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osCommerce

The e-commerce.

Quick Install Guide


Vger

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hi again...i'm so lost it isn't funny :(

My hosting company says that it provides netcommerce and php so I signed up, because you can't play with it until you do, and I'm reading all the help and I'm just getting more & more confused. And they direct me to this forum to get help...not that they won't help, but as usual, I can't figure out how to ask the right question.

So the thing is, I set up a store and even as simple as their instructions are, it's still so confusing...and I told them that!!

I can't even tell where my home page is. There is a File manager and it looks like the index and many other pages are in more than one place. Is that correct??

My root directory is www

so in www there is index.shtml which comes up with an error message.

then there is a directory for my site which is lamps

inside lamps there is a directory called nfoscomm

inside nfoscomm is directory catalog

" extras

and then changelog, FAQ, etc.

inside catalog are directories: admin, download, images..etc.

and also a bunch of .php files, including index.php

inside directory admin are the same bunch of php files,

including index.php.

 

Is this right? shoud it be there twice??

wish I could figure out how to do a nice tree of the directory & stuff.

 

And all the help is as confusing with them as it is with you. Help tells how to do something, and how to do it and how to do it and then says follow the directions and that's where they ask something un-expected and I guess I always seem to choose the wrong one or something.

Or the directions are vague and I don't quite get it.

 

sorry

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Here's a bit of Osc background reading - The Manual @ http://www.oscommerce.com/redirect.php/go,21

 

**Find your URL to your shop eg www.shopname.com/catalog (ask your hosting company if you're not able to). This is the catalog directory you've found earlier with the index.php file - this is your homepage.

 

**Configuration of your shop www.shopname.com/catalog/admin

 

**decide on an FTP program or use Cpanel (e.g. SmartFTP)

 

**Decide on which editor to use for editing your PHP & HTML files (wordPad, Dreamweaver etc)

 

**Then all the fun starts with customising your shop and giving it that particular look which will attract your customers and make them buy, buy, buy ...

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**Decide on which editor to use for editing your PHP & HTML files (wordPad, Dreamweaver etc)

 

Fine for editing html files, but osCommerce is PHP based so use Notepad, Text Pad or Crimson Editor to edit files - but don't use the above.

 

Your hosting company may provide free installs of osCommerce on subdomains, but as they offer no support for osCommerce that leaves you right in it.

 

Vger

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Ah, so that's why you have to go through all of this right??? Because it's PHP based, not html. I didn't know or understand that. But does that mean that I can't just edit....say even the text in the file manager?? (Of course leaving all the ('/)"" stuff intact)

 

And my previous question was....why is index.php in 2 places and is that correct? It is in my admin directory and also in the directory one level up.

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Thanks Skylla, but the manual info that you sent me is for someone installing from scratch. The hosting company I use has Netfirms Commerce Pro as an application or module that you activate within your account, so to speak. So I'm not sure what parts to skip and where to begin reading, meaning I'm not sure what parts of that beginning part I might need to do. That's all I need is to change something that doesn't need changing.

 

When I went to 'install' that application it asked me to name the main directory and I called it lamps and then inside that the next directory is nfoscomm and it goes on from there.

 

Is this something that once you get it, it becomes easy or is it always this tough??

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There are actually four index.php pages.

 

In the catalog side there is one in the root of the web, and this contains the php code (most of it) and the html tables. That code calls in the header, footer, left and right columns and leaves a space to call in the main page content - and this is where includes/languages/english/index.php comes in.

 

The same happens on the admin side of things.

 

It's only this tough because of the set up that NetFirms uses. You could have installed it yourself with much less hassle.

 

Vger

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Wow, I read thru your "easy install" stuff and it also looked so complicated and everyone was having so much trouble in the questions that followed and I really didn't think I could do it. And truthfully I thought it would be easy to use...if they installed it and I only had to use it. I didn't realize that I'd need to still do alot of this 'programming' stuff. And now I feel like I'm starting in the middle with part of it done already and I don't know what parts to ignore and what parts to try to dig in and understand.

 

Thanks for explaining the 4 index pages. I thought I did something wrong.

 

But can you tell me which one is my homepage index one??? and what would the path be? I have my own domain name and I don't exactly know what it will be...???

 

www.mydomain.com/index.php?? or is it just mydomain.com, like my other pages? And how do I let the "ONE" know that it is the "ONE" or does that happen automatically??

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I mean, I don't know which of the 4 index.php's is the homepage one. Or are you saying that they work together to make up the whole? In which case, which one do I edit if I need to edit something?

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Your osCommerce website will be available at the address you installed it. If you installed into the root then it will be available at http://www.yorudomain.com, but if you installed it in a folder called 'catalog' then the address would be http://www.yourdomain.com/catalog

 

The file you would edit to make changes to the text on your homepage (index.php) would be the includes/languages/english/index.php page. But if you wish to change features/links then it would be the root level index.php. Also, don't forget that any changes to the left or right column would be done in includes/column_left.php or column_right.php, and changes to the header or footer in header.php or footer.php

 

Vger

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Ever opened an Osc PHP file in Notepad? now that's interesting.

 

Crimson is great, however the latest DW 8 is pretty much geared up for PHP too.

 

It all comes down to personal preference.

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'touch' is a geek way of telling people to change permissions using SSH or Telnet (command line stuff). Hardly anyone uses SSH or Telnet these days - so ignore that. Use the File Manager in your web hosting control panel to change the permissions on those two files.

 

Vger

Hi,

At last!!!. I have succesfully installed the programme but now when I opend "administration tool " to mak echanges I get this message on top of the page :

 

Warning: session_save_path() [function.session-save-path]: open_basedir restriction in effect. File(/tmp) is not within the allowed path(s): (/var/www/domains/e-shop.artest.com.tr/:/usr/share/phpmyadmin:/etc/phpmyadmin:/usr/local/lib/php) in /var/www/domains/e-shop.artest.com.tr/docs/admin/includes/functions/sessions.php on line 213

 

Warning: session_start() [function.session-start]: Cannot send session cookie - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/domains/e-shop.artest.com.tr/docs/admin/includes/functions/sessions.php:213) in /var/www/domains/e-shop.artest.com.tr/docs/admin/includes/functions/sessions.php on line 68

 

Warning: session_start() [function.session-start]: Cannot send session cache limiter - headers already sent (output started at /var/www/domains/e-shop.artest.com.tr/docs/admin/includes/functions/sessions.php:213) in /var/www/domains/e-shop.artest.com.tr/docs/admin/includes/functions/sessions.php on line 68

 

 

please help!.

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Hi Skylla, see your online...

Can I ask you...I seem to get different statements and I don't understand. Can you edit from the file manager thru the hosting company or do you have to download each file and then make changes? It all seems like so much to do for each and every little thing I want to do...:(

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and I already have Dreamweaver....tho I'm trying to learn that at the same time as I'm trying to learn this stuff. My brain is about to explode.

 

Is any part of this installation and set up 'easy'???

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Go to admin --> Configuration --> Sessions and change the session save path to just tmp (no forward slash before or after).

 

Vger

Hello,

Do I use smartftp to edit or do I go and do it from oscommerce programme.

Also ı have a coupl emore q's.

1. To have Turksh language do I just need to add the patch from contributions and select as described or do I need to re install the programme .

2. Every time I need to edit my web site do I need to go thru installation proceedure or is there a faster way to go directly to the page and do it.

thanks

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Download the files, take a backup (just in case), edit in a plain text editor (Notepad, Text Pad or Crimson Editor), upload back to site - any problems, restore from the backup you made.

 

Vger

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Go to admin --> Configuration --> Sessions and change the session save path to just tmp (no forward slash before or after).

 

Vger

I cannot find sessions to make that change , I try to edit configuration file with dreamweaver but did not see any sessions folder or line at all , am ı doing something wrong.?

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I too would love to know if you could copy, paste and edit alittle from an existing site....because starting from scratch and getting it to look like anything reasonable is a pretty daunting task.

Vger...am I asking this stuff in the wrong place?? Is that why you're not replying?

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Vger...am I asking this stuff in the wrong place?? Is that why you're not replying?

 

If you look then you'll see that I've replied in this one thread four times today - and this isn't the only thread I'm subscribed to. I have answered your points, it's just that you keep asking if there's another way of doing it.

 

To answer your last point - copying and pasting is fine as long as you use a plain text editor, but you'll get problems if you copy and paste using Word, Wordpad or Frontpage because they'll copy and paste things into the code that you can't even see.

 

By far the best way to run an osCommerce website is to set your own computer up as a local offline web server (Intranet), work on your site there, and when you're sure that what you've done is working then upload the changed files to your online website server (Internet). This will allow you to make your changes offline and see them working before you apply them to an online website.

 

If you want to set up your computer as an offline web server then go to http://www.apachefriends.org/en and download XAMPP - an all in one Apache web server package. It's a 1-click install. Then install osCommerce on that and make your changes there before uploading to your online site.

 

Vger

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O.K. I've read through at least a hundred posts at this point. Just to see if I could find the answer and I'm either a moron or I'm just not getting it.

 

I'm having the problem with the configure.php file. I'm on a windows server and I have the store running. I've contacted my hosting company and they tell me that permissions are only able to be set on a folder level. I have tried it at the folder level and that didn't work. I've asked them if they could secure that file and I get the same response, "Permissions can only be set at a folder level".

 

Is this something that I need to change in the code? I'm getting confused about that part because I get the above reply from my hosting company. I really thought you could change permissions at the server level. I tried saving the file on my computer as read-only and uploading it to my server, but that didn't work either.

 

What am I doing wrong?

 

Thanks,

 

Chris

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