where you see a selection box you can choose the type of display for your product entry field. If you select the “Select Box” option you will be required to provide us with your selection options when you go to the next stage. Max characters Enter the maximum characters to be entered into the selected field. If this column contains the word “Default” simply select whether the default button should be switched on or off when entering a product by ticking the appropriate radio button. Box width Enter the width of the input box required. Does not apply to “Select Boxes”. Txt box rows If you select the “Text Box” or “Select Box” options above we need to know the boxes display depth. This can be the number of rows (for text box) or the number of lines (for select box). Once you have configured your “Data Input Form” proceed to the next stage by pressing the “CONTINUE” Button. IMPORTANT! Ensure that the “Configure Your Data Input Form” YES button located at the top of the page is selected to activate the new settings and override the default settings. If it is set to “NO” then the form details will be saved but not activated. The default settings will still be used. If you have not requested any selection boxes your new data input form will be saved. You can then return to the admin menu. If you have requested selection boxes then you will be presented with a new page. This page allows you to enter the “Select box” options that you require. Full instructions and an example is provided. Once completed press the “Confirm & Save” button. Back to main menu CREATE DEFAULT SEARCH TEMPLATE SEARCH RESULTS COME IN TWO FORMS. KEYWORD SEARCHES These are only displayed when you enter search text and a match is found. Unlike the category search described below a “Keyword” search behaves in a different way. It goes through all the products listed on the site and displays the results only if the words entered match the products content text. CATEGORY SEARCHES List products entered under a selected main, sub or lower category. Depending on the entry point. For example if you have a main category called “Electrical goods” you may have TVs, Radios, Hi-Fi, CD Players and DVD's listed as sub categories under this main category heading. By *default when you click the main “Electrical Goods” link in the sites menu you can opt to display “all products” listed under this category or show the sub categories that are available as “photo & text” or just plain “text” links in the search area of the site. If lower sub categories are also available (3 layer site) then by clicking a sub category link the lower sub categories will also be displayed. Only when no more sub categories exist in the chain does the “category search results” display the product links to the product pages. *You can override the “category search” default and create a custom HTML introduction web page for main categories. See “CREATE CUSTOM CATEGORY PAGES” in the “Admin” menu. Back to main menu The “search configuration form come in four parts General options Sub category display Category search results Keyword search results Each one needs to be individually configured. GENERAL OPTIONS ENTER "SEARCH BOX" BACKGROUND COLOR This is the colour of the individual search boxes that contain the product or sub category information. ENTER FONT STYLE This is the font face you wish to use for search results. IMAGE WIDTH If you are using the single column display you can control the size of the image width. Where multiple columns are selected the image width is automatically worked out to give best fit. SET COLUMN HEIGHT This is the height of each individual “search box” see above. It should be set at the maximum height that any search box will be displayed at given the content that is contained within it. There are two good reasons why we ask you for this parameter. It ensures that multiple column displays line up correctly. We provide you with the option for a border colour. With HTML you cannot have coloured borders. We create the illusion by using tables. If your “column height” is to low you may see the border colour producing “BLOCKING” at the bottom of the search box. To get rid of this increase the “column height” parameter until it disappears. SET BORDER COLOUR This is the colour of the border we create around your “search box” If you do not want a border set this colour to "search box" background colour. Please note: With HTML you cannot have coloured borders. We create the illusion by using tables. See “Column height” above for details. SET BACKGROUND COLOUR Enter the background colour for your overall search results. SET SEARCH "RESULTS" TEXT COLOUR This is the colour of the “header” text for your search results. Font sizes are fixed by the script. YOU ARE HERE BOX & PAGE NO~ LINKS The search results provide a "You Are Here" Box at the top. An example is displayed. This provides easy navigation for your customers. The box and font colours are produced in the "global settings" section of the "Create Default Site Template" (see Admin Menu). For any number of reasons you may wish to override these settings. The most common reason is where custom templates use style sheets or "css" files that override some or all of our default settings. The same applies to page number links. If the colours are not displayed properley or do not match the results you wish to obtain click the "click here" link provided. You are then taken to another form where you can customise colours, fonts, links and background colours. Full instructions are provided on the page. Back to main menu Back to search configuration options SUB CATEGORY DISPLAY PHOTO & TEXT LINKS Select this option if you wish an example product photo to be included in the sub category links. The photos displayed in the sub category boxes are the first product photo found in the sub category list that match the sub category being displayed. To change this photo you can use the No~ 1 option in the “Admin” menu. By doing this the first photo to be displayed in the sub category will be the one that you have entered in number one position. TEXT LINKS ONLY Select this option if you only wish the sub category links to be displayed as text only. This option works well where you have many sub categories or they have long names. LIST ALL (Great for small two layer sites). If you select this option all of the products listed under the main category heading will be displayed as product links. It effectively “by-passes” the sub category display links. Works well for small sites where only a few products are listed under the main category. SET COLUMN HEIGHT This is the height of each individual “sub category box”. It works the same way as the “general options” version but has a different value (see above). It should be set at the maximum height that any sub category box will be displayed at given the content that is contained within it. CATEGORY NAME This is the name of the sub category being displayed. This option allows you to control the font style, size etc. Back to main menu Back to search configuration options CATEGORY SEARCH RESULTS DISPLAY AS: This option allows you to enter the number of products links that are displayed in each row of the search results after the visitor selects the appropriate “sub category link” or where “List All” is selected in the sub category section above. The options are “SINGLE COLUMN” (standard display with mini description) or “3-6 COLUMNS” (short display). Please Note: If you select the “single column” option we also display a shortened version of your products description text in the search results and allow you to control the display width of the products image (see "Image Width" in "General Options" above). PRODUCT NAME Enter the font colour, size of your products name. The font face is controlled by the “general options” font style. DESCRIPTION Enter the font colour, size of your shortened description text. The font face is controlled by the “general options” font style (only available if you have selected the “single column” option. SHOW RRP “YES” or “NO” If “YES” is selected then you can enter the font colour, size of your RRP. The font face is controlled by the “general options” font style. If you enter “NO” your RRP will not be displayed. SHOW YOUR PRICE “YES” or “NO” If “YES” is selected then you can enter the font colour, size of your sale price. The font face is controlled by the “general options” font style. If you enter “NO” your sale price will not be displayed. You can also enter some leader text such as “Our Price Only”. If you leave this box blank only the price will be shown. SHOW BRAND LOGO “YES” or “NO” If you have uploaded a brand logo for your product and you select “YES” then it will be displayed in the search results. If you select “NO” the brand logo will not be displayed. SHOW THIS SITES REF NUMBER (recommended) All product links displayed in the search results contain either our unique site reference number that is created when you add a new product or your supplier product reference number. Simply choose which one best suits your needs. You can also enter the font colour, size for this option. The font face is controlled by the “general options” font style. Please Note: Our unique site reference number is required when editing any products or photos from the “Admin” menu. It makes life easier for you if our site reference number is displayed. We recommend that you only use supplier product codes if your sales people need to see them on a regular basis such as telesales enquiries. Back to main menu Back to search configuration options KEYWORD SEARCH RESULTS If you have opted to use the “keyword Search” in “ CREATE DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE” then you also need to configure this section. The process is exactly the same as configuring the “Category Search Results” described above. If you want the results to be the same then just reproduce the settings used there. We provide you with a choice simply because you may not want to treat these results differently. For example, it is common to display multiple column results using in the category search but just a single column in the keyword results. This is so that the visitor is provided with more detailed information because it includes a mini description. Please Note: The keyword search does not search the whole site. It only searches products that are in the database. Any custom HTML pages you create will be ignored from a “keyword search” point of view. It is also worth noting that any matches are displayed in red text. This can be a problem if you have selected red as your "Search Box" background colour. Back to main menu Back to search configuration options CREATE CUSTOM SEARCH TEMPLATE

Replaces all default search settings and re-configures the <#results#> and <#search_results#> command where used to produce custom templates. Here you can design your own custom category and search results. The search results are divided into two sections. Main Item/product search This section allows you to configure the look and layout of the final search results that actually display your product items after the customer has moved down the sub category levels. It is also used by the keyword search. Sub Category options This section allows you to design the look and layout of the sub category selection options used to navigate the customer to the desired product items. How does it work? You simply create the template you wish to use for each individual item or sub category option. Then enter our special “replace commands” into the template where you want them to appear. Once completed you can then paste your code into the relevant input boxes provided. Once saved the script then looks at the template and replaces the commands with the appropriate HTML code generated by the script. The HTML code that encloses the replace commands is up to you. Calculating the number of results on a line. There are two pieces of information that we require to do this. 1. The total width of your display area that the individual results will be contained within. 2. The table width of your individual template results. To calculate the number of results on a line is then a simple task of dividing the total width by the template width. For example if your total table width is 600 and your template width is 200 then three results will be displayed per line 600/200=3. If this calculation had resulted in 2.9 or 2.1 then only two results would be displayed per line. All results are centred within the main table. Care must be taken to also allow for cellspacing or cellpading when making this calculation or your main table width may actually be displayed larger than you anticipated. Photo Sizes You can use either the small photo or the medium size photo replace commands. These sizes are automatically created when entering a new item. However, we strongly recommend that you use the small version as this can be configured to provide a maximum height. The default for this is 125 pixels. This can be altered to suit your needs see “CHANGE DEFAULT IMAGE SIZES”. There you can also fix the images maximum display height. This will guarantee that the photo will always fit into your display box. In certain rare circumstances the small photo can be configured to be larger than the medium size photo. Important!! Always tick the category or search button to "YES" to activate the template. If it is ticked as "NO" then the default search settings will still be used. Where the <#results#> or <#search_results#> command is used to import search results the default centre column width will be used to calculate the total table width that the search results are contained within. If need be the centre column value can be manually changed to meet your requirements. See “Centre column width manual override” located in “CREATE DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE”. Only if the boxes are ticked as “yes” does the "main table" values below override the default or manual centre column width described above. YOU ARE IN THE ONLINE MANUAL. THE INPUT BOXES BELOW ARE DISPLAYED AS EXAMPLES ONLY. Enter the main table details that your individual search results will be displayed in. Serves two purposes. It ensures that the search results fit into the area you allocated in your custom template. It is also used to calculate the number of individual search results displayed on a line based on the template width used. See below. If no width is entered then only one result per line is displayed. NOTE: These values are only used if the template option is selected as “YES”. If not the centre column width is used. Width= Cellspacing= Cellpadding= Background color= Border size= Importing files or creating style sheets. If you require to import a program or create a style sheet to handle your search results, this can be done from here. Only use this area if the program, style sheet required is not already included in your custom template. Import file, program or css using < LINK href=http://FILE_URL>: Enter the FILE_URL Add a new STYLE sheet for search results. Enter your style sheet code here. Search variable options Select the number of individual items to be displayed on each page. 15 per page 20 per page 25 per page 30 per page Always display page numbers Only display page numbers if results are greater than 1 page Main Item/product search This section allows you to configure the look and layout of the final search results that actually display your product items after the customer has moved down the sub category levels. It is also used by the keyword search. The replace commands you can use here are : <#itemtable_width#> Enter the table width of individual main search display boxes. Eg. < table width="<#itemtable_width#>"> This is an IMPORTANT feild. It is required to work out how many results are displayed on a line see "Calculating the number of results on a line" above. <#search_photosmall#> provides the small item photo link. Eg. < img src="<#search_photosmall#>" width="125"> <#search_photomedium#> provides the medium item photo link. Eg. < img src="<#search_photomedium#>" width="250"> <#search_brandphoto#> Displays the item brand logo. Eg. < img src="<#search_brandphoto#>" width="100"> <#on_sale#> Simply add the text words if the product/item option is selected. <#search_description#> Enter the shortened "description" character length = <#item_description#> Your full item/product description. <#item_title#> Your item name. <#item_brandname#> Your products brand name where entered. <#item_techdetails#> Technical details where entered. <#item_suppliercode#> Your product supplier code where entered. <#item_siteref#> This sites unique item/product number. <#item_rrp#> Your products RRP. <#item_saleprice#> Your products sale price. <#item_postweight#> Your products postage weight where entered. <#item_height#> Your products hieght in cm where entered. <#lastentry_date#> Last date product/item was upgraded. <#fixed_date#> A fixed date where entered (eg. date of birth). <#currency#> enters the default currency symbol or code see (Price Check & Currency). <#&#> Creates "&" symbol using ascii code & #38; (use where site verification is required) . <#tm#> Creates "™" symbol using ascii code & #8482; (use where site verification is required) . <#copyr#> Creates "©" symbol using ascii code & #169; (use where site verification is required) . Links <#item_link#> URL to item page. Example: < a href="<#item_link#>"><#item_title#>< /a>. <#addto_basket#> Add basket URL. Example: < a href="<#addto_basket#>">Add to basket< /a>. <#checkout_url#> Add checkout URL. Example: < a href="<#checkout_url#>">Go to Checkout< /a>. MAIN ITEM/PRODUCT SEARCH RESULTS: Yes No IF YES IS SELECTED The code and commands entered below will overide the default "product/item search results". It is also used for "keyword searches". Enter the individual item < table width="<#itemtable_width#>">< tr>< td> YOUR CODE < /td>< /tr> < /table> HTML that you wish individual item/products to be displayed in. Use the replace commands available above where required. Please ensure that you allow for cellpadding and cellspacing. <table width="<#itemtable_width#>" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0><tr><td> Enter your main item/product search template code here. </td></tr></table> Sub Category options This section allows you to design the look and layout of the sub category selection options used to navigate the customer to the desired product items. The replace commands you can use here are : <#subtable_width#> Enter the table width of individual sub category search display boxes. Eg, < table width="<#subtable_width#>"> This is an IMPORTANT feild. It is required to work out how many results are displayed on a line see "Calculating the number of results on a line" above. <#search_photosmall#> provides the small item photo link. Eg. < img src="<#search_photosmall#>" width="125"> <#search_photomedium#> provides the medium item photo link. Eg. < img src="<#search_photomedium#>" width="250"> <#subcat_name#> The sub categories name. <#subcat_url#> The subcategories url. Eg. < a href="<#subcat_url#>"><#subcat_name#>< /a> SUB CATEGORY SEARCH RESULTS:Yes No IF YES IS SELECTED The code and commands below will overide any other settings. Enter the individual template < table width="<#subtable_width#>" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0>< tr>< td> YOUR CODE < /td>< /tr>< /table> HTML that you wish "Sub Category Boxes" to be displayed in. Use the replace commands available above where required. Please ensure that you allow for cellpadding and cellspacing. <table width="<#subtable_width#>" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0><tr><td> Enter your individual sub category search template code here. </td></tr></table> Back to main menu CREATE DEFAULT PRODUCT PAGE TEMPLATE The product page is contains all of the information that is entered when you add a product. The display is based on a standard template. However, you can control many aspects of the way in which the template is displayed. ENTER (BODY TEXT) FONT STYLE Enter your font settings for the body text. The font face entered here is used for all the following font settings. MAIN IMAGE WIDTH This is the main images width. It is also used to calculate the width and display of any extra photos you enter and the description text areas. If this image width is too large to fit the “product page” display area it will cause problems with the sites display. The default is 250 pixels based on an average "product page display area" of 500 pixels. These settings are configurable (see Site Set-Up Column widths). DISPLAY LARGE IMAGE The default for this is “YES”. When this option is in default it allows any images on the product page to be viewed at a large size (max 900 pixels). If this option is set to “NO” these links are not made available. If you use our software to enter your product photos then you should always have a large image if it was uploaded with a resolution above 250 pixels wide. NOTE: We automatically convert very large image files to a maximum width of 900 pixels to ensure the site runs fast. These are our default settings. You may of have changed them using "CHANGE DEFAULT IMAGE SIZES". The only time you may not have a large image is if we use a program to obtain your photos from another web site and they are only available at small or medium sizes. For further information about this visit www.getbiz4u.com and see the “Data Import” link in the main menu. SET BORDER COLOUR Enter the border colour for the results section of your product page. SET BORDER WIDTH Enter the border width for the results section of your product page. Default is 1 pixel. SET BORDER TEXT COLOUR This is the “Where you are text” displayed at the top of the page. The colour you enter here should not be the same as your border colour or it will not be visible. SET (CENTER) BACKGROUND COLOUR Enter the overall background colour for your product page area. SHOW CUSTOMER REFERRALS This option allows customer referrals from clients that have actually made an order. It is based on a 1-5 star rating and mainly used if your site is a shopping basket. If no customer has made a referral the default is “your company name recommends this product as 5 star”. If you do not want this feature then select “NO”. If you select “YES” any valid customer referrals will automatically be entered onto the site. They are displayed in star order. The best star ratings are always shown at the top. Up to 20 referrals can be displayed at any one time on a loop basis. Customer referrals can be deleted. For further information see “REMOVE CUSTOMER TESTIMONIAL” in the Admin menu. YOU ARE HERE BOX The product page dispalys a "You Are Here" Box at the top. An example is shown. This provides easy navigation for your customers. The box and font colours are produced in the "global settings" section of the "Create Default Site Template" (see Admin Menu). For any number of reasons you may wish to override these settings. The most common reason is where custom templates use style sheets or "css" files that override some or all of our default settings. If the colours are not displayed properley or do not match the results you wish to obtain click the "click here" link provided. You are then taken to another form where you can customise colours, fonts, links and background colours. Full instructions are provided on the page. Please Note: If you have selected the "SET BORDER COLOUR" option above this overrides the default background colour. If you are using the <#youare_here#> replace command with custom templates the options provided only effect the URL link colours. You may need to play around a little to get it right. PRODUCT NAME Enter the font colour, size of your products name. The font face is controlled by the “body text” font style above. REPLACE "TECHNICAL INFORMATION" WITH? When you enter a product we have a special text input area described as “technical information” when we display this text by default we give it the header “technical information”. If you want to change this default header to something else then enter it in the box provided. SHOW RRP “YES” or “NO” If “YES” is selected then you can enter the font colour, size of your RRP. The font face is controlled by the “body text” font style above. If you enter “NO” your RRP will not be displayed. SHOW YOUR PRICE “YES” or “NO” If “YES” is selected then you can enter the font colour, size of your sale price. The font face is controlled by the “body text” font style above. If you enter “NO” your sale price will not be displayed. You can also enter some leader text such as “Our Price Only”. If you leave this box blank only the price will be shown. SHOW BRAND LOGO “YES” or “NO” If you have uploaded a brand logo for your product and you select “YES” then it will be displayed on the product page. If you select “NO” the brand logo will not be displayed. WHERE SELECTED If you have selected any of the three options below using "CONFIGURE YOUR DATA ENTRY INPUT" you can display them on your product page. If they do not exist they will be ignored as if set to no. SHOW YOUR SUPPLIER PRODUCT CODE: YES or NO. SHOW THE FIXED DATE (D.O.B.): YES or NO. SHOW THE LAST ENTRY DATE: YES or NO OPTIONAL CUSTOM HTML Allows you to enter any custom HTML that will always be displayed below the product photos such as “January Sale NOW ON!” Leave blank if you do not require this option. Back to main menu CREATE CUSTOM PRODUCT PAGE TEMPLATE The “ADD CUSTOM PRODUCT PAGE TEMPLATES” link allows you to control the look and layout of your product description pages. Here is where you present all the information a customer needs to decide whether or not to purchase your online goods. If you are using this software as a shopping site it is also the gateway page to the customer “shopping basket”. When you click this link you are presented with a choice. Create Custom Template for the <#results#> Command. This template custom configures the product results area when the script is requsted to display a product page using the <#results#> command. You should use this option if you wish to continue using either the "default or custom site template". The configuration you enter here simply overrides the default <#results#> command when a product description page is displayed. Create Standard Full Page Custom Template This allows you to completely re-write your product page template. It can be coded to suit your exact design requirements and will be displayed whenever a description product page is requested. Create Selected Full Page Custom Templates This option allows you to go even further. Here you can create your own customised product description page for the main category selected. If it does not exist the script will then first look for a “Standard Full Page Custom Template” if that does not exist the script will then revert to the current <#results#> command. Once you have made your selection press the “Enter” button. The procedure for creating a product description page is the same for all three options. The only thing that changes is the coding that surrounds it. How does it work? The script looks at your product description template and replaces the "replace commands" listed below with the appropriate HTML code (values) generated by the script. The HTML code that encloses the replace commands is up to you. Where you just override the <#replace#> command the surrounding code is the default or custom HTML that you have configured previously see "Default and Custom Site Templates" in the admin menu. Where the other options have been chosen you have full control over the surrounding coding. Photo sizes. The uploaded product/item photos can be configured to displayed at any size from 25 pixels up to the maximum size allowed. The default is 900 pixels thought this can be altered see “Change Default Image Sizes”. We also provide an optional special effect feature called zoom. It simple enlarges the photo to the full size on the same page without having to open another window to display it. Please look at the section you are in for the replace commands that are available. Below is the full list. NOTE: If you are using custom templates for the first time we strongly recommend that you first create a very simple template that includes the replace commands you wish to use. Once you are confident and understand how they work then proceed to include them in your desired custom template code. A very simple example of how to use this and other replace commands is displayed at the bottom of this section. YOU ARE IN THE ONLINE MANUAL. THE INPUT BOXES BELOW ARE DISPLAYED AS EXAMPLES ONLY. To save a custom template and make it active always ensure that the "YES" button is ticked at the top of the page. If it is not the default template will still be used. IMPORTANT! If you are using the site as a shopping basket and need to enter internal links other than those imported with our replace commands. Obtain them by clicking the link shown below on the custom template page. Full instructions are provided there. (If you wish to add internal links within your customised page code below click here for a full list.) REPLACE COMMANDS DESCRIBED IN DETAIL Only available in "Full Page Custom Template" selections * Denotes created using the "CREATE DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE". There are a number of features that you can configure in the "DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE" that you may wish to retain and use in your custom template. Good examples are the menu options and Top 10 results. The plus side to using these commands is that they will always reflect the current status of the site and will not need changing when alterations are made. <#main_header#> Your header code*. If you have already entered your header code in the "DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE", usually your logo, header banner, then you can import it into your template using this command. <#top_menu#> Top menu*. If you have configured the top menu in the "DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE" and you like it then you can import it into your template using this command. You can "Over-ride" the default "Top Menu width" using the input box provided to resize it to your requirements or leave blank for default size. This replace command should only be used once in any given template. <#main_menu#> Main menu for left right colums*. If you have configured the main menu in the "DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE" and you like it then you can import it into your template using this command (Highly reccommended). You can "Over-ride" the default "Main Menu width" using the input box provided to resize it to your requirements or leave blank for default size. The main category links can also be customised to your desired format using the "CREATE CUSTOM CATEGORY LINKS IN THE MAIN MENU" section located in the admin menu. The alternative is that you customise each link you use with our custom links. This can be quite a task. <#top_10#> Top 10 results* If you have configured the TOP 10 listings in the "DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE" and you like it then you can import it into your template using this command Here you can also over-ride the default Top10 item column width to a new size or leave blank for default. List your top 10 results Vertically or Horizontally by ticking the apropriate button (default is vertical). If you select horizontal display you will also need to provide the tolal table width they are to be diplayed in. See "Set your top 10 display (total table) width for the Top10 results". This value is used to calculate how many items are displayed on each line based on the values entered above. Shopping Basket <#basket_items#> The number of items in your shopping basket. <#basket_total#> The total cost of items in your shopping basket. <#viewbasket_link#> Link to view basket page. Eg. < a href="<#viewbasket_link#>" View Basket < /a > <#checkout_link#> Link to checkout page. Eg. < a href="<#checkout_link#> >" Go to checkout < /a > META tags <#meta_title#> Your META title text. <#meta_description#> Your META description text. <#meta_keywords#> Your META keywords text. <#hidden_keywords#> A combination of META title, description and keywords that can be added to your body text. To add Keyword search If you wish to add a keyword search box to your template simply cut and paste the code below into your template code. Table width and font etc, can be altered to suit your design. NOTE:The form tags < form .... > < /form> can act like paragraph breaks. You may wish to place these else where in your template. <form action="<#script#>" method="get"> <input name="keywords" type="text" value="Enter Keyword(s)"> <input type="Submit" value="GO"> <#search_values#> <input type="hidden" name=val value="search"></form> Item / product details available to all selections. <#item_title#> Your item name. <#item_description#> Your Item description. <#item_brandname#> Your products barand name where entered. <#item_techdetails#> Technical details where entered. <#item_suppliercode#> Your product supplier code where entered. <#item_siteref#> This sites unique item/product number. <#item_rrp#> Your products RRP. <#item_saleprice#> Your products sale price. <#item_postweight#> Your products postage weight where entered. <#item_height#> Your products hieght in cm where entered. <#item_accessories#> Optional accessories where entered. <#item_options1#> to <#item_options6#> Product options such as colour, size, style or pattern where entered. <#item_caption1#> to <#item_caption6#> Default or override headeader captions for "item_optins" above. <#fixed_date#> A fixed date where entered (eg. date of birth). <#currency#> enters the default currency symbol or code see (Price Check & Currency). <#&#> Creates "&" symbol using ascii code & #38; (use where site verification is required) . <#tm#> Creates "™" symbol using ascii code & #8482; (use where site verification is required) . <#copyr#> Creates "©" symbol using ascii code & #169; (use where site verification is required) . <#lastentry_date#> Last date product/item was upgraded. <#customfield_1#> to <#customfield_20#> Custom fields see (Configure Data Entry Input Form). <#display_reviews#> Font face = Font color = Font size = Displays any customer reviews within a table.. Links <#you_arehere#> Displays the "you are here" path and links. It does not display anything else. <#addto_basket#> Add basket URL. Example: < a href="<#addto_basket#>">Add to basket< /a>. <#checkout_url#> Add checkout URL. Example: < a href="<#checkout_url#>">Go to Checkout< /a>. <#back#> Back to previous page URL. Example: < a href="<#back#>">Back to previous page < /a>. <#add_review#> Gives page URL to add a review. Example: < a href="<#add_review#>">Add your Review < /a>. Photos There is a main photo plus additional photos that range in numbers from 1-6 giving 7 in total. The default sizes are saved at: Small 125 pixels wide, Medium 250 pixels wide and large 900 pixels wide. These can be changed see "CHANGE DEFAULT IMAGE SIZES". To display a photo just enter the command into your html. The maximum default photo display width values are already entered but can be changed where required by entering a new width value in the "width box" provided. We then create the < img src= > tag for you. The "alt" tags will list the item/product name and photo number. Example: To change the <#mainphoto_small#> display size to 85 pixels wide simply enter 85 in the width box. The same applies to all the other photo options. <#mainphoto_small#> width = If no display photo exists for the photo commands being used the command is ignored. <#brand_logo#> Displays your brand logo if uploaded. Example: < img src ="<#brand_logo#>" width="100"> Please note the maximum width size for a brand logo is 100 as this is the size it is saved at. Image border width <#photoborderwidth#> photo border width = . default is none. Photo Zoom Feature This is a special effect java script that can be incorporated into your template. If you wish to use it you need to ensure that this option is selected as "YES". When the display image is clicked the zoom size is displayed. When clicked again the image shrinks back to the original display size. To use this feature please enter the display photo and zoom photo commands into the boxes below so we know which photos are to be displayed and at what width size. Leave for default. THEN. Simply enter the commands <#mainzoom#> and <#photozoom1-6#> where you want the appropriate zoom photo to appear. This then automatically creates all the < img src= > tags for you based on the java script. Example: To configure the <#mainzoom#> command we need to know what the default image to be displayed is and at what width. For the purposes of this example we will use <#mainphoto_medium#> (see above) to be displayed at a width of 195. We then need to know what photo the java script is going to open and display as the larger zoom photo. There is no need to enter its width as it will be displayed at its maximum size or best fit to the monitor screen. For the purposes of this example we will use <#mainphoto_large#> (see above). The same applies to all the other zoom photo options. <#mainzoom#>. Display photo= width= Zoom photo= The <#mainzoom#> command is now configured. The same technique applies to all the other zoom photo options <#photozoom1-6#>. If no default display photo exists for the zoom command being used the command is ignored. Enter your custom html below. Substitute where necessary with the commands above. This is the area that you enter your template code. Enter your <#replace#> or full page code here using the available replace commands above. REMEMBER!! To save a custom template and make it active always ensure that the "YES" button is ticked at the top of the page. If it is not the default template will still be used. Back to main menu REFRESH SITE MAP When you make any alterations or add products to the site they can be instantly viewed in “Dynamic” mode. This is because the script is generating the page that you see on the fly. The only problem with web pages generated this way is that they are very hard to find by Internet search engines. Internet search engines like to visit a site and follow its internal links. Good web site designers will create what is commonly called a “site map”. The “site map” is designed to help Internet search engines find these links so that all of the sites pages can be indexed in their search results. The “REFRESH SITE MAP” link instructs the program to convert all the sites category and product data into a site map. We can create two types of site map (see SERVER SETTINGS in the admin menu). Create dynamic site map (recommended default). Dynamic script URL's do not require web pages to be produced and can save massive amounts of disk space. Dynamic links are registered by search engines in just the same way as standard web pages and work just as well. Create HTML web page site map. Some web designers do not like dynamic URL's so we also provide the option to create actual HTML based web pages. When this option is selected and the “Refresh Site” link is clicked the script requests the HTML output of each dynamic URL found and produces an actual web page. The links to this web page are then displayed in the site map rather than the dynamic links. The down side to this is that it takes a lot longer for this process to complete and it can also use up large amounts of web space. It is important to understand that only when you press the “REFRESH” link do your site map links and HTML web pages (where selected) get created or upgraded. This is important to remember when adding new products to the site or making alterations to the “Sites Set Up” areas. To view your HTML sitemap click the “site map” link in your sites main menu after you have used the “REFRESH” link to create it. The software also produces an XML site map. This is a special text file that contains a list of your sites links and is compatible with “Google Site Maps”. This file is called “sitemap.xml” and is located in the directory that your home page is located. Please Note: With large sites that have thousands of products this process can take a minute or two. If you have selected the “Create HTML web page site map” option this can take much longer so please be patient. The “REFRESH” link is also available in a number of areas on the site. It does not mean you have to use it but is there to remind you. Back to main menu EDIT SITE GRAPHICS The site comes with a number of standard graphics such as “Go to checkout” etc. You may want to change these for graphics you design or simply stop displaying them. This section allows you to do just that. The only thing to bear in mind is that the graphics you upload must already be saved at the size you want to display them and that they must fit into the column width or your site will not display properly. Please Note: Certain browsers retain the last image for the page that is being displayed. If you upload a new image and the old one is still there then press the “refresh” button on your browser. The new image should now appear. CURRENT IMAGE This is the image that is currently being displayed. If you have requested that it not be displayed then a text message will notify you of this. DEFAULT IMAGE This image is the default image that we supply to you. It serves as a “memory jogger” in case you forgot what image was originally there. TO REPLACE & UPLOAD A NEW IMAGE First click the “browse” button located by the side of the image you want to replace. This allows you to find the file you wish to upload on your local computer. Once found, select it so that it appears in the input box. Make sure that the “Restore Default” option is set to “NO” and press the “UPLOAD” button. After it has uploaded return to the “EDIT SITE GRAPHICS” page and you will see the new image shown at actual size. TO STOP DISPLAYING AN IMAGE Simply press the “Do Not Display” button associated with the image you do not want displaying. When you return to the “EDIT SITE GRAPHICS” page a text message will notify you that it is no longer active. TO RESTORE A DEFAULT IMAGE Simply select “YES” to the “Restore Default” option associated with the graphic you wish to restore then press “UPLOAD”. When you return to the “EDIT SITE GRAPHICS” page and you will see the default image has been restored. ADVANCED FEATURES Advanced features are optional and available for one graphic only. This is the “Add to Basket” image. The “add to basket” image is only displayed on your product page. In certain cases you may wish to replace this image with a text link or re-direct it to another part of the site such as your “contact” page. To re-direct the link to another part of the site select one of the options from the list provided. The default link is the “Add to Basket” page. To create a text link enter the text you wish to display into the input box provided. Then select “YES” from the “Display text link not graphic” option. Then press the “Advanced Confirm” button. If you select “NO” from the “Display text link not graphic” option, the link will be displayed as your current image or not at all if it is disabled. Back to main menu SET POSTAGE VARIABLES One of the most important parts of any shopping basket is postage costs. We provide the following postage delivery options. You simply select the one that best suits your requirements: No Postage Required (included in the price) Manual Postage Entry Free Postage with an order value over... Postage by KG Wieght Please note: If you are not using this site as a shopping basket simply ensure that "ADD SHOPPING BASKET" in the "CREATE DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE" is set to "NO". PLEASE READ BEFORE GOING ANY FURTHER: The most accurate method for calculating postage is to manually enter your postage/delivery costs for each product. If you decide this option is best for you (recommended) then simply ensure that you have selected "Cost and Sale price" are required and must be entered when adding new products. This can be done when configuring your data entry forms or by ensuring that the "Price Check" is switched on. It is however, worth noting that any manual postage charges are individually added to the total bill. For example if you set the local postage delivery cost for your product to £5, one item will cost £5 postage. 10 items will cost 10x5=£50. In other words it assumes that your postage prices are based on individual orders. Postage is not worked out on the total order value. The only way to do this is charge postage based on its total batch weight. See the postage by KG options below. In reality unless you manually enter your postage/delivery costs it is virtually impossible for us or anyone else to calculate every possible variation of postage costs for each and every country around the world. Each country has different postage zones, rules and regulations. You may even find that you are not allowed to post your product to a certain country without the correct documentation depending on their import restrictions. This type of information should be made available to your customers in your “postage” link. We have however, produced a form that allows you to overcome most of these obstacles as long as you are prepared to concider the following lines of thought that are proven to make Internet shopping sites very successful. Include postage/delivery in the price either totally or based on a minimum order value. Internet customers love this and consider it a “thank you” discount for ordering online. If you do not like this idea and want reliable automatic charging for postage, do it by KG weight. KG weight is internationally recognised. This of course relies on you knowing the postage weight of the product to be delivered and entering it when you add a new product. If you select this option we do have safeguards that will warn you regarding large sizes, weights or large prices. Do not worry about international postage zones. Just select one. The most expensive. This will then be the basis of any “world wide” delivery costs. THE POSTAGE CONFIGURATION FORM SET MINIMUM CHARGES My local country area covers Enter the area that your local postage/delivery covers. For example it could be UK, Mainland UK or just Greater London . Local Standard Rate This is the standard minimum price for delivery in your local country postage area. If delivery is included in this price just leave this field blank. Local Next Day Rate This is the premium minimum price for fast delivery in your local country postage area. If delivery is also included in this price just leave this field blank or add a premium surcharge. WORLD-WIDE POSTAGE AVAILABLE If you also offer world wide delivery select “YES” for this option. Land/Sea min charge This is the standard minimum price for delivery to all “world wide” destinations outside of your local/country area. If delivery is also included in this price just leave this field blank or add a “world wide” surcharge. Airmail min charge This is the premium minimum price for fast delivery to all “world wide” destinations outside of your local/country area. If delivery is also included in this price just leave this field blank or add a “world wide” premium surcharge. POSTAGE/DELIVERY OPTIONS (SELECT one by ticking the "YES" button) NO POSTAGE REQUIRED Assumes that all delivery costs are included in the price. If you wish to use this option select the "No Postage Required" button so it is "ON". MANUAL POSTAGE ENTRY If you decide this option is best for you (recommended) then simply ensure that you have selected "Sale price" is required and must be entered when adding new products. This can be done when configuring your data entry forms or by ensuring that the "Price Check" is switched on. It is however, worth noting that any manual postage charges are individually added to the total bill. For example if you set the local postage delivery cost for your product to £5, one item will cost £5 postage. 10 items will cost 10x5=£50. In other words it assumes that your postage prices are based on individual orders. Postage is not worked out on the total order value. The only way to do this is charge postage based on its total batch weight. See the postage by KG options below. If you wish to use this option select the "Manual Postage Entry" button so it is "ON". FREE DELIVERY BASED ON A MINIMUM ORDER VALUE If you wish to include your postage/delivery costs in your price or based on a minimum order value select the “Postage FREE” button so it is "ON". Then enter your minimum order value for the local country. Enter “0” for free delivery. If you also deliver “World Wide” you can enter the minimum order value to those destinations. Enter “0” for free delivery. POSTAGE BY KG WEIGHT If you wish to use KG weight to calculate your postage/delivery costs select the "POSTAGE BY KG WEIGHT" button so it is "ON". Price up to weight in kg's Enter the maximum KG (unit) weight for local/national delivery at the minimum charge. Smaller units than 1 KG can be entered as decimal fractions eg. 0.001 kg. For example: My minimum charge for any product equal to or under 0.001 kg is whatever I put in the minimum charge areas above. + cost per extra kg This is the cost per extra KG (unit) above your minimum charge. The same principle applies to your “world wide” settings. PROMP ME to enter customised postage prices? For this to work ensure the data input form includes the parameters required below. Leave the boxes blank if not required. It checks to see if your KG weight, price or size exceeds the maximum values. This assumes that you enter them in the relevant “Add New Product Fields”. If you leave them blank no check will be performed. Weight more than Enter the maximum default weight in KG (units) that is required befor the software to promts you when entering a new product. Cost more than Enter the maximum default price that is required befor the software to prompts you when entering a new product. Has a height not more than Enter the maximum default height /width/depth dimension in cm that is required before the software prompts you when entering a new product. CHARGE BY TOTAL KG OR INDIVIDUAL ORDER KG VALUE This option very much depends on how you as a company operate. The simple question here is do you charge postage for each individual item ordered or is it calculated on the total batch weight. If you are your own supplier you would think this answer to be obvious but some of our customers are "drop shipping" companies that receive orders to multiple suppliers all wanting a separate delivery charge. If you batch your orders for postage select "total order" "ON". If you DO NOT batch your orders for postage select "individual order" "ON". Warning! If you select "individual order" "ON". Your delivery prices will be more expensive where multiple products are purchased. This is because we assume each individual product ordered will be shipped separately and includes your minimum postage costs that are usually set at a higher rate. Back to main menu YOUR CONTACT DETAILS Here you need to enter at least some basic information about yourself. The information is used by the default contact form that we create for you and for correspondence to your site where required. If you are using online payments it is essential to get your email address correct. Please Note: Any changes to this page activate an email to you as cofirmation. The minimum details you need to enter are; Your Company Name. Your contact email address This sites full URL This is the full URL including the “http prefix” to this sites home directory. If it is not correct then the site will not work properly as the script uses this link to create the site map, html web pages, save and display photos. Your login password to this site When we create your site a login page is automatically produced. It is located in your sites home directory with the file name "login.html". The login page is used to access your "Admin" menu and provides all authorised users limited access to the daily operational functions of "OnlineShop". For full access the "admin" password is required. The login password you wish to use for "login entry" must be entered in the box provided. Your password should only include standard letters or numbers. Try to avoid other character symbols. All other input fields are optional for CMS customers. These details are only required for billing and contact information. Your VAT (Value Added Tax) Number. When you enter your VAT number it is displayed on any invoices/orders to inform your customers that they can claim the VAT element of the invoice back. Back to main menu PRICE CHECK & CURRENCY SETTINGS Currency symbol Enter the currency symbol that you wish to use when displaying prices. Some currency symbols may have to be entered in HTML format such as “& pound;” for the UK £ symbol. PRICE CHECK Cost and Sale price must be entered when adding new products. If you select “YES” then the script will give an error message when the "Cost and Sale price" are not entered. It also overrides any data entry input form if they are not included and set to required. It activates the price check when adding new products. This price check is a simple check to ensure that you are making a profit. If you select “NO” The price check is switched off. Back to main menu CREATE CUSTOM IMAGE SIZES for your products and search results. When you upload your product/item images by default they are saved in 3 sizes. Small (default width=125 height="") Medium (default width=250) Large (default width=900) This feature allows you to change the default settings at any time. However, please note that any photos uploaded before you make your changes will be saved at the sizes currently in use at the time of uploading. IMPORTANT!! The small image is usually used as a thumbnail in the search results. In certain circumstances the small photo may be required to be larger than the medium size photo or it may just require a fixed height to guarantee it fits snugly into your custom boxes/tables. If this is the case then enter the apropriate height/width variables into the boxes provided. Leave blank if not required. The default height is "" (null). All width sizes must be specified. Back to main menu Basic site set-up procedure SERVER SETTINGS Warning! Only edit your server settings if you know exactly what you are doing!! SITE MAP FORMAT. OnlineShop produces a site map both in HTML and XML format when you use the "Refresh Site" link (see admin menu). The XML format can be registered to the major search engines as a feed file. The site map links can be dynamic script URL's or links to actual web pages. Create dynamic site map. Dynamic script URL's do not require web pages to be produced and can save massive amounts of disk space. Dynamic links are registered by search engines in just the same way as standard web pages and work just as well. Create HTML web page site map. Some web designers do not like dynamic URL's so we also provide the option to create actual HTML based web pages. When this option is selected and the "Refresh Site" link is clicked the script requests the HTML output of each dynamic URL found and produces an actual web page. The links to this web page are then displayed in the site map rather than the dynamic links. The down side to this is that it takes a lot longer for this process to complete and it also uses up great amounts of web space. USE LOCAL OR REMOTE SITE FOR UPLOADING PRODUCT PHOTOS. Before you installed the “OnlineShop” software to your server you should have tested it to ensure that the necessary Perl libraries exist, which allow the “local” photos.pl script to work on your site. The Perl libraries required are Image::Magick and Image::Size or GD. Not all servers have them installed. We provide you with two test scripts that can identify if the Perl libraries are available. They are “IM_test.pl” that looks for “Image::Magick and Image::Size”, “GD_test.pl” looks for “Image::Magick and GD”. If the libraries are available a message will be displayed, If not then you will get an internal server error message. If either one of the two test programs work then upload the relevant “photos.pl” script to your servers “cgi-bin” and make it executable. When installing the main “OnlineShop” script select the “local” option. For full information see “site installation instructions”. If neither of the two test programs work, then you will need to select the “remote” option. When this is selected your product photos are uploaded to our server first and then sent back to your site in the proper formats and sizes. This process takes a little longer but ensures that the photo upload process works properly. It should be noted that we do not store your photos. They are placed into a temporary file and overwritten each time a new photo is uploaded. If in doubt select the “remote” option this is guaranteed to work. Please note: if you select the “local” option and the relevant Perl libraries do not exist on your server, you will get an” internal server error message” when you try to upload your product photos. THE SERVER PATH This is your servers directory path to the directory that you wish your “home web page” to be located in. It is required so that the script knows where to open and save files, photos and web pages. Please note: It is not your home page http:// URL. It should not be changed unless a mistake was made when installing the script. For full information see “site installation instructions”. THE URL TO YOUR SERVERS CGI-BIN This is required by the script to pass information from an input form. It is displayed simply as confirmation should a problem occur. It should not be changed unless a mistake was made when installing the script. Under no circumstances should it be pointed to another server or different site located on the same server. This is guaranteed to give you problems. ENTER YOUR “MAILPROG” PATH. This is the server path to the “mailprog” cgi library that controls the sending of emails. It is available on nearly every Unix server. However, the path can be different depending on the servers configuration. Luckily, it is usually “/usr/sbin/sendmail” or “/usr/bin/sendmail”. If neither of these options work you will need to contact your “ISP” Internet service provider and find out what it is. The best way to test this is by sending yourself an email using the contact form we generate for you. If you receive it then it works, if not, try another option. YOUR “ADMIN” PASSWORD This password is required to access the full features of “OnlineShop” and should not be confused with the “login” password located in your “contact details” that only provides limited use of the programs features. It is intended only for use by the sites administrator or webmaster. It can be the same as the login password if you want anyone with login access to also have full administration access. Back to main menu SITE BACK-UP BACK UP CATEGORY & ITEM ENTRY DATA TO CSV FILE This routine creates a "csv back up file". It includes all of the sites category and item entry details that can be imported into a database such as "Access". If you are familiar with database manipulation you can use it for a wide range of applications. If not then it is a great back-up feature that can be used if your site should go down. To create your back-up file click the requested link. Once completed you are taken to another page. This provides you with the URL on your server where the file has been saved. We always recommend that you also download the file to your local PC. This is important if your server should ever go down. If you intend to import the file into a database application the file extension denotes “csv” format. It is actually a delimited text file and if desired you could re-name it and provide a txt extension. The file structure is not comma or tab delimited. The delimiter is a chevron “^”. It must be selected when importing the data. The same applies if you wish to export the file to an OnlineShop application. See creating database structure. NOTE: IT DOES NOT BACK-UP Your sites INI, DEF and TXT files located in the http://new.getbiz4u.com/dat/ directory. Your sites files located in the http://new.getbiz4u.com/shopping/ directory. These include your real home page and custom template TXT files. Your sites photos located in the http://new.getbiz4u.com/shopping/photos/ directory. Your sites movie files located in the http://new.getbiz4u.com/shopping/movies/ directory. To back these up you need to log into your server and copy the directory file content using FTP software. It is always a good idea to back-up these files on a regular basis. Back to main menu UPLOAD SITE DATA FROM FILE The main purpose of this utility is to provide you with a site back-up facility in the unlikely event that your server goes down. However, customers who wish to control the sites data using a local database application can also export the content to a file and upload it here. If this is the case the data must be configured to OnlineShop format. See creating database structure. To upload your back-up or database file use the “Browse” button and select the file you wish to upload. Then press the “Upload Your File” button to upload the file to the server. A simple check is then made to ensure the file is OnlineShop compatible. If it is not, an error message is displayed. To activate the file and replace the sites content click the confirm URL. The category and item data contained in the file is then used to create the site. The time this takes depends on how large your data file is and whether new photos require uploading. WARNING!! This program will overwrite your sites existing category and product listings. Any new products or categories entered online after the file was created will not be displayed. If you are using this routine for the first time we strongly recommend that you first use the "site back-up" facility located in the admin menu and save the back-up file to your PC before proceeding. Back to main menu TO ADD or EDIT an EXISTING SUPPLIER The reason why you have to enter a supplier, even if it is yourself, is to ensure that any product added to the site relates to a supplier of the goods. This is very important for online shopping sites that have multiple suppliers providing goods or services. For example: When we generate an order we need this information to simply notify you who to order the goods from. Even if it is just yourself! You may not be using this site as a “shopping site” now and at this stage it may seem irrelevant but, it ensures “Product-Supplier” compatibility should you decide to change to an “online shopping” site in the future. IMPORTANT! When you create a new supplier it is filed in our index as a number. This means that if existing supplier details are edited/changed to another supplier then all products previously entered under the old supplier will also be associated with the new one. In simple terms ALLWAYS create a new supplier. DO NOT convert an old one. For security reasons we do not allow you to delete old suppliers. If you wish to have your supplier list refreshed then you need to contact us, or your “OnlineShop” agent. TO ADD A NEW SUPPLIER FROM THE “ADMIN” MENUE Select the “ADD NEW SUPPLIER” option. Press “ENTER”. You will then be taken to the “SUPPLIER FORM” see below. TO EDIT AN EXISTING SUPPLIER FROM THE “ADMIN” MENUE Select the supplier from the drop down menu. Press “ENTER”. You will then be taken to the “SUPPLIER FORM” for this supplier. From there you can edit the contact suppliers details see below. SUPPLIER FORM. The only parameter that is required here is a supplier name even if it is your own company. The rest is optional. The “PRICES” section located at the bottom of this page only needs to be completed if you want to use our “price check” when entering new products. The “price check” uses the information entered into these fields to provide you with basic information to ensure that you are making a profit. The default settings for these fields are; Value Added Tax=”no” Handling Charges=”no” Commission Charges = “no” The rest is optional and for your information only. Where you see “Web site”, “Login User Name”, “Login Password” these are just “memory joggers” for users that order online from their supplier. Back to main menu Basic site set-up procedure TO ADD OR RENAME A MAIN CATEGORY IMPORTANT! Before you can create any default templates, enter any products or create a site map using the “REFRESH SITE” link you must enter at least one main category. Sub categories where required are entered or created when you add a new product. See "Adding subcategory levels". TO ADD A NEW MAIN CATEGORY Select the "Add new Category" option from the list and then enter the category name into the input box provided. Then press “Enter”. The new main category is then saved. You will also be presented with the main category form. This form allows you to enter an optional introduction title and introduction text that is displayed in the search results. It also helps increase your sites optimisation by creating new body text relevant to the search results. Most importantly you are now requested to either allow further sub categories to be entered under this main category heading. If you require further sub category levels then press “YES” if not press “NO”. Once decided this option cannot be changed as it would create problems with the sites indexing system. Special consideration for this should be made before creating a new main category. If you are in doubt or unsure whether additional sub category levels are required we recommend you select “YES” to keep your options open. Custom Meta commands can also be added later. See "ADD/EDIT REMOVE CATEGORY DETAILS FULL". When you return to the "Admin” menu" your new category will now be displayed in the list. TO RENAME Select the category you wish to change from the list and then enter the new name into the input box. Then press “Enter”. When you return to the “Admin” menu the new category name will now be displayed in the list. TO DELETE Please Note: For security reasons we do not allow a categories product content to be deleted. If however, you wish to stop displaying a main category simply rename it by entering a blank space character “ “ using your keyboards space bar. The main category and its content still exists but it is no longer displayed on the site. In effect you can think of this as delete but should the worst come to the worst we can recover the data for you. Back to main menu Basic site set-up procedure TO CREATE CUSTOM CATEGORY PAGES TO CREATE CUSTOM CATEGORY PAGES From the admin menu select the main category from the list then press the “Enter button”. This will then take you to the custom html form for the selected main category. By default when you click a main category link it automatically goes to the category search. You may wish to override this so that it goes to custom web page instead. Here you can create a custom template that can be specifically used as an entry page. The template allows basic editing of the main title, introduction text and the uploading of photos. A full range of replace commands is also available see full list below. NOTE: This area only covers your home and main category sections. If you wish to alter your postage, contact, terms or about us pages then visit the “CREATE DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE” link located in the “Admin” menu. The template comes in three sections. 1. Simple text control . Here you can enter a title and introduction text. It provides an area that can be easily edited in the future where copy changes are required. The text does not require any HTML knowledge but HTML can be entered if required. 2. Photo uploading and editing. Up to 7 photos can be specifically uploaded for this template. If required they can easily be changed in the future. 3. Template configuration. Simply create your template code and use our replace commands where required. How does it work? The script looks at the template and replaces the "replace commands" listed below with the appropriate HTML code The HTML code that encloses the replace commands is up to you. Photo sizes. The uploaded photos can be configured to displayed at any size from 25 pixels up to the maximum size allowed. The default is 900 pixels thought this can be altered see “Change Default Image Sizes”. We also provide an optional special effect feature called zoom. It simple enlarges the photo to the full size on the same page without having to open another window to display it. NOTE: If you are using custom templates for the first time we strongly recommend that you first create a very simple template that includes the replace commands you wish to use. Once you are confident and understand how they work then proceed to include them in your desired custom template code. A very simple example of how to use this and other replace commands is displayed at the bottom of this section. To save a custom template and make it active always ensure that the "YES" button is ticked at the top of the page. If it is not the default template will still be used. IMPORTANT! If you are using the site as a shopping basket and need to enter internal links other than those imported with our replace commands. Obtain them by clicking the link shown below on the custom template page. Full instructions are provided there. (If you wish to add internal links within your customised page code below click here for a full list.) Activate your template: To activate your custom category template, ensure that the “YES”, button at the top of the page is selected. If the button is selected as “No” then the main category link returns to default mode. SIMPLE TEXT CONTROL This provides an area that can be easily edited in the future by yourself or an authorised user where copy changes are required. The text does not require any HTML knowledge but HTML can be entered if required. Enter a title for your page. <#custom_title#> Simply enter a title for your page if required into the input box provided. To display the title entered place the replace command <#custom_title#> into your template where you wish it to appear. Enter your introduction text. <#custom_text#> Simply enter your introduction text into the input box provided. To display the introduction text entered place the replace command <#custom_text#> into your template where you wish it to appear. PHOTO UPLOADING & EDITING Up to 7 photos can be specifically uploaded for this template. If required they can easily be changed in the future. To upload or edit a photo first click the "ADD EDIT YOUR PHOTOS" link. You are then taken to the photo upload page. It works just the same as adding product photos. Simply click the "browse" button and find the image to be upload on your PC. Once you find the image file to be uploaded select it so that it appears in the input box. Enter the maximum height that the image will be displayed at. If it is left blank then the default is 250. If you have already entered a default height this will be displayed. Usually most photos behave and display properly. This parameter provides an override for very thin portrait photos. Now press the "UPLOAD" button. Your photo will now be uploaded and saved onto your server. This process can take a while if large original images are used. It very much depends on the bandwidth of your Internet connection. Please be patient. When this process is completed you will be informed with the message "Your Photo has now been saved". NOTE: If your photo does not upload properly this is usually because the image size is too big. Under 500k is safe, however, large files over this size may cause problems. Alternatively, the image format may be corrupted or does not fully comply with industry standards (some graphic packages are notorious for this). If this is the case you may need to re-size and re-save the image in another graphics application before uploading in JPG or GIF format to be safe. To view the image or add more photos click the "CLICK HERE" link. Alternatively, you can return to the "Admin" menu. To edit a photo simply repeat the process above. This will overwrite the old photo. A delete option is also available if required. YOU ARE IN THE ONLINE MANUAL. THE INPUT BOXES BELOW ARE DISPLAYED AS EXAMPLES ONLY. TEMPLATE CONFIGURATION. Simply create your template code and use our replace commands where required. REPLACE COMMANDS DESCRIBED IN DETAIL Search Result Commands You may still wish to display the category search results somewhere on the page. These commands allow you to do that. <#search_results#> Your category search results. Categories/items/products only. The sizes that these results are displayed at depend on your default or custom search parameters. See “Default or Custom Search Templates” in the main admin menu. <#pagenumber_links#>provides the search code for multiple page number links. <#page_numbers#> Displays the current search page and total . <#total_found#> Total items found in the category or keyword search. <#show_search#> displays the link to normall product search Eg. < a href="<#show_search#>">List products/items in this category< /a>. Please note: Products/items must exist to use "Add to Basket". * Denotes created using the "CREATE DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE". There are a number of features that you can configure in the "DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE" that you may wish to retain and use in your custom template. Good examples are the menu options and Top 10 results. The plus side to using these commands is that they will always reflect the current status of the site and will not need changing when alterations are made. <#main_header#> Your header code*. If you have already entered your header code in the "DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE", usually your logo, header banner, then you can import it into your template using this command. <#top_menu#> Top menu*. If you have configured the top menu in the "DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE" and you like it then you can import it into your template using this command. You can "Over-ride" the default "Top Menu width" using the input box provided to resize it to your requirements or leave blank for default size. This replace command should only be used once in any given template. <#main_menu#> Main menu for left right colums*. If you have configured the main menu in the "DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE" and you like it then you can import it into your template using this command (Highly reccommended). You can "Over-ride" the default "Main Menu width" using the input box provided to resize it to your requirements or leave blank for default size. The main category links can also be customised to your desired format using the "CREATE CUSTOM CATEGORY LINKS IN THE MAIN MENU" section located in the admin menu. The alternative is that you customise each link you use with our custom links. This can be quite a task. <#top_10#> Top 10 results* If you have configured the TOP 10 listings in the "DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE" and you like it then you can import it into your template using this command Here you can also over-ride the default Top10 item column width to a new size or leave blank for default. List your top 10 results Vertically or Horizontally by ticking the apropriate button (default is vertical). If you select horizontal display you will also need to provide the tolal table width they are to be diplayed in. See "Set your top 10 display (total table) width for the Top10 results". This value is used to calculate how many items are displayed on each line based on the values entered above. Shopping Basket <#basket_items#> The number of items in your shopping basket. <#basket_total#> The total cost of items in your shopping basket. <#viewbasket_link#> Link to view basket page. Eg. < a href="<#viewbasket_link#>" View Basket < /a > <#checkout_link#> Link to checkout page. Eg. < a href="<#checkout_link#> >" Go to checkout < /a > META tags <#meta_title#> Your META title text. <#meta_description#> Your META description text. <#meta_keywords#> Your META keywords text. <#hidden_keywords#> A combination of META title, description and keywords that can be added to your body text. To add Keyword search If you wish to add a keyword search box to your template simply cut and paste the code below into your template code. Table width and font etc, can be altered to suit your design. NOTE:The form tags < form .... > < /form> can act like paragraph breaks. You may wish to place these else where in your template. <form action="<#script#>" method="get"> <input name="keywords" type="text" value="Enter Keyword(s)"> <input type="Submit" value="GO"> <#search_values#> <input type="hidden" name=val value="search"></form> Item / product details available to all selections. <#item_title#> Your item name. <#item_description#> Your Item description. <#item_brandname#> Your products barand name where entered. <#item_techdetails#> Technical details where entered. <#item_suppliercode#> Your product supplier code where entered. <#item_siteref#> This sites unique item/product number. <#item_rrp#> Your products RRP. <#item_saleprice#> Your products sale price. <#item_postweight#> Your products postage weight where entered. <#item_height#> Your products hieght in cm where entered. <#item_accessories#> Optional accessories where entered. <#item_options1#> to <#item_options6#> Product options such as colour, size, style or pattern where entered. <#item_caption1#> to <#item_caption6#> Default or override headeader captions for "item_optins" above. <#fixed_date#> A fixed date where entered (eg. date of birth). <#lastentry_date#> Last date product/item was upgraded. <#customfield_1#> to <#customfield_20#> Custom fields see (Configure Data Entry Input Form). <#currency#> enters the default currency symbol or code see (Price Check & Currency). <#&#> Creates "&" symbol using ascii code & #38; (use where site verification is required) . <#tm#> Creates "™" symbol using ascii code & #8482; (use where site verification is required) . <#copyr#> Creates "©" symbol using ascii code & #169; (use where site verification is required) . Links <#you_arehere#> Displays the "you are here" path and links. It does not display anything else. Photos There is a main photo plus additional photos that range in numbers from 1-6 giving 7 in total. The default sizes are saved at Small 125 pixels wide, Medium 250 pixels wide and Large 900 pixels wide. These can be changed see "CHANGE DEFAULT IMAGE SIZES". To display a photo just enter the photo replace command into your template html. The maximum default photo display width values are already entered but can be changed where required by entering a new width value in the "width box" provided. We then create the < img src= > tag for you. The "alt" tags will list the item/product name and photo number. Example: To change the <#mainphoto_small#> display size to 85 pixels wide simply enter 85 in the width box. The same applies to all the other photo options. <#mainphoto_small#> width = If no display photo exists for the photo commands being used the command is ignored. <#brand_logo#> Displays your brand logo if uploaded. Example: < img src ="<#brand_logo#>" width="100"> Please note the maximum width size for a brand logo is 100 as this is the size it is saved at. Image border width <#photoborderwidth#> photo border width = . default is none. Photo Zoom Feature This is a special effect java script that can be incorporated into your template. If you wish to use it you need to ensure that this option is selected as "YES". When the display image is clicked the zoom size is displayed. When clicked again the image shrinks back to the original display size. To use this feature please enter the display photo and zoom photo commands into the boxes below so we know which photos are to be displayed and at what width size. Leave for default. THEN. Simply enter the commands <#mainzoom#> and <#photozoom1-6#> where you want the appropriate zoom photo to appear. This then automatically creates all the < img src= > tags for you based on the java script. Example: To configure the <#mainzoom#> command we need to know what the default image to be displayed is and at what width. For the purposes of this example we will use <#mainphoto_medium#> (see above) to be displayed at a width of 195. We then need to know what photo the java script is going to open and display as the larger zoom photo. There is no need to enter its width as it will be displayed at its maximum size or best fit to the monitor screen. For the purposes of this example we will use <#mainphoto_large#> (see above). The same applies to all the other zoom photo options. <#mainzoom#>. Display photo= width= Zoom photo= The <#mainzoom#> command is now configured. The same technique applies to all the other zoom photo options <#photozoom1-6#>. If no default display photo exists for the zoom command being used the command is ignored. Enter your custom html below. Substitute where necessary with the commands above. This is the area that you enter your template code. Enter your <#replace#> or full page code here using the available replace commands above. REMEMBER!! To save a custom template and make it active always ensure that the "YES" button is ticked at the top of the page. If it is not the default template will still be used. Back to main menu TO CREATE CUSTOM CATEGORY LINKS Options in the “ CREATE DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE” form allow you to configure the main category links such as text format, background colours and mouse-overs. These are then saved as defaults for the display of main categories. They look good enough and are very search engine friendly by providing relevant keywords for the page when indexed. However, you may like to add your own HTML code and override our default settings for their display. Using this feature you can customise the category links located on the left side of the screen with your own html code. Change the colours to make it stand out or even add your own buttons. Please Note: This section is for main category and your home page links only. The postage, contact, terms, site map or about us pages where selected can only displayed as default settings. TO CREATE CUSTOM CATEGORY LINKS Select the main category from the list then press the “Enter button”. This will then take you to the custom link form for the selected main category. The screen is split into two sections. At the top is the existing default code. It is there for your information only. The bottom box is where you enter the new HTML code for the main category link. If changes are minor you may wish to cut and paste the code from above and paste it into this box to make the changes. Please Note: The default link is contained within a table. The width of this table is displayed in the source code. If your custom code, images etc, exceeds this width then the site may not be displayed properly. Remember, all links to graphics etc, must be entered in full. Relative links will not work. IMPORTANT LINK INFORMATION. Using this feature can allow you to force main category links to exit the site. This is no problem if you are not using the site as a shopping basket. If you do this and you are using shopping basket information it will be lost when you exit. This site does not use cookies because many Internet users now have them switched off and they can cause more problems than they are worth. Instead we create a temporary order number that is generated each time a customer adds their first product to a shopping basket. This number is then tracked throughout the site by the script. For this reason the main category link is generated by the script in dynamic form and can be different each time the main category is listed on the screen. To overcome this problem we have created the <#siteurl#> command. The <#siteurl#> Command. The script changes main category links all of the time. To overcome this problem you need to replace the normal main category < a href=xxx> line of code with <#siteurl#>. For example; <#siteurl#> My main category name < /a> The <#siteurl#> command then tells the script to replace this area with the correct < a href=...> information for your main category name. We do not replace the tailing < /a>, you still have to enter this manually. The <#siteurl#> command DOES NOT apply to any image or script links. They should be entered as normal. Enter NEW HTML code below to override current default To create your custom link, ensure that this option is selected as “YES”. If this option is selected as “No” then the main category link returns to default mode configured in the “ CREATE DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE” form. TO SAVE To save your new main category link coding simply press the “UPGRADE CODE” button. Once you press this button your new link code has been saved in dynamic format. To change this setting on all your sites real web pages (where selected) you will need to press the “refresh” link. Back to main menu CHANGING THE ORDER THAT MAIN CATEGORIES ARE LISTED When you create a main category it is saved in alphabetical order to a file by default. You may want to change this list order. You can do this by using the “Move “category” to a new position” facility located at the bottom of the “CREATE CUSTOM CATEGORY LINKS” page. For example if you wish to move a category that is currently being displayed second down the list to fourth position then just enter the new position “4” into the input box provided. Then press the “UPGRADE POSITION” button. Once you press this button the new main categories list position has been saved in dynamic format. To change this setting on all your sites real web pages (where selected) you will need to press the “refresh” link. Back to main menu ADD/EDIT CATEGORY DETAILS From the input box located below “ADD/EDIT REMOVE CATEGORY DETAILS” in the admin menu first select the main category that wish to enter. Sub category levels can listed under the “main category” selected can also then be accessed. A list that includes the main category name and it's sub directories is then provided. Edit Main category Details If you wish to edit your main category details such as meta and search introduction text select the bold link at the top of the list. PLEASE NOTE: Main categories can only be renamed or removed using "TO ADD or RENAME an EXISTING MAIN CATEGORY" in the main admin menu. This facility only allows main category meta commands and or search introduction text to be edited. RE-NAME, Edit or Remove Sub Categories If you wish to make alterations to sub categories Level1 and Level 2 (if available) select the level 1 sub category links below. When you select a link you will be taken to the “ADD/EDIT form for the main or sub category selected. ADD/EDIT CATEGORY FORM From here you can override our default meta commands and enter your own. Enter a search title and introduction text for the main or level-1 sub category selected. If the catecgory chosen is a SUB CATEGORY you can also RENAME OR REMOVE THIS CATEGORY (high-lighted) or one of it's sub categories listed below where available. To Re_Name a category Simply select the category you wish to re-name and enter the new name into the input box provided. Then press the RE-NAME REMOVE button. Once this is done your new category name is saved and will now be displayed. TO REMOVE A CATEGORY VERY IMPORTANT! Please Note: When you remove a category any products listed in the category or in sub levels below it will no longer be displayed. In effect you are deleting all of the products in this category and below it! For security reasons we do not actualy delete product details or the basic category structure. However, you will need to contact us to re-activate the category if you make a mistake. A small fee will be charged. Should you still wish to continue then simply select the category you wish to remove/delete and enter a space character " " using your keyboards "Space Bar" into the input box provided. Then press the RE-NAME REMOVE button. Once this is done your category and all of its content will now be removed and no longer displayed. Back to main menu TO ENTER A NEW PRODUCT Before you try to enter any new product ensure that; You have entered at least one main product category (info) You have registered at least one supplier (info) You have configured the data entry form or the default entry form will be displayed. (info) Make sure you are happy with the default image size settings. If not change them to meet your requirements. (info) Enter your product details Enter your sub categories level1(optional) Enter your lower level sub-sub categories level2(optional) Your confirmation page (includes product meta commands, price check, additional extras and additional drop-down options where selected). Add main photo Add additional photos and brand logo Back to main menu Back to Enter New Product Enter your product details First select a main category that your new product will be listed under. There is a list located directly below the "TO ENTER NEW PRODUCT" heading located in the main "Admin" menu. If it is not shown in the list then you will need to create one (see "TO ADD or RENAME an EXISTING CATEGORY") in the "Admin" menu. Once you have highlighted the appropriate main category press the "Enter" button and you will then be directed to the "new product input form". NEW PRODUCT INPUT FORM The "New Product" input form for any main category can be configured to your exact requirements by using the "CONFIGURE DATA ENTRY INPUT FORM" link located in the admin menu. The way your "ADD NEW PRODUCT" details for any main category are displayed can be different based on your custom configuration settings. If no changes have been made then the default listings will be shown. Please Note: Areas that begin in red must be entered. This is because they have been selected as required fields. Your purchase price and sale price may or may not be required. This depends on whether the "PRICE CHECK" is set to "YES" or they were ticked as required fields when you configured the data input form for the main category selected.. SPECIAL INPUT FIELDS The form may include a number of special fields. We use the default names as examples below. ENTER YOUR SUPPLIER (optional) To select your supplier for this product highlight it from the list provided. NOTE: You sould always select a supplier for your product even if it is yourself. This is to ensure that any product added to the site relates to a supplier of the goods. It is very important for online shopping sites that have multiple suppliers providing goods or services. For example: When we generate an order we need this information to simply notify you who to order the goods from. Even if it is just yourself! You may not be using this site as a "shopping site" now and at this stage it may seem irrelevant but, it ensures "Product-Supplier" compatibility should you decide to change to an "online shopping" site in the future. SELECT EXISTING OR ADD A NEW SUB CATEGORY LEVELS (optional) NOTE: SUB CATEGORY OPTIONS will only be available if "ALLOW SUB CATEGORIES" was set to "YES" when creating the main category. You can only create a new sub category levels when adding a new product/item. We now need to know which sub category the product is to be listed under. For example, if your product is a television and your main category is "Electrical Goods" you would most likely want to place this product under a sub category heading of "TV's" or "Televisions". If you have already created this sub category it will be displayed in the list provided. You then just need to select it by highlighting it with your mouse. If it does not exist you can create it by selecting "Add New Sub Category" and entering the name of the new sub category you want to make in the box provided. Just remember, upper and lower case text will be displayed exactly as it is entered. Once the product form is completed and you press the “CONTINUE” button you will be presented with your new sub category options. This form allows you to enter an optional introduction title and introduction text that is displayed in the search results. It also helps increase your sites optimisation by creating new body text relevant to the search results. Most importantly you are now requested to either allow a further sub category level to be entered under your new sub category heading. If you require a further sub category level then press “YES” if not press “NO”. Once decided this option cannot be changed as it would create problems with the sites indexing system. Special consideration for this should be made before creating a new sub category. If you select “YES” to allow a further sub category level then you will be taken to the level 2 sub category page. Here you need to just select “Add New Second Sub Category and enter it name in the box provided. Click “Continue & Save” tp proceed to the next stage of your new product entry (see below). Back to main menu ENTER YOUR PRODUCTS NAME (required) This input box is for your products name. For example, if your product is a television called "Sony 35 inch megaview flat screen TV". This is what you would enter. ENTER YOUR PRODUCTS "BRAND" NAME (optional) This is an optional input box that allows you to enter the products brand name. It is used in "Keyword Searches" and also to display a brand logo if you decide to upload one. When you enter a "brand name" you only need to upload your "brand logo" once. After the logo has been uploaded the script will then associate any future products listed with this brand name and display the logo you have already uploaded for it. ENTER YOUR PRODUCTS DISCRIPTION TEXT (required) Here you can either type, cut or paste the products description text into the box provided. To paste text that has been copied place your mouse within the input box and left click. The curser should now be displayed inside it. All you need to do then is press (Ctrl + V) and your text will be pasted into this area. NO HTML is required. Any new lines or paragraph breaks will be converted for you. If however, you wish to add your own HTML commands this is no problem. ENTER YOUR PRODUCTS SUPPLIER CODE (optional) This is the unique supplier code for this product. It is used when ordering from your supplier (even if it is yourself) and is essential for online shopping or quotations. If you do not have one, then simply leave blank. ENTER PURCHASE PRICE (optional) Please Note: Your purchase price and sale price may or may not be required. This depends on whether you selected the "Cost and Sale price must be entered when adding new products" in the "PRICE CHECK & CURRENCY" section located in the "Admin" menu. Where the purchase price is entered ensure it is at the price you are buying the product for. It may be a trade price that does not include VAT (Value added Tax) or maybe it does. This parameter is used to calculate if you are entering the correct figures and actually making a profit. See price check below and also "your supplier prices" that are available in your supplier details form in the "Admin" menu. ENTER RRP (SALE) PRICE (optional) This is the RRP (Recommended Retail Price) of the product and should include any VAT. ENTER YOUR (SALE) PRICE (optional) This is your actual sale price as displayed on the site. Normally it includes VAT and in some cases even delivery. If this price does not include VAT or includes FREE delivery then you may like to inform your customers of this fact by creating some "intro text" before the price is displayed (see "SET PRODUCT PAGE PARAMETERS" in the "Admin" menu). For example: Price includes FREE delivery £45 or Price ex VAT £45 etc. Please Note: Your purchase price and sale price may or may not be required. This depends on whether you selected the "Cost and Sale price must be entered when adding new products" in the "PRICE CHECK & CURRENCY" section located in the "Admin" menu. ENTER Weight in KG (optional) This is the total postage KG weight of your product and is only required if you have opted to use the "Postage by KG" option in the "SET POSTAGE VARIABLES" located in the "Admin" menu. The KG weight can be entered as a fraction where required e.g. (0.51) and is used to automatically calculate postage costs for your product. Where this figure exceeds your default you will be requested to enter a manual cost for postage (see below). ENTER HEIGHT in cm (optional) This is the longest dimension of your product and is only required if you have opted to use the "Postage by KG" option in the "SET POSTAGE VARIABLES" located in the "Admin" menu. The cm height can be entered as a fraction where required e.g. (0.55) and is used to automatically calculate postage costs for your product. Where this figure exceeds your default value (displayed) you will be requested to enter a manual cost for postage (see below). ENTER YOUR TECHNICAL DETAILS TEXT (optional) This box allows you to enter additional description text about your product. By default we display this text with the header "technical information" on your product page. However, if you want to change this default header to say something else such as "Features Include" then see "SET PRODUCT PAGE PARAMETERS" in the "Admin" menu. Here you can either type, cut or paste the text into the box provided. NO HTML is required. Any new lines or paragraph breaks will be converted for you. If however, you wish to add your own HTML commands this is no problem. IN STOCK (optional) If the product is in stock (default is "YES") it will be displayed in the category search results. If "NO" is selected then it will not be displayed. ON SALE (optional) If this is selected as "YES" then the default "ON SALE" text is added to your product name in the search results and the product page display. The default colour is red. This can be a problem if your background colours are selected to red in "Set Search Parameters" and "Set Product Page Parameters" located in the "Admin" menu. Are additional accessories required? (optional) Select "YES" if you wish to associate this product with additional accessories. If "YES" is selected then this area will be opened up for you on the confirmation page (see below). The default is "NO". If this is used then this option will be ignored and not displayed for input. Are additional (drop-down) options required? (optional) Select "YES" if your product is also available in different formats such as "sizes" or "patterns". Up to a maximum of 10 entries. Up to 6 other drop down option boxes can be created but this one is the only one that allows supplier sub codes to be entered. If "YES" is selected then this area will be opened up for you on the confirmation page (see below). The default is "NO". If this is used then this option will be ignored and not displayed for input. ADD TO SHOPPING CART (optional) This facility provides you with an option that allows your product to be purchaced online or not. If ticked as "yes" then it will show the "add to basket" link on your product page. If ticked as "no" then it will not show the "add to basket" link on your product page. NOTE: For this to work you should still ensure that the "ADD TO BASKET" option in the "CREATE DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE" section is still selected as "yes". Last Updated (optional) If selected as "YES" this option will create and display the last date that this entry was updated. NOTE: You can switch this feature on or off by selecting the "SHOW THE LAST ENTRY DATE" option in the "CREATE DEFAULT PRODUCT PAGE" area of the admin menu. Date Of Birth (optional) If you are creating personal entries you may wish to include their date of birth. Enter the date details into the input boxes provided. This option will then create and display the date of birth in long date format. NOTE: You can switch this feature on or off by selecting the "SHOW THE FIXED DATE (D.O.B.)" option in the "CREATE DEFAULT PRODUCT PAGE" area of the admin menu. IMPORTANT!! If you are creating your own custom templates the variables entered in this input form can be imported into your template using the replace commands available. Once you are happy that you have entered the correct information press the "CONTINUE" button to go to the next stage. Depending on your site set up this can be the confirmation page or "Add another sub category level" if a 3 level site was requested. Back to main menu Back to Enter New Product SELECT AN ADDITIONAL SUB CATEGORY LEVEL FOR YOUR MAIN CATEGORY If you select “YES” to allow a further sub category levels (level 2) when creating a new sub category then an additional page will appear before the confirmation page is displayed. Here you are prompted to enter an additional sub category level. For example, if your product is a television and your main category is "Electrical Goods" you would most likely have selected "Televisions" as the sub category. This option provides yet another sub category level below "Televisions" that you can use. It could be the manufactures brand name for example. If you have already created this sub category it will be displayed in the list provided. You just need to select it by highlighting it with your mouse. If it does not exist you can create it by selecting "Add New Sub Category" and entering the name of the new sub category level you want to make in the box provided. Just remember, upper and lower case text will be displayed exactly as it is entered. Back to main menu Back to Enter New Product THE CONFIRMATION PAGE This page provides the following options depending on how the site has been configured or where requested. PRICE CHECK (Optional) Price check takes the values entered in your products supplier "Price" area to calculate a simple profit loss based on the amounts you enter (see Add Edit Supplier Details in the "Admin" menu). It provides a simple check to ensure that you are actually making profit based on the prices you entered for your product. If VAT (Value Added Tex) is not included in your purchase price it is worked out and displayed as a cost based on the tax percentage you entered. If your supplier charges a standard handling fee this amount is displayed as a cost. If your supplier charges you a commission based on your purchase price it is worked out and displayed as a cost based on the commission percentage you entered. The cost of online credit card payment is also calculated at 5% of your sale price and is displayed as a cost. The final profit / loss figure is then displayed. Please Note: Price Check is only available if you selected the "Cost and Sale price must be entered when adding new products" in the "PRICE CHECK & CURRENCY" section located in the "Admin" menu. It also requires you to enter the variables required in the product suppliers "Price" area (see Add Edit Supplier Details in the "Admin" menu). POSTAGE WARNING (Optional) Where the default postage settings have been exceeded you will be asked to enter the postage costs manually. The amounts entered here will override any default costs entered in your postage settings. The postage warning will be activated if the product you have just entered exceeds the following values entered in your postage configuration. Weight more than.. Costs more than.. Has a height more than.. Please Note: Postage Check is only available if you selected the "Cost, RRP and Sale price must be entered when adding new products" in the "PRICE & CURRENCY" section located in the "Admin" menu. It also requires you to enter the variables required in your postage configuration form (see SET POSTAGE VARIABLES in the "Admin" menu). META COMMANDS We automatically generate your default META commands for each product you enter. These are hidden areas of text that are not displayed but are very important to search engines. You can keep these defaults or manually edit them. The choice is yours. Please Note: We also provide a standard extension to these META commands. For further details see "META COMMANDS" located in " CREATE DEFAULT SITE TEMPLATE". ADDITIONAL ACCESSORIES (Optional) If you selected "YES" to "Are additional accessories required?" then this area will appear. It allows you to enter up to five accessories that may be associated with the product and enables the user to order them along with the main product. A typical example is batteries or cleaning fluid etc. To enter any additional accessories simply type its description e.g. "1 x box of batteries" followed by its sale price. ADDITIONAL DROP DOWN OPTIONS Certain products may be available in different sizes or patterns etc and require an aditional suplier sub code. If you selected "YES" to "Are additional (drop-down) options required?" then this area will appear. It allows you to enter up to ten variations that will be displayed as a drop down box on your product page. The customer then selects the desired option from the list. Prod Code This is the supplier product code for this option and is added as an extension to the main product code. If the product code is the same you can leave this box blank. Desc This is the description or name of your product option. For example Black, Red, etc. Please keep it as short as possible. In Stock If you select "YES" to this option it will be displayed. If you select "NO" to this option it will NOT be displayed. FURTHER ADDITIONAL DROP DOWN OPTIONS Up to 6 more additional drop down menus can be made available when you create your data input form. Unlike the "ADDITIONAL DROP DOWN OPTIONS" above they work differently and do not include an area for sub supplier codes. Here you simply enter the variouse options into an input box. Each option should be on a new line. You can enter as many as you like. You also have an option to display them to your customers as a selection box where they choose one option or just as a list. The full list is intended for information only and should not be used for online shopping. It is however, good for CMS sites. SAVING YOUR PRODUCT INFORMATION When you are happy that the product information is correct press the "CONTINUE & SAVE" button located at the bottom of the page. You will then have the option to upload your photos or return to the "Admin" menu. Back to main menu Back to Enter New Product ADD MAIN PHOTO Once you save your product information you are provided with this sites unique product reference number. You also have the opportunity to alter any details, go to the "Admin" menu or upload your main photo. Your main photo is used in the search results and as the main photo displayed on the product page. You can also add up to six more photos and a brand name logo later in this process. Please Note: Uploading any standard GIF, TIF, JPG or BMP photos is easy. The script does all of the uploading and re-sizing necessary. If you use other image formats they may or may not work. The script uses a "Perl" module called Image::Magick to convert your image file format to JPG. If your file format is supported then great if not you will need to re-save them in a compatible format. TO ADD YOUR MAIN PHOTO Simply click the "browse" button and find the image to be upload on your PC. Once you find the image file to be uploaded select it so that it appears in the input box. Now press the "UPLOAD" button. Your photo will now be uploaded and saved onto your server. This process can take a while if large original images are used. It very much depends on the bandwidth of your Internet connection. Please be patient. When this process is completed you will be informed with the message "Your Main Photo for has now been saved under this sites new REF NUMBER XXX". NOTE: If your photo does not upload properly this is usually because the image size is too big. Under 500k is safe, however, large files over this size may cause problems. Alternatively, the image format may be corrupted or does not fully comply with industry standards (some graphic packages are notorious for this). If this is the case you may need to re-size and re-save the image in another graphics application before uploading in JPG or GIF format to be safe. To view the image or add more photos click the "CLICK HERE" link. Alternatively, you can return to the "Admin" menu. Back to main menu Back to Enter New Product ADD / EDIT PHOTOS, BRAND LOGO or MOVIE If you are accessing this area using "EDIT PHOTOS and MOVIES" in the main "Admin" menu then enter our unique site reference number for your product into the input box provided and then press the "ENTER" button. You will then be taken to that products photo page. If you have entered your main photo for the first time and clicked the "CLICK HERE" link you are already here. This is your products photo page. It displays all the photos that are uploaded for your product. If no photo for the relevant image is uploaded the text message "No photo is uploaded" will be displayed instead of the actual photo. Here you can add / edit your main photo, brand logo and up to six smaller images that can be displayed on your product page. The method to do this is exactly the same as uploading your main photo. TO ADD/EDIT A PHOTO Simply click the "browse" button next to the image you want to upload and find it on your PC. Once you find the image file to be uploaded select it so that it appears in the input box. Enter the maximum height that the image will be displayed at. If it is left blank then the default is 250. If you have already entered a default height this will be displayed. Usually most photos behave and display properly. This parameter provides an override for very thin portrait photos. Now press the "UPLOAD" button. Your photo will now be uploaded and saved onto your server. This process can take a while if large original images are used. It very much depends on the bandwidth of your Internet connection. Please be patient. To view the image or add more photos click the "CLICK HERE" link. Alternatively, you can return to the "Admin" menu. NOTE: If your photo does not upload properly this is usually because the image size is too big. Under 500k is safe, however, large files over this size may cause problems. Alternatively, the image format may be corrupted or does not fully comply with industry standards (some graphic packages are notorious for this). If this is the case you may need to re-size and re-save the image in another graphics application before uploading in JPG or GIF format to be safe. BRAND LOGO Your brand logo is associated with the "Brand Name" and only needs to be uploaded once. Any future products entered with the same brand name will have this logo automatically displayed in the search results and product page if the appropriate options have been selected. IMPORTANT! Any previous products that were entered before your brand logo is uploaded will not display this image. They will have to be entered manually. It is therefore important to upload this image straight away each time a new brand logo is required. Back to main menu Back to Enter New Product ADD MOVIE The use of movies and presentations to promote products and services is now becoming very popular with many companies. This facility allows you to upload most standard movie formats such as animated GIF Flash and MPEG, MOV formats. Others may be supported. All formats other than GIF require an appropriate “Media Player” to display the movie properly. These are normally included within your browser software. Here you have two options. Upload the movie file or files to the server. To do this simply “brows” your computer and select the file you wish to upload. Then press the “UPLOAD MOVIE FILE” button. Once the file has uploaded a new screen will be displayed that provides you with the server URL that the file has been uploaded to. You can either go back to the MOVIE upload page to enter another file or “Activate” the movie (see below). Enter The URL of the movie. This can be located on your server if you uploaded a movie file or pointed to an existing movie anywhere on the Internet. Simply enter the URL in the box provided. It is also important to ensure you enter the maximum width and height of the movie. If the movie width and height are to large to fit into the designated area they will be reduced proportionally to fit. The exception to this is where you are designing custom templates. The width and height are then fixed at the size you provide. If you are using our default product page template created by using “CREATE DEFAULT PRODUCT PAGE TEMPLATE” in the admin menu then you have the option to display the other photos or not by clicking the appropriate button. To activate the Movie URL so that it will be displayed click the “THIS IS MY MOVIE URL” button. The screen will then change and display the Movie located at the URL and sizes specified. If your movie does not display properly then there is a problem. First go back and ensure that the URL entered is correct and that it is a valid movie file. The Media player presented is based on the following. Movie links that contain "swf" or "flv" are provided with a flash player. All other formats assume "Microsoft Media Player" is to be used. In certain situations you may be linking to a "swf" url that is embeded into a script. Example: "http://www.youtube.com/v/uNFs5nqY4sQ&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=un&feature=player_embedded&fs=1". Even though this is a "swf" file no mention of "swf" is included in the URL link so we provide "Microsoft Media Player" as the default media player. To overcome this problem simply add "&swf" or "&flv" to the end of the URL link calling the "swf" file. Example: "http://www.youtube.com/v/uNFs5nqY4sQ&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=un&feature=player_embedded&fs=1&swf". The "OnlineShop" software then provides the correct flash media player. IMPORTANT!! Certain servers will limit the size of the movie file that can be displayed. If you get a blank box with sound then this may be the case. You may also get some display problems with early versions of “Firefox” and “Opera” depending which file format you use. If this is the case then download the latest plug-ins for the browser in question. Back to main menu Back to Enter New Product TO EDIT EXISTING PRODUCT The beauty of a Content Management System (CMS) is the ability to change your product details without having to phone and pay your web designer every time you wish to make simple alterations. You can do it yourself. NO HTML knowledge is required. All you need to do is enter our unique site reference number for your product into the input box provided and then press the "ENTER" button. You will then be taken to that products ADD / EDIT page. It is exactly the same process as entering a product for the first time. The only difference is that all of the input fields that you originally entered will be displayed or highlighted for you. Just locate the areas you wish to change and alter them. Any alterations will be instantly saved and displayed in "Dynamic mode" once you press the "CONTINUE & SAVE" button. Just remember to press the "REFRESH SITE MAP LINK" in the "Admin" menu to update your site map. If you wish to edit/rename or remove an existing sub category level see "ADD/EDIT REMOVE CATEGORY DETAILS" in the main admin menu. Back to main menu TO DELETE AN EXISTING PRODUCT This utility enables you to find products using either our unique site reference number or by the supplier code. The reason for this is that some customers place the same product in different categories. If you use the supplier code the software will find all the products listed under it and display which category they are in. The product displays both the "site reference number" and the "supplier code". TO DELETE Select the product that you wish to delete and click the "DELETE THIS ITEM" link. That product will then be deleted. Back to main menu LIST ALL PRODUCTS OUT OF STOCK This utility simply lists all products that have been marked as "out of stock" (see ADD EDIT PRODUCTS above). It contains basic text information and a link to the EDIT page for each product. Back to main menu LIST ALL PRODUCTS Same as above except that all products are listed no matter what their status is. Back to main menu LIST ALL PRODUCTS ON SALE Same as above except that only products that have been marked as "on sale" are listed. Back to main menu LIST PRODUCT IN "NO~1" POSITION This utility places the product entered into the top position of the category search results. In other words it is displayed first. When another product is placed into top position the previous product is moved down the list by 1. To place your product in number 1 position, enter the products "site reference number" into the box provided and then press "ENTER". Your product will then be displayed. To confirm click the "Make Number 1 NOW" link. IMPORTANT! By using this utility you can control what image is displayed in your sub category boxes. This is because the image displayed is the first one found that matches the criteria. Please Note: This utility does not have any effect on the "Keyword Search" as it sequentially goes through all products listed and works in a different way. Back to main menu REMOVE CUSTOMER TESTIMONIAL This feature can be switched "ON" or "OFF" using the "DEFAULT PRODUCT PAGE TEMPLATE" link located in the "Admin" menu (see "Show Customer Referals"). It should only be used if you are using this software as an online shopping site. This feature allows your customers to enter their own customer testimonials only if they have purchased goods from the site. It is based on a 1-5 star rating. We confirm the customer details entered on the "customer review form" are correct by comparing the email address they used to purchase goods with and the email address they use to add a testimonial to the site. Only if it matches is the testimonial then allowed and added. If this information is confirmed the review will instantly be added to the site in dynamic mode. Please Note: If we allowed anyone to do it you would get all sorts of problems. Where no customer testimonial is present for a product the default is 5 star recommended by your company name. TO REMOVE It is always nice to have genuine feedback but on some occasions you may find that your customer is being unkind or abusive. If this is the case we give you the option to remove their "CUSTOMER TESTIMONIAL". Firstly we send you an email that tells you their comments. This email also contains a direct link to remove the testimonial should you wish to do so. You can also respond to the customer with the reasons why by simply replying to the email we sent to you.. You can also remove "CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS" by selecting the "REMOVE CUSTOMER TESTIMONIAL" option in the main "Admin" menu. Simply enter our "products site reference number" in the box provided then press the "ENTER" button. All of the customer testimonials will then be displayed for this product (Max 20). Best testimonials listed first. Choose the customer testimonial you wish to delete and press the "DELETE" link associated with it. The selected customers testimonial will then be deleted. It is always a good idea to then refresh the site to ensure that the deleted testimonial has also been deleted from your real web pages. Not just the dynamic ones (see "REFRESH SITE MAP" in the "Admin" menu). CHOOSING YOUR PAYMENT GATEWAY There are now a number of credit card "payment gateways" offering "online credit card payment" on the Internet such as: PayPal WorldPay Barclays HSBC And many others *This site supports PayPal and Worldpay as standard. Other payment gateways can be added using your own custom code. By using an existing "payment gateway provider" like PayPal you don't have to worry about the security problems or verifying credit card details - this is done for you by the gateway provider - making the system easier and cheaper for you to implement with the peace of mind that security of credit card details is someone else's responsibility. All it requires is the correct payment "fields of information" are passed to the payment gateway for them to handle your payment request. This is done using a simple HTML form. If we have an existing template for your chosen "payment gateway" we will display it for you. All you need to do then is include some custom variables that are generated by the script. If not you can create your own template. Before deciding on a preferred "payment gateway" we strongly recommend that you first research the costs and how long they keep your money before payment is issued as they can vary significantly. "PayPal" currently offers the best terms and is now widely recognised although, your bank manager may disagree. The final decision is of course yours. No matter which "payment gateway" you choose you will need to register with them and create an account. Only when it is fully activated can this site provide you with online credit card support. Back to main menu CONFIGURING YOUR PAYMENT GATEWAY Please Note: At no stage on this site do we ask or request your "payment gateways" access password. ONLY if you wish us to work on your behalf in configuring the "payment gateway" details for you do we then need this information. Even then we then assume that any current passwords used are changed upon completion so there is no doubt as to who could be accessing your secure information. If you are using an agent to handle this procedure for you then you should ensure the same safeguard is in place. From the "Admin" menu select one of the three options from "CONFIGURE YOUR PAYMENT GATEWAY". If you are using PayPal or Worldpay select the appropriate option. These are our standard defaults and include the necessary templates that are required to pass payment information to them. If you are using any other "payment gateway" select the "Custom" option from the drop down menu. You can then create and enter your own custom template. See below for further information. You will then be taken to the "Payment Configuration Form". Payment Configuration Form From the "Admin" menu you can select any one of the three options from "CONFIGURE YOUR PAYMENT GATEWAY". You will then be taken to the "Payment Configuration Form". This form allows you to configure your site for online credit card transactions and / or offline cash / cheque payments. CHEQUE / CASH PAYMENTS If you only wish to be paid offline then simply select "YES" to the Cash / Cheque option. Then select "NO" to Credit card payments. Scroll to the bottom of the page and press the "SUBMIT" button. By doing this you are telling the script to provide your customers with only a "cheque/cash" payment option when they go to the "CKECKOUT" page. When the customer proceeds to the next stage a pro-forma invoice is displayed on the screen that the customer can save or print out instead of a link to a "credit card" payment gateway. If you wish to offer your customers a choice of payment methods then simply select "YES" to the Cash / Cheque option and then select "YES" to credit card payments (see below). Back to main menu CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS This requires that you have a valid "Payment Gateway" account. If you only wish to be paid online by credit card then simply select "YES" to the "Credit Card" option. Then select "NO" to the "Cash / Cheque" option. By doing this you are telling the script to provide your customers with only a "credit card" payment option when they go to the "CKECKOUT" page. When the customer proceeds to the next stage a link to your "credit card" payment gateway is then provided. If you wish to offer your customers a choice of payment methods then simply select "YES" to the Cash / Cheque option (see above) and select "YES" to Credit card payments. IF YOU SELECTED "YES" TO CREDIT CARD PAYMENT We assume that you have a valid account with your "payment gateway" provider and that you can obtained the relevant information required from their site. This can depend on how you have configured your "payment gateway" parameters. If you are using "PayPal" or "WorldPay" then your job is made easier because we have created basic templates for you. If you are using another payment gateway then this code will need to be entered by yourself (see examples below). Ensure that you enter our special commands where required. These are replaced by the scripts variables and passed to the payment script provided by your "payment gateway". CONFIRM YOUR PAYMENT GATEWAY NAME (REQUIRED) The name you enter here is displayed in the "CHECKOUT" area. This is simply so that your customer knows who will be processing their online payment. YOUR PAYMENT GATEWAY URL (REQUIRED) This is the URL that you would normally include in the forms "ACTION" area. It is the URL that we need to send your payment information too. For example: If you are using "Paypal" this value would be "https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" It is different for each credit card transaction company and is available from your "payment gateway" provider. YOUR "PAYMENT GATEWAY" ACCOUNT VALIDATION (REQUIRED). When you open up an account with your "payment gateway" you are allocated a unique account number or email address. This account validation is used by the "payment gateway" to open your account for payments. It is a variable that is passed by our script to your "payment gateway" when the link is clicked. The variable you enter here replaces the <#account_validation#> command in the payment template (see below). It is different for each credit card transaction company and is available from your "payment gateway" provider. YOUR RETURN URL TO THIS SITE OR SCRIPT (OPTIONAL) Depending on how you have configured your "payment gateway" you can instruct them to return to a specified URL after payment has been made. This can be your home page or a CGI script. The URL that you enter here simply tells your "payment gateway" the URL to go to after the transaction process is completed. For more information on this process please see the instructions provided by your payment gateway providor or "MANUAL OR AUTOMATIC INVOICE ENTRY" below. The variable you enter here replaces the <#return_url#> command in the payment template (see below). ENTER THE CURRENCY YOU WISH TO BE PAID IN (REQUIRED) This is usually in the form "GBP" or "USD" etc. Although, different payment gateways may have different formats and you should check with them first. This variable should not be confused with the "Currency Symbol" option located in the "ADMIN" menu under "PRICE CHECK & CURRENCY". This variable needs to be in a format that your payment gateway recognises. The variable you enter here replaces the <#account_currency#> command in the payment template (see below). RETURN AUTHORISATION CODE (OPTIONAL) This is only required if you have purchased a custom CGI script from us that handles "AUTOMATIC INVOICE PAYMENTS" (see below). Even then not every payment gateway uses them. If they are required then you need to first obtain this code from your "payment gateway" provider. This parameter is very rarely used and can be skipped in most cases. The main purpose of a "return authorisation code" is to enable the payment gateway to confirm that you are the valid owner of the account and that the information they send to you is going to the correct person. It is only used where information is being sent to a CGI script for "AUTOMATIC INVOICE PAYMENTS" using the "RETURN URL" parameter. Please Note: PayPal do use a "return authorisation code" procedure when returning to a CGI script. HIDDEN CODE HTML The payment information is sent to your "payment gateway" using a HTML form with hidden input fields. This just means that they are not visible to the user. Each "payment gateway" provider has different variable names that need to be compatible with their payment scripts. For example: "PayPal" uses the variable name "business" for account validation. input type="hidden" name="business" value="<#account_validation#>" Whereas "Worldpay" uses "instId". input type=hidden name="instId" value="<#account_validation#>" In this case the value of the parameter is replaced by the <#account_validation#> command that we provide. Other "name values" are replaced by using the following special commands Variable commands inputed by you using the "Payment Configuration Form"; <#account_validation#> <#return_url#> <#account_currency#> Variable commands replaced by the script; <#total_price#> Total order price generated by the script including delivery. <#order_description#> Order description generated by the script. <#order_number#> Numeric order number only e.g. 10000. <#payment_number#> "Order_" plus numeric order number" e.g. "Order_10000". If you are using either "PayPal" or "Worldpay" we provide default templates for them that include the correct "name values". Our special commands are also already imbedded in the code displayed in this area. Unless you have to enter additional "named values" then we recommend that you simply leave this area alone. CUSTOM TEMPLATES FOR OTHER PAYMENT GATEWAYS. If you are using any other "payment gateway" then you will need to obtain the "name" values" for the form and associate these values with our special commands. The "values" required are provided by your "payment gateway" (see their site for details). To help you we provide an example of the "Worldpay" template. You can then simply change the Worlpay "name values" with those supplied by your payment gateway. For example if your "name value" for currency is "int_curr" then just replace the equivalent value "currency" in the "Worldpay example". Replace the Worldpay HTML input type=hidden name="currency" value="<#account_currency#>" With input type=hidden name="int_curr" value="<#account_currency#>" From the Worlpay example you will also notice some "name values" that do not include our special commands. These are additional "name values" that do not require our script to convert but are required to make Worldpay work properly. You should delete these "hidden input fields" and enter your own where needs be. If you do not understand HTML forms please, contact us, or your local agent for further help and advice. YOUR PAYMENT GATEWAY LOGO Where no logo is uploaded the following text button will be displayed "Click here to pay now". Before uploading the logo ensure it has already been saved at the size you wish it to be displayed. Then use the "BROWSE" button to find the file you wish to upload. Once it is selected the file name and path will appear in the box provided. TO SAVE YOUR PAYMENT DETAILS Press the "SUBMIT" button located at the bottom of the page. You will then have the opportunity to check everything is working and the "Hidden HTML Code" is correct. Back to main menu MANUAL OR AUTOMATIC INVOICE ENTRY When a customer purchases goods using your chosen credit card "payment gateway" such as "PayPal" you will receive an email from them that informs you of the transaction details. This information includes your order number that we generate for you. Depending on how your "payment gateway" has been configured one of three things can then happen. After payment the customer did not know where to go because your "payment gateway" configuration did not automatically bring them back to your site. The customer will receive the same order information as you by email that includes your order number on it. After payment the customer was returned to your home page after the transaction was completed because your "payment gateway" configuration was told to do so. The customer will receive the same order information as you by email that includes your order number on it. After payment the customer was returned to a special CGI script that automatically added the order details to your site and also gives your customer the options to view/save the order and/or return to your home page. This is because your "payment gateway" configuration was told to do so. The customer will also receive the same "payment gateway" order information as you by email that includes your order number on it. The only difference here is that your order details have already been saved on the site. As you can appreciate this can be more complex to configure than options 1or 2. Both options 1 and 2 require you to login to your "Admin" menu and "MANUALY" enter your customer "order number" using the "MANUAL ORDER PAYMENT" utility located in the "Admin" menu. Only when you do this does your customer get a confirmation email from you to say that you have actually received the order and it is recorded on your site as paid. In most cases this is not a problem and is by far the cheapest option. It just takes a little effort from you. If however, you want this process to be done "AUTOMATICALLY" then we may need to write a customised CGI script for you. The basic return payment scripts for PayPal and WorldPay are included free (see paypal_payment.pl and worldpay_payment.pl in your CD's cgi-bin directory). Any custom upgrades to these standard programs or custom scripts for other payment gateways are subject to a fee. Be warned! It is not cheap! It will cost you a few hundred pounds at least. We only recommend having a custom designed "AUTOMATIC" script written if you are receiving enough orders each day to make it cost effective. For further information or help in configuring your "payment gateway" options please contact your agent or email getbiz4u.com Please Note: Cash pro-forma invoices always have to be added manually once payment is recieved. Back to main menu ORDER UTILITIES TO VIEW AN INDIVIDUAL ORDER To view an order, simply enter the "order number" that we created for you into the box provided and then press the "ENTER BUTTON". You are then shown a copy of the invoice, products and prices along with the customer delivery and contact details as entered by the customer. The status of the invoice is also displayed. This can be either "WAITING FOR PAYMENT CONFIRMATION", "ORDER WAITING TO BE SENT TO DISPATCH" or "ORDER SENT TO DISPATCH ON (DATE)". In the "Product Ref "column you will see the supplier reference number as a link. When you click this link your supplier contact details for this product will be displayed in a new window. This area also includes your "supplier product code/s" and our site reference number displayed at a larger size. If the invoice status displays "ORDER WAITING TO BE SENT TO DISPATCH" contacted the supplier/s and place the order. Once completed you then need to click the "CONFIRM ORDER IS NOW DISPATCHED" link located at the bottom of the page. This then alters the status of the invoice to "ORDER SENT TO DISPATCH ON (DATE)". Back to main menu LIST PAID ORDERS BY MONTH OR YEAR This utility allows you to list all the "paid" orders that have been received in the month selected. To do this highlight the month you wish to search in the drop down menu. To list all orders received in a year select the "Full Year" option. Then enter the year that the search is to be performed for in the box provided. This should be in the format 07, 08 or 11, 24. For example to search for orders received in March 2008 select March from the drop down menu and enter 08 in the year box. When you have done this press the "Enter" button. All orders for this period are now displayed on the screen in a list format. If the order status is "ORDER WAITING TO BE SENT TO DISPATCH" it will be displayed in pink. If the order status is "ORDER SENT TO DISPATCH ON (DATE)" it will be displayed in grey. To view an order click the order number link associated with the order. To contact a customer by email click the "email" link located in the "customer contact details" area. The individual order/s postage and goods value are displayed separately and provide a breakdown of the total order cost, they are also totalled at the bottom of the page for your information. Back to main menu SEARCH FOR CUSTOMER ORDERS This utility searches for orders placed by either the customers email address, postcode/zip or telephone number. It is very useful where taking telephone or email enquiries from the customer and they do not know or have forgotten their order number. It can also be used to see how many times they have ordered to identify if they are regular or occasional buyers. From the drop down menu select which option you wish to use. Then enter the search parameter into the "search criteria" box provided. This can be part or all of the search criteria. For example. If you wish to find a customer with a postcode/zip you can enter the full postcode or just part of it. If the customer postcode is SK4 ORH then a search for SK4 or 4OR will produce a resulting match. Spaces and "upper/lower text" are ignored so do not worry about them e.g. "sk4 Orh" is the same as "SK4 ORH" or "Sk4orh". The same rule applies for the other options. Searches can be made for just orders that have been paid or all orders that include paid and pro-forma invoices. The display provided is in the same format as "LIST ODERS" above. However, only this customers information is displayed. Back to main menu OVERRIDE SCROLLING TEXT When viewing, adding or checking out of your shopping cart we display default scrolling text that moves accross the screen and promotes your postage rates. The default text displayed depends on the postage settings entered. This facility alows you to override the default settings and enter any text you llike. Use it to as an advertisement to promote your services or provide up to date news etc. Simply enter the text you want to display into the "Enter your scrolling text box". You can also configure the font name, color, size and etc. using the input boxes provided. Once completed simply save the settings. The new text will then be displayed. Back to main menu CREATING DATABASE STRUCTURE FOR ONLINESHOP IMPORT PROGRAM OnlineShop provides the facility for you to upload a data file either generated by our back-up routine or exported from a database application such as “Microsoft Access/Excel” plus any other database application that can import / export text delimited files. The purpose of the upload file is to simply create the category listings and upload the product data contained within your data file to the site. It can be used as a back-up should your site go down or site up-date if you wish to control the sites category and product data locally from within a database application. When uploading a data file to OnlineShop it requires that you adhere to our file formatting so that the upload script “productupload.pl” understands what it is supposed to do. If the uploaded file is not formatted to our specification then you will get an error message. When you create a “Back-Up” file the OnlineShop format is already done for you. See Site Back-Up. The file can then be directly imported into your database application or uploaded to the site when required. NOTE: When importing a back-up file into your database remember that the file structure is not comma or tab delimited. The delimiter is a chevron “^”. It must be selected when importing the data. The same applies if you wish to export the file for uploading to OnlineShop. Any "new line" characters included in text lists are imported as \n and should not be altered. The "OnlineShop" data format for custom "Database" users. The "OnlineShop" data format requires that the first field (field1) on each line/row in your database contains one of the following commands. These commands are then followed by the data that you wish upload. (Required) The first line of the file is a special header called ”WithFieldNum” this tells the script which "OnlineShop" field number is associated with the product data entered in your database field number boxes. For example. Your Product data field number 4 may contain the product description details that relate to our field number product data field 5. Altering these field numbers is called field association see below. If this header does not exist in the correct format then you will get an error message when uploading your file. (Required) The Main Category command called “MainCat”. This tells the script that a new main category is to be created. (Optional) This is then followed by the command “SubCat1” if a sub category level 1 is required. (Optional) This is then followed by the command/s “SubCat2” if further sub-sub categories are to be listed under “SubCat1” above. (Optional) Repeat stages 3 and 4 if required. (Optional) When no more sub categories are required you enter each product that is to be listed under the main category heading on a new line. The command for this is “Product”. (Required) When all the Main Category , Sub categories and Products have been listed you then let the script know with the command “End MainCat”. This tells the script that all details for the main category have now been entered and to store them. To add another main category, repeat the above starting with the command “MainCat” and finishing with the command "End MainCat". Example below: Field1 Field2 Field3 Field4 Field5 WithFieldNum 2 3 4 5 MainCat Elecrical Goods electricalgoods SubCat1 Kitchen kitchen SubCat2 Food Mixers foodmixers SubCat2 Toasters toasters SubCat1 Drills drills SubCat2 Cordless Drills cordlessdrills Product 101 Main image url Product name1 Product Description1 Product 102 Main image url Product name2 Product Description2 Product 103 Main image url Product name3 Product Description3 EndMainCat Main & Sub Categories. Each new category needs a name. This is entered into field2. The category name can be changed if required. Field3 also requires a label name. This must be in lower case font and can only contain the characters a-z, 0-9. The category label is used to create the directory structure for the site. Once a category label has been created it should never be changed. By default it is based on the original categories name. Creating Your Database Template. As you can see creating the database templates for your categories is fairly straightforward. It is a different matter when creating the field template for the “Products” command. If you import one of our back-up files you will notice that the "Product" command will contain around 130 fields. This is the default that caters for any combination possible. It is extremely rare that they will all be used. Do not worry. You can use field association to limit this to a reasonable number within your database application. This is controlled by the “WithFieldNum” command line. This command tells the script which "OnlineShop" field number is associated with the product data entered in your database field number boxes. For example, your “Product” data Field4 may contain the product description details that relate to our data Field 5. Altering these field numbers is called field association see below. Note: This header command is required and if it does not exist in the correct format then you will get an error message when uploading your file. Unfortunately because you can configure your own data input forms within “OnlineShop” we cannot be sure what all the various field numbers do. However, we can give you the most common attributes. These are listed below. By far the simplest method of creating a database template for “OnlineShop” is to actually add some products and create the category structure online using our “Admin” software. Once you are happy that you have covered most product entry scenarios back the site up and import it into your database. Then delete the data columns that contain no data ensuring that the ones still left associate with the “WithFieldNum” command lines left and associate with our import structure. When you have done this save the template in your database aplication. It should be fairly obviose what does what, from the data displayed. Common field numbers for “Product” data *Required Item reference number Field2 Item Name Field4 In Stock (yes/no) Field7. If this field is “null” or “no” the item will not be displayed. The Main category name Field33 Please note if no category label is used and you change the name of your main category then the software will think you are creating a new one. The old one will no longer be shown. The Sub category level1 name (if selected) Field36 Please note if no category label is used and you change the name of your sub category1 then the software will think you are creating a new one. The old one will no longer be shown. The Sub category level2 name (if selected) Field74 Please note if no category label is used and you change the name of your sub category2 then the software will think you are creating a new one. The old one will no longer be shown. *All others are optional and depend on your configuration. Popular options listed below. Main photo URL Field3 (gets photo from URL entered if main photo does not exist. Must be in full format beginning with http://). Item description Field5 Suppliers product code Field6 On sale (yes/no) Field8 Your sale price Field9 RRP Price Field10 Product purchase price Field11 Product weight in Kg Field12 Product max height in cm Field13 Meta Description Field19 Meta Keywords Field20 Meta title Field21 Technical information Field38 Product brand name Field71 Last entry date Field105 Date of Birth Field109 Add to shopping basket Field129 Optional field for mixed CMS and Shopping Option Fields Create them first and import the results. These can be in many various formats depending on your sites configuration. Delete the columns you do not require. Custom Fields. Again create them first and import them into your database. These can be in many various formats depending on your sites configuration. Delete the columns you do not require. Manual override for product postage per item ordered. Standard local postage Field15 Premium local postage Field16 Standard International postage Field17 Premium International postage Field18 When exporting a file from your database remember three points. Always use the chevron “^” as the delimiter. Tab and comma delimiters will not work and give you an error message. Save as text “none”. Do not include text brackets. If you make a mistake do not worry. Just correct it and upload again. WARNING!! Your exported database file will overwrite your sites existing category and product listings based on the date it was created on. In other words do not add products to the site online and expect to see them if your upload file was created before they were added. For this reason it is always a good idea to back the site up before uploading your new data file using "Site Back-up". Just in-case! Back to main menu