In preparation for my two-month trip to Oregon, I'm tying up the loose ends that will be hard to handle from the woods. Making sure I'm ready to sell the new products I'll be creating is pretty high on the list.
So, in my "spare time" over the last few days, I made some big changes to the store on my website. I had been using a Rapidweaver plugin called PayLoom. Now I'm using a standalone PHP application called Zen Cart.
When I set up the site, I decided on Rapidweaver so I could create and manage it with minimal fuss. I've been a software and web developer for years, but decided to go for simplicity when setting up my own site.
PayLoom is a fantastic add-on. It lets me create a nice-looking web store with a few clicks. It handles image sizing, drop shadows and all those niceties for me. It's also DEAD SIMPLE to use.
So why would I abandon it? Well, the whole switch started innocently enough: I wanted to auto-generate an XML file to list my products in Froogle. So I searched and found Zen Cart. I was reluctant to turn my site into a Frankenstein kludge with one major feature being coded and maintained outside of Rapidweaver. Once I got looking at the feature set of Zen Cart, however, my opinion was swayed. Here are some of the features that caught my attention:
- credit card integration (PayLoom can just use PayPal)
- featured products
- special deals
- upcoming products
- coupons and discount codes
- shopping cart storage
- customer accounts
So I dug in and installed it. It's not for the feint of heart. The software developers make it all as easy as possible, but it still involves a number of steps:
- Set up MySQL
- Install and configure Zen Cart, including payment processing, SEO link module, etc.
- Enter products from the old store
- Set up and tweak Zen Cart appearance template
- Set up Google Base
- Install Froogle Feed
- Link it all into the Rapidweaver site
Well, it's set up, tested and pretty amazing in my opinion. Go take a look...
http://blossommerz.com/shop
Now comes the REAL work.... Rewriting the text with the concept of Froogle in mind. (Every product needs to be completely self-described without the context of my site.) Then, I need to reshoot all of the product photos. Oh, yeah, and design and weave new products...
2 comments:
No rest for the weary. :)
Enjoy your two month sojourn.
Cheers,
Laura
Too bad we did not get to have coffee like you wanted. Perhaps when you get back. I, myself, have been busy with work, but have been thinking about making woven goods to sell, too, however, I have other projects that I want to complete before I think about making woven goods to sell. I have, finally, been winding warp and, now, tying on the warp to complete a Valdres kristneteppe for my own wall and another one or two for sale or donation.
Have fun in your yurt.
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