Jump to content

Newbie needs help for online store


vegasfox

Recommended Posts

Ok...I need some advice.

 

I have done a website for a business (with very little knowledge of what I was doing)

 

My question is this....

 

They have thousands of products they want their customers to be able to view...but they DO NOT want a shopping cart. (Even though I have tried to convince them)

What would be the best way to display all the products in multiple catagories?? (keeping in mind that I'm still learning CSS, and haven't even touched on PHP & MYSQL)

 

I have it set up now in tables and it's a complete mess.

 

Any advise ?!?!?!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My advice is to set the whole thing up using one of the ready made shopping cart software and just disable the cart functionallity. Reason being is that if they ever choose to sell online via shopping cart then all you have to do is turn it on or enable it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks...

 

I thought of that, only problem is they don't want to dish out any more money...and all that software is so expensive.

I have seen the "ready made" ecommerce through various hosting companies, but with as many products as they have I would have to get the "unlimited" and once again, they said "no" to the extra $30/month.

 

Maybe it would be worth my sanity to pay that myself...LOL

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks...

 

I thought of that, only problem is they don't want to dish out any more money...and all that software is so expensive.

I have seen the "ready made" ecommerce through various hosting companies, but with as many products as they have I would have to get the "unlimited" and once again, they said "no" to the extra $30/month.

 

Maybe it would be worth my sanity to pay that myself...LOL

 

Depends on what site you have done already. If it is CMS, more likely it has plugins. If it is just HTML pages, install CMS (Drupal or Wordpress) and add shopping cart plugin. Or use photogallery script plugin,if you are sure they wont change their mind and will go for online sales.

I've just set up Zen Cart store which is open source and has an option to peform only as catalog. It is not bad for free option and there is documentation on every sneeze, but it still quite a bit of a monster. Your template is scattered all over the place and you actually need to perform Search everytime you need to find anything in it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Search the open source communities. I bet you can find hundreds of pretty awesome ready to go shoppingcart or even product catalog CMSs out there free to grab.

 

That way you would save a ton of work, and your client will save a ton of money and happy client is a good client is a client who will recommend you to their friends.

That way you can focus on creating a nice layout for the site, incorperate that to the system, and you are ready to go.

 

 

Seems like the easiest way to solve your headache from my point of view.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks...

 

I thought of that, only problem is they don't want to dish out any more money...and all that software is so expensive.

I have seen the "ready made" ecommerce through various hosting companies, but with as many products as they have I would have to get the "unlimited" and once again, they said "no" to the extra $30/month.

 

Maybe it would be worth my sanity to pay that myself...LOL

You have to ask yourself this: How long would it take you to code it yourself? Are they paying you for this?

 

By using a shopping cart software you will probably save yourself a enormous amount of time in entering thousands of products. Most shopping cart has a feature where you can upload a single image for each product and it will create thumbs, detail and large image views. That alone is a time saver.

 

As for online ecommerce store, I would not use it just for the sake that you are limited in customizations and recurring monthly cost.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...