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The
Merchant Services is a user
friendly set of web based tools designed to get you trading on the internet
in no time at all. Through
the web based
interface you can manage your products, process orders, customize your sites
appearance and much more. This FAQ has been compiled from various customer
questions/feedback and design concepts.
GENERAL
SYSTEM
PRODUCTS
PRODUCT OPTIONS
CATEGORIES
SITE customisation
SHIPPING & TAXES
ORDER PROCESSING
General
How do I integrate ecommerce into my existing web site ?
Merchant Services is designed to be easily integrated
into an existing website. No programming skills are required and all of the
server-side setup and configuration has already been done for you.
Step 1: Your Store Setup
Setting up your store is done through the "store details" option and allows
you to configure store options, such as store name, currency, contact email
etc.
Step 2: Add Products
Select "Add a New Product" to add a product to your catalogue. Batch uploads
allow you to add multiple products through a CSV file.
Step 3: Download HTML code
After each product is added, you will be shown the necessary HTML code you
will need to copy and paste into your website. If you are using FrontPage
TM
the product HTML code can be inserted into your FrontPage TM
Website using the "insert code" function. This code is also available
anytime by selecting "Product Management" and clicking on the "View" button.
You can also download a search box to enable product
searches on your website. You will find this option under "Product Code
Generator" along with other product code options, such as generating code
for all your products.
Step 4: Customize Your Store
Adding a header and footer to your store allows the Basket and secure
Checkout to be used, maintaining your websites' "look and feel". Add your
HTML in "Customize Trimmings".
You can also change the colours of the forms used in the
search and Basket and Checkout pages. Select your colours from "Customize
Colour Settings".
Other options include :
Product Options
Categories
Shipping and Taxes
Order processing
My website is not hosted with you. Can I still use the merchant services ?
Yes. Your website does not need to be hosted with us
to use the Merchant Services. However, for full integration it is
recommended that you transfer your site to one of our hosting plans.
How do I use FrontPage tm 98 2000 with the integrated ecommerce ?
Refer to our
inserting HTML snippets section in our Support Section for further
information.
What will you be implementing into the Merchant Services in the future ?
There are a variety of projects currently in
development, including :
Where can I find the online help ?
Online help can be found anywhere in the Merchant
Services by clicking on the question mark on the top of any main header.
I do not know how to use PHP3 can I still use the Merchant
Services ?
It is not
necessary that you know PHP3. No programming is required on your behalf.
System
Is the Merchant Services secure?
Yes. Your
settings can only be accessed through your merchant login. The Checkout
that your customers will use is secure. It uses SSL encryption, which is
an Internet standard and encrypts all of their details.
What was the Merchant Services written in ?
PHP3, Perl,
some CSS and JavaScript.
Can I use my own database ?
It is
possible through the use of the CSV Import/Export function which allows
you to enter your product base via uploading of a CSV file which can be
exported from many common database applications and spread-sheet software.
How do you validate credit cards ?
Online
Credit Card processing requires an online credit card payment gateway and
a merchant account with your bank. We provide access to several gateway
products, but you will have to speak with your bank about setting up an
account to use with them.
Which online banking gateways do you have available ?
To date we
can provide access to Authorize for our US customers and WebPay for our
AUS customers. If you already have a preferred gateway service, which can
provide a multi-platform implementation, we are keen to try implementing
it. We would like to provide as many services for our customers as
possible.
Do I need a SSL Certificate ?
No. The
Checkout process uses our SSL Certificate so there is no need to acquire
any additional accreditations.
What can I use multiple stores for ?
Multiple
stores are available for users wanting to create sectioned ecommerce sites
or "mini-malls". These multiple stores are available on the Platinum and
Enterprise Plans.
Products
How do I backup my product catalogue ?
You can use
the download your products using the "Download Products" function
available under Batch Options.
How do I import products from a previous ecommerce site ?
It is
possible as long as your previous software will allow you to download or
view your product base in an exportable format such as CSV. You can then
use the Import function available under the Batch Options menu. This will
save your products for your own catalogue.
Full instructions can be found by using the help located
on the Batch Options page.
What happens when I go over my product limit ?
You have an
option to remove products or upgrade to a higher account.
How can I upload my images into the drop down catalogue in the add/edit
product page ?
You will
find all of your images and merchant material under the .merchant
directory in your home directory. You can upload into this directory.
What is a CSV file ?
A CSV file
stands for Comma Separated Values. As the name suggests, each field or
value is separated by a comma. This enables you to import an existing
product catalogue from either a spread-sheet program or existing database.
Simply use the 'Save As' function in spread-sheets and choose CSV as the
file type. To export a database, you will need to consult the database's
manual. For example, in a MYSQL database, you use the "SELECT INTO OUTFILE
..." statement.
When you have a CSV file, you can simply import into your
store through the Batch Option in Merchant Services.
Product Options
What are product options ?
Product
options are used for calculating variations between your products. eg.
small add $5.00, medium add $10.00, large add $20.00. Product options are
created through the "Product Option Management" section.
How do I assign options to my products ?
Once you
have created your product options you can assign them by pressing the
"Assign options to products" button on the product options page. You then
select which option you want to apply from the list on the far right. Then
for each product, click "add" to apply this option.
Is there a limit on product options ?
No.
Can I assign multiple product options to one product ?
Yes.
Further information can be found about this process in the "Assign
categories to products" section by clicking on the question mark icon on
the header.
Categories
How can I display a product listing of a single category on my site ?
Generating
a product listing based on a category is available through the "Product
Code Generator". You can select which details you want to display for each
product e.g. description, category weight etc. This section also allows you
to generate the code for an entire catalogue.
Also see Site
customisation for more information.
Do I need to categorise my products ?
No.
Categorizing your products is not absolutely necessary. However, users
will not be able to search through your product base via categorical
searches.
Site customisation
Why isn't my colour scheme displaying properly in my website ?
It is
recommended that one of the first things you do before integrating
ecommerce into your site is to select a colour scheme. If you have
previously downloaded HTML code into your website, the code will need to
be updated in order to show the changes.
I want a menu bar down the side of my pages. How do I do it ?
The
simplest way to achieve this is to create a table with two cells in the
customize trimmings sections. The first cell should enclose the menu bar.
The second cell should be left open at the end of the header. In the
footer both the table and cell has to be closed off to encase the
product/s. The sample code below will give you a starting point.
<-- header -->
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="0" BORDER="0">
<TR>
<TD WIDTH="30%" VALIGN="top">
-- insert your menubar here --
</TD>
<TD WIDTH="70%" VALIGN="top">
<-- end header -->
Body of page goes here
<-- footer -->
</TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
<-- end footer -->
Can I edit the product boxes that I have pasted into my website ?
Yes, as
long as all of the form, select, option and input tags remain intact and
unchanged.
How do I add a View Basket Button ?
The
following link must be placed within your <A HREF=" "></A> tag.
http://membername.web-solutions-australia.com/commerce/basket?action=view
or if you have a domain
http://www.yourdomain.com/commerce/basket?action=view
This path can be used for form/JavaScript buttons, image maps, etc.
How do I customize my e-commerce website?
All the
customize options are viewable in the
Custom Settings section.
You can select from the following customizable sections :
Header and Footer - design the HTML code that surrounds
the content of your pages.
Colour Settings - jazz up the look of your site by
choosing colours from the colour palette to apply to your tables.
Dynamic Page Layout covers these areas -
Search Results - detail the layout of search results when
a product search is done on your store.
Product Detail - this page is used to display in-depth
information about a product. It is usually viewed when you click on a
thumbnail image.
Basket Template - design your shopping basket layout.
We use our own, in-house designed, "Funky Template System" (FTS). FTS
allows dynamic templates through the use of variable parsing and
interpolation.
For example, you can display a product name, anywhere on your page by
using {PRODUCT_NAME}. When the page is viewed, the FTS engine replaces {PRODUCT_NAME}
with the actual product name, such as "Sports Shoes". Detailed
instructions can be found in the help section for each custom template.
How do I display my product catalogue?
To have each
category on a page, you have two options:
The easiest to maintain would be to have your category
pages displayed dynamically. Dynamically means that a change in your
product database will also alter the information displayed in your
pages (so when you update your prices for example, the change will be
reflected in your category pages as well). You can do this by linking
straight into the search facility for each category.
For example, you have setup your own categories, so to
display that page your link would be:
http://your_domain.com/commerce/search
/index.php3?merchant_id=your_id&custom_store_category=
Cat_id&by_category=1
or you could provide a search box such as
http://your_domain.com/commerce/search/
search_options.php3?merchant_id=
your_id
In this case you will need to add your header and footer
so that the pages look the same in the search results pages. You do this
under the "Customize Components" option.
Dynamic pages are definitely they way to go as it will
save you lots of time when it comes time to update or refresh your catalogue.
The second option is to use the "Product Code Generator",
which can generate all the HTML for you - choose the "Select a category"
option. You will then copy and paste the result into your product pages.
Shipping & Taxes
What do I do ?
Shipping
and Taxes is divided into three sections, local, national and
international. For each region you will need to specify what shipping and
tax charges apply. Depending on what address your customer specifies,
shipping and tax charges will be calculated accordingly.
Detailed help is available on the shipping and tax pages
under the help icon.
How is shipping calculated ?
Shipping
costs are detailed under the help icon in the shipping section.
How are taxes calculated ?
Taxes are
calculated depending on the percentages you specify for each region.
Order Processing
How do I process an order ?
The
merchant receives an email as a notification that a transaction has
occurred. From there the merchant logs on to the merchant services section
to retrieve the order details. Payment processing is completed through
your existing payment processing facility.
How do I know someone has ordered a product from my site ?
As a
Merchant you will receive an email alerting you that an order has been
placed and that it is available for retrieval through the merchant
services section. You will find the order management interface at the
bottom of the merchant section menu or in the top bar.
How do you validate credit cards ?
Online
Credit Card processing requires an online credit card payment gateway and
a merchant account with your bank. We provide access to several gateway
products, but you will have to speak with your bank about setting up an
account to use with them.
Which online banking gateways do you have available ?
To date we
can provide access to Authorize for our US customers and WebPay for our
AUS customers. If you already have a preferred gateway service, which can
provide a multi-platform implementation, we are keen to try implementing
it. We would like to provide as many services for our customers as
possible.
Do I need a SSL Certificate ?
No. The
Checkout process uses our SSL Certificate so there is no need to acquire
any additional accreditations.
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How do I integrate
ecommerce into my existing web site ?
