2 replies to this topic

[TheWorldHatesPaul]

Hi All.

I have a question or two.

I work for a small business that is having a website created and the developers are using osCommerce. The developers are doing all the work; all I have to do is take the product photos and input product information in the spreadsheets. I have this completed and am waiting for them to have the test site up and running.

I have a background in building small, personal websites…first I used just HTML and notepad, and have since used programs like Macromedia Dreamweaver. In college I took classes in C++ programming and Visual Basic, and have since taught myself programs like Macromedia Director and Adobe Photoshop and how to use FTP programs. This is the kind of general computer background I have at this time.

Once our website goes live, I will be in charge of inputting new products, answering customer emails, and packing and shipping the products. I am pretty much in charge of the entire site. I am kind of nervous about all this so I came to the osCommerce website and have been reading all I can about the program and how I will be using it.

The web developers, who are friends of the business owner’s, will be on call 24/7 so anytime I have a problem or question I can call them up.

My questions are:

1. Given my responsibilities, what kinds of problems can I anticipate?
2. What resources are out there, ie books and websites, which might address/help me with the problems I can anticipate?
3. As I assume most of you are developers and programmers, what kinds of knowledge do you wish/hope your clients have so they don’t harm the sites you have developed and so they can ask the right questions.

The website is scheduled to go live in January 2006 so I hope I have enough time to get up to speed. Any suggestions and comments are appreciated.

Have a great day!

TheWorldHatesPaul

[GraphicsGuy]

Welcome to the community!

This forum and the documentation for osCommerce 2.2 Milestone 2 are the best way you will get a working understanding of how to manage the store. As long as the developers do a good job of setting up the store you should not have serious problems. Since it sounds like you won't be dealing with any of the code issues I would suggest that your focus is best spent:

<li>Getting comfortable with the use of the admin interface. Towards that end, you may want to see if your developers can give you access to a prototype store that has a similar set of contributions installed.

• Honing your skills on taking the product photos and refining them in Photoshop. These skills can make a big difference. There several threads in these forums on these topics.
  
• Writing good product descriptions. I see so many stores were product descriptions are a few words or a sentence. You have to keep in mind that the online shopper doesn't have the opportunity to study the product in their own hands, so they rely on your photos and text to give them a good feel for it.

That first point will do the most towards helping make sure your discussions with the developers productive.

Given you past programming learnings, if you want to better understand the code that drives the store, you may want to review documentation for the PHP language and mySQL database systems.

[kgt]

TheWorldHatesPaul, on Oct 7 2005, 01:13 PM, said:

1. Given my responsibilities, what kinds of problems can I anticipate?
2. What resources are out there, ie books and websites, which might address/help me with the problems I can anticipate?
3. As I assume most of you are developers and programmers, what kinds of knowledge do you wish/hope your clients have so they don’t harm the sites you have developed and so they can ask the right questions.

1. Expect that people might make complaints about a lack of site functionality, or something that doesn't operate the way they anticipate, or something that goes wrong. Often, they cannot give you much information, only a general statement like "My cart disappeared." I'd recommend knowing inside and out the process your customers go through when they register, place orders, etc. I find that customers never write down any errors they recieve, and can rarely tell you with any accuracy exactly which steps they followed that led to a problem. Always anticipate problems. If you know the process, you'll be that much closer to solving issues.

The #1 important thing is always always always keep a backup of your code. Keep it in several places (such as one on your server, and one on your personal harddrive, and one on a cd when you've gone live). NEVER change code before you have at least 1 full backup. Backup your database at least every week (ideally every day). Anticipate that something bad will happen.

Most of the time, it'll be smooth sailing, but be ready for a tornado.

2. Besides these forums, I don't really know. There is plenty of information on PHP and MySQL, though, if you want to learn the basics.

3. Depends on where the line between you as website admin and the programmer is drawn. Are you going to be expected to make some changes to the code, especially after the programmer has gotten it set up? If so, then the #1 best thing you can do for yourself and the programmer is to back up before any changes. This just shows you're a practical person. #2 is to try to understand the changes you're making and to pick up the language as you go along. Most programmers I know love to teach people new things, so if you show that you're trying to learn, you'll get a whole lot of support.

Even if you won't be making changes to code, it'll still make the programmer's job really easy if you understand the basics of how PHP and MySQL interact to make the site function. Many people don't understand the differences between application code and data. Asking the right questions usually requires understanding on some level how the application works.