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Is there a simple way to make a site mobile friendly?


OldPete

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I have a site that is older... and I've been reading a few of the options to make it mobile friendly.

Is there a simple way to do this, for example is there a way to identify a mobile device and show a modified version of the site... else it shows the current version?

Or something to that effect?

Thanks,
Pete

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Simple or easy? No. It requires a major rewrite of the application. You would be best off installing osC 2.3.4BS Edge and transferring your data (including the database) over to it. Edge is "responsive" and adapts to everything from phones to desktops, in screen size, layout, and touchscreen capability.

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It's not a huge task to migrate your database from an old version at any age to one that's compatible with the community responsive (ie mobile-friendly) version of oscommerce.

What could involve a lot more work is replicating functional change that you have applied to your existing store (ie. addons and other code changes). The good news is that many addons have been rewritten so that they can be applied with minimal code change (on the catalog side at least) so this is not as bad as it used to be.

There is an addon with the sql required to bring a database from way back at MS2.2 up to osC 2.3.4, and scripts to make it compatible with the BS version. What could need extra work for the migration from a 2.2 store would be images. Multiple larger product images are part of core in 2.3 but many 2.2 stores have implemented an addon for them so that data would need loading into the new structures.

What version is your store and have you put in a lot of addons to change how it works (as opposed to how it looks)?

Contact me for work on updating existing stores - whether to Phoenix or the new osC when it's released.

Looking for a payment or shipping module? Maybe I've already done it.

Working on generalising bespoke solutions for Quickbooks integration, Easify integration and pay4later (DEKO) integration at 2.3.x

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Hi Guys!

Thanks for the terrific replies.  So... you've hit the nail on the head with both your replies.  Yes, it is somewhat modified.  Shipping Estimators, additional mySQL fields for things like page titles, etc... and likely a host of thing I can't remember (and hopefully I actually documented them reasonably well in my code or my own binder).

Here's the site: thebestcandles.com

I recently migrated it all to https (very happy with that), but I wonder if there is a lot to gain from going more "up to date".  I'm hesitant because we are currently experiencing a large lag in google results after the https migration... so I don't know if I made a good thing bad or not.

Eager to hear your thoughts on all this.

With Thanks,
Pete

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Your site needs to be mobile friendly to appear on searches carried out on phones and tablets. Depending on your demographic, this is likely to be at least 50% of potential traffic.

There are things you should do with redirects and in your webmaster tools / search console to ensure your old ranking gets carried over to https - see the thread about going https

Contact me for work on updating existing stores - whether to Phoenix or the new osC when it's released.

Looking for a payment or shipping module? Maybe I've already done it.

Working on generalising bespoke solutions for Quickbooks integration, Easify integration and pay4later (DEKO) integration at 2.3.x

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Hi John,

I just did a search for "going https" (and a bunch of other phrases) -- both here and via google search.  Can you elaborate?

One question/concern, is that currently - in my Search Console, I have two sites listed:
I have the http://www.thebest...

and

I have the https://www.thebest...

The search results, clicks, etc. are *much* higher for the newer https one.

Is there something I should have done or do? Can you post a link to the post regarding "going https"?

Many thanks,
Pete

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sorry the name turned out not to be anything like I remembered!

 

Contact me for work on updating existing stores - whether to Phoenix or the new osC when it's released.

Looking for a payment or shipping module? Maybe I've already done it.

Working on generalising bespoke solutions for Quickbooks integration, Easify integration and pay4later (DEKO) integration at 2.3.x

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After taking a peak at your site it looks like it is pretty standard. I'm sure there are a few things behind the scenes that would have to be updated but I'd say overall it wouldn't be too difficult to update it to the BS version. The gains would for sure be worth the pain of the update/upgrade.

Matt

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Hi Matt,

Interesting... I'm reading up.
Bootstrap seems pretty interesting.

What are you thoughts as far as how to go about it?  I'm assuming I would need to do db conversion found here:

 

However, would I be able to do this all in a different directory to test and modify, and then move it over?
How about URLS, etc. -- so that links found via Google all match, etc.?

Any good threads on this?

Thanks,
Pete :)

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You could use that to convert your DB for sure.

If I was you I would create a subdirectory to test in or even simpler run a local server on your computer to do all of your testing / tweaking on. MAMP is good https://www.mamp.info/en/

The nice thing is that you can test and make whatever changes you want without having to worry about messing up your live site.

1. Download MAMP or an equivalent

2. Download latest BS files

3. Create a new DB and folder for your new site on your local server

4. Create a backup of your current DB and import it into the new DB you just created.

5. Run DB conversion and adjust configuration files so the site knows which DB to connect to etc

6. Figure out what customizations you need to make (SEO URLS, cross selling, etc)

I think you will be surprised how much easier it is to make style changes and other alterations with a more modern framework and you will be mobile friendly out of the gate.  If you get stuck google is your friend :)

Matt

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Since you have a commercial host and site already, there is no point in a "local server" (*AMP stack) on your PC or Mac, unless your host is so far behind the times that they will not have at least PHP 5.6 for quite a while. In that case, start looking for a new host, as PHP 5.6 is the bare minimum to be considered "current" (if you're running osC 2.2, your PHP must be quite old!). You are just asking for headaches by trying to set up and run on a local server -- there is no point to it. When it comes time to transfer your updated site to a real (commercial) server, you will find all sorts of incompatibilities that you will have to deal with. Just do your testing on your real server (in a password-protected directory, if you wish) and make sure you are using a copy of your current database, so that you don't risk breaking your existing store (if it's still up and running).

When you move your test installation over to the live site, you will of course have to update the two configure.php files to reflect the changed location. Anything else you do in the way of SEO is separate, and may of course break existing search engine entries, but in the long run it will be worth it. Depending on how many entries become invalid, it may be worth your while to add 301 redirects to your .htaccess file so that nothing is lost in the way of search engine juice and customer bookmarks.

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I'm with @MrPhil on this - assuming that your hosting will let you:

  • have two databases
  • configure a different version of php in a subdirectory than your main store (in shared hosting you can usually do this by setting a handler in the .htaccess file in the subdirectory but your hosting folk will have to tell you exactly what to put to make it work)

Setting up your test store is a dry run for migrating the live one, so keep a note of how you resolve any issues that are thrown up so you can repeat them.

I don't remember coming across any major SEO issues in a migration - since your product ids remain the same, you just need to keep the same rules in htaccess and the same edit to tep_href_link. Your static pages will need some rebuilding but there's no need to change their names either.

Before you can apply the responsive conversion script to your store you need to bring it up to 2.3.4 non-responsive. This is the addon:

https://apps.oscommerce.com/2qqbU&sql-upgrades-from-2-2ms-to-2-3-3

You may need to run a conversion on your image data.

Contact me for work on updating existing stores - whether to Phoenix or the new osC when it's released.

Looking for a payment or shipping module? Maybe I've already done it.

Working on generalising bespoke solutions for Quickbooks integration, Easify integration and pay4later (DEKO) integration at 2.3.x

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I have developed lots of sites and using a local server for that development made things much simpler. The setup is also quite simple and being able to see changes as you make them without having to FTP files constantly can really make a difference. When you are ready for real-world testing of payment modules you will need to be on the live server of course.

To each their own though as I'm sure there are pros/cons of either style.

@burt do you still use uniserver?

Matt

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I would *never* do any developing on a live server. 
Too much chance of accidentally hurting a live site.

Perhaps I am slightly more wary of doing something "bad", as if do something bad...I have to put it right.

I use Uniserver.

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Of course, to each his own, but I consider telling a neophyte to set up a local server and do their development there to be asking for trouble. My experience has been that they expend a tremendous amount of time and effort to get *AMP running, run into all sorts of problems with not having a true network interface available (or is different from what they'll be using for the live site), and when it comes time to transfer to the live site, all sorts of things will break from differences in PHP version, etc. It's simply not worth the effort for most people, especially those not deeply experienced with running a local server. Remember -- most of the people using osC are not computer hobbyists looking for a new project, but business people looking for a simple tool to help them sell.

Regarding constant FTPing to the server test directory, for minor changes just use your hosting control panel to make edits (but don't forget to keep your PC files in sync). Keeping FileZilla open in a window to FTP a changed file up takes a second or two, so I don't think FTPing is a great burden. It also forces you to keep better track of what you've changed (which should all be logged for future reference on your next update).

Yes, some careless people will run into problems of stepping on their live site, but if they can't be bothered to keep backups (and know how to restore them), and to understand what they're doing regarding a separate database and a separate directory, well, they get what they deserve.

I don't feel that a local server is worth the effort for most people, but to each his own.

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A lot of really good info here! Some questions:

1. I think I would actually rather do it on the server, only in a totally different directory.  Then all I have to do is change the paths, etc. after testing...  No?
--
2. If I go from 2.2-MS2 to 2.3.4 non-responsive via: https://apps.oscommerce.com/2qqbU&sql-upgrades-from-2-2ms-to-2-3-3
That will handle the sql portion (and I can handle that), however, I'm confused on matt's order of operation.  Am I going from 2.2-MS2 > 2.3.4-NR > BS?
--
3. What does this mean: "You may need to run a conversion on your image data."
--
4. Here is my server information:
It looks like you are correct!  The php is in fact older.  I've been reading and, am I correct in that the newer versions of PHP will cause issues with 2.2-MS2?

Server Information pixel_trans.gif
Server OS: FreeBSD 8.2-STABLE      Database: MySQL 5.6.31-log
Server Date: 01/25/2018 10:46:21      Datebase Date: 01/25/2018 10:46:21
Server Up Time: 10:46AM up 275 days, 4 mins, 6 users, load averages: 4.60, 4.04, 3.66
pixel_trans.gif
HTTP Server: Apache/2.4.29
PHP Version: 5.2.17 (Zend: 2.2.0)
pixel_trans.gif
osCommerce

osCommerce 2.2-MS2

 

Thanks guys!!
:) Pete

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2.3.4BS is not going to run on PHP 5.2, and 2.2MS2 is not going to run on PHP 5.6! You will need to find a way to run your test/dev directory on PHP 5.6 or higher, while keeping your current store on PHP 5.2. That may be as simple as a PHP level declaration in your .htaccess or php.ini (or the equivalent on FreeBSD), or it may involve getting an account on a more up-to-date server, or even changing hosts. Certainly, your host ought to be offering at least PHP 5.6 by now -- they may be allowing PHP 5.2 for you as a courtesy, but you need to talk to them about how to get both until you've moved your production store over to 2.3.4BS and can abandon your 2.2MS2 store.

Once you're caught up on store and PHP levels, try to stay reasonably current and not fall so far behind. Your future upgrades will be much easier when you don't require incompatible PHP levels for your two stores.

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@OldPete

To answer your original question ...

There was an add-on that makes a mobile-friendly version of your store. However, it essentially builds another completely separate store just for the mobile users. Plus, the developer has announced that he is no longer supporting it, since the responsive version of osC is a better solution.

And, I think that there is a template system available that also adds a responsive capability to your store.

That all said, the best solution still is to upgrade to the community EDGE version of osC. In addition to being responsive, the code base is more secure, it is PHP 7 ready, and is much more modular (meaning you can turn features on or off, or even add additional features, all without any core changes).

HTH

Malcolm

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While other options exists as Malcolm says, it's unlikely that any of these alternatives will be easier to apply to an MS2.2 store. If you like the idea of choosing a template, they exist for the community responsive version too.

Sorry if my reference to migrating images was confusing; all the 2.3 code of whatever flavour has a better way of storing product images than was standard on 2.2, on which many stores put in an addon to do it better, so if you're one of them you'll want to populate the new data structures  so your images still work to their full potential.

Contact me for work on updating existing stores - whether to Phoenix or the new osC when it's released.

Looking for a payment or shipping module? Maybe I've already done it.

Working on generalising bespoke solutions for Quickbooks integration, Easify integration and pay4later (DEKO) integration at 2.3.x

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Just got off the horn with the hosting company.  They are very willing to set up php7 on my account so that a certain directly would utilize php7, while the current directory where the live store is would continue to use the old version.

So... the way it is now: domain.com would continue to use the legacy version... and something like testing.domain.com or perhaps domain.com/testing/ would use php7.

If I decide to move forward, does this sound like a solid method?
 

Thanks,
Pete

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Yes, if you can continue to run your old store on PHP 5.2 and can run the new one (Edge) on PHP 7, that sounds good. Just keep track of your setup in /testing so that when you move it to production, you don't miss any changes. Also double check your steps that you have a new database for the new store (you will copy over your old store's contents), so you don't accidentally step all over your old store's database.

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Testing on php7 is a good idea because although we have done the work making Edge work with php7 that's not necessarily the case with addons.

Contact me for work on updating existing stores - whether to Phoenix or the new osC when it's released.

Looking for a payment or shipping module? Maybe I've already done it.

Working on generalising bespoke solutions for Quickbooks integration, Easify integration and pay4later (DEKO) integration at 2.3.x

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