Q. Can I get updates for my
Ecommerce Plus Template?
Q. Do I need a copy
of Microsoft Access to use the Ecommerce Templates?
Q. Do I need a SSL
certificate for my web site to use the Ecommerce
Templates?
Q. When I open my asp pages
in Dreamweaver or Frontpage, I don't see the
products that are entered in my database, or DHTML
menu, (where applicable).
Q. Can I use a Data
Source Name (DSN) to connect to my Access
Database?
Q. Can I link directly to
a product category?
Q. I don't know if my
host supports ASP. How can I tell?
Q. I can't get my
database connection right. How do I find out?
Q. How about if
my database folder is below the web root?
Q. Can I change all the
text that the store generates?
Q. Can I change the
order of my product listing and have products
side by side?
Q. Can I get updates for my Ecommerce Plus
Template?
A. Yes, we have built the Ecommerce Plus
Templates in a modular system with the ability to
upgrade in mind. You can get the latest
updater here, you can check the your version
number in the main admin page of you control panel.
Updaters are cumulative so you will only ever need
to apply the latest release. For a full list of
features in recent releases, please check out our
updaters forum.
Q. Do I need a local copy of Microsoft
Access to use the Ecommerce Templates?
A. No. All changes can be made
via the online administration.
Q. Do I need a SSL certificate for my
web site to use the Ecommerce Templates?
A. No, all credit card numbers
are taken at the site of the payment processor
using their SSL connection with the exception of
Verisign PayFlow Pro, Authorize.net AIM method
and our own "Capture
Card" method.
Q. When I open my asp pages in Dreamweaver
or Frontpage, I don't see the products that are
entered in my database, or DHTML menu, (where
applicable).
A. To view ASP page dynamic content
correctly, you must use a webserver. You can use
a local webserver such as Personal Web Server to
test, but you have to view the page in a browser
using a URL such as
http://localhost/mypage.asp
Javascript / DHTML content must also be viewed
in a browser to see it correctly, but doesn't
necessarily need a web server.
Q. Can I use a Data Source Name (DSN) to
connect to my Access Database?
A. Yes you can. Just change your
connection string to...
sDSN = "DSN=YOURDSNHERE;DRIVER={Microsoft Access
Driver (*.mdb)};ExtendedAnsiSQL=1;UID=;PWD="
However, we don't recommend these for a couple
of resons. Firstly they are slower, and
secondly, you normally have to ask your host to
set one up, and that can take time.
Q. Can I link directly to a product
category?
A. Sure. To find out the url that you
need to link to, set up your store and click on
one of the product categories from the
categories.asp page. You should see a URL
something like this in the address bar in your
browser...
http://www.yoururl.com/products.asp?cat=3
Just copy and paste this into your link and it
will link directly to your category.
Q. I don't know if my host supports ASP. How
can I tell?
A. Normally you can just ask your host,
or look at your hosting plan. Failing that, just
create a simple page, and in HTML view between
the <BODY> and </BODY> tags add this line of
code...
<%=Response.write("Hello World")%>
Now give the page a extension of .asp and upload
it to your server. If when you view this page in
a browser you just see the text "Hello World"
then you probably can use ASP.
Q. I can't get my database connection right.
How do I find out?
A. One way is to copy and paste this code
into notepad.
<HTML>
<BODY>
sDSN = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data
Source=<%=server.mappath("vsproducts.mdb")%>;"
</BODY>
</HTML>
Now save the file with the name test.asp
Upload this file to the database folder on your
web and open the page in your browser. You
should see one line of text such as...
sDSN =
"Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data
Source=C:\web\database\vsproducts.mdb;"
Now you just need to paste this line into your
db_conn_open.asp file using notepad. Make sure
there are no line breaks and that all other
entries in db_conn_open.asp are commented out or
deleted.
If you get an error that the test.asp page
cannot be found then it is very likely that the
page cannot be executed. In that case place the
test.asp file in your images folder and browse
to yoursite.com/images/test.asp, copy the
connection string you get there, paste it into
vsadmin/db_conn_open.asp replacing the \images\
in the string with \fpdb\
Q. How about if my database folder is
below the web root?
A. This is the ideal place for
the database really, but it is a tiny bit more
difficult to set the database connection. What
you need to do is to perform the above test, but
in the web root. Most hosts have a structure
something like this for your hosting plan . . .
/htdocs - where your html files go. May be
called wwwroot, wwwdocs etc.
/database - where your database goes. May be
called private or similar.
/logfiles
Now, if the above test returned for instance . .
.
sDSN =
"Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data
Source=C:\inetpub\yourweb.com\htdocs\vsproducts.mdb;"
. . . just replace the folder name for html
files with the database folder name . . .
sDSN =
"Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data
Source=C:\inetpub\yourweb.com\database\vsproducts.mdb;"
. . . And That's It ! !
Q. Can I change all the text that the store
generates?
A. Yes you can, open the file
vsadmin/inc/languagefile.asp and search for the
text there that needs modifying.
Q. Can I change the order of my product
listing and have products side by side?
A. Both these options can be changed in
the file vsadmin/includes.asp - there are a
number of tweaks that can be made and they are
outlined
here.
