The Online Shop Designer Blog » eCommerce

Prestashop Offline Order Processing

tosd — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 02:33:19 +0000

‘Offline’ order processing refers to orders where the customer submits there credit card details as part of the checkout process for secure, encrypted storage in the database. The site administrator then (in the Australian context) retrieves the numbers and processes the transaction via an EFTPos terminal or online gateway. In this way processing offline orders in Prestashop is quite straight forward.

Here is the sequence after accessing your shop’s admin:

Click the [Orders] tab
Click on a line that displays the order of interest -the detail of the order is now displayed. The most recent orders will be listed at the top, and those requiring processing will be flagged “Awaiting Credit Card Validation” in the Status column.
Click the [Click here to reveal the information] button under the Credit Card Information box to see the credit card details
IMPORTANT: For additional security click the [Remove Credit Card Data] button after you have processed the order.
Change the status (top left) during processing to reflect the stage that the order is at. The customer will see the status when they log on to their account.
At the bottom of the screen there is a New Messages box. This can be used to add a comment to the order or send a message to the customer.

See also:

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Viart Shop: A comprehensive e-Commerce Solution

tosd — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 07:38:26 +0000

Viart Shop is a comprehensive e-Commerce application that is recommended by The Online Shop Designer (TOSD) for businesses who want to sell online to both retail and wholesale customers. In addition it has features that are not common in many other eCommerce applications. Here is a brief overview:

Fully featured Shopping Cart with all the usual features
Shopping Basket with advanced Sales Mechanisms (Product reviews and ratings, Product Discounting mechanism, Shipping and Stock mechanisms, etc)
Web-based Administration with Order Maintenance, Product Maintenance, User/Shopper Maintenance, Vendor Maintenance, multiple payment processing capabilities (including support of Verisign, Paypal and Authorize.net payment systems) and flexible shipping options.
An integrated CMS that enables the administrator to create an unlimited number of informational pages in support of the shop.
Comprehensive articles facility (News, Events, FAQs, Links, Knowledgebase)
Support for downloadable products.
On site advertising with administration facilities.
Help desk (optional)
Forum (optional)

Clients often ask me which is the best option: Prestashop or Viart Shop. In general my advice is for straightforward retail applications Prestashop is an excellent choice, however for more demanding applications that may require a fully fledged helpdesk or integrated forum Viart Shop is an excellent choice.

See also:

If you would like further information from TOSD regarding the development of an eCommerce application based on Viart Shop please Contact Us

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Creating Prestashop information pages

tosd — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 06:56:02 +0000

One of the really nice things about the latest version of Prestashop is the included Content Management System (CMS) facilities that allow administrators to create information pages to display content relating to such things as Terms and Conditions or supporting product information.

To add an information page follow these steps:

Step 1: Creating the new information page

In admin, select the [Tools] tab then click the CMS link.
Click “Add new”
Enter the Meta Title, Meta Description and Meta Keywords
- The ‘Meta Title’ should include keywords that relate to the main page content
- The ‘Meta Description’ should also contain the keywords, can be longer than the Title, but I suggest you keep it to about twenty words long.
- Don’t go overboard with the ‘Meta Keywords’. Keep them revelant and do not repeat them. Half a dozen well chosen keywords are usually sufficient.
- The ‘Friendly URL’ should also contain your main keywords separated by a a dash. e.g: ‘product-selection’
Use the editor to enter and format the required page content. You can copy and paste text from an Office document if required.
Click [Save] to record.

Step 2: Enabling your page content for display

In admin, select the [Modules] tab
Scroll down to the ‘Blocks – xx modules’ section and click the Info block / configure link.
The new page you have just created will be displayed. Click the check box next to it and then click [Update} to save.
Your new page should now be displayed in the Information module of your website.

Prestashop image preparation and upload

tosd — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 04:32:18 +0000

Images for Prestashop eCommerce websites created by TOSD require one image to be prepared for each item that is (usually) 600px X 600px – 96dpi, and in JPEG or PNG format. Always check with TOSD before proceeding with your image preparation to confirm that these specifications apply to your website’s template.

The image size of 600px X 600px is used by Prestashop in the popup viewer that is triggered by the customer either clicking on the normal product image (displayed on the product details page) or the ‘View full size’ link under it. All other versions of the image that are displayed in various places around the site are generated by Prestashop automatically.

Image preparation tips:

Always prepare the image such that its finished size is square, and exactly 600px X 600px / 96dpi. If the original image is rectangular, prepare a square blank image (usually all white) that is 600px X 600px then copy (and centre) the rectangular image onto the square blank one.

Note – as a fall back, if your images are not large enough to prepare in the preferred 600px X 600px size, then adopt 300px X 300px as your standard.

In most cases images look best on a white background. For the best presentation ensure that all backgrounds are white – not various shades of grey.
If you do not currently have any image preparation software I recommend Paint.NET (http://www.paint.net/). Under the paint.net heading, click the ‘getpaint.net’ link to download. Installation is straight forward. Information and tutorials are available here: http://www.getpaint.net/doc/latest/en/index.html
Don’t worry too much about the ‘megapixel’ count of your digital camera. Almost any modern digital camera is capable of producing quite acceptable images for display on the web.
If I were to give one single tip on photographing products for display on your website, it would be to ensure that there is adequate lighting and no distracting backgrounds.

Image upload

When you have finished entering the core product information (under the [Info] tab) select the [Images] tab.
Click the [Browse] button to locate the prepared image on your PC.
Enter a short, relevant description in the Caption field.
Leave Thumbnail Resize Method set to the default: ‘Automatic’
Click the [Save Image] button to upload. Prestashop will create all required thumbnails on the fly.

An finally the golden rule of Online Shops:

Images attract – Features describe – Benefits sell

Yes, you need them all !

Prestashop Attributes (options)

tosd — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 09:45:27 +0000

Prestashop has a very flexible and comprehensive attribute structure. In this article I will show you how to create simple attributes and assign them to a product.

Overview

Attribute groups describe certain variations of a product. A simple example would be an attribute group called “Colour”, that may contain the attributes (or options) “red”, “green” and “blue”. Having created an attribute group with the appropriate range of options, the options can then be assigned to any product.

Creating an attribute group

In admin select [catalog] / [attributes and group]
Click the link “Add attributes group”
Assign a Name, Public Name and indicate whether it is a colour typ group or not
[Save]

Creating an attribute (option)

In admin select [catalog] / [attributes and group]
Click the link “Add attribute”
Insert a name and select from the drop down box the group that the attribute will belong to
[Save]

Assigning attributes to a product (simple method)

Navigate to the product you wish to assign attributes to
Select the 3rd tab: [Combinations]
Select the group, and the required attribute within that group
Click [Add], and further down the screen click the [Add this attribute] button.
- Note: if the attribute causes a price variation to the product it is assigned to you may like to insert this in the “Impact on price” fields before clicking the [Add this attribute] button.
Repeat the above sequence to add additional attributes. As each one is added it is displayed in the table below the [Add this attribute] button.
When you have finished adding attributes to the product click the “back to list” link at the bottom of the screen.