Professional osCommerce Table Of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction

• Chapter 1: Introduction to E-Commerce with osCommerce
• The What and Why of osCommerce
• E-Commerce! What am I Doing?
• Do I Go For It or Not?
• Resources and Commitment
• Designing an E-Commerce Site
• Isolating the Site's Requirements
• Business-Related Needs
• Site Functionality
• Analyzing the Proposed Solution
• Feasibility
• Phone a Friend?
• Critical Versus Desirable Criteria
• Building an E-Commerce Site
• Development
• Testing and Debugging
• Deployment and Maintenance
• Summary

• Chapter 2: Setting Up the Development Environment
• Downloading Software
• MySQL
• Installing MySQL
• Testing MySQL
• PHP
• Installing PHP
• Configuring PHP
• Apache
• Installing Apache
• Configuring Apache to Work with PHP
• Testing Apache and PHP
• Why Won't the Darn Things Work?
• Testing Everything Together
• Why Won't the Darn Things Work Together?
• Downloading and Installing a PHP, Apache, and MySQL Package
• Testing PHP Triad
• Downloading and Installing osCommerce on Windows
• Installing osCommerce
• Configuring osCommerce
• Testing osCommerce
• Downloading and Installing osCommerce on Linux
• Troubleshooting
• Summary

• Chapter 3: How osCommerce Works
• osCommerce and Internet Technology
• osCommerce and PHP
• osCommerce and HTML
• osCommerce and MySQL
• The osCommerce Architecture
• The Online Store
• The osCommerce Online Community
• Contributions
• Forums
• Knowledge Base
• Documentation
• Bug and Progress Reports
• Summary

• Chapter 4: Basic Configuration
• The Administration Tool
• My Store
• Maximum and Minimum Values
• Images
• Customer Details
• Shipping and Packaging
• Product Listing
• Stock
• Logging
• Cache
• Email Options
• Download
• GZip Compression
• Sessions
• Summary

• Chapter 5: Working with Data
• How Do I Categorize My Data?
• Categorizing Contechst Books Products
• Preparing to Add Product Data
• Catalog
• Categories/Products
• Adding and Deleting Categories and Products
• Moving and Copying Categories and Products
• Product Attributes
• Manufacturers
• Reviews
• Specials
• Products Expected
• Customers
• Orders
• Viewing Reports
• Easy Populate
• Downloading and Installing Easy Populate
• Finding Your Way Around Easy Populate
• Using Easy Populate to Add Product Data
• Summary

• Chapter 6: Customization
• Form Follows Function
• Visual Design
• Functional Design
• Language
• Language Definitions
• english.php
• index.php
• Using HTML for Language Formatting
• Working with Boxes and Columns
• Removing a Box
• Moving Boxes
• Modifying Box Content
• Adding a Box
• Removing a Column
• Dealing with Images
• The images Folder
• Sizing and Naming Images
• Saving Product Images
• Graphics—Logos and Icons
• Creating and Inserting New Graphics
• Moving and Removing Graphics
• Background Images
• Button Images
• Customizations Using the Style Sheet
• Inserting Background Images
• Changing Colors and Fonts
• Miscellaneous Customizations
• Resizing Pages
• Adding Pages
• Emails
• Summary

• Chapter 7: Taxes, Payments, and Shipping
• Getting Paid
• Preparation
• Implementation
• Testing and Maintenance
• Locations and Taxes
• Tax Zones
• Tax Classes and Rates
• Getting Paid with PayPal
• Setting Up PayPal on osCommerce
• Connecting osCommerce and PayPal
• Working with PayPal
• Credit Card Payments
• The Credit Card Module
• The PsiGate Module
• Alternative Forms of Payments
• Checks and Money Orders
• Cash on Delivery
• Shipping
• Flat Rates
• Per Item
• Table Rate
• UPS and USPS
• Zone Rates
• Contechst Book's Shipping Solution
• Summary

• Chapter 8: Securing Your Store
• What's all This Security Business?
• The Main Players
• SSL
• Passwords
• Encryption
• Securing the Administration Tool
• Creating Password-Protected Folders
• Implementing SSL for the admin Folder
• Securing Payments
• The Front End of the Store
• The Back End of the Store
• PayPal Payments
• Credit Card Payments
• File-System Security
• Database Security
• Disaster Recovery
• Back Up Your Files
• Back Up Your Database
• Stay Up to Date
• Summary

• Chapter 9: Advanced Features
• Highlighting a Generic Process!
• The RSS Technology Feed
• What's All This RSS About?
• Using RSS Feeds
• Planning the Application
• Creating the Feed Table
• Creating the Aggregator
• Building the RSS Tech Feed Web Page
• Cross- and Up-Selling Features
• Installing the X-Sell Contribution
• catalog
• admin
• Using the X-Sell Contribution
• Adding Discount and Gift Voucher Facilities
• Installing the CCGV Contribution
• catalog
• admin
• Using the CCGV Contribution
• Gift Vouchers
• Discount Coupons
• Summary

• Chapter 10: Tools, Tips, and Tricks
• Tools
• Banner Manager
• phpMyAdmin
• Tips and Tricks
• Low Stock Reports
• Working with Downloadable Products
• Installing the Download Controller
• Working with the Download Controller
• Testing the Download Controller
• PayPal Trouble?
• Dynamic Box Headers
• Creating Matching Buttons
• Summary

• Chapter 11: Deployment and Maintenance
• Getting Ready to Deploy
• Make Sure the Host is Ready
• Get the Files Ready
• Get the Database Ready
• Transfer the Files
• FTP Drag and Drop
• FTP Utility
• FrontPage Extensions
• Setting Up the Site
• Set Up the Files
• Set Up the Database
• Configure the Site
• An Interesting Problem
• Testing
• Test the Online Store
• Re-Implement Security
• Test the Administration Tool
• Maintenance
• Summary

• Chapter 12: Building Your Business
• Marketing
• Research
• Advertising
• Using Google AdWords
• Generating Revenue from Your Site
• Affiliate Programs
• Become Active in the Community
• Search Engine Optimization
• Dropshipping
• Summary

• Appendix A: Troubleshooting
• Types of Errors
• An Effective Process for Dealing with Bugs
• Debugging Code Yourself
• Summary

• Index