Recently we developed a site in WordPress that went well. Just before the intended launch the client asked for a shopping facility to be added in to the site. Off course WordPress doesn’t have any built in e-commerce facility. The choice was either to make a sub section of the site using any one of a number of independent e-commerce systems or to find some kind of add on that we could build into the already deployed WordPress system.

We only looking to sell 2/3 products at one time so we didnt need the power or functionality of a full e-commerce system. A plugin we thought should be sufficient for our needs.

After many hours of searching and reading reviews it came down to two choices. Wp-Commerce or Shopp.

It seemed that lot of the reviews found bugs in Wp Commerce and we found no different. While it claims to be a cutting edge e-commerce system, it seemed to have some glaring glitches with the inventory and site structure. It seemed to be a system that needs more development time, but certainly has potential. Just not for us.

Paying $55 for the standard install of Shopp we were quite hopeful this would work. It installed ok with no problems. In WordPress its controlled by its own section within the admin section. After looking through all the options we were a little stumped where the prices for the products were set up. After a few G searches it was no surprise that they were supposed to be in the product section. Since the admin is powered by some well thought Javascript and Ajax we thought there must be a conflict with a plugin. (Probably the biggest and most found error when it comes to functionality of WordPress or any other Website coding platform.)

Going through the tedious procedure of uninstalling one plugin at a time then testing the cart options we found it. Wp Lightform Since the validation of that form is controlled by only Javascript it isnt the best of contact forms to use anyway. Spam can get through it quite easily!

To accept payments online, the easiest is Paypal Express. This method sends customers to the Paypal site to make payment either through their own Paypal account or through a credit card. The customer is then returned to your own site to confirm transaction. After inserting the details for Paypal API for the their Express shopping facility it was time to test the site out.

For some reason we were getting page not founds on the products. There seemed to be a problem with the permalink structure of the products. After searching through the Shopp Forum it was suggested that we resave the cart page. That worked and seemed to reset the permalink structure to what it was meant to be.

Styling and setting up the layout is controlled by an over riding template system. It seemed to work well enough. Since we only had two products we simply set up featured products on the default shopping page. There were numerous options that could display categories and other options but we didn’t explore those areas.

There are options in the system that include taxes and delivery but we also didnt have the need to explore full functionality. It would be in these areas that the site could fail, as that’s where really complex coding is required to satisfy the functionality required. If it worked like the rest of the plugin however it should all work as its meant.

After thoroughly testing the cart in numerous browsers and platforms the shopping cart system was ready to use.

Quick Summary:

If you are looking for light e-commerce system that can take payments through the web using Paypal then give Shopp a try. There are enough options to sell successfully online just don’t expect it to have the full customisation options of a stand alone shopping cart such as Zen Cart, Magento or Cube Cart.

4/5 losing a point due to the small problems we had with other plugins ( not Shopp’s fault) and the small problem with wrongly pointed links

A short trip over the beautiful area of Bavaria, Germany, last month turned out to be a very expensive trip indeed! It wasn’t the cost of the flight, the cost of the hotel or even the cost of food and drink!

The culprit was the handy, yet too handy, Apple I-Phone. Browsing Google maps and keeping up with news from the British Isles cost an astonishing £280! At £7.05/MB that works out at measly 40 megabits of data! Browing one Google map of the area is about 300k of data and represents £2.35 of British currency.

The I-phone is very handy bit of kit, being able to check emails just about anywhere and view any website( well close – any website without Flash) on the go is what people have dreamt about for a good while. Off course mobile phones have had the ability to get online for a number of years, however its the I-Phones touch screen and fantastic usabilty that makes it a “joy” to use, rather than “fiddly” when comparing it to previous mobile browing experiences.

The Edge network is of course, free to use if you are within the boundaries of the North and Irish seas, but be very aware if you happen to turn “Data Roaming On” when travelling out with the United Kingdom.

Do you want to secure your web projects with clients?

After downloading in Word Document format and in under 10 minutes you could have them printed out and ready to use with a client. These web design contract forms come coloured coded so that you can insert your business name easily and quickly.

We had these documents fully checked over and written by a well known lawyer firm in Scotland.

The 3 documents included:

1. The terms: the actual terms which you and your client agree to.
2. The works: the work that has been agreed to do.
3. The contract: ties everything together.

Some of the areas covered include:

1. Fees Payable ( % up front )
2. Maintenance fees
3. Third party operations ( hosting, domains etc)
4. Correction of errors
5. Search engine listings (SEO)
6. Supply of materials ( copyrighted images etc)
7. Approval of work
8. Rejected work
9. Overdue Payment
10. Offers and proposals
11. Intellectual Property Rights
12. Licensing

Go to download page and get the web contract

While these documents have been written and produced by a fully qualified law firm, we cannot accept any responsibility from any matters that may arise.