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BasicCart - documentation

BasicCart is a basic shopping cart system which works in conjunction with the secure server to obtain orders and payment information securely.

Basic features:

• Multiple products and categories
• Automatic calculation of shipping and tax
• Acceptance of credit card, check, and post orders
• Optional ship-to information
• Customizable storefront generation

BasicCart does NOT support:

• Real-time commerce
• Customizable products (i.e. sizes, colors, personalizing)
• Inventory, upselling, order fulfillment
• Customizable checkout pages (except headers and footers)
• Management with Microsoft FrontPage

Online Resources:

Try a demo of BasicCart. BasicCart is included in our goldWEB and platinumWEB hosting accounts.

more information about the supported shopping cart systems
read the complete BasicCart Online Documentation

We highly recommend Miva Merchant for those interested in features unsupported by BasicCart.

Secure Connection (SSL)

Xenoplanet hosts secure sites of two different types.

https://wwwXX.xenoplanet.com/yourdomain.com/
(shared key using the Xenoplanet Secure Servers)

https://www.yourdomain.com/
(your own key, requires Verisign or Thawte SSL Server Certificate)

The first option involves no setup fees. For those sites wishing to project a more professional image, the second option involves a $70 setup fee, plus a $345 fee for a one-year Verisign key, or $125 for a one-yearThawte key.

Read more about SSL on theSecure Server Guide

Before you start

1. Determine what products you'll be offering through your storefront
2. Organize these products into categories (i.e. "dairy", "meats", "deli", etc.)
3. Create an image (.gif or .jpg) for each category
4. Create an image (.gif or .jpg) for each product

General overview

Storefronts can be created and administered through the storefront administration system in the customer Control Panel. We recommend that you thoroughly read this documentation before creating your first storefront. While most sites will probably only operate one storefront, the shopping cart system does support multiple storefronts per customer.

The shopping cart system allows you to add, modify, and delete products and product categories, as well as modify the look and feel, shipping behavior, payment methods, and notification configuration of your storefront.

Each time that you make modifications to your storefront, you need to "commit" these changes by selecting "regenerate storefront" within the storefront administration system. This creates/modifies the storefront, which will be found (depending on the type of SSL service you currently have) at:

https://wwwXX.xenoplanet.com/{yourdomain.com}/cart/{cart_name}/
(where XX is your secure server number - please request this information per eMail)

or

https://www.yourdomain.com/cart/{cart_name}/

Viewing orders

To view current orders, visit:

https://wwwXX.xenoplanet.com/{yourdomain.com}/cart/{cart_name}/admin.html

or

https://www.yourdomain.com/cart/{cart_name}/admin.html

You will be prompted for a password, which must match the password you select within the storefront administration system.

Functional overview

Follow these steps to place a new storefront online:

1. Create a new storefront
2. Create product categories
3. Add products to these categories
4. Modify the storefront look and feel
5. Change shipping, payment, and notification behavior
6. Regenerate the storefront

Remember that to commit any change made to the storefront, you must select "Regenerate Storefront" from the administration menu.

Creating a storefront

1. Visit the storefront administration system in the control panel.
2. Choose an identifier for your storefront and press "Create a New Storefront"
3. Press "Main Menu". This takes you to the main administration menu for your new storefront.

Creating product categories

Product categories are used to identify groups of products. A grocery store might use product categories such as "dairy", "meats", "deli", etc. Each product category is associated with an image; this image is displayed at the top of the product listings for that particular category.

1. From the main administration menu, choose "Product Categories"
2. Enter the category name
3. Enter the full URL of the image as you would type it into your browser, i.e. https://wwwXX.xenoplanet.com/{yourdomain.com}/category1.gif. Please note that all images included in secure HTML must also be secure.
4. Press "Add Category" to add the category

Adding products to product categories

Adding products correctly is one of the key steps in the setup process. Before adding products, it's best to have a product plan in mind. Keep descriptions and names consistent, and product codes logical.

1. From the main administration menu, choose "Add a Product"
2. Most fields are self explanatory; when specifying the image URL, you must specify the fully qualified URL. Please note that all images included in secure HTML must also be secure.
3. Press "Make these Changes" to add the product

Modifying the storefront look and feel

You'll probably want to give your storefront a custom look and feel -- headers, footers, graphics, colors, sidebars, etc. The shopping cart system places its dynamic content within your HTML headers and footers, as described below:

-- page header --
-- dynamic portion of the page, created by the storefront program --
-- your page footer --

From the main administration menu, choose "Look and Feel".

You can specify various document headers and footers, including those for the main menu, product listings pages, the "view cart" page, the "confirm order" page, etc. You can also specify the complete HTML for the "thank you for your order" page.

In addition, you can specify non-default buttons for "add item", "check out", "view order", "update order", "confirm order", and "continue shopping".

Changing shipping, payment, and notification behavior

Several additional options are available. By choosing "Shipping" from the main administration menu, you are able to specify different shipping methods and their price per pound, as well as minimum total shipping cost. For those who charge by product rather than by weight, simply enter your price per product into the "price per pound" column, and specify all products to be a weight of "1".

In addition, several payment methods may be defined (choose "Payment"). Please note: This system does not verify funds, charge credit cards, or transfer money into your account. It provides the ability to securely obtain credit card numbers. Actual processing of credit cards can be accomplished through your local bank.

The notification menu ("Notification"), allows you to specify who should be notified when a new order is received, as well as the subject and body of the message.

Committing changes by regenerating your storefront

Note: Most changes made to your shopping cart do not immediately take effect until you commit those changes. Once you are satisfied with the changes made, choose "Regenerate storefront" from the main administration menu. This will instantly regenerate your entire storefront, including any changes recently made. A message will be displayed indicating when the regeneration process is complete (this may take several seconds for larger storefronts).

Advanced features: creating a custom interface

It is advisable for those not familiar with the Xenoplanet storefront system to create a basic storefront before attempting to create a custom interface. A basic knowledge of the flow and principles of the storefront system is assumed.

You must initialize a cart, and create at least one product category.

Add products, as appropriate. The following information is required, as this information is displayed by the shopping cart "summary" screens, and is used to calculate totals: product code, product name, price, taxable, weight.

Certain fields in the "Look and Feel" section are irrelevant, and may be omitted. Be sure to include information for the "view cart", "confirm order", and "thank you" pages. You need not provide URLs for pictures, etc.

Remember to click "Regenerate Storefront" to commit changes.

Create custom HTML pages from scratch (or using your favorite editor) as appropriate. DO NOT place these files inside the /cart directory. Place them in your documents directory. The following information will help you link to the shopping cart system. Simply link these URLs from your static HTML:

Check Out:

https://wwwXX.xenoplanet.com/{yourdomain.com}/cart.cgi?checkout=1&cart={cart_name}

View Order:

https://wwwXX.xenoplanet.com/{yourdomain.com}/cart.cgi?viewcart=1&cart={cart_name}

Add Item:

https://wwwXX.xenoplanet.com/{yourdomain.com}/cart.cgi?item={item_code}&cart={cart_name}

Now, link to your custom HTML, as opposed to your /cart URL. You should also specify a continue_shopping_URL in the "look and feel" section.

Remember that {username} would be your login ID (i.e. yourname or yourdomain.com). The {cart_name} is the cart identification name which is selected when managing your cart.