StoreFront 5.0 Manual - StoreFront Support - LaGarde, Inc.

Copyright 1999, LaGarde, Inc.
All rights Reserved
User Guide

StoreFront 5.0
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User Guide
Table of Contents
Overview .................................................................................................................7
System Requirements ...........................................................................................................8
How A StoreFront Web Store Works .................................................................................... 10
The StoreFront Files............................................................................................................. 13
Tools Tour .............................................................................................................19
The StoreFront Help Files .................................................................................................... 20
The StoreFront Database Connection Box ........................................................................... 21
The Store Creator................................................................................................................. 25
The Store Builder ................................................................................................................. 26
The Store Administrator........................................................................................................ 29
Creating The Store ..............................................................................................35
Access Or SQL ................................................................................................................... 36
Live VS Local....................................................................................................................... 38
Upgrading To StoreFront 5.0 From A Previous Version ......................................................... 38
Creating A Remote StoreFront Web Or Adding StoreFront To A Remote Web ...................... 41
Creating A Local StoreFront Web Or Adding StoreFront To A Local Web.............................. 46
Creating A Web Using the StoreFront 5.0 Web Template ..................................................... 51
Setting The Business Rules ...............................................................................53
Configuring State and Country Tax Rates............................................................................. 54
Configuring ezeehelp Support .............................................................................................. 55
Configuring Your Path Setting .............................................................................................. 56
Setting A Store Name
Selecting Supported Shipping Destinations ......................................................................... 59
Mail Services ....................................................................................................................... 60
Currency Type And Currency Conversion Configuration ........................................................ 62
Shipping Methods ................................................................................................................ 65
Processing Orders And Billing Transactions ........................................................................ 78
Web Store Design ................................................................................................97
Search Engine And Advanced Search Engine Design .......................................................... 98
Using StoreFront Themes .................................................................................................. 101
Choosing Buttons ...............................................................................................................115
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Product Inventory...............................................................................................127
Creating A New Product Item ............................................................................................. 128
Editing An Existing Item..................................................................................................... 134
Organizing Your Inventory .................................................................................................. 135
Using The Image Selector.................................................................................................. 142
Catalog Page Creation.......................................................................................145
Creating Catalog Pages ..................................................................................................... 146
Frequently Used StoreFront Page Links............................................................................. 153
Dynamically Generating Product Pages............................................................................. 157
Opening For Business.......................................................................................165
Security ............................................................................................................................. 166
Using SSL ......................................................................................................................... 169
Testing the Store’s Security............................................................................................... 173
Store Management.............................................................................................175
The StoreFront Sales Reports............................................................................................ 176
Managing Your Mailing List................................................................................................ 181
Using The StoreFront Promotional Mailer........................................................................... 183
Using The StoreFront Affiliate Partners............................................................................... 184
Becoming A StoreFront Affiliate Partner.............................................................................. 186
Using Discounts and Free Shipping................................................................................... 186
Merchant Tools...................................................................................................191
Installing The Merchant Tools............................................................................................. 193
General Configuration......................................................................................................... 194
Geographical Settings/Language and Currency Configuration............................................ 195
Mail Functions ................................................................................................................... 197
Creating Product Items ...................................................................................................... 199
Organizing Your Inventory .................................................................................................. 203
Store Management............................................................................................................. 208
Security ............................................................................................................................. 225
Index.....................................................................................................................229
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About LaGarde
Maker of StoreFront E-Commerce for Microsoft FrontPage
LaGarde, Inc. is an Internet-oriented software development firm headquartered in Lawrence,
Kansas. The focus of LaGarde, Inc. is to provide business applications software for the
Internet. LaGarde’s key product, StoreFront, is the leading e-commerce plug-in for Microsoft
FrontPage. StoreFront provides merchants with the ability to create fast, flexible, and professional
e-commerce enabled webs that will fully exploit the potential of online sales. There are
currently more than 20,000 StoreFront web stores operating in 80 countries.
If you have any questions about LaGarde, Inc., please feel free to call our Sales and Marketing
office at 800-943-5823 (US) or 785-830-9800 (International).
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Overview
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StoreFront 5.0
System Requirements
StoreFront is a client/server application with separate sets of system requirements for each. In
this case, the client is the local PC you will be installing the StoreFront program on. In the
client/server relationship, the server is the computer that responds to the requests of the
client. You will use the StoreFront development tools from your local client machine to develop
and manage the site that is hosted on the remote server. Both sets of system requirements
are listed below.
CLIENT MACHINE (DEVELOPMENT)
The first part of StoreFront is the application that is installed on your local machine, which
includes the StoreFront development tools (these are the StoreFront Store Builder, Store
Management tools, and the Store Creator tools, accessible from the StoreFront Toolbar of
FrontPage 2000). These tools use the resources of your client machine. The client machine
(your PC) must meet the following requirements:
· Windows 2000/95/98, Millennium Edition or Windows NT
· 32 MB of RAM
· 8 MB hard disk space
· Recommend: Microsoft® Personal Web Server, Peer Web Services or Internet
Information Server 4.0 or 5.0
· Support for Active Server Pages
· 32 bit ODBC Microsoft Access, SQL Server, or Oracle Driver support
· FrontPage 2000
· MDAC version 2.5 or higher
WEB SERVER (HOSTING)
The second part of StoreFront consists of the StoreFront application files that actually reside
in your web site. These files compose the e-commerce application that customers interact
with as they place orders on your site. This part of StoreFront draws on the resources of the
remote server.
The server must meet the following requirements:
· NT or Windows 2000 Server running Internet Information Server 4.0 or above.
· Support for Active Server Pages
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· ODBC Microsoft Access or SQL Server support.
· A StoreFront-compatible mail component (see page 62).
· Support for MSADC Service (see page 45).
· Support for Carrier-Based Shipping methods requires the installation of the StoreFront
UPS/FEDEx and USPS Components on the host server.
· SSL support.
· Payment Processing Services (see page78) used to process credit card transactions
may require the installation of software or components on the server. This additional
software is not included with StoreFront, and should be obtained through the service
provider. Payment Processors and their requirements are discussed in greater detail
at www.StoreFront.net/software/support/sf5payprocs.htm.
· Windows NT 4 Servers must have the most recent version of the Java Virtual Machine
installed.
· Internet Explorer 4.0 or above.
Installing StoreFront 5.0
Follow the instructions below to install StoreFront 5.0 on your PC.
FROM A DOWNLOAD
1. Close all applications.
2. Double-click the executable (.exe) file that you downloaded from StoreFront.net.
3. Enter your Product ID code when prompted. You should be able to find this in the
email you received from sales@storefront.net when you were authorized for your
download.
4. Proceed with the installation. The StoreFront 5.0 Help Files will open when the
installation is finished. Open FrontPage 2000 and review the help files and this
manual to begin learning how to use StoreFront 5.0.
FROM A CD
1. Close all applications.
2. Insert your StoreFront 5.0 CD in your CD-ROM drive.
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3. Enter your Product ID code when prompted. You can find this on the back of the
sleeve for your StoreFront 5.0 CD.
4. Proceed with the installation. The StoreFront 5.0 Help Files will open when the
installation is finished. Open FrontPage 2000 and review the help files and this manual
to begin learning how to use StoreFront 5.0.
How a StoreFront Web Store Works
Understanding how your StoreFront web works and the flow that the ordering and checkout
processes take will be very helpful to you as you design your site. The entire shopping
process for your customers can be divided into a few main sections. These are the Ordering
Process, the Saved Cart, the Search Engines, and the Checkout Process. These are described
in greater detail in the following pages, along with a list of StoreFront files you will find
in your web and a description of the functions they perform.
THE ORDERING PROCESS
The ordering process is the process by which a customer enters your site, browses the
products in your inventory, and chooses the ones they want. This essentially begins when a
customer enters your site and views the homepage. Ideally, your customers should be
provided with easy access to product pages you have created to display your inventory, as
well as conveniently placed links to the StoreFront Search Engine.
Product pages can be located anywhere in the site and customers can browse freely through
the web as they order, taking as much time as necessary. However, if a customer is completely
idle for more than 20 minutes, their shopping session will expire and they will be
required to begin a new order.
In addition to ordering products, customers can also add items to their Saved Cart for purchase
at a later time. When the customer is finished ordering, they will proceed to the checkout
process.
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THE STOREFRONT SEARCH ENGINE
The StoreFront Search Engine begins at search.asp, a file that is located by default in the root
folder of any StoreFront web. When customers view this file in a browser, they will be presented
with a simple interface that they can use to search your entire inventory for a certain
product or group of products. Search.asp allows customers to search your inventory by the
criteria of All Categories, a specific Category, and a keyword search or Product ID and Product
Name within the selected range of Categories. The search can also be further refined by
choosing to use all words of the search criteria, any words, or an exact match.
For customers who have a specific product in mind, search.asp contains a link to
advancedsearch.asp, the page which allows customers to access the StoreFront Advanced
Search Engine. Customers can use the Advanced Search Engine to search your inventory
using the following criteria: All keywords, any keywords, or an exact match. Customers can
also search a specific Category, Manufacturer, and Vendor, as well as confining the search to
items within a certain price range, or items that were added to the web’s inventory within a
certain date range. The search can also be made to display only items that are currently on
sale.
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THE SAVED CART
If a customer does not want to purchase an item from your store during their current order,
they can add the item to their Saved Cart. The Saved Cart is a function of StoreFront that
allows customers to set items aside during an order, then return at a later date to retrieve
them and complete the order. The Saved Cart interface is formed by the savecart.asp page,
which is located by default in the root folder of a StoreFront web.
THE CHECKOUT PROCESS
Once your customers have finished ordering products in your site, they will proceed to check
out through one of the links to checkout you should have conveniently placed on all of your
product pages.
The checkout process begins with order.asp. At order.asp, customers will be shown all of the
items they have ordered in your site, and given the option to modify the contents of their order.
When a customer is satisfied with the contents of the order and wishes to complete the
shopping process, they can click Checkout to proceed to the next step.
This is where the secure part of the ordering process begins. The customer will be directed to
process_order.asp, which will begin collecting the information necessary to ship the order.
Returning customers will also be given the option to submit a username and password here,
which will retrieve the information from their previous orders and use it to auto-populate the
fields of the order form. New customers will choose a username and password at this time.
After all the information has been submitted, the customer clicks the Continue Checkout link
at the bottom of the page to proceed to the next step.
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After clicking Continue Checkout, the customer is presented with a summary page of all the
information they just submitted at process_order.asp. If there are any mistakes in this information,
the customer can choose to modify it here. All of the information, such as a credit card
number, that is necessary to bill the order will also be collected here. If the information is
correct, the customer clicks the second Checkout link at the bottom of verify.asp to complete
the ordering process.
The customer will be directed to confirm.asp. Confirmation emails will be sent to you and to
the customer, and the order will be written to your database where it can be retrieved at a later
time.
The StoreFront Files
When you create an e-commerce web using StoreFront, the StoreFront program adds a
standard set of application files to the web. These files perform necessary functions such as
figuring tax and shipping. The pages also make up some of the interfaces your customers will
be using as they shop the site, such as the StoreFront Search Engine and the pages that
compose the checkout process.
A NOTE ON THE STOREFRONT FILES AND CUSTOMIZATIONS:
We encourage you to experiment with file customizations to make your store as original and
interesting as possible. The inherent flexibility of StoreFront lends itself well to customization.
Browse our gallery (www.storefront.net/gallery/) to see how many StoreFront users have
customized their StoreFront files. Please keep in mind, however, that StoreFront Support can
not assist in the resolution of problems that may arise as the result of changes to the
StoreFront files. Always make a backup copy before you begin customizing, and test frequently
as you proceed.
Each of the files and the functions they perform are described below.
FILES IN THE ROOT FOLDER
These files are located in the root of the web at the highest level. Your customers will interact
with many of these pages while they are browsing the site and adding items to their shopping
carts.
Abandon.asp: if a customer abandons a shopping session before completing it, this file
will handle the process of cleaning up the incomplete order and closing the customer’s
shopping session.
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Addproduct.asp: this file actually performs the function of adding an item to a customer’s
cart, where it will be retained until the customer proceeds to checkout. This file is
executed every time a customer clicks on a product bot to order an item.
Affiliate.asp: your affiliate partners can submit their affiliate ID and password at this page
to view their sales. See Affiliate Partners, page 184, for more information.
Confirm.asp: this file forms the last step in the ordering process for every customer. After
a customer has submitted their billing and shipping information through the secure
checkout process, confirm.asp communicates with your payment processing service if
one is in use. After the transaction has been authorized, confirm.asp completes the
process by writing the order to the database and sending confirmation emails to yourself
and the customer.
Detail.asp: a catalog page for a single item can be dynamically generated by creating a
link to detail.asp. For more information, see Dynamically Generating Product Pages, page
157.
EmailFriend.asp: when a customer clicks the “Email this Product to a Friend” link on
any of your product pages, this page will open in a new window. Customers can use this
page to send an email to someone else, which will include the message they compose
and a link to your product.
Error_trap.asp: this page is used to capture most errors that may occur in the site. A
formatted error message will be displayed instead of the default error message output by
the server, with instructions to the customer to contact the merchant.
Global.asa: whenever a customer begins a shopping session in your web store, this file
will execute and perform the functions it has been assigned. Most ASP pages won’t run
without the presence of the global.asa file.
Login.asp: if a customer wants to retrieve the list of items in their Saved Cart, they will
first need to log in at this page before the list is produced.
Neworder.asp: returning customers can view this page in a browser to retrieve an order
they have placed previously in your site.
Newproduct.asp: when this page is viewed in a browser, it will display a list of every
product that has been added to the store’s database within the last two weeks.
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Information such as the product name, image, and description will also be displayed,
along with an option to purchase each.
Order.asp: this page begins the checkout process in a StoreFront web. When your
customers are finished browsing the items in your store, they should be directed to
order.asp to begin the secure checkout process.
SalesPage.asp: StoreFront 5.0 gives you the capability to place items on sale. When a
product is marked as a Sale Item (see Product Sales, page 186), it will automatically be
added to the list of items that are displayed on this page.
Search.asp: this is the StoreFront Search Engine. From this page, customers can
browse your inventory using a variety of searching methods.
AdvancedSearch.asp: this is the Advanced Search Engine. Search.asp contains a link
to this page. Using the Advanced Search Engine, customers can perform more exact and
discriminating searches of your inventory to locate a specific item. This utility is especially
useful for web stores that have an unusually large inventory.
Search_result.asp: this page is used by search.asp and advancedsearch.asp to display
the results of searches.
Savecart.asp: this is the Save Cart page. If a customer has saved an item to their cart,
they can view this page to add the item to their current order. Please see How StoreFront
Works, page 12, for more information.
Thanks.asp: when a customer adds an item to their cart from one of your catalog pages,
this page will be displayed, thanking the customer for their order. The Message for the
product ordered (see Creating Products, page 128) will also be displayed. “Thank you,
(Quantity ordered) of (Product Name) has been added to your order. (Message)”
Unsubscribe.asp: customers who receive promotional mailings from your store will also
receive a link to this page. Customers can follow the link and use this page to remove
themselves from your mailing list.
FILES IN THE FPDB FOLDER
Storefront.mdb: this is the StoreFront 5.0 database. This file contains your web’s configuration
information, all customer records, and all past order records. Protecting the database is
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imperative to the security of your web. Refer to page 166 for information on securing your
database.
incldesign.asp: the design parameters for your Themes are stored in this text file.
inctext.asp: this file contains the design parameters for the StoreFront search engines.
FILES IN THE IMAGES FOLDER
This folder is created by StoreFront to assist you in the organization of your web. The folder
contains two subfolders: themes and buttons. These folders are intended to hold the images
used by your site’s themes, and the images used as buttons. Themes and buttons are
covered in greater detail under StoreFront Theme Design , page 101.
You do not have to use these folders if they don’t fit with your current organizational scheme.
The images you use for your themes and buttons can be located anywhere in the web.
FILES IN THE SFLIB FOLDER
The SFLib folder contains a series of include files. These are files that contain specific functions
that are called for by more than one of the files in the web. Whenever one of your files
needs to use one of these functions, it pulls the function from the SFLib folder. These files do
not contain easily customizable functions or components.
FILES IN THE SSL FOLDER
The files in the SSL folder will be accessed under the Secure Sockets Layer, ensuring that the
information they collect and the functions that they perform are encrypted.
orderform.asp: this is the order form that is used to collect customer information, such
as credit card information, billing address, shipping address, and contact information. This
file does not display independently, but is loaded by process_order.asp.
process_order.asp: this file is the second step of the checkout process. After a customer
checks out from order.asp, process_order.asp will load with orderform.asp to collect
customer information and finalize the checkout process.
verify.asp: this page forms the final step in the checkout process. After a customer
submits their information at process_order.asp, they will be shown the information they
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have entered by verify.asp. This page also collects the information necessary to bill an
order, such as the payment method that will be used and a credit card number if one is
required. After confirming the information presented by verify.asp, the customer will be
sent to confirm.asp where the order will be finished.
error_trap.asp: this file will capture most errors that occur in the files of the SSL folder,
presenting a formatted error message to customers.
password.asp: returning customers who wish to change their passwords or who have
forgotten their passwords will be sent to this page.
FILES IN THE SSL/SFLIB FOLDER
The files in the SSL/SFLib folder are include files that contain functions that are used by the
files in the SSL folder. These files do not contain easily customizable functions or components.
FILES IN THE SSL/ADMIN FOLDER
The SSL/Admin folder contains files that you can use to perform administrative duties, such
as sending promotional mails and retrieving sales reports. These files are not easily
customizable.
It is vital that the Admin folder be password protected in order to ensure that outsiders do not
have access to the customer information provided by the Sales Reports tools. See Securing
your StoreFront Web, page 166, for more information.
printecheck.asp: this file will be used to print the echeck for any customer’s order that is
paid for using an echeck.
promo_mail.asp: you can view this page in your browser to send promotional mailings to
any customer on your mailing list. See Using the Promotional Mailer, page 183, for more
information.
sfreports*.asp: the SFReports*.asp files perform various sales reporting functions. View
the SFReports.asp page in your browser to access a full range of sales reporting tools.
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Tools Tour
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After you have finished installing StoreFront, open FrontPage 2000. You will notice two
additions to FrontPage’s menu items.
There should be a new floating toolbar in the center of the FrontPage window. This is the
StoreFront toolbar. All of the StoreFront development tools can be accessed from here. You
will also notice a new menu called StoreFront50 in the FrontPage menu bar. If you click on
this menu, it will open into four new tool options, plus an “About StoreFront” option. These are
the same tools that can be accessed by clicking on the icons of the StoreFront toolbar.
The development tools you access through the StoreFront menu and StoreFront toolbar act as
the interfaces you will use to manage and build your StoreFront web. You will not be able to
access these tools until you have performed some initial configuration tasks. The following
pages, however, should provide you with a brief virtual tour of the StoreFront development tools
at your disposal, and the functions each performs.
The StoreFront Help Files
You can access the StoreFront help files by clicking the Help icon of the StoreFront toolbar or
menu. You can also find additional resources online in the StoreFront Knowledge Base at
www.StoreFront.net.
SUPPORT RESOURCES
Every licensed StoreFront user is entitled to one year of free email support and 2 free incidences
of phone support. When these resources have been expended, additional support
services can be purchased at www.StoreFront.net. These include Priority Support Gold, which
provides unlimited toll-free access to the StoreFront Support Team, and the Web Development
Assistance Plan, a program where a technician will work closely with you and your host to
configure and test your StoreFront site and any related services.
Additional StoreFront Support tools and resources can be accessed from the StoreFront
Support Site at www.StoreFront.net.
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When emailing StoreFront Support (support@storefront.net), please include the following
information. The more information you provide, the more rapidly your problem will be resolved.
· What version of StoreFront are you using?
· Exactly what do you do to cause the error or problem you are encountering?
· What is the location of the web? Is it running on your local machine? If so, what is
your operating system?
· If the web is running on a live server, what is the URL to the web? Who is hosting the
web?
· If you encounter an error message, include the COMPLETE text of any and all errors.
The StoreFront Database Connection Box
All of the data used by your StoreFront web - customer information, product inventory, configuration
information - is stored in the storefront.mdb Access database within your web, or in the
SQL Server database (see page 37). In order to administer your web and view this information,
you must first set up a database connection between your local computer and the database
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which resides on the server that hosts your web. You will be prompted to enter the information
for the database connection when you first open one of the StoreFront development tools. After
the connection is established for one tool, all additional tools opened will use the same
connection. Closing all the tools will clear the connection and allow you to choose a new
connection when you next open one of the StoreFront development tools.
CONNECTING TO A REMOTE OR LOCAL DATABASE
The method by which you connect to your database will differ depending on whether your site
is hosted on a remote server or whether it is currently being developed on your local desktop
machine. Follow the instructions below to use the Database Connection Dialog Box to
connect to a remote or local database. Note: your host must perform the MSADC configuration
before you will be able to connect to a remote database with the StoreFront client tools.
1. The first option on the Database Connection Dialog Box is the Connection List.
StoreFront can save up to 5 different database connections, conveniently allowing
you to connect to different webs in succession. Select Connection1 to save this
connection. You can retrieve it at any time in the future by selecting Connection1.
2. If the database you are trying to connect to is located in a web site that is hosted
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locally, on the same machine you are working at, leave Use Remote Database
Connection unchecked. If your site is hosted on a remote web server, check Use
Remote Database Connection.
3. Check Use datahandler. If you encounter an error message referring to a
datahandler or RDS datahandler, uncheck this option and try again.
4. If the database you are trying to connect to is hosted locally on the same machine
you are working at, enter localhost or 127.0.0.1 in the Host field. If your site
is hosted on a remote server, enter the IP or domain name of the site in the Host
field.
5. In the DSN field, enter the System DSN that points to your database. If the site is
hosted on a remote server, your web host should be able to provide you with this
information. If this site is hosted locally, on the same machine where you are working,
then you should be able to view and create DSNs yourself. DSN creation is described
in steps 4 through 7 of Creating a Local StoreFront Web, page 46.
6. Select Access or SQL according to the database type that you are connecting to.
7. If you are connecting to an Access database, leave Logon Required unchecked
and ignore the User Name and Password fields. Click Test Connection to test
the connection to your database. If the test is successful, click Connect.
8. If you are connecting to a SQL database, check Logon Required and enter your
SQL Server logon and password. Your host will be able to provide you with this
information if you do not know it. Click Connect to connect to your database.
USING A CUSTOM CONNECTION STRING
If you prefer not to use the default connection methods used by the StoreFront development
tools or if your host does not support system DSNs, you may choose to use a custom
connection string instead. A connection string should contain all of the parameters required
by ADO for your database type. Please be aware that StoreFront Support can not assist in
the composition of a custom connection string
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Follow the instructions below to use a custom connection string to connect to a remote
database with the StoreFront development tools.
1. Select the development tool you want to use from the StoreFront toolbar or
StoreFront drop-down menu of FrontPage. This will cause the Database Connection
Dialog Box to appear.
2. Check Use Custom Connection String. This will cause all other options in this
menu to become unavailable. Paste your connection string into the field directly
below the Use Custom Connection String option.
3. Test the connection string by clicking Test Connection. If the test is successful,
click Connect to connect to your database with the selected StoreFront development
tool. If the test is unsuccessful, review your connection string and try again or contact
StoreFront Support.
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The Store Creator
The Store Creator provides the development tools necessary to create a StoreFront e-commerce
web. This is done by creating a new StoreFront web site using the Web Creation
Wizard, or by using the Import Wizard to add StoreFront files to an existing web. The Web
Creation Wizard and Import Wizard are described in greater detail in the following sections.
THE WEB CREATION WIZARD
The Web Creation Wizard can be accessed by clicking the Web Creation Wizard icon of the
StoreFront toolbar or drop-down menu.
The Web Creation Wizard can be used to create a local StoreFront web. The Wizard will also
perform many of the basic configuration tasks necessary for local development, such as
creating a database connection and creating a System DSN. The process of creating a new
StoreFront web using the Web Creation Wizard is described in detail on page 47.
THE IMPORT WIZARD
The Import Wizard is a secondary function of the Store Creator. It can be accessed by clicking
the Store Creator icon of the StoreFront toolbar, then selecting Import Wizard. The Import
Wizard will add StoreFront files to any web site that can be accessed through FrontPage.
tor
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Using
the
The Store Builder
The Store Builder is composed of the development tools that you will use most
when first building your StoreFront web. Some of these tools will be used to perform
one-time configurations, such as setting tax, shipping rates, design parameters,
mail configuration, payment and order processing, and technical settings. You will
not have to use these tools often once your site is live, but it is important that you
understand their functions. The tools that can be accessed through the Store
Builder include the Page Link Creator, the Product Bot Creator, the Product Manager,
and the Web Manager. These are covered in greater detail in the following
sections.
THE WEB MANAGER
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The StoreFront Web Manager can be accessed by clicking the Store Builder icon
of the StoreFront toolbar or drop-down menu, then selecting the Web Manager.
The Web Manager is divided into eight tabs: Shipping, Tax, Mail, General, Order
Processing, Geography, Currency, and StoreFront Design. Each of these tabs
contains menus and interfaces that can be used to perform functions relating to
their title. Most of these options you will use only once, when first building and
configuring your StoreFront web.
THE PRODUCT MANAGER
The StoreFront Product Manager can be accessed by clicking the Store Builder
icon of the StoreFront toolbar or drop-down menu, then selecting the Product
Manager. This is the tool you will use to build and manage your inventory of
products. You can also use it to place an item on sale and modify the attributes
and information pertaining to an existing item. When you have to perform any task
directly pertaining to the products in your inventory, think of the Product Manager.
Product Creation is described in more detail beginning on page 128.
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THE PRODUCT BOT CREATOR
You can access the Product Bot Creator by clicking on the Store Builder icon of the
StoreFront toolbar or drop-down menu, then selecting Product Bot Creator.
The Product Bot Creator is the tool that you will use to transform a normal HTML page into a
StoreFront-enabled product page. Product Bots are a key component in the construction of
your web, the link between the StoreFront e-commerce functionality and your existing web
site. In its simplest form, a product bot is a quantity box and an Add to Order button that you
can place on a web page. By entering a quantity and clicking the add to order button, customers
can add items to their orders using product bots. You will use this tool frequently as you
construct your site. Product page creation and the use of product bots is described in more
detail beginning on page 146.
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THE PAGE LINK CREATOR
The Page Link Creator can be accessed by clicking the Store Builder icon of the StoreFront
toolbar or drop-down menu, then clicking the button for Page Link Creator.
The Page Link Creator is a development tool that allows you to automatically create links that
will be useful while building your web. These include links to Checkout, Search Engine Links,
links to retrieve a specific customer’s previous order , and others. The purposes of these links
and instructions for using the Page Link Creator are covered in detail on page 153.
The Store Administrator
The Store Administrator contains tools that you will use frequently as you perform administrative
and managerial duties such as generating sales reports, initiating and ending product
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StoreFront 5.0
sales and store-wide sales, managing your mailing list, and managing your affiliate partners.
The Administrator is divided into five different tools: the Store-wide Discount Manager, the
Product Discount Manager, the Affiliate Partners Manager, the Mailing List Manager, and the
Sales Reports. These are described in greater detail later in this section.
THE SALES REPORTS
You can access the StoreFront Sales Reports tools by clicking the Store Administrator icon
of the StoreFront toolbar or drop-down menu, then clicking Reports. The StoreFront Sales
Reports will allow you to retrieve customer orders and monitor order traffic in your site. There
are six available report types. These are listed and described below. Detailed instructions for
using each of the Sales Reports can be found in The StoreFront Sales Reports, beginning on
page 176.
· Transaction Service Reports: The Transaction Service Report sales reporting tool
will allow you to view the information returned by your payment processing service
regarding credit card transactions. This report will only be useful if you are using a live
payment processing service. If you are using Email Merchant Processing instead of a
payment processing service this report will not return any results.
· Sales Summary Reports: The Sales Summary Report provides a quick summary of
the total sales in the store for a given time period.
· Order Detail Report: The Order Detail Report will allow you to retrieve a detailed
invoice-style report for a single order.
· Product Sales Report: The Product Sales Report will allow you to view the sales of
a single product within a given time period. This is an excellent tool for measuring the
popularity of individual products.
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· Affiliate Sales Report: StoreFront has built-in support for an affiliate program. The
Affiliate Sales Report will allow you to view the total sales for a single affiliate.
· Retrieve Order: Retrieve Order can be used to search the order records for a single
order placed by a customer. The order records can be searched by customer first
name, customer last name, or order ID number.
THE STORE-WIDE DISCOUNT MANAGER
The Store-wide Discount Manager can be accessed by clicking on the Store Administrator
icon of the StoreFront toolbar or drop-down menu, then selecting Store-wide Discount
Manager.
The Store-wide Discount Manager can be used to create a store-wide sale that will discount all
orders by a certain percentage; for example, 10% off all order subtotals. You can also use this
tool to activate free shipping for orders over a certain amount. Store-wide Discounts are
explained in detail on page 187.
THE PRODUCT DISCOUNT MANAGER
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StoreFront 5.0
The Product Discount Manager can be accessed by clicking on the Store Administrator icon
of the StoreFront toolbar or drop-down menu, then selecting Product Discount Manager.
The Product Discount Manager can be used to create and manage individual product sales; for
example, a product item that is normally $8 can be assigned a sale price of $6. When the
item is placed on sale with this tool the sale price will be used. Product Discounts are explained
in greater detail on page 186.
THE AFFILIATE PARTNER MANAGER
The Affiliate Partners Manager can be accessed by clicking the Store Administrator icon of
the StoreFront toolbar or drop-down menu, then selecting Affiliate Partners Manager.
StoreFront has built-in support for an Affiliate Partners program in which other webmasters can
refer customers to your site through a special link. These customers will then be tracked, and
you can pay a commission to your Affiliate Partners in exchange for their business. The
Affiliate Partner Manager will allow you to view and modify the information for any of your
Affiliate Partners. The Affiliate Partners program is described in more detail beginning on page
184.
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THE MAILING LIST MANAGER
This tool can be accessed by clicking the Store Administrator icon of the StoreFront toolbar
or drop-down menu, then choosing Mailing List Manager.
StoreFront maintains a list of customers who have chosen to subscribe to your store’s mailing
list. Customers can subscribe by choosing the Subscribe to Mailing List option that is
displayed during the checkout process. You can use this tool to select the customers who will
receive mailings from your web.
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Creating The
Store
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StoreFront 5.0
Before you can begin designing your pages, building an inventory, advertising, or
processing orders, you need to add the basic components to your site that will lend
it e-commerce functionality.
There are three ways to create a StoreFront web:
• StoreFront-enable an existing web by using the Import Wizard function of
the Store Creator. This will add StoreFront files to an existing web.
• Create an entirely new web using the StoreFront Web Creation Wizard.
This will allow you to create a basic StoreFront web on your local machine,
and will perform some of the basic configuration tasks for you, such as
creating a system DSN and creating a database connection in your web
(System DSNs and database connections are covered in greater detail
later in this chapter).
• Create an entirely new web using the StoreFront 5.0 Web Template. This
will create a new web using the StoreFront files at any location you specify,
live or local. This will not, however, create a DSN, establish a database
connection, or perform any of the other configuration tasks of the Web
Creation Wizard.
The files that are added to a web during the Import Wizard or Web Creation Wizard
contain the functionality that will add e-commerce capabilities to your site. If you
are curious about the functions or purposes of any of the new files you see in your
web, please refer to StoreFront Files and Functions, page 13, for a list of file
locations and purposes.
The steps you take to create a StoreFront web will vary depending on the location
of the web: live or local. The database type used in the web, Access or SQL, will
also affect the steps that you take. The following sections cover information
pertinent to all possible development environments and configurations.
Access or SQL?
Users of StoreFront 5.0 XE and AE have the option to create StoreFront webs that
use either an Access database or a SQL Server Database. There are distinct
advantages to each database.
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USING AN ACCESS DATABASE
Access is easy to work with, easy to support, and easy to modify. Any NT or
Windows 2000 host can support a connection to an Access database, and you
can develop and test a store using an Access database on a local Windows NT/
98/95/2000/ME machine running the Microsoft Personal Web Server. An Access
database can support an unlimited number of products and customer records.
User Guide
Access has some limitations. First, an Access database generally has difficulties
supporting more than 25 simultaneous database transactions. There may be any
number of customers browsing your site without overloading the database, but if
more than 25 perform actions that require a connection to the database, such as
adding a product to their carts, checking out, or performing a product search, it will
overload the database and have a detrimental effect upon the performance of your
site. This database type is usually sufficient for a small to medium-sized store.
USING A SQL SERVER DATABASE
SQL Server is an enterprise level database application that can support an unlimited
number of simultaneous connections, products, and customer records. A SQL
Server database may also perform and respond significantly faster than an Access
database.
The additional benefits of SQL Server also require a more advanced web host. The
host must be able to provide competent and professional support for SQL Server.
The use of a SQL Server database requires some additional configuration tasks on
your part as well.
• You may encounter difficulties trying to use a SQL Server database on
your local machine. We suggest that you create an Access database
locally, then upload it to the host, who will upsize it into a SQL Server
database (see below).
• The SQL database is not included with StoreFront 5.0, but must be
created using a process known as upsizing. Upsizing is the process of
converting an existing Access database into a SQL Server database.
There are two different methods of doing this, and we suggest that you
consult with your host to determine which they prefer. If the host allows
external access to the SQL Server, then you may perform the upsizing
process yourself using the upsizing guide in the Knowledge Base at
www.StoreFront.net. Otherwise, the host may upsize a copy of the
storefront.mdb Access database for you.
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Note: SQL Server and Access databases cannot be used interchangeably. If, when you are
prompted to choose Access or SQL during the Import Wizard or Web Creation Wizard, you
chose MS Access, then you must use an Access database. If you chose MS SQL, you must
use a SQL database.
Live vs. Local
You will frequently see this manual referring to a “live” or “remote” web, as opposed to a “local”
web.
WHAT IS A LIVE WEB?
”Live” or “remote”, when used in context referring to a web site, means the web site is hosted
on a server that is physically apart from the location where you do your development and
design. Publishing your site to a public internet server is often referred to as “going live.” Keep
in mind that, with few exceptions, you will not have physical access to the live server, and so
many configuration tasks that are required by StoreFront will require you to enlist the aid of
your webhost. The necessity of server-side configuration is not unique to StoreFront. It is
important to have a personable and responsive host, and you may wish to host with a
StoreFront Web Hosting Partner. A list of StoreFront Partners can be found on our Partners
Page at www.StoreFront.net.
WHAT IS A LOCAL WEB?
The “local” site or server refers to your desktop machine. Some web developers prefer to
develop and test their sites as much as possible locally before publishing the site to a remote
server and going live. This is possible through the use of the Microsoft Personal Web Server.
Please refer to Installing a Personal Web Server, page 46, to learn more about obtaining and
installing the Microsoft Personal Web Server.
Upgrading to StoreFront 5.0 from a Previous
Version
StoreFront 5.0 offers many new features that weren’t available in StoreFront 2000. If you have
already created StoreFront webs using StoreFront 2000, you may wish to upgrade these webs
for use with the latest version of StoreFront. When StoreFront 5.0 is installed, it will also install
a Database Upgrade Tool that can be used to upgrade an older database for use with the
StoreFront 5.0 files. Please read the following sections for more information on the tasks you
must perform to upgrade a StoreFront 2000 web to StoreFront 5.0.
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STEP-BY-STEP UPGRADE GUIDE
Follow the instructions below to upgrade a StoreFront 2000 web to StoreFront 5.0. The
upgrade process will retain your product and customer information, and any relevant configuration
settings that will still apply in StoreFront 5.0.
1. If you still have StoreFront 2000 installed, click on the StoreFront menu of FrontPage
and select About StoreFront. You must have a version number of 4.04.3 or greater. If
your version number is lower than this, please contact StoreFront Support for further
instructions. If your version number meets the requirement, please proceed to the
next step. Note: If you no longer have StoreFront 2000 installed, use Notepad to open
the addproduct.asp file in the StoreFront 2000 web you plan to perform the upgrade
on. The header for this file will contain a reliable version number.
2. If you do not already have one, make a current local copy of the web you wish to
upgrade. This web must be located on an http:// location on your local machine; for
example: http://localhost/mySF2000web/
3. Open the local copy of your web in FrontPage by clicking File, then Open Web.
Enter the URL to the local copy of the web in the Folder Name field, then click
Open.
4. Make a backup copy of your database by opening the fpdb folder and locating the
.mdb database file. Right-click the file, select Copy, then right-click anywhere in the
fpdb folder and select Paste. This will create a copy of the database. After making the
backup copy, click on the Start menu and select StoreFront 5.0, then Database
Upgrade Tool from the programs list. Use the Database Upgrade Tool to upgrade
your database. See the next section, Using the StoreFront 5.0 Database Upgrade
Tool, for specific instructions on upgrading a database.
5. Once the database has been upgraded, use the Import Wizard to import the latest
files into your web. You can find instructions on the use of the Import Wizard on page
41. Allow the Import Wizard to overwrite all of the old files in your web, with the
exception of the storefront.mdb. Do NOT overwrite this file.
6. Reapply a database connection to your web according to the instructions under
Creating a Database Connection, page 43.
7. Publish the updated web back to your site. If you are using a separate SSL location
somewhere outside of the root web, make sure to replace the SSL files with the latest
copies from the upgraded web. All of the StoreFront 2000 ASP and inc application files
must be replaced in order for the web to function properly with StoreFront 5.0.
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Any product pages you have created with StoreFront 2000 will continue to function with
StoreFront 5.0. Be sure to test the web thoroughly after performing the upgrade. If you encounter
any problems, please contact StoreFront Support (support@storefront.net).
USING THE DATABASE UPGRADE TOOL
The StoreFront 5.0 Database Upgrade Tool will upgrade an older StoreFront 2000 database to
a format suitable for use with StoreFront 5.0. Follow the instructions below to use this tool.
Note: the Database Upgrade Tool is only for use with an Access database. SQL users should
import all of the data from the SQL server database into an empty copy of the storefront.mdb
StoreFront 5.0 Access database, then re-upsize this database using the upsizing guide on
www.StoreFront.net in the Knowledge Base. For further clarification, please contact StoreFront
Support.
1. Click on the Start menu. From the programs list, select StoreFront 5.0, then
StoreFront Database Upgrade.
2. Enter the path to your database. If you don’t know the exact location of the database,
click the Browse button. The database should be in a location like
C:\INETPUB\wwwroot\your SF2000 web\fpdb\storefront.mdb or
C:\WEBSHARE\wwwroot\your SF2000 web\fpdb\storefront.mdb . Click Upgrade.
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3. Allow the upgrade wizard to run to completion. If you encounter an error, please
contact StoreFront Support. When the process is finished, the wizard will ask you if
you would like to delete the old tables. Retaining the old tables is not necessary, and
deleting them will not have any detrimental effects on the operation of your web.
Deleting the old tables will also decrease the size of the database considerably.

User Guide
This will complete the database upgrade process. You can now add StoreFront 5.0 files to
your StoreFront 2000 web by using the Import Wizard.
Creating a Remote StoreFront Web or Adding
StoreFront to a Remote Web
Developing StoreFront remotely on a production server is the most highly recommended
method for development. If you choose to develop locally, then publish the site to a production
server, you will need to reconfigure the site to run in the new environment. However, when
developing on the production server itself, you only need to configure the site once. You will
also avoid problems that may be caused by the lack of functionality provided by Microsoft
Personal Web Server.
The next few sections describe the tasks that are involved in creating a remote StoreFront
web.
CHOOSING A HOST
The first step that you will take when creating a web or publishing a web is choosing a host. A
responsive and professional host is vital to the smooth operation of your StoreFront web.
StoreFront is designed to run on any NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 server running IIS 4.0 or 5.0.
Payment Processing Services (page 78) and Mail Services (page 60) may require the installation
of additional software. Your host can find a list of server requirements under System
Requirements, page 8.
A list of recommended hosts who have experience supporting StoreFront can be found at the
StoreFront Web Host Partners page on www.StoreFront.net.
ADDING STOREFRONT TO A REMOTE WEB USING THE IMPORT WIZARD
If you have a web that is live and hosted on a remote server, you can add StoreFront files to it
by using the Import Wizard function of the Store Creator. This method can be used to add
StoreFront to a new, empty web, or to add StoreFront files to an existing web site that you
want to add e-commerce capabilities to. Follow the instructions below to StoreFront-enable a
remote web.
1. Open FrontPage. Click File, then Open Web. Enter the address of your web in the
Folder Name field.
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StoreFront 5.0
2. Once the local web is open in FrontPage, click the Web Creation Wizard icon of the
StoreFront toolbar. Select Import StoreFront Files into an existing web.
3. If you are using StoreFront AE or XE, you will be asked whether you wish to import
Access or SQL files. If you are using an Access database in this web, choose MS
Access. If you are using a SQL database in this web, choose MS SQL.
4. When the Import Wizard is finished running, contact your host and request that they
create a System DSN mapped to the storefront.mdb file in the fpdb folder of your web
site. If you are using a SQL Server database, ask the host to map a DSN to your
database on the SQL Server. Also ask that your host create the MSADC service. A
description of the MSADC service and how it is created can be found under Creating
the MSADC Service, page 45.
5. Configure a database connection according to the instructions under Creating a
Database Connection, page 43.
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6. If you are using an Access database, also request that the host allow the Everyone
and IUSR accounts to have Modify or Change permission on the fpdb folder and the
files that it contains.
7. If you are using a SQL Server database you will have to create the database by
upsizing a StoreFront 5.0 Access database. Please refer to the upsizing guide in the
Knowledge Base on www.StoreFront.net.
This will complete the creation and minimal configuration of the remote web. You can test the
site’s basic functionality by opening a browser and entering the URL of your web in the
address window, followed by /search.asp; i.e. http://www.yourweb.com/search.asp. If
search.asp loads correctly, then you have an active database connection in your site. Also
attempt to connect to the remote database using one of the StoreFront development tools. If
you connect successfully, this indicates that the MSADC Service and System DSN are
functioning correctly.
CREATING A DATABASE CONNECTION
The ASP pages in your web must be able to communicate with your database in order for
StoreFront to function properly. Follow the steps below to create a database connection in
your web.
1. Open your web in FrontPage. You can do this by clicking on File, then Open Web.
In the Folder Name field, enter the URL to your web site on the live server or local
machine.
2. After the web opens, click Tools, then select Web Settings.
3. Click on the Database tab. Click Add.
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StoreFront 5.0
4. Leave the Name set to the default of Database1, or use a brief name of
your own choosing. Select File or folder in current web, then click
Browse. Browse to the location of the database within the web (this
should be the fpdb folder) and highlight the file by clicking on it.
If you are using a SQL database, select Network connection to database
server instead of File or folder in current web. Click Browse.
Under Type of database driver, select SQL Server. In the Server Name
field, enter the IP of the SQL Server that hosts your database, and in the
Database name field, enter the name of your database. If you don’t know
this information, ask your host. Click OK, then click Advanced. Enter
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your SQL server username and password in the appropriate fields, then
click OK until you are returned to the Database tab.
5. You should now see your new connection displayed with a ? next to it.
Select the new connection by clicking on it, then click Verify, then Apply.
The blue question mark will change to a green check mark. This will apply
the database connection to your web and allow your ASP pages to communicate
with the database.
You can test the new connection by opening a browser and entering the URL of your
web in the address window, followed by /search.asp; i.e. http://
www.yourweb.com/search.asp. If search.asp loads correctly, then you have an
active database connection in your site.
CREATING THE MSADC SERVICE
In order to manage and administer a StoreFront site hosted on a remote web server,
you must be able to connect to the site’s database using the StoreFront
development tools. In order for this to be possible, your host must first configure
what is called the MSADC Services. This configuration is only necessary on the live
server, and does not need to be performed if you are developing a local site. Details
on configuring the MSADC services can be found on www.StoreFront.net.
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Creating a Local StoreFront Web or Adding
StoreFront to a Local Web
There are many advantages to developing a StoreFront web locally. Because the site is hosted
on the machine you use for development, Internet connectivity and the reliability of another
server is never an issue. You also have complete control over the web and the environment it
runs in.
StoreFront can be developed and tested locally to a limited extent, but it is designed to be run
on a live IIS server. Because of this, certain aspects of a StoreFront web cannot be tested on a
local machine running the Microsoft Personal Web Server. However, basic development and
design can be performed locally after you have configured your desktop PC to support
StoreFront. Read the following sections for more information about creating a local StoreFront
web and about each of the tasks you must perform to develop a site locally.
INSTALLING A PERSONAL WEB SERVER
Before you can begin building a local StoreFront web, you must configure your desktop PC to
act as a web server. The easiest way to do this without installing a server OS is to install the
Microsoft Personal Web Server.
Users of Windows 98 can find a Personal Web Server on the Windows 98 CD under (your CD-
ROM Drive):\ADDONS\PWS\. Double click the Setup.exe file to begin the installation.
Users of Windows 95 and NT 4.0 can install a Personal Web Server in the form of NT Option
Pack 4, which can be downloaded from this URL: www.microsoft.com/ntworkstation/downloads/recommended/ServicePacks/NT4OptPk/Default.asp
Users of Windows 2000 can install the Personal Web Server in the form of IIS 5.0. Simply
insert your Windows 2000 CD in your CD-ROM drive and select Install Addon Components.
Select Internet Information Services and click Next to start the installation.
Users of Windows Millennium Edition: the Personal Web Server is neither included nor
supported on Windows Millennium Edition. For this reason, it may be necessary for Windows
ME users to test and design their StoreFront sites live on a remote server. Microsoft does
indicate that it is still possible to install Personal Web Server on Windows ME. Please refer to
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q266/4/56.ASP for more information.
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Note: StoreFront Support provides minimal assistance in the installation and configuration of
the Personal Web Server and IIS. LaGarde, Inc. is not responsible for problems caused by the
misconfiguration of the Personal Web Server or for supporting the Personal Web Server.
Questions regarding the Personal Web Server, its installation and configuration, should be
directed to Microsoft Support.
CREATING A NEW LOCAL WEB
The Web Creation Wizard simplifies the process of creating and configuring a local web. This
development tool creates your web, configures a DSN, assigns the permissions necessary for
StoreFront to run, and establishes a database connection for the ASP pages in your web site.
Before you run the Web Creation Wizard, you must have the Microsoft Personal Web Server
or IIS installed. Follow the steps below to create a new web locally using the Web Creation
Wizard.
1. If your local machine is running Win95/98/NT or 2000, you must have the Microsoft
Personal Web Server or IIS installed. Please see Installing a Personal Web Server,
page 46, for instructions on installing the Personal Web Server.
2. Open FrontPage. Select Web Creation Wizard from the StoreFront menu.
3. Select Create a New StoreFront Web. Before the Wizard can begin creating the
web, it requires some basic information.
Web Site Name should be the name you would like to assign to this site as it
resides on your local machine. If no name is provided, the default StoreFront will
be used. For example, the local URL of the new web will be:
http://localhost/storefront/
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StoreFront 5.0
DSN Name should be the Data Source Name you would like to use to connect to
the local site’s database. If no DSN Name is provided, the Web Site Name will be
used instead.
4. We recommend that you leave Create Data Source Name (DSN) entries for data
connections checked. Click Next.
5. If you are using StoreFront AE or StoreFront XE, you will be asked to choose whether
to import Access or SQL files. If you plan to use StoreFront with an Access database,
choose MS Access. If you plan to use StoreFront with a SQL database, choose MS
SQL.
This will complete the creation and minimal configuration of the local web. To test your work,
open a browser and enter the location of your new web in the address window, followed by /
search.asp. For example, http://localhost/storefront/search.asp
ADDING STOREFRONT TO A LOCAL WEB
If you already have a local copy of your web, you can use the StoreFront Import wizard to add
the StoreFront files to it. Follow the instructions below to StoreFront-enable a local web.
1. If your local machine is running Win95/98/NT or 2000, you must have the Microsoft
Personal Web Server or IIS installed. Please see Installing a Personal Web Server,
page 46, for instructions on installing the Personal Web Server.
2. Open FrontPage. Click File, then Open Web. Enter the address of your local web in
the Folder Name field.
3. Once the local web is open in FrontPage, click the Web Creation Wizard icon of the
StoreFront toolbar. Select Import StoreFront Files into an existing web.
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4. If you are using StoreFront AE or StoreFront XE, you will be asked whether you wish
to import Access or SQL files. If you are using an Access database in this web,
choose MS Access. If you are using a SQL database in this web, choose MS SQL.
5. When the import wizard is finished running, it is time to create a System DSN. The
DSN will allow you to connect to your database using the StoreFront Tools. Open your
Control Panel by clicking on the Start Menu and selecting Settings, then Control
Panel. Double-click the ODBC Administrator icon (in Windows 2000, this will be
listed under the sub-heading Administrative Tools).
6. Click on the System tab of the ODBC Administrator. Click Add. Select the Microsoft
Access Driver, then click Finish.
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StoreFront 5.0
7. Enter the name of the new DSN in the Data Source Name field. This can be anything,
but should be alphanumeric and without spaces. Write your DSN down and
remember it; you will use it every time you connect to this database using the
StoreFront development tools. After entering the name of the new DSN, click the
Browse button.
8. Browse to the physical location of your web on your hard drive. This should be in the
C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\ or C:\webshare\wwwroot\ folder. Under this folder, you will see a
folder with the same name as your web. Doubleclick this folder to open it, then open
the fpdb folder within it. Select the storefront.mdb file by clicking it once, then click
OK. Continue to click OK until the ODBC Administrator is closed.
9. In FrontPage, right-click on the fpdb folder. Select Properties. Make sure that Allow
files to be browsed is unchecked.
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10. Configure a database connection in your web according to directions under Creating a
Database Connection, page 43.
11. Users of Windows NT or 2000 will also have to give the IUSR and Everyone accounts
Modify (Read, Write, Delete) permission on the fpdb folder and the storefront.mdb
database that it contains.
This will complete the creation and minimal configuration of the local web. To test the results
of your work, open a browser and enter the location of your web in the address window,
followed by /search.asp. For example, http://localhost/storefront/search.asp.
This will verify that the database connection is functioning. You can also test the System DSN
you created by connecting to your database with one of the StoreFront development tools.
Creating a Web Using the StoreFront 5.0 Web
Template
The StoreFront 5.0 Web Template can be used to create a web on your local machine or a
remote server. It will not, however, perform any of the configuration tasks that will be required
for the web to function properly. If developing locally, configure the site as described in Adding
StoreFront to a Local Web Using the Import Wizard, page 48. If you are using the Web
Template to create a remote StoreFront web, have the host create the MSADC service,
configure the System DSN, and perform the other tasks described under Adding StoreFront to
a Remote Web Using the Import Wizard, page 41. Follow the instructions below to create a
new web using the Web Template.
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1. Open FrontPage. Click File, New, then Web.
2. Select the StoreFront 5.0 template from the list of available FrontPage
web templates. Click OK.
3. When the web has been created, configure it according to the guidelines
provided in this section’s introduction.
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Setting
Business Rules
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StoreFront 5.0
The first step in configuring your web, prior to building an inventory and designing pages, is to
set the business rules that will govern the way the site runs. This includes tax settings,
accepted forms of payment, the way that shipping charges for orders will be calculated, what
locales the store will accept orders from, and the currency type that will be used in the store.
You must complete all of these configuration tasks before your site will function correctly.
Please review the following sections for more information.
Configuring State and Country Tax Rates
StoreFront 5.0 supports tax rate calculation for an unlimited number of states, countries, and
provinces. Although taxation as it applies to e-commerce is still an evolving issue, it is likely
that most of your webs will have to charge tax in one form or another. Check with your Chamber
of Commerce for more information.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you’re unsure of how to do this,
please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21 for further
instructions.
2. Open the Web Manager. Click on the Tax tab.
3. Select a country or state from the Supported Countries and Supported States
lists. If the country or state that you want to set a tax rate for is not present, you can
add countries and states to the list of Supported Shipping Destinations, then return to
the Tax tab to set tax rates for the new countries and states. Please see Selecting
Supported Shipping Destinations, page 59, for more information about adding countries
and states to these lists.
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4. When you click on a country or state name, the current tax rate for the selection will
appear in the field to the right of the country or state list. To change the tax rate for a
country or state, enter the desired tax rate in the field, then click Set. Tax rates
should be entered as a decimal percentage of 1. A tax rate of 6.25%, for example,
should be entered as .0625. Do not enter a % sign in these fields.
5. After setting the tax rate for a state or country, check the checkbox to the left of the
selection’s name to activate the tax rate.
6. You can deactivate a tax rate by unchecking the checkbox to the left of a country or
state’s name.
7. You can modify a tax rate by selecting the country or state you wish to modify, then
changing its rate. Click Set to save the changes in the database.
This will complete the configuration of your tax rates. You can change a tax rate or add a new
tax at any time by returning to this interface.
Configuring ezeehelp Support
Ezeehelp is a third party service provided by ezeehelp, Ltd. By establishing an account with
ezeehelp, Ltd., you can make ezeehelp links appear on the StoreFront pages throughout your
site. When a customer clicks on one of these links, it will activate an HTML-based customer
service chat application that will allow the customer to speak directly to yourself or an
ezeehelp service representative. Ezeehelp offers several different service plans to suit a variety
of operations; visit www.EzeeHelp.com for more information.
Follow the instructions below to configure your site to make ezeehelp available to your
customers.
1. Establish an account with ezeehelp, Ltd. at www.ezeehelp.com/storefront/. Once the
account is established, you will be provided with an ezeehelp login ID.
2. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
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3. Open the Web Manager. Under the General tab, enter your ezeehelp Login ID in the
ezeehelp Login field. Check Activate ezeehelp to activate the service. Ezeehelp
links will now appear in the footer of each StoreFront page.
This will complete the configuration for ezeehelp. You can disable ezeehelp at any time by
returning to this menu and unchecking the Activate ezeehelp option.
Configuring your Path Settings
In order for your StoreFront web to function properly, you need to let the StoreFront application
know what its internet address is. Once your StoreFront web has the information it needs, it
will be able to use it to guide your customers through the ordering process and to perform
other vital functions. These path settings are extremely important. Without them, your web will
not function. Please note that if the site location changes, as when you publish from a local
machine to a live server, these settings will need to be changed as well.
StoreFront uses two path settings. These are as follows:
Web Site Location:
The Web Site Location should be set to the URL of the web or subweb that contains your
StoreFront web. This path should not end in file name and must be a complete URL using
http://. For example:
Correct Paths:
http://www.yoursfweb.com/
http://www.yourweb.com/yoursubweb/
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Incorrect Paths:
www.yoursfweb.com
http://www.yoursfweb.com/default.htm
http://www.yourweb.com/yoursubweb/file.asp
Secure Directory Location:
This path should be the complete URL to the process_order.asp file in your SSL-secured
location. This path will be used to guide your customers to the secure location to submit their
shipping and billing information during the check-out process. Make sure that this path is a
complete URL with an https:// prefix. The https:// is what causes the browser to begin transmitting
and receiving information in an encrypted form under the Secure Sockets Layer. For
example:
https://www.yourweb.com/ssl/process_order.asp
or
https://secure.yourhost.com/yoursecureSubWeb/process_order.asp
Follow the instructions below to configure your path settings. You must know the path to your
SSL-secured location before you complete this step. If you are unsure of how your SSL is
configured, please refer to Using SSL, page 169, for further instructions.
1. Connect to your database with the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do this,
please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
2. Open the Web Manager. Click on the General tab.
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3. Fill in the Web Site Location and Secure Directory Location with URLs according
to the descriptions above.
4. Save the changes before you close the Web Manager.
This will complete the path configuration. You can change these settings at any time by
returning to this menu. Please remember that when the location of the site changes these
paths must be changed as well. For example, when you publish from your local machine to
the live server, these path settings must be changed to reflect the site’s change in location.
Setting a Store Name
StoreFront allows you to assign a title to your web that will show up on various pages that use
the StoreFront Themes. The Store Name will also show up in the Promotional Mails and
Confirmation Emails that are sent to customers after they place an order in your site. Follow
the instructions below to name your store.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
2. Open the Web Manager. Click on the General tab.
3. Enter the name of your store in the Store Name field.
4. Click File, then Save Settings to save the changes before you close the Web
Manager.
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You can change the store name at any time by returning to this menu, changing the entry in
the Store Name field, then saving the changes.
Selecting Supported Shipping Destinations
StoreFront comes with an extensive shipping list of countries, states, and some non-US
provinces. However, you may choose not to ship orders to all of these. You will need to
customize your lists of supported States and Countries to prevent customers from nonsupported
shipping destinations from placing orders in your web. Follow the instructions below
to customize your lists of supported States and Countries. The changes you make here will be
reflected in the country and state lists that are presented to your customers when they order
from your web.
1. Connect to your database with the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do this,
please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
2. Open the Web Manager. Click on the Geographical tab.
3. Under the Geographical tab, use your mouse to highlight the countries and states
you wish to accept orders from.
4. Right-click in the State or Country list to produce a menu of additional options. You
can Select All countries or states, or Deselect All countries or states. If you select
Edit you can also Add and Delete options in the countries and states list. When you
add or delete a country or state, the list of countries and states your customers can
order from will be updated, as will the lists you access while setting tax rates.
5. Click File, then Save Settings to save the changes before you close the Web
Manager.
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You can make changes to the list of supported states and countries at any time by returning
to this menu and following the instructions described above.
The Mail Services of StoreFront 5.0
StoreFront 5.0 includes support for a variety of mail functions, including a Promo Mailer (pg
181) to notify customers of specials and store events, and an Email to Friend function (pg 153)
that allows customers to email others about products in your store. While setting the business
rules for your site, you will perform the basic configuration tasks that will allow these
functions and others to operate correctly. The steps you must take to configure your mail
services are described in the next few sections.
CONFIGURING YOUR MAIL SERVICES
Before you will be able to use the mail functions provided by StoreFront, such as the confirmation
emails, Promo Mailer, or Email this Product to a Friend, you must first configure your
store’s basic mailing rules. This is simply a matter of providing the StoreFront application with
the information it needs to communicate with the mail services provided by your host, the two
email addresses you would like to receive confirmation emails at, and the content of the
confirmation emails. Follow the instructions below to configure StoreFront’s mail services.
1. Contact your web host. If your host is a StoreFront Web Hosting Partner, simply
inform them that you are using StoreFront and you wish to know what Mail Component
and Mail Server address you configure your web to use. Any host that has
experience supporting StoreFront will be able to provide you with this information. If
your host has not supported StoreFront before and can not provide the information you
need, please email StoreFront Support (support@storefront.net) for further instructions.
2. Connect to your database with the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do this,
please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
3. Open the Web Manager. Click on the Mail tab.
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4. From the Mail Component drop-down box, select the mail component that is
supported by your host. In the Mail Server field, enter the SMTP server address you
obtained from your host in step one.
5. In the First Mail Recipient and Second Mail Recipient fields, enter the email
addresses you would like to receive confirmation emails at. Emails will be sent to
these two addresses every time an order is placed in the site. The First Mail Recipient
is required. If you do not want to receive a second email, leave the Second Mail
Recipient field blank.
6. In the Subject field, enter the text you would like to be used as the subject for the
confirmation emails that are sent to customers. In the Mail Message Body field,
enter the text that should compose the body of the confirmation email. This text will
precede the order summary that is included in confirmation emails.
7. Save the new settings by clicking File, then selecting Save, before closing the Store
Builder.
You can change these settings at any time by returning to this menu. The specifics of mail
configuration, such as the SMTP mail server address, are unique to your host. If you change
hosts, you must also change your mail configuration settings.
STOREFRONT 5.0 COMPATIBLE MAIL COMPONENTS
In order for the Mail Services of StoreFront 5.0 to function correctly, your host must have a
mail component installed on the server that is compatible with StoreFront. A mail component
is a specialized piece of software. ASP scripts call the mail component and use it to build
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emails. This is how the StoreFront confirmation emails, promotional mails, and “Email this
Product to a Friend” mailings are created. A current list of the mail components supported by
StoreFront 5.0 can be found in the StoreFront Knowledge Base at www.StoreFront.net. This
list is reproduced below, but you may wish to check the Knowledge Base occasionally for the
latest information.
• CDONTS (a part of the IIS SMTP server)
• ASP Mail - available at www.serverobjects.com
• OCX Mail - written by Flick’s Software at www.flicks.com
• JMail - written by Dimac Web Solutions at www.dimac.net
• ABMail - written by Andy Blanchard at http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/
2656/abmailer.html
• SimpleMail 2.0 is an e-mail component that LaGarde offers to licensed owners of
StoreFront software and can be purchased at www.StoreFront.net
THE CUSTOMER AND MERCHANT CONFIRMATION EMAILS
When a customer places an order in your site, three emails will be sent. The first will be a
receipt or order summary sent to the customer, including your “Thank You” message (see Mail
Configuration, page 60). The second and third emails will be sent to you at the email addresses
you supplied during Mail Configuration, and will include a summary of the order and a
link to retrieve the customer’s order from the Online Sales Reporting Tools (page 176).
Currency Type and Currency Conversion
Configuration
StoreFront 5.0 determines the currency type used in your web by the LCID (Locale Identifier)
that you select. StoreFront can use any LCID that your host will support. The LCID you
choose should reflect the currency and language of your web’s target audience.
StoreFront 5.0 can also provide order totals and product prices in any popular recognized
currency type through a currency conversion service provided by OANDA. OANDA provides
instant conversion of more than 140 internationally recognized currency types.
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The steps you must take to configure OANDA currency conversion services and to set a
currency type for your web are covered in the next two sections.
User Guide
CONFIGURING OANDA CURRENCY CONVERSION SERVICES
OANDA provides instantaneous currency conversion for more than 140 currency types on a
site-wide basis. When OANDA services are activated, a link will be displayed on your product
pages next to product prices and order totals. By clicking on this link, your customers can
open a pop-up window listing available currency types. Clicking on a currency type will perform
the conversion on every page in the site, causing StoreFront to list the amounts in the currency
type of your selected LCID as well as an equivalent amount in the selected OANDA
conversion currency.
Please note that OANDA currency conversion will only be available on dynamically generated
product pages and run-time product pages. For more information about creating product
pages, please see Creating Product Pages, page 146. Follow the instructions below to make
OANDA currency conversion available to your customers.
1. Establish an account with OANDA.com.
2. Connect to your database with the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do this,
please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
3. Open the Web Manager. Click on the Currency tab.
4. Under the OANDA Currency Conversion section, enter your OANDA user id in the
field labeled OANDA Username.
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5. Check the Activate Currency Conversion checkbox to make currency conversion
available to your customers.
6. Click File, then select Save to save the changes to these settings.
You can disable OANDA currency conversion services at any time by returning to this menu
and unchecking the Activate Currency Conversion option.
SELECTING AN LCID/SETTING A CURRENCY TYPE
The LCID, or Locale Identifier, that you select will determine the currency type that prices and
totals in your web are output in. StoreFront supports every LCID that is used by Windows.
Follow the instructions below to choose a LCID.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21. for further
instructions.
2. Open the Web Manager. Click on the Currency tab.
3. Select the country where the web store is located from the Origin Country drop-down
box.
4. Select the currency type you wish to use from the Currency Type (LCID) drop-down
box.
5. Click File, then select Save to save the changes to these settings.
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You can return to this menu at any time to change the currency type used within your web.
The Shipping Methods of StoreFront 5.0
StoreFront 5.0 supports the use of three different shipping methods designed to accommodate
a variety of configurations and various types of merchandise. The shipping cost for an order
can be calculated based on three different criteria:
• the total cost of an order, through the use of Value-Based Rates.
• the combined weight of the items ordered, through the use of Carrier-Based Rates.
• a specific shipping cost can be assigned to each item by using Product-Based
Rates.
Keep in mind that only one shipping method can be used in your StoreFront web at a
time. Any item in your inventory can also be made exempt from shipping charges,
ensuring that no shipping charges will be applied for orders of that particular item. If
this product is ordered with other items, shipping will still be charged for the other
items in the order. Please see Creating Products, page 128, for more information on
making an item exempt from shipping charges. The steps you must take to configure
the shipping methods of your store are described in the following sections.
USING MINIMUM SHIPPING CHARGES, PREMIUM SHIPPING, SHIPPING TAX, AND
HANDLING CHARGES
In addition to the standard shipping calculation provided by Carrier-Based Rates, Value-Based
Rates, and Product-Based Rates, additional shipping charges may also be necessary. To
accommodate this possibility, StoreFront includes options for applying Handling Charges,
Minimum Shipping charges, and a Premium Shipping option.
• Premium Shipping gives your customers the option to choose some form of priority
shipping. The Premium Shipping Option will display as a checkbox at
process_order.asp when your customers check out. Customers who choose Premium
Shipping will be charged an additional amount for shipping.
• Handling Charges allow you to charge a flat handling fee or service charge for all
orders, or shipped orders only.
• The Minimum Shipping Charge option, when enabled, ensures that shipping on any
order will never be less than the amount you specified.
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• Check Apply Tax to Shipping under the Shipping tab to include the cost of shipping
in the tax calculation for an order.
Please refer to the directions below for information on using Handling, Minimum Shipping
Charges, or Premium Shipping.
CONFIGURING PREMIUM SHIPPING
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
2. Open the Web Manager. Click on the Shipping tab.
3. Under the Shipping tab, enter the additional amount that will be added for Premium
Shipping in the field to the right of the Premium Shipping checkbox. Enter numbers
and decimals only; do not use currency symbols.
4. Check the Premium Shipping checkbox to make the Premium Shipping option
available to your customers.
5. Click on File, then select Save to save the changes to these settings.
You can return to this menu at any time and change the Premium Shipping charge, or disable
Premium Shipping by unchecking the Premium Shipping checkbox.
CONFIGURING HANDLING
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
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2. Open the Web Manager. Click on the Shipping tab.
3. Under the Shipping tab, enter the additional amount that will be added as handling in
the field labeled Handling. Enter numbers and decimals only, do not use currency
symbols.
4. Under Apply Handling To, select either All Orders or Shipped Orders Only. All
Orders will apply handling charges to all orders, including orders of items that are
marked shipping exempt. Shipped Orders Only will not apply handling to orders of
items that are marked shipping exempt.
5. Check the Apply Handling checkbox to activate the handling charge in the web.
6. Click on File, then select Save to save the changes to these settings.
You can return to this menu at any time and change the handling charge, or disable handling
by unchecking the Handling option.
CONFIGURING MINIMUM SHIPPING
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
2. Open the Web Manager. Click on the Shipping tab.
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3. Enter the amount of the Minimum Shipping Charge in the field labeled Minimum
Shipping Charge.
4. Check the Activate Minimum Shipping Charge checkbox to begin using the
Minimum Shipping Charge in your web.
5. Click on File, then select Save to save the changes to these settings.
You can change the Minimum Shipping Charge at any time by returning to this menu, changing
the value in the Minimum Shipping Charge field, and saving the changes. You can disable
the Minimum Shipping Charge by unchecking the Activate Minimum Shipping Charge
option.
CONFIGURING VALUE-BASED SHIPPING RATES
The Value-Based Rates shipping method will calculate the shipping cost of an order based on
the total cost of the items ordered by a customer. An unlimited number of value based shipping
levels can be created to accommodate shipping cost calculation. The use of Value-Based
Rates is most appropriate for web stores selling merchandise that doesn’t incur heavy shipping
costs.
Follow the instructions below to configure Value-Based Shipping Rates in your web.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
2. Open the Web Manager. Click on the Shipping tab.
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.
3. Under Shipping Methods, select Value-Based. Click Configure to open the Value-
Based Rates configuration dialog box.
4. To create Value-Based Shipping levels, enter the shipping cost in the Charge this
shipping amount field, and the maximum order total that the shipping charge will be
applied to in the field labeled For order totals greater than or equal to. Click Add
to add the shipping level. Repeat the process for every Value-Based Shipping level
you require.
5. You can modify a shipping level by highlighting it with your mouse, then changing the
data as it appears in the fields. Click Update to save the changes.
6. Click File, then select Save to save the changes to these settings before you close
the Store Builder.
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CONFIGURING PRODUCT-BASED SHIPPING RATES
Product-Based Rates allow you to charge a preset shipping cost for each product item. The
total amount of shipping charged when using Product-Based Rates will depend on the items
ordered and their quantity. The amount charged for each product is that product’s Ship Cost,
which is set while creating a product, multiplied by the quantity of the item ordered. Ensure
that each item that you plan to charge shipping for has a Ship Cost set, and that the product
is not marked shipping exempt. Follow the instructions below to configure Product-Based
Shipping Rates.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
2. Open the Web Manager. Click on the Shipping tab.
3. Under Shipping Methods, select Product-Based. Your site will now calculate the
cost of shipping according to the Ship Cost of each item in an order.
4. Click File, then select Save to save the changes to these settings before you close
the Store Builder.
CONFIGURING CARRIER-BASED SHIPPING RATES
StoreFront’s ability to obtain real-time calculations of shipping costs from UPS, USPS, and
FedEx makes it the ideal e-commerce program for any site selling heavy or bulky products
that incur high shipping costs. Carrier-Based Rates use the StoreFront Server Component and
the USPS components to get up-to-the-minute quotes of shipping costs based on the total
weight and dimensions of the items in an order. For more information, please see Additional
USPS Configuration Tasks, page 76, and the StoreFront Server Component, page 76.
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Before you begin configuring your carrier-based rates, make sure that every product you want
to charge shipping for is not marked shipping exempt. Also make sure that every product that
you will be charging shipping for has a weight. If a weight is not specified, the shipping
calculation will default to the Backup Shipping Method (see below). You can verify the weight
and shipping status of a product by viewing it in the Product Manager. Be aware that depending
on your location not all of these shipping methods will be available to you. Consult the
UPS, FedEx, and USPS web sites for more information.
1. Contact your host and ensure that the necessary components (StoreFront Server
Components and the USPS shipping components) have been installed on the server.
2. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
3. Open the Web Manager. Click on the Shipping tab.
4. Under the Shipping Method section, select Carrier-Based. Click Configure.
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5. When the shipping configuration dialog box appears, use the checkboxes along the
right side to choose which shipping methods you would like to be available to your
customers.
6. In the Postal Code field, enter the postal code of the location where the orders will be
shipped from.
7. Select Value-Based Rates or Product-Based Rates as the backup shipping
method. This is the shipping method that will be used if StoreFront is unable to obtain
a shipping calculation from the UPS, USPS, or FedEx servers.
8. Click OK, and click Yes when asked whether you would like to save the changes to
the shipping list.
You can also create your own shipping methods and assign them unique rates. Refer to
Adding Carrier-Based Shipping Methods, page 70, for more information.
Using USPS shipping rates requires some additional configuration tasks. Please see Additional
USPS Shipping Configuration Requirements, page 76, for further instructions.
Adding Carrier-Based Shipping Methods
StoreFront 5.0 allows you to create and configure additional shipping methods that can be
added to the default list of UPS, USPS, and FedEx rates. You can assign these shipping
methods any name or rate you like, and they will calculate shipping costs based on the total
weight of the items in an order. Any new shipping methods you create will be displayed to your
customers at process_order.asp during the checkout process. Follow the instructions below to
create a new carrier-based shipping method for the use of your customers.
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1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you’re unsure of how to do this,
please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
2. Open the Web Manager. Click on the Shipping tab.
3. Under the Shipping Method section, select Carrier Based. Click Configure.
4. When the shipping configuration dialog box appears, click Edit, then select Carrier
Shipping List. This will open the Add Carrier Shipping Option dialog box.
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5. In the Shipping Option field, enter the name of the new shipping method you would
like to create. Click Add to add the new shipping method to the list. Click File, then
Exit.
6. Now that the new shipping method has been added to the list, you’ll need to specify a
rate for it to use. Custom shipping methods such as the one you just created will use
a rate that is a multiple of the rate used for UPS Standard Ground commercial
shipping. The default rate for the new shipping method is 1.00, which means that it
calculates shipping at the same rate as UPS Standard Ground. To increase the
shipping rate to 1.5 times the UPS Standard Ground Rate, enter a rate of 1.50 in the
Rate field. A definitive list of UPS shipping rates can be found at www.UPS.com.
7. Click OK, then click Yes when asked whether you would like to save the changes to
the Carrier Shipping information.
Deleting Carrier-Based Shipping Methods
You can remove a Carrier-Based Shipping Method from your web entirely if you choose to do
so. This will make the shipping method unavailable to your customers.
Note: deleting one of the default Carrier-Based Shipping Methods will remove it permanently.
You can not recreate one of the default methods. We suggest that you avoid deleting any
shipping method except those you have created yourself. Follow the instructions below to
delete a Carrier-Based Shipping Method.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
2. Open the Web Manager. Click on the Shipping tab.
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3. Under the Shipping Method section, select Carrier Based. Click Configure.
4. Click Edit, then Carrier Shipping List.
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StoreFront 5.0
5. Select the Shipping Method you wish to delete from the list to the left, then click the
Delete button. Click Yes when you are prompted to confirm your choice.
The Carrier-Based Shipping Components
In order for your StoreFront web to calculate shipping using the Carrier-Based Shipping Rates,
your host must install some software on the server where your site is hosted. The UPS and
FedEx shipping methods require the installation of the StoreFront Server Component on the
server where the site is hosted. This component can be obtained by your host at our Web
Host Support Site on www.StoreFront.net.
In order to use the USPS shipping methods, you must first establish an account with USPS
and your host must install the USPS shipping components (httpcom.dll and httpclient.dll) on
the server where your site is hosted. Your host can obtain these components from USPS.
Continue reading for more information about configuring your site to use the USPS Shipping
Methods.
Additional USPS Shipping Configuration Requirements
StoreFront supports three different types of Carrier-Based Shipping, which calculate the
shipping cost of an order based on the total weight and dimensions of the items ordered.
These are UPS, FedEx, and USPS. UPS and FedEx rate calculations are provided by the
StoreFront Server Component, which can be downloaded from our Web Host Support Site. In
order to support USPS rate calculation, there are some additional configuration tasks you
must perform. Follow the instructions below to configure your site to use USPS shipping
rates.
Note: UPS and FedEx rates can be supported through the use of the StoreFront Server
Component without the configuration of USPS, and vice versa.
1. Contact your host. Determine whether the USPS server components (httpCom.dll and
httpClient.dll) have already been installed on the server where your site is hosted. If
the answer is no, then ensure that the host is amenable to installing these components
on the server where your site is hosted.
2. Register with USPS online at http://www.uspsprioritymail.com/et_regcert.html. After
registration, you will be provided with a username and password via email.
3. If your host has not already installed the USPS server components on the server
where your site is hosted, use the information provided in the email to obtain these
components. USPS will require you to read, sign, and submit a license agreement via
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fax before you will be authorized to download the components. After downloading,
have your host unpack the httpCom.dll and httpClient.dll. The httpCom.dll should be
placed in the WINNT\System32 folder of the server and registered, and the
httpclient.dll should be placed in this folder as well. The httpclient.dll does not need to
be registered; attempting to register this file will cause an error message. Proceed to
the next step if the components are already installed on the server.
4. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Local or Remote Database, page 21.
5. Open the Web Manager. Click on the Shipping tab.
6. Select Carrier-Based Rates as the shipping method, then click Configure. Enter
your USPS username and password in the appropriate fields. These will be contained
in the email you received from USPS after registering. Click OK, then Yes to Save.
Close the Web Manager and Store Builder, clicking Yes to save when you are
prompted.
7. Open a browser to test the USPS shipping components. In the address window, enter
the URL to the USPScannedtest.asp page in the admin folder of your web. The URL
you enter will look something like:
http://www.yourweb.com/ssl/admin/uspscannedtest.asp
8. The page should load without errors, displaying two lines of text indicating that the
test has passed. If you encounter an error, please contact StoreFront Support
(support@storefront.net).
9. If the test succeeds, contact USPS at 1-800-344-7779 and ask to be moved to their
production server. This will complete the USPS configuration.
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Processing Orders and Billing Transactions
StoreFront has integrated support for two different categories of transaction processing. The
first is called Email Merchant Processing. In Email Merchant Processing, your customers
will place orders in your site and you will receive a confirmation email for each order. The
confirmation email will contain a link to the Online Sales Reporting Tools, which will allow you
to immediately retrieve a report for the order. You can then complete the transaction manually
with a credit card terminal. There are two possible disadvantages to Email Merchant Processing:
• This method will not validate or check any transactions using electronic checks,
credit, or debit cards. A customer may be able to place an order in your site using a
form of payment that is not valid, but you won’t know until you’ve already attempted to
complete the transaction.
• Manually processing each and every order with a credit card terminal can become
time consuming if your site has heavy ordering traffic.
Email Merchant Processing, however, uses the default mail functions of StoreFront, and so
does not require the purchase of any additional services. It is usually adequate for most small
businesses.
The second main category of transaction processing that is supported by StoreFront 5.0
includes a selection of more than 11 different payment processing services. These are services
that you can purchase from various providers that will automatically handle debit and
credit card transactions. Orders placed in your site will already have been billed before they
reach you. You must purchase the service from a provider.
Read the following pages to learn how to process orders using Email Merchant Processing, or
to learn more about using online payment processing services.
StoreFront 5.0 supports a variety of different payment processing services. This section
describes the configuration tasks for each service. LaGarde, Inc. plans to continue integrating
new payment processing services with StoreFront 5.0. Please check www.StoreFront.net
regularly for updates.
Note: as technology evolves, the configuration requirements for some payment processing
services may change. Please check www.StoreFront.net/software/support/sf5payprocs.htm for
the latest instructions. The following instructions are current as of 02/2001
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LINKPOINT API
LinkPoint is a payment processing service provided by Cardservice International, Inc.. Follow
the instructions below to configure StoreFront 5.0 to use LinkPoint to process credit card
orders.
1. Establish a LinkPoint API account with Cardservice International, Inc.
2. Contact your host. Ensure that the host has the LinkPoint API component installed on
the server where your site is hosted. If the host does not have the component installed,
they can obtain it from our Web Host Support Site at www.StoreFront.net.
3. Once the LinkPoint component has been installed on the server and you have established
an account with Cardservice International, Inc., connect to your database using
the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do this, please refer to Connecting to a
Remote or Local Database, page 21.
4. Open the Web Manager, then click on the Order Processing tab. From the Payment
Processing Method drop-down box, select Link Point API. Click Configure.
5. Enter your 6 digit store name in the User Name field, and enter your password in the
Password field. Set the Payment Server Path to staging.linkpt.net. The
Processing Type will be determined by your account type; any questions about your
account type should be directed to Cardservice International, Inc. Save your changes
to these settings and close the Web Manager and Store Builder.
6. Open your secure location using FrontPage by clicking File, then Open Web. Enter
the URL of your secure location in the Folder Name field and click OK.
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7. Locate the sf.pem file in the SSL/SFLib folder and open it using Notepad. Paste the
RSA Private Key and Digital Certificate provided by Cardservice International, Inc., into
this file. Save the changes and close notepad.
8. Run through a test order in the web. Use a test card number such as 4007000000027
or 4111111111111111.
9. If the test is successful, open the processor.asp file that is located in the SSL/SFLib
folder of your web’s secure location. Locate this line at the very top of the file:
CONST proc_live = 0
Change it to:
CONST proc_live = 1
This will set the processor to live mode, completing the LinkPoint API Configuration.
APPROVE.NET, MERCHANT ONLINE, AND CHARGE SOLUTIONS
ChargeSolutions (www.chargesolutions.com), Approve.Net (www.approve.net) , and Merchant
Online (www.ecx.com) are payment processing services that use the same core technology,
and the configuration tasks that must be performed to use them with StoreFront 5.0 are
identical. Follow the instructions below to configure StoreFront 5.0 to process credit card
orders using ApproveNet, ChargeSolutions, or Merchant Online.
1. Establish an account with ChargeSolutions, Approve.Net, or Merchant Online.
2. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
3. Open the Web Manager and click on the Order Processing tab. Select Merchant
Online, Charge Solutions, or Approve.Net from the Payment Processing Method
drop-down box, then click Configure.
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5. Enter your Approve.Net, ChargeSolutions, or Merchant Online username and password
in the appropriate fields. Set the Payment Server Path to https://
secure.merchantonline.com/pos/nph-ccharge for Merchant Online. For
ChargeSolutions, set the Payment Server Path to https://
secure.chargesolutions.com/pos/nph-ccharge. For Approve.Net, set the
Payment Server Path to https://secure.approve.net/pos/nph-ccharge.
The Processing Type will depend on your account type with the service provider; any
questions about your account type should be directed to the company providing the
payment processing service. Save the changes to these settings and close the Web
Manager.
6. Run through a test order in the site using a test credit card number such as
4007000000027 or 4111111111111111.
7. If the test is successful, open the processor.asp file that is located in the SSL/SFLib
folder of your web’s secure location. Locate this line at the very top of the file:
CONST proc_live = 0
Change it to:
CONST proc_live = 1
This will set the processor to live mode, completing the configuration.
PSIGATE
PSiGate is a payment processing service provided by www.PSiGate.com. Follow the instructions
below to configure StoreFront 5.0 to use PSiGate to process credit card orders.
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1. Establish an account with PSiGate.
2. Contact your host. Ensure that your host has the PSiGate server component installed
on the server where your site is hosted. If your host does not have the component
installed it can be downloaded from PSiGate.
3. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. Open the Web Manager and
click on the Order Processing tab. Select PSiGate from the Payment Processing
Method drop-down box. Click Configure.
4. Enter your merchant ID with PSiGate in the User Name field. In the Password field,
enter the name of your PSiGate pem file, ie mystore.pem. Set the Payment Server
Path to secure.psigate.com. The Processing Type will vary depending on your
account type with PSiGate; questions regarding your account type should be directed
to PSiGate Support. Save the changes to these settings and close the Web Manager.
5. Open your web’s secure location in FrontPage. PSiGate will have provided you with a
pem file. Paste this file into the SSL/sflib folder of your secure location.
6. Run through a test order in the web. Use a test card number such as 4007000000027
or 4111111111111111.
6. If the test is successful, open the processor.asp file that is located in the SSL/SFLib
folder of your web’s secure location. Locate this line at the very top of the file:
CONST proc_live = 0
Change it to:
CONST proc_live = 1
This will set the processor to live mode, completing the configuration.
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SUREPAY
SurePay is a payment processing service provided by SurePay.com. Follow the instructions
below to configure StoreFront 5.0 to process credit card orders using SurePay.
1. Establish an account with SurePay.
2. Contact your host. Ensure that the host has Internet Explorer 5.0 or better installed
on the server where your site is hosted.
3. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
4. Open the Web Manager and click on the Order Processing tab. Select SurePay
from the Payment Processing Method drop-down box. Click Configure.
5. Enter your SurePay username and password in the appropriate fields. Set the Payment
Server Path to http://xml.surepay.com. The Processing Type will
depend on your account type with SurePay; questions regarding your account type
should be directed to SurePay Support. Save the changes to these settings and close
the Web Manager and Store Builder.
6. Run a test order in your site using a test credit card number such as 4007000000027
or 4111111111111111.
7. If the test is successful, open the processor.asp file that is located in the SSL/SFLib
folder of your web’s secure location. Locate this line at the very top of the file:
CONST proc_live = 0
Change it to:
CONST proc_live = 1
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This will set the processor to live mode, completing the configuration.
AUTHORIZE.NET
AuthorizeNet is a payment processing service provided by AuthorizeNet.com. Follow the
instructions below to configure StoreFront 5.0 to process credit card orders using
AuthorizeNet.
1. Establish an account with AuthorizeNet.
2. Contact your host. Ensure that the host has the AuthorizeNet SSLConnect installed
on the server where your site is hosted. If your host does not have this installed on
your server, it can be obtained from StoreFront Support.
3. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
4. Open the Web Manager and click on the Order Processing tab. Select
AuthorizeNet from the Payment Processing Method drop-down box. Click Configure.
5. Enter your AuthorizeNet username and password in the appropriate fields. Leave the
Payment Processor Path blank. The Processing Type setting will depend on your
account type with AuthorizeNet; questions about your account type should be
directed to AuthorizeNet Support. Save the changes to these settings and close the
Web Manager and Store Builder.
6. Open a browser and go to https://secure.authorize.net/. Login and ensure that your
account is in test mode. Run a test order in your site using a test credit card number
like 4007000000027 or 4111111111111111.
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7. If the test is successful, log in to your account at AuthorizeNet again by using a
browser to go to https://secure.authorize.net. Change the account from test mode to
live mode. This will complete the configuration of AuthorizeNet.
INTERNET CASH
Internet Cash is a proprietary payment method offered by InternetCash.com which you can
allow your customers to choose at checkout from the list of payment methods presented by
order.asp. Follow the instructions below to configure a StoreFront 5.0 web to accept orders
with Internet Cash.
1. Establish an account with InternetCash.
2. Contact your host. Ensure that the host has the InternetCash component installed on
the server where your site is hosted. If the host does not have the InternetCash
component, they can obtain it from InternetCash.com.
3. Once you have established an account with InternetCash, connect to your database
using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do this, please refer to Connecting
to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
4. Open the Web Manager and click on the Order Processing tab. Under Accepted
Payment Types, check Internet Cash.
5. From the Payment Processing Method drop-down box, select InternetCash. Click
Configure.
6. Enter your InternetCash Merchant ID in the User Name field, and your Merchant Key
in the Password field. Leave the Payment Server Path blank. The setting for
Processing Type does not matter.
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7. Save the changes to these settings before closing the Web Manager. After closing the
Web Manager, run through a test order using the test card numbers which
InternetCash will provide to you.
8. If the test is successful, open the processor.asp file that is located in the SSL/SFLib
folder of your web’s secure location. Locate this line at the very top of the file:
CONST proc_live = 0
Change it to:
CONST proc_live = 1
This will set the processor to live mode, completing the configuration. You must also
call Internet Cash Support to get certified before going live. Once Internet Cash is
operational, you can return to the Order Processing tab of the Web Manager and
select a different Payment Processing Method. Internet Cash will remain active and
available to your customers until you deselect it from the list of Accepted Payment
Methods.
CYBERCASH
Cybercash is a payment processing service provided by Cybercash.com. Follow the instructions
below to configure StoreFront 5.0 to process credit card orders using Cybercash.
1. Establish an account with Cybercash. The Cybercash service used by StoreFront is
CashRegister Site Server version.
2. Contact your host and ensure that the server has support for CyberCash installed in
the form of the Merchant Connection Kit. The host must have at least version 2.0 of
Cybercash’s Cychmck.dll installed on the server in order for StoreFront 5.0 to use
Cybercash.
3. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
4. Open the Web Manager and click on the Order Processing tab. From the Payment
Processing Method drop-down box, select Cybercash. Click Configure.
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5. Enter your Cybercash Merchant ID in the User Name field. In the Password field,
paste your Cybercash Merchant Key. Leave the Payment Server Path blank. The
Processing Type will be determined by your account type with Cybercash; if you
have questions about your account type, contact Cybercash Support. Save the
changes to these settings, then close the Web Manager.
6. Run through a test order in the web. Use a test card number such as 4007000000027
or 4111111111111111.
7. If the test is successful, contact Cybercash and request information on going live. We
suggest testing thoroughly before going live with Cybercash, as the service can not be
switched to test mode again once it is live. This will complete the Cybercash configuration.
SECUREPAY
SecurePay is a payment processing service provided by SecurePay.com. Follow the instructions
below to configure Storefront 5.0 to process credit card orders using the services provided
by SecurePay.
1. Establish an account with SecurePay.com.
2. Contact your host. Ensure that the host has the SecurePay server component
installed on the server where your site is hosted. If your host does not have this
component, they can obtain it from SecurePay.
3. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
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4. Open the Web Manager and click on the Order Processing tab. From the Payment
Processing Method drop-down box, select SecurePay. Click Configure.
5. Enter your SecurePay password and login in the appropriate fields. Leave the Payment
Server Path blank. The Processing Type will depend on the account type you
have with SecurePay; questions about your specific account type should be directed
to SecurePay Support. Save the changes to these settings and close the Web
Manager and Store Builder.
6. Run through a test order in your site using a test credit card number such as
4007000000027 or 4111111111111111.
7. If the test is successful, open the processor.asp file that is located in the SSL/SFLib
folder of your web’s secure location. Locate this line at the very top of the file:
CONST proc_live = 0
Change it to:
CONST proc_live = 1
This will set the processor to live mode, completing the configuration.
QUICKCOMMERCE
QuickCommerce is a payment processing service provided by E-Commerce Exchange. Follow
the instructions below to configure StoreFront 5.0 to process credit card orders using
QuickCommerce.
1. Obtain a QuickCommerce account with E-Commerce Exchange.
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2. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
3. Open the Web Manager and click on the Order Processing tab. Select Quick
Commerce from the Payment Processing Method drop-down box. Click Configure.
4. Enter your Quick Commerce username and password in the appropriate fields. Set
the Payment Server Path to https://secure.quickcommerce.net/gateway/transact.dll.
The Processing Type setting will depend on your specific
account type with E-Commerce Exchange; questions regarding your account type
should be directed to QuickCommerce Support. Save the changes to these settings
and close the Web Manager and Store Builder.
5. Open a browser and go to https://secure.quickcommerce.net. Login and make sure
your account is set to test mode. Run through a test order in your site using a test
credit card number such as 4007000000027 or 4111111111111111.
6. If the test is successful, log in to QuickCommerce again at https://
secure.quickcommerce.net and change your account to live mode. This will complete
the configuration.
PAYPAL
PayPal is a popular payment processing service that is available to both merchants and
customers. All that is required is a credit card number and an email address. There is no
initial charge for establishing an account with paypal, although there is a small service
charge for each transaction. Follow the instructions below to configure your StoreFront 5.0
site to process credit card orders using PayPal.
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1. Establish a merchant account with PayPal.
2. Connect to your database using the Store Builder.
3. Open the Web Manager and click on the Order Processing tab. Select Paypal
from the Payment Processing Method drop-down box. Click Configure.
4. In the User Name field, enter your PayPal merchant account name. This will
typically be the email address you registered with PayPal. Leave the Payment
Server Path and Password fields blank, and set the Processing Type to Authorization
Only. Click OK.
5. Save the changes to these settings and close the Web Manager and Store Builder.
Your web store will now process credit card orders using PayPal. If you would like
to test PayPal, create a $.01 product and use it for testing purposes. PayPal does
not have a testing mode.
CONFIGURING EMAIL MERCHANT PROCESSING
Email Merchant Processing is the most popular method of payment processing among
StoreFront merchants. It is simple, efficient, and uses the SMTP mail services provided by
your web host at no extra cost. In Email Merchant Processing, an email is sent to you when
an order is placed, containing the details of the customer’s order and a link to retrieve the
credit card data securely from the Online Sales Reporting Tools. You can then process the
transaction manually from a credit card terminal. Use Email Merchant Processing if you do
not want to establish an account with a payment processing service such as CyberCash,
AuthorizeNet, or Linkpoint.
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Follow the steps described below to configure your web to use email merchant processing.
1. Your mail services must be fully configured before you can process orders using
Email Merchant Processing. If you have not already done this, please see Configuring
your Mail Services, page 60, for further instructions.
2. Connect to your database with the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do this,
please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
3. Open the Web Manager. Click on the Order Processing tab.
4. From the Payment Processing Method drop-down box, select Email.
5. Save the changes to your settings before you close the Store Builder.
SELECTING SUPPORTED PAYMENT METHODS
StoreFront 5.0 allows your customers to choose from up to seven different payment methods
when completing their order in your site. Your customers will be presented with a list of
available payment methods at process_order.asp, the page that forms the second step of the
checkout process. The payment methods you can accept are as follows:
• Credit Card: this option will allow customers to place orders in your site using credit
cards. In addition, you can edit the list of supported credit card types. Please refer to
Selecting Supported Credit Card Types, page 93, for more information on adding and
deleting credit card types.
• Electronic Check: this option will allow customers to place orders in your site using
electronic checks. You can then print the electronic check for processing.
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• Purchase Order: this option will allow customers to place orders in your site using
purchase orders.
• Internet Cash: Internet Cash is a proprietary payment method offered by SpendCash.
In order to accept payment in Internet Cash, you must first establish an account with
SpendCash and configure your site according to the instructions in Internet Cash,
page 85.
• COD: this option will allow customers to place COD orders in your site. Specify the
additional fee that will be added to the order in the Amount field.
• Phone or Fax: Recorded: this option will allow customers to place phone or fax
orders in your site. In a phone or fax order, the customer submits their information,
then prints the order page and either faxes it or calls it in. Many customers still prefer
this method of ordering because it eliminates the necessity of sending credit card
data across the Internet. The customer’s information, however, is still recorded in your
database and can be retrieved using the sales reporting tools.
• Phone or Fax: Non-Recorded: This payment method functions in the same way as
Phone or Fax: Recorded with the exception that the customer’s information will not
be written to your database upon the completion of an order.
Normally, it is advisable to accept at least one of the Phone or Fax payment methods, as
well as the Credit Card. Credit is the most common method of paying for e-commerce orders,
and the Phone or Fax option will provide an alternative to customers who prefer not to transmit
their credit card data over the Internet. Examine the next few sections for more information on
selecting accepted payment methods.
Follow the instructions below to select the payment methods that will be made available to
customers shopping your web.
1. Connect to your database with the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do this,
please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
2. Open the Web Manager. Click on the Order Processing tab.
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3. Under the Accepted Payment Methods section, check the payment methods your
site will accept. Uncheck those you do not wish to accept. These changes will be
reflected in your site’s list of available payment methods at order.asp.
4. Save the changes to these settings before you close the Web Manager. The changes
will not be reflected in the site until you save them.
SELECTING AND EDITING ACCEPTED CREDIT CARDS
StoreFront 5.0 comes with a list of some commonly supported credit card types, including
American Express, Carte Blanche, Diner’s Club, Discover, Visa, and Mastercard. You can
select which of these cards your web will accept, and you can add other cards to the list.
Before adding a credit card to the list, make sure that your bank will accept the credit card.
The changes you make to this list will be reflected at process_order.asp as customers submit
their billing information.
The following pages describe how to select the credit card types your site will accept, and
how to edit the list of supported credit cards.
Selecting Accepted Credit Card Types
1. Follow the instructions below to choose which credit cards your web will accept.
Connect to your database with the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do this,
please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
2. Open the Web Manager. Click on the Order Processing tab.
3. To select the credit cards you wish to support, highlight them by clicking on them.
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Credit cards that are not highlighted will not be available to your customers.
4. Save the changes to your settings before you close the Web Manager.
Adding and Deleting Supported Credit Cards
Always verify that your bank will support a credit card type before you make it available in your
site. The list of accepted credit cards is displayed at process_order.asp, during the checkout
process. Follow the instructions below to make an additional credit card type available to your
customers during the checkout process.
1. Connect to your database with the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do this,
please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21.
2. Open the Web Manager. Click on the Edit option, then select Credit Card List.
3. To add a new credit card, first enter the name of the new card, then click Edit. From
the Edit menu, select Add Credit Card.
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4. To delete a credit card, first select it from the list of available credit cards. Click Edit.
From the Edit menu, select Delete Credit Card.
5. Save the changes to these settings before you exit this menu by selecting File, then
Save.
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Web Store
Design
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Once you have set your business rules and built an inventory , it is time to apply design
elements to your site and to build the pages that will allow customers to purchase your
products online. The StoreFront Themes feature will allow you to format all the StoreFront ASP
pages in your site without actually having to modify their code. Even if you’re a web developer
with little or no experience working with ASP, the Themes will let you give your entire site a
smooth, consistent, and very professional appearance. This chapter covers the configuration
tasks you must perform to use the StoreFront themes, beginning in Using the StoreFront
Themes Feature, page 101. StoreFront also gives you extensive control over the design and
layout of the StoreFront Search Engines. Instructions on configuring the design of the search
engines begin in the next section, Search Engine and Advanced Search Engine Design.
Search Engine and Advanced Search Engine
Design
The inventory of your web is organized by default using Categories, Manufacturers, and
Vendors. This provides you with a practical means of organizing your inventory while allowing
customers to perform detailed product searches based on these criteria. You may find it
preferable to change these labels to something more suitable to your business. For example,
if you were designing a web to sell books online, you might prefer to change Category to
Genre, Manufacturer to Author, and Vendor to Publisher. These changes can be made
using the StoreFront Design menu of the Web Manager. Please read the following sections,
Modifying the Search Engine/Output Labels and Setting Advanced Search Engine Options, for
more information on how to alter the design of the StoreFront Search Engines. More information
about the search engines themselves can be found on page 11, under How a StoreFront
Web Store Works: The Search Engines.
MODIFYING THE SEARCH ENGINE/OUTPUT LABELS
You can change the display labels used by StoreFront on dynamically generated product
pages and pages produced by the StoreFront Search Engine. The changes you make to the
labels displayed here will be reflected in three places:
• On the search.asp page
• On the advancedsearch.asp page.
• On the search results pages generated by search.asp and advancedsearch.asp
• On the pages generated by detail.asp.
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Follow the directions below to modify your Search and Search Output Labels.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Open the Web Manager. Click on the StoreFront Design tab.
3. You will see the labels that are currently in use under Search Engine Design, Labels
on Search and Search Output. You can change these to anything you like, but we
recommend that they be alphanumeric. The labels and their uses are described
below:
• Product ID: each item is assigned a unique product ID. You can change this to a
similar organizational unit, such as SKU. The default is simply Product ID.
• Description: this is usually a brief description of a product item. You can change
the label for Description to something similar, such as Specifications, Synopsis,
etc. The default is Description.
• Price: this is simply the label displayed next to the price of an item. You can
change the Price label to something similar. The default is Price.
• Sale Price: if you have put an item on sale, the Sale Price will be displayed
below the regular Price. You may want to change this label to something like
Discount or Special. The default is Sale Price.
• You Saved: when an item is placed on sale, the difference between the sale
price and the normal price will be displayed next to this label (“You Saved
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$2.00!”). Change this according to your preference, perhaps to something like
Savings. The default is You Saved.
• Quantity: the text box on the search results where a customer enters the number
of an item to add to their order is referred to as Quantity. Change this according to
your preference, perhaps to a unit such as Bags, Pounds, Boxes, etc. The default
is Quantity.
• Picture Layout: if an image is used for an item, you can specify where to place
the images in the search results. Align Right will place the images at the right of
each product item’s information, Align Left will place them to the left, and
Alternate will cause the image placement to alternate right to left.
• Category Name Singular: enter the name that will be used to refer to a single
category or similar organizational unit. The default is Category.
• Category Name Plural: enter the name that will be used to refer to multiple
categories or similar organizational units. The default is Categories.
• Manufacturer Name Singular: enter the name that will be used to refer to a
single manufacturer or a similar organizational unit. The default is Manufacturer.
• Manufacturer Name Plural: enter the name that will be used to refer to multiple
manufacturers or similar organizational units. The default is Manufacturers.
• Vendor Name Singular: enter the name that will be used to refer to a single
vendor or a similar organizational unit. The default is Vendor.
• Vendor Name Plural: enter the name that will be used to refer to multiple
vendors or similar organizational units. The default is Vendors.
5. Click File, then Save Setup to save the changes to the configuration before you
close the Web Manager.
SETTING ADVANCED SEARCH ENGINE OPTIONS
In addition to the search functions provided to your customers by the StoreFront Search
Engine (search.asp), StoreFront includes an Advanced Search Engine (advancedsearch.asp)
which allows your customers to perform more specific searches of your inventory using a
variety of criteria and search functions. You can control the search options that are available to
your customers at advancedsearch.asp. Follow the directions below to learn more.
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1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Open the Web Manager. Click on the StoreFront Design tab.
3. Under Search Engine Design, Advanced Search Options, you will see a list of
available Advanced Search Engine options. Check the ones you would like to make
available to your customers at advancedsearch.asp; uncheck those you would like to
make unavailable.
4. Save the changes to these settings by clicking File, then selecting Save before you
close the Store Builder.
Using the StoreFront Themes Feature
One of the challenges of working with dynamically output pages such as those used by
StoreFront is adding design elements to these pages, such as images and text formatting.
Because they do not exist until a customer requests them from the server (by running a
search, ordering an item, entering the checkout process, etc. ), there is no static page to
modify using FrontPage or another HTML editor. Normally, the only way to modify the dynamic
output of an ASP page would be to manually modify the code of the file outputting the page.
StoreFront Themes are designed to help beginning web developers circumvent this obstacle,
and to remove the burden of customization from experienced ASP developers. The StoreFront
Themes allow you to create a page template, much like the FrontPage Themes or Shared
Borders, that can be applied to all the pages that are dynamically output by StoreFront. Every
viewable page that is included by default in your StoreFront web will make use of the Theme.
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This also includes all pages which have been created with the StoreFront 5.0 Product Page
Template (see page 147).
Every theme is divided into eight separate groups or elements, each of which is used at a
different section on each page. Some pages may use one element but not another, while other
pages will use all elements. Important: Any page that uses any part of an element will make
use of every other part of that element. For example, a page that uses the General Settings
Banner Image will also use the General Settings Background Image, the General Settings
Font Size, Color, and Style, etc. Each StoreFront Theme Element (General Settings, etc) will
only affect a certain area of the page.
Read the following sections, StoreFront Themes Step-by-Step Guide, and StoreFront Theme
Elements Defined, for more information about creating and using StoreFront Themes.
CREATING STOREFRONT THEMES STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE
Creating a theme can be an involved and lengthy process. We suggest experimenting freely
with the themes in a test web before trying to design one for a production site. The following
step-by-step guide is meant as a loose procedural outline to aid you in the process. For a
more in-depth understanding of the themes, we suggest reading StoreFront Theme Elements
Defined, page 103.
1. Gather and create your images and upload them to the web. A complete theme can
use more than 50 different images, so we suggest that you organize them carefully in
a folder apart from the rest of your images.
2. Connect to your database with the Store Builder. If you are uncertain of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
3. Open the Web Manager. Click on the StoreFront Design tab.
4. Under the Themes section, click New to begin the Theme Design Wizard.
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5. The wizard will open, displaying a set of input fields and a page diagram. The page
diagram represents each of the theme elements and the area of the page that will be
affected by each. To configure the design settings for a specific area of the page, just
click that area in the page diagram. Each of the theme elements is explained in
greater detail in StoreFront Theme Elements Defined.
6. Click Finish after you have configured the design settings for each section of the
page, or click Buttons to proceed to Button Configuration. See page 115 for more
information about configuring buttons. To select a theme or change the theme that
your web is using, return to this menu and select the theme you want to use from the
Themes list. Click File, then Save before closing the Web Manager.
GENERAL SETTINGS
General Settings is the most commonly used theme element, and it affects more page area
than any of the other elements. Every page in your site that uses the StoreFront Themes will
contain all of the elements of General Settings. The options you can configure under General
Settings are described in greater detail below.
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Name: the name you assign to a StoreFront Theme will be for your reference only and will not
be viewable by your customers. When you enter the Design Configuration menu to choose a
theme or create a new theme, the StoreFront Themes you have created will be listed by name.
Background Color: this color will be displayed in the areas indicated in the following
screenshot. Please note that if you choose to use a Background Image the Background Color
will not be used. We suggest using an RGB color code. If you do not know the RGB code for
the color you would like to use, right-click in this field to view a color reference.
Background Image: you can specify an image to be used as a background in place of a
Background Color. Enter the relative URL to the image you would like to use, for example: ../
images/themes/theme1/image1.jpg. This image will be displayed as the background for the
black areas in the screenshot below. If you don’t know the URL to the image you would like to
use, right-click in this field to view a list of the image files in your web.
Hyperlink Color, Active Hyperlink Color, and Visited Hyperlink Color: enter the RGB
color codes for the colors you would like Hyperlinks, Active Hyperlinks, and Visited Hyperlinks
to display in. If you do not know the RGB code for the color you would like to use, right-click
in this field to view a color reference.
Banner Image: enter the relative URL for an image to be used as the main banner for your
theme. The Banner will be displayed in the area indicated in the following image.
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Banner Color: if you choose not to use a banner image, specify a background color to be
used instead. If you do not know the RGB code for the color you would like to use, right-click
in this field to view a color reference. The color you select will occupy the banner area, and
instead of an image the Store Name (see page 58) will be displayed.
Table Width: enter a value as a percentage or in pixels to control the width of the main table
that will contain your page output. The size of the content area in a page using the theme will
be controlled by the number entered here. For example, the page shown in this image is using
a theme with a Table Width setting of 80%. If you wish to specify a width in pixels, enter only
a number. If you wish to specify the width as a percentage, enter a number between zero and
100, followed by a % sign.
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Border Color: enter an RGB color code to determine the color of the border for the main
table. If you don’t know the RGB code for the color you’d like to use, right-click in this field to
view a color reference.
TOP BANNER
Top Banner is the second StoreFront Theme Element. Top Banner controls the design format
of the area immediately below the area occupied by the General Settings elements. The
options you can configure under Top Banner are described in further detail below.
Background Color: this color will be displayed in the areas outlined in the screenshot below.
Please note that if you choose to use a Background Image the Background Color will not be
used. We suggest using an RGB color code. If you do not know the RGB code for the color
you would like to use, right-click in this field to view a color reference.
Background Image: you can specify an image to be used as a background in place of a
Background Color. Enter the relative URL to the image you would like to use, for example: ../
images/themes/theme1/image1.jpg This image will be displayed as the background for the
areas outlined in the screenshot. If you do not know the URL to the image you would like to
use, right-click in this field and select File Listing to browse the image files in your web.
Font Color, Font Size, and Font Face: use these options to control how the text that
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appears in the Top Banner area will be formatted. Font Color should be entered as an RGB
color code, and Font Size should be a number between 1 and 6 (a font size of 2 is roughly
equivalent to a word processor’s 10pt font). Font Face can be the name of any common
browser-supported font; for example: Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana. If you do not know
the RGB code for the color you would like to use, right-click in this field to view a color
reference.
MIDDLE BANNER
Middle Banner is the third StoreFront Theme Element and will affect the area directly below
the space affected by the Top Banner. The options you can configure under Middle Banner are
described in more detail below.
Background Color: this color will be displayed in the areas outlined in the screenshot below.
Please note that if you choose to use a Background Image the Background Color will not be
used. We suggest using an RGB color code. If you do not know the RGB code for the color
you would like to use, right-click in this field to view a color reference.
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Background Image: you can specify an image to be used as a background in place of a
Background Color. Enter the relative URL to the image you would like to use, for example: ../
images/themes/theme1/image1.jpg This image will be displayed as the background for the
areas outlined in the screenshot above. If you do not know the URL to the image you would
like to use, right-click in this field and select File Listing to browse the image files in your
web.
Font Color, Font Size, and Font Face: use these options to control how the text that
appears in the Middle Banner area will be formatted. Font Color should be entered as an RGB
color code, and Font Size should be a number between 1 and 6 (a font size of 2 is roughly
equivalent to a word processor’s 10pt font). Font Face can be the name of any common
browser-supported font; for example: Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana. If you do not know
the RGB code for the color you would like to use, right-click in this field to view a color
reference.
BOTTOM BANNER
Bottom Banner is the fourth StoreFront Theme Element and will affect the area directly below
the space affected by the Middle Banner. The options you can configure under Bottom Banner
are described in more detail below.
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Background Color: this color will be displayed in the areas outlined in the screenshot below.
Please note that if you choose to use a Background Image the Background Color will not be
used. We suggest using an RGB color code. If you do not know the RGB code for the color
you would like to use, right-click in this field to view a color reference.
Background Image: you can specify an image to be used as a background in place of a
Background Color. Enter the relative URL to the image you would like to use, for example: ../
images/themes/theme1/image1.jpg This image will be displayed as the background for the
areas outlined in the screenshot above. If you do not know the URL to the image you would
like to use, right-click in this field and select File Listing to browse the image files in your
web.
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Font Color, Font Size, and Font Face: use these options to control how the text that
appears in the Bottom Banner area will be formatted. Font Color should be entered as an RGB
color code, and Font Size should be a number between 1 and 6 (a font size of 2 is roughly
equivalent to a word processor’s 10pt font). Font Face can be the name of any common
browser-supported font; for example: Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana. If you do not know
the RGB code for the color you would like to use, right-click in this field to view a color
reference.
FOOTER
Footer is the last theme element. This footer is added to every page that uses the themes.
The instructions below describe what options can be configured under the Footer section.
Background Color: this color will be displayed in the black areas in the screenshot below, in
the bottom portion of the page’s content. Please note that if you choose to use a Background
Image the Background Color will not be used. We suggest using an RGB color code. If you
don’t know the RGB code for the color you’d like to use, right-click in this field to view a color
reference.
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Background Image: you can specify an image to be used as a background in place of a
Background Color. Enter the relative URL to the image you would like to use, for example: ../
images/themes/theme1/image1.jpg This image will be displayed as the background for the
outlined in the screenshot above. If you do not know the URL to the image you would like to
use, right-click in this field and select File Listing to browse the image files in your web.
Font Color, Font Size, and Font Face: use these options to control how the text that
appears in the Footer areas will be formatted. Font Color should be entered as an RGB color
code, and Font Size should be a number between 1 and 6 (a font size of 2 is roughly equivalent
to a word processor’s 10pt font). Font Face can be the name of any common browsersupported
font; for example: Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana. If you do not know the RGB
code for the color you would like to use, right-click in this field to view a color reference.
CONTENT
Content controls the appearance and formatting of the content output by pages using the
themes. This includes the results of searches and the order forms that are used to collect
customer information. The options that can be configured under Content are described in more
detail below.
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Background Color: this color will be displayed in the areas outlined in the screenshot below.
Please note that if you choose to use a Background Image the Background Color will not be
used. We suggest using an RGB color code. If you do not know the RGB code for the color
you would like to use, right-click in this field to view a color reference.
Background Image: you can specify an image to be used as a background in place of a
Background Color. Enter the relative URL to the image you would like to use, for example: ../
images/themes/theme1/image1.jpg This image will be displayed as the background for the
areas outlined in the screenshot above. If you do not know the URL to the image you would
like to use, right-click in this field and select File Listing to browse the image files in your
web.
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Font Color, Font Size, and Font Face: use these options to control how the text that
appears in the Content area will be formatted. Font Color should be entered as an RGB color
code, and Font Size should be a number between 1 and 6 (a font size of 2 is roughly equivalent
to a word processor’s 10pt font). Font Face can be the name of any common browsersupported
font; for example: Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana. If you do not know the RGB
code for the color you would like to use, right-click in this field to view a color reference.
CONTENT BAR
Content Bar will control the appearance and formatting of the Content Bar which will act as a
header for content areas on pages using the themes. The options that can be configured under
the Content Bar section are described below.
Background Color: this color will be displayed in the areas highlighted in blue in the
screenshot below. Please note that if you choose to use a Background Image the Background
Color will not be used. We suggest using an RGB color code. If you do not know the RGB
code for the color you would like to use, right-click in this field to view a color reference.
Background Image: you can specify an image to be used as a background in place of a
Background Color. Enter the relative URL to the image you would like to use, for example: ../
images/themes/theme1/image1.jpg This image will be displayed as the background for the
areas outlined in the screenshot above. If you do not know the URL to the image you would
like to use, right-click in this field and select File Listing to browse the image files in your
web.
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Font Color, Font Size, and Font Face: use these options to control how the text that
appears in the Content Bar area will be formatted. Font Color should be entered as an RGB
color code, and Font Size should be a number between 1 and 6 (a font size of 2 is roughly
equivalent to a word processor’s 10pt font). Font Face can be the name of any common
browser-supported font; for example: Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana. If you do not know
the RGB code for the color you would like to use, right-click in this field to view a color
reference.
CONTENT ALTERNATING COLORS
Content Alternating Colors will be used on any page that lists repetitive information that is not
separated by labels, as in the case of product items that a customer has ordered. For
example, this includes sales reports, the order.asp checkout page, and the process_order.asp
page. The options that can be configured under Content Alternating Colors are described in
more detail below. Each option appears twice: once for each of the alternating sections.
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Background Color: this color will be displayed in the areas outlined in the screenshot below.
Please note that if you choose to use a Background Image the Background Color will not be
used. We suggest using an RGB color code. If you do not know the RGB code for the color
you would like to use, right-click in this field to view a color reference.
Background Image: you can specify an image to be used as a background in place of a
Background Color. Enter the relative URL to the image you would like to use, for example: ../
images/themes/theme1/image1.jpg This image will be displayed as the background for the
areas outlined in the screenshot above. If you do not know the URL to the image you would
like to use, right-click in this field and select File Listing to browse the image files in your
web.
Font Color, Font Size, and Font Face: use these options to control how the text that
appears in the Content Alternating Colors areas 1 and 2 will be formatted. Font Color should
be entered as an RGB color code, and Font Size should be a number between 1 and 6 (a font
size of 2 is roughly equivalent to a word processor’s 10pt font). Font Face can be the name of
any common browser-supported font; for example: Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana. If you
don’t know the RGB code for the color you’d like to use, right-click in this field to view a color
reference.
Choosing Buttons
In addition to the various Theme Elements used by each of your pages, many of the pages
use one or more button images for buttons that perform various functions, such as initiating a
search, submitting a form, or sending an email.
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You can access the button configuration menus by clicking Buttons while designing or
modifying a theme. Read the following sections for more information about choosing and
configuring buttons.
CONFIGURING BUTTONS STEP-BY-STEP
There are 24 options for different button images in every StoreFront Theme, and every one of
them is required. If you do not specify an image for each button, a broken image link will take
its place. Understanding the placement and usage of these buttons can be an involved task.
The following step by step guide should provide you with a loose procedural guide during this
process, however, we suggest reading Button Locations and Definitions for a more in-depth
understanding of what buttons are used on which pages.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Open the Web Manager. Click on the StoreFront Design tab, then select a theme
from the list of available themes and click Edit, then click Buttons.
4. Enter the relative path to each button’s image. To preview and select the images that
are already in your web, right-click in the field you are selecting an image for, then
click File Listing. Make sure that you specify an image path for every button.
5. After selecting the images for every button, click the Finish button at the bottom of
the screen.
BUTTON LOCATIONS AND DEFINITIONS
Read the descriptions below to learn where each of the button images used by a StoreFront
theme appears on your site’s pages. All of these images are taken from the Nature Store
example theme that came with your copy of StoreFront 5.0.
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GO: this button is used to initiate a search. It appears in the search.asp page, as indicated in
the following image.
Save to Cart: this button is used on all pages that contain product bots, and will save an item
to a customer’s Saved Cart when it is clicked on. The following screenshot shows an example
of this button on a search results page.
Add to Cart: this button is used on all pages that contain product bots, and will add an item
to a customer’s order when it is clicked on. The following screenshot shows an example of
this button on a search results page.
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Continue Shopping: this button is used at order.asp to allow a customer to continue
shopping in the site. It will be linked to whatever page the customer was at before going to
order.asp. The following screenshot shows an example of this button on order.asp.
Checkout: this button is displayed at order.asp. When a customer clicks on this button, they
will proceed to process_order.asp, the next step in the checkout process. The following
screenshot shows an example of this button at order.asp.
Delete: this button is used on both order.asp and savecart.asp. By clicking on it, customers
can remove items from either their current order or their Saved Order. The following screenshot
shows an example of this button on savecart.asp.
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Save: this button is used on order.asp. By clicking on it, the customer can move an item from
the current order to his or her Saved Order. The following screenshot shows an example of this
button on order.asp.
View Saved Order: this button is also displayed at order.asp. It is linked to savecart.asp,
where a customer can view the items that they have stored in their Saved Order from previous
shopping sessions. The following screenshot shows an example of this button on order.asp.
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Shopping Cart: the shopping cart will appear on any of the dynamically generated product
pages such as the search results, the sales page (salespage.asp), and detail pages. It is
linked to order.asp, and customers will click this button to begin the checkout process. The
following screenshot shows an example of this button on the search pages.
Change Order: this button appears on the Saved Order (savecart.asp) page. If someone
else’s saved cart is displayed (suppose someone else was shopping the site before you, on
the same machine) you can click this button, then submit your login and password to retrieve
your own saved cart items. The following screenshot shows an example of this button on
savecart.asp.
Sign Up: this button will appear on login.asp under certain circumstances: the customer is
going directly to login.asp and does not have a cookie from a previous session stored on his or
her machine, or the customer is starting a new account with the store. The following
screenshot shows an example of this button on login.asp.
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Recalculate: when a customer deletes an item from their current order at order.asp or moves
the item to their Saved Order, clicking this button will reload order.asp, displaying the new
totals for the revised order. The following screenshot shows an example of this button on
order.asp.
Login: this button is displayed at login.asp and process_order.asp. A customer clicks this
button after submitting their username and password to log in to the store and use billing and
shipping information stored from a previous order. The following screenshot shows an example
of this button on process_order.asp.
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Forgot Password: this button is displayed at login.asp. If a customer has forgotten their
password, they can click this button and submit their email address. The password matching
the email address they submitted will be emailed to them. The following screenshot shows an
example of this button on process_order.asp.
Submit: the Submit button is used on many pages to complete a process or submit
information. This includes the Email to a Friend page, as well as many of the pages of the
HTML Administration Tool. The following screenshot shows an example of this button on the
Email to a Friend page (EmailFriend.asp).
New Account: this button is used at affiliate.asp. By clicking this button, a new affiliate can
begin submitting the information that is necessary to create a new account. The following
screenshot shows an example of this button on affiliate.asp.
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Continue: after submitting the information during the checkout process necessary to ship an
order, your customers will be shown a summary page (verify.asp) of all the information they
have provided. This page will also collect billing information such as credit card numbers.
When the information has been input, customers can click the Continue button to complete
the order and proceed to confirm.asp. The following screenshot shows an example of this
button on verify.asp.
Search: this button is used with the Advanced Search engine (advancedsearch.asp). After
submitting their search criteria, customers will click this button to initiate an advanced search.
The following screenshot shows an example of this button on AdvancedSearch.asp.
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Add to Cart (order page): this button is displayed in the Saved Order (savecart.asp). By
clicking on this button, customers can move an item from the Saved Cart to the current order.
The following screenshot shows an example of this button on savecart.asp.
Clear Shipping Fields: this button is displayed at process_order.asp when customers are
submitting their shipping and billing information. Clicking this button will clear the shipping
information from the order forms, preparing them for new information. The following screenshot
shows an example of this button on process_order.asp.
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Email a Friend: this button can be displayed beneath a product bot by adding it when you
create a product page. By clicking on this button, customers can access the emailfriend.asp
page and use it to send a template email to a friend, which will include a link to a page
displaying the product. The following screenshot shows an example of this button on one of
the search pages.
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Product
Inventory
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After configuring the basic business rules which will form the foundation of your site, it is time
to create the inventory of products. This chapter describes how to create product items and
how to organize your inventory. Please read on for more information.
Creating a New Product Item
The first step in selling a product online is to create a record of that product in your database.
Once you have added the product to your database, you can begin creating product pages to
display the product to your customers and allow them to order. Customers will also be able to
locate and purchase the product using the StoreFront Search Engine and Advanced Search
Engine. Follow the instructions below to create a product item.
Note: Every product item must have a Product ID, Price, Sale Price, Manufacturer, Vendor,
and Category. All other information is optional.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Under the Store Builder, select the StoreFront Product Manager.
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3. After the Product Manager opens, click the New Product button.
4. Begin creating your product by filling out the information under the General tab. Each
of the options available under General is listed below and described in detail.
• Activate Product: if this box is checked, customers will be able to search your
inventory for this item and order it from the search pages and product pages. If this
box is unchecked, the item will no longer be available from a search, but can still be
ordered from a product page.
• Product ID: the Product ID should be a unique identifier for this product item. This
can be anything, but it is best to avoid using spaces or special characters. You can
not have two products with the same product ID.
• Name: the Name should be a brief descriptive title or label for this product.
• Plural Name: this should be the Name used to refer to multiple units of this product.
• Short Description: this should be a brief description of the product item. This can be
up to 255 characters in length. This is the information that will be shown when the
item is displayed as the results of a search using search.asp. If no Product Short
Description is entered, the Product Long Description will be used instead.
• Product Long Description: this should be a more detailed description of the product
item. This can be up to 32,000 characters. When detail.asp is used to generate a
product page for this item, the Product Long Description will be displayed.
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• Price: the price for a single unit of this product.
• Sale Price: you can place a product item on sale by entering the sale price for a
single unit of this product item in the Sale Price field, then checking the Activate Sale
Price option. To learn about another way to place an item on sale, please refer to
Creating a Product Sale, page 186.
5. After you have finished entering the information requested by the General tab, switch
to the Detail tab.
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6. Select the Category, Manufacturer, and Vendor that you would like this product to
be classified under. If you have not yet created a Category, Manufacturer, or Vendor to
suit this product, click on the Add button next to the field where you need to add to
the list, then refer to Organizing your Inventory, page 130, for further instructions.
7. Select your images. In the Product Small Image field, enter the path to a thumbnail
image for this product. If no image is available, simply leave the field blank to use the
Product Large Image. In the Product Large Image field, enter the path to a larger
image for this product. If no image is available, leave the field blank to use the Category
Image. You can click the Browse button to the right of the image fields to
access the Image Selector, which will allow you to select an image from you web.
See page 142 for information about using the Image Selector, or page 136 for more
information about setting a Category Image.
8. In the Confirmation Message field, enter the message you would like to be displayed
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place to recommend another product. For example, this field supports the use of
HTML, so you might include a link to detail.asp in the message to display a complementary
product when it is clicked.
9. In the Link field, enter the URL to a page associated with this product. When this
product is displayed in the results of a search, its image will be linked to this URL. If
no image is specified for the product, the image associated with the product’s Category
will be used instead.
10. StoreFront supports the use of unlimited Product Attributes. If you would like to learn
what attributes are and how to use them, please see Using and Managing Product
Attributes, page 132.
11. Click on the Shipping/Tax tab. Submit the information requested by this interface
according to the following descriptions.
• Ship Price: if you are using Product-Based Shipping Rates, then this is the
amount that will be charged as shipping for each unit of this product.
• Weight: this should be the weight, in pounds, of a single unit of this product.
This information will be used to calculate the shipping cost for an order if you are
using Carrier-Based Shipping Rates.
• Package Height, Width, and Length: enter the dimensions of a single unit of
the product in inches. This will be used in the calculation of shipping costs when
using Carrier-Based Rates.
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• Ship this Product: select Yes to charge shipping for orders of this product.
Choose No to ship orders of this product for free.
• State Tax: select Yes to charge state tax, when applicable, for orders of this
product. Choose No to make orders of this product exempt from state tax.
• Country Tax: select Yes to charge country tax, where applicable, for orders of
this product. Choose No to make orders of this product exempt from country tax.
12. Click File, then Save Products to save the new product item to your database.
USING AND MANAGING PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES
Attributes allow you to create variations on a single product to allow the customer to choose
options such as Size and Color, or to allow customers to add extra options to an item. An
attribute can also add or subtract from the total cost of the item. For example, you might
create an attribute such as: Extra Cheese, add $5. Follow the instructions below to create and
apply attributes.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Select the Product Manager. Choose a product to edit, or click New Product. Click
on the Attribute tab.
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3. Click Add. Enter the title or name of the attribute in the Attribute Category field. A
few examples of Attribute Categories would be Size, Color, or Toppings.
4. Enter the name of the first attribute that will be available under this Attribute Category
in the Attributes in Category field.
5. Choose how this attribute will affect the overall price of the item. You have three
choices:
Increase By: if you choose this option, you can specify an additional cost to be
added to the price of the product when this attribute is chosen.
Decrease By: if you choose this option, you can specify an amount to be
discounted from the price of the product when this attribute is chosen.
Same: choosing this option means that this attribute will not affect the price of
the product it is added to.
6. Repeat steps three, four, and five as many times as necessary. You can also use
your mouse to drag attributes within a category to different positions in their listing, to
control what order they display in on product pages.
7. Click Finish to save the new attributes to the database.
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You can remove an attribute at any time by opening a product item in the Product Manager,
then switching to the Attribute tab. To remove a category of attributes, click the Attribute
Category name under the Attribute tab, then click Remove. To modify a single attribute
under an Attribute Category, click the Attribute Category name under the Attribute tab, then
click Modify. Select any single attribute option, then click Remove to delete it.
Editing an Existing Product Item
You can modify a product item at any time after adding it to your inventory. Follow the instructions
below to edit an existing product item.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Open the Product Manager. Enter the Product ID or Name of the item you want to
modify, then select the Category it is listed under. Click Search to produce a list of
items matching the criteria you specified. Select the desired item from the list of
results, then double-click it or click Edit. This will open the product for editing. Be
sure to select File, then Save to save any modifications before you close the Product
Manager.
3. For more information on using the options available under the Product Manager,
please refer to Creating a New Product Item, page 128.
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Your inventory is organized using three levels: Category, Manufacturer, and Vendor. When
creating a product item, you must specify what Category, Manufacturer, and Vendor the item
belongs under. This will simplify the tasks you must perform while managing your inventory,
and will also make finding and ordering these products in your web easier for your customers.
Remember that you can change the way these are referred to in your site; for example, if your
site is selling books, you may wish to change Category to Genre, Manufacturer to Author,
and Vendor to Publisher. You can find more information about changing these labels in
Modifying the Search Labels, page 98. Please read the following sections to learn more about
creating and editing different Categories, Manufacturers, and Vendors.
CREATING A NEW CATEGORY
Category is a broad, general means of organizing your inventory. A single Category should
encompass the products produced by several different Manufacturers, which may in turn be
distributed by many different Vendors. Follow the instructions below to create a new Category.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Open the Product Manager. Select New Product or Edit Product.
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3. Click on the Detail tab. Next to the Category field, click Add Category.
4. Enter the name of the new Category and click Add.
This will be sufficient to add the category to your database and make it available for product
creation. You can edit a Category to specify any additional information you feel necessary,
such as a Category Image to be used in place of a Product Image for products that you have
not specified a Product Image for, and a Category Description for your own and your coworkers’
administrative reference.
EDITING AN EXISTING CATEGORY
You can modify an existing product Category at any time after you’ve added it to your database.
When a Category is first added, it consists of only a name. You may choose to edit
Category entries at a later time in order to add additional information such as a Category
Image and Category Description. These options and how to add or modify them are described
in more detail below.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Open the Product Manager. Click Edit, then select Categories.
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3. Select the Category you wish to modify from the Category List. You can modify or
add the following information:
• Name: the name of the Category, under which your product items are listed. If
you change this, the change will be reflected in the products you have already
created under this Category.
• Description: you can enter a brief description for any Category. This won’t be
available to your customers, but will be for your reference only.
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• Image: you can specify an image to be associated with this Category. If you
didn’t specify a Product Small Image or Product Large Image, then the Category
Image will be used instead for products listed under this Category. You can use
the Image Selector to view the images listed in your web and choose one.
Instructions on using the Image Selector can be found on page 142.
5. Click File, then Save to save your changes to the Category list before exiting.
CREATING A NEW MANUFACTURER
Manufacturer is an organizational method that should be less general than Category, but not
quite as specific as Vendor. Follow the directions below to create a new Manufacturer.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Open the Product Manager. Select New Product or Edit Product.
3. Click on the Detail tab. Next to the Manufacturer field, click Add Manufacturer.
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4. Enter the name of the new Manufacturer and click Add.
This will be sufficient to add the new Manufacturer to your database and make it available for
product creation. You can edit a Manufacturer to specify any additional information you feel
necessary, such as a Manufacturer Description for your own and your coworkers’ administrative
reference.
EDITING AN EXISTING MANUFACTURER
You can modify an existing product Manufacturer at any time after you’ve added it to your
database. When a Manufacturer is first added, it consists of only a name. You may choose to
edit Manufacturer entries at a later time in order to add additional information such as a
Manufacturer Description. These options and how to add or modify them are described in more
detail below.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Open the Product Manager. Select a product to edit, or click Create New Product.
Click Edit, then select Manufacturers.
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3. Select the Manufacturer you wish to modify from the Manufacturer List. You can
modify or add the following information:
• Name: the name of the manufacturer under which your product items are listed.
If you change this, the change will be reflected in the products you have already
created under this Manufacturer.
• Description: you can enter a brief description for any Manufacturer. This won’t
be available to your customers, but will be for your reference only.
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4. Click File, then Save to save your changes to the Manufacturer list before exiting.
CREATING A VENDOR
Vendor is intended to be the most specific organizational method of your inventory. Follow the
instructions below to create a list of Vendors.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Open the Product Manager. Click New Product or Edit Product.
3. Click on the Details tab, then click the Add Vendor button next to the Vendor field.
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4. Enter the name of the new Vendor, then click Add.
5. Click File, then Save. This will save the changes to the Vendor list.
This will be sufficient to add the new Vendor to your database and make it available for
product creation.
Using the Image Selector
The Image Selector is a tool that you may find helpful while performing configuration and
management tasks that require you to specify the path to a specific image, such as creating
a Theme and selecting buttons, or creating a manufacturer or category.
Next to some fields that require an image you will see a Browse button, or you may be able
to right-click in a field and select an option called File Listing. Click this button to access the
Image Selector.
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Use the Image Selector to browse through your web. When you locate the image you would
like to use, click on it, then click OK. When the Image Selector closes, you will see that the
field requiring the path to an image has been populated with the correct path.
Note: You must have a web open in FrontPage in order to browse its image files using the
Image Selector.
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Catalog Page
Creation
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Creating Product Pages
In addition to formatting your site to use a consistent design, you also need to determine how
you will present your products to customers so that they can place orders. This is done
through the use of Product Pages: special ASP pages that contain the StoreFront components
necessary to allow a customer to buy an item online. This chapter describes the
components of Product Pages, the different types of Product Pages, and the steps you must
take to create them.
WHAT IS A PRODUCT PAGE?
A Product Page is a web page that has had StoreFront components added to it to integrate it
with the rest of an e-commerce web. The essential components of a Product Page are product
bots. A product bot is a form element that consists of two main visible features: a quantity
box and an Add to Order button. When you create a product bot for a specific item and then
place it on a page, your customers can order that product by entering a quantity and clicking
the Add to Order button. A single Product Page can contain product bots for any number of
products.
You can create 3 basic variations of product bots: Run-Time Product Bots, Design-Time
Product Bots, and Multiple-Product Bots. These are described later in this chapter. You can
also add data elements and options like Save to Cart and EMail to a Friend to a product page.
These are also covered in this chapter. Continue reading to learn how to create a Product
Page.
In addition to product pages that you create yourself by adding a product bot to a page, you
can also dynamically generate product pages through the use of specially designed hyperlinks
created with the Page Link Creator. Dynamically generated product pages do not provide you
with the same amount of design control, but they have several advantages, including the
speed with which they can be created and their inherently uniform design. Dynamically
generated product pages do not require any maintenance. They pull their information directly
from your database each time a customer views them, and any changes you make to the
inventory list in your database will be reflected immediately. Dynamically generated product
pages are described in detail beginning on page 157 of this chapter, under Dynamically
Generating Product Pages.
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USING THE PRODUCT PAGE TEMPLATE
StoreFront 5.0 includes a Product Page Template to assist you in the design of your web and
the creation of product pages. The Product Page Template is a web page that contains
additional ASP code that allows it to use the same Theme as your StoreFront pages. This
means that general design elements, such as font size, font color, and background colors or
images for the page will be determined by the Theme in use in your web. See Using the
StoreFront Themes, page 101, for more information on using Themes.
You can access the Product Page Template by opening FrontPage and switching to Page
view. Click File, then select New, then Page. Select StoreFront 5.0 Product Page Template
from the list of available page templates, then click OK.
The page that opens in FrontPage will consist simply of some table cells with comments in
them. The blank page is shown below.
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Enter your content into this page as you would normally. Feel free to delete the comments
and add any images or text that you like. Save the page to your web with a .asp extension.
After the page has been saved, right-click on its icon in the file list to the left and select Copy.
Now, open a browser and right-click in the address window. Select Paste. This should paste
the URL to the page you just created. Hit enter.
The page should load in the browser. You will see that, despite its plain appearance when
open in the Page view of FrontPage, the page has now acquired the same design elements as
the other pages in your web. If you change the Theme, this page will reflect the changes.
Using this template while creating product pages will allow you to maintain a consistent
design in your site that will change along with the rest of your web as you design and apply
new Themes. Continue reading to learn how to create a product page.
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CREATING PRODUCT PAGES STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE
The instructions below should provide you with a loose procedural guide for the creation of
Product Pages. The additional options you will find under the Product Bot Creator are described
later in this chapter.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Click on the icon for the Product Bot Creator. This will open the Product Bot Creation
Menu.
3. You will see a list of the items that are currently in your inventory in the upper lefthand
corner of the menu. Use your mouse pointer to select the product you want to
create a Product Bot for. Select more than one product item if you want to create a
Multiple-Product Bot. Multiple-Product Bots are described in detail on page 151.
4. If you chose to use a Multiple-Product Bot, select Radio Buttons or Drop-Down List
from the Multiple Product Options section to determine how the products available
from the bot will be listed on the page.
Note: If you choose to use a Multiple-Product Bot, you can not use any of the data
elements or options listed under the Add to Page with Product Bot section of the
Product Bot Creation menu.
5. Choose the additional options and data elements that you would like to add to this
page. These are listed and defined under Adding Product Data Elements and Other
Options to a Product Page, page 151.
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6. Use FrontPage to open the page you will be adding the Product Bot to. Place your
cursor where you wish to insert the product bot.
7. After you have selected the options and information you would like to add to the page
along with the Product Bot, click Add to Page. This will create the product bot.
8. Save the new Product Page to your web. IMPORTANT: You MUST save the page with
a .asp file extension. THE PRODUCT PAGE WILL NOT WORK UNLESS IT IS
NAMED AS AN ASP PAGE.
9. If the page you added the Product Bot to is an existing HTML page, rename it to .asp.
You can do this by right-clicking the file, selecting Rename, then changing the htm or
html extension to .asp.
You can test a Product Page by viewing it in a browser independent of FrontPage. The
“Preview in Browser” feature or the Preview Tab of FrontPage will not reliably display product
pages. You must finish the steps described under Path Configuration, page 56, and Database
Connectivity Configuration, page 43, before you will be able to test any Product Pages.
DESIGN-TIME AND RUN-TIME PRODUCT BOTS
There are two main types of Product Bots: Design-Time and Run-Time. The characteristic
that distinguishes one from the other is that Design-Time bots and the data elements that are
added to a design-time page are static. They are pulled from the information stored in the
database for a product and written to the page as HTML when the product page is created. If
the information in the database changes, or if the product is removed from the database, no
change will be reflected on the product page. The page will have to be updated manually.
Design-Time pages can be created from any existing HTML web page.
Run-Time bots and the data elements that are added to a run-time page are dynamic. The
information for the product data elements is pulled from the database every time the page is
viewed by a customer. If the information stored in the database changes, this will be reflected
by the Run-Time page. There will never be any need to update a Run-Time page manually,
only to update the information stored in the database.
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Note: You must run Run-Time Product Pages from the root folder of your web or subweb.
When you add Run-Time data elements or other features to a product page, the Product Bot
Creator will add some additional coding to the page to support these functions.
MULTIPLE-PRODUCT PRODUCT BOTS
Normally, a single Product Bot is used to place orders for a single product item. If you prefer,
however, a single Product Bot can be used to allow customers to choose from multiple
product items. The multiple products will be listed in a drop-down list or as a series of radio
buttons. Your customers can then select the product they would like to order, specify a
quantity, and click the Add to Order button. This is an excellent and space-efficient method of
selling multiple products on a single page without using multiple product bots.
To create a Multiple-Product Product Bot, begin creating a product page as you normally
would, but select multiple products from the product listing in the upper-left corner of the
Product Bot Creator. Then, under the Multiple-Product Options section, select how you would
like the different products to be selectable on the product page. The Multiple-Product Product
bot in the image uses Radio Buttons.
ADDING PRODUCT DATA ELEMENTS AND OTHER OPTIONS TO A PRODUCT PAGE
When creating a product item, you can input optional information such as a Description, Long
Description, and Product Name. When you add a Product Bot to a page, you can also choose
to add these options and information as well. The available data elements and options that can
be added to a page are listed and defined below. All of these options are found under the
Product Bot Creation menu, which can be accessed by following the steps described in
Creating Product Pages Step-by-Step, page 149.
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Note: When creating a Multiple-Product Product Bot, you will not be able to choose data
elements to add to a page.
Note: options marked with an * are Run-Time options that will add some additional code to
the page.
The available data elements and options described below that can be added to a page are
listed under the Product Bot Creation menu, under Add to Page with Product Bot.
Product ID: the Product ID of the product you are adding a product bot for.
Name: the Name of the product you are adding a product bot for.
Short Description: the Short Description of the product you are adding a product bot for.
Long Description: the Long Description of the product you are adding a product bot for.
Small Image: this option will add the Small Image for the product you are creating the
Product Bot for.
Large Image: this option will add the Large Image for the product you are creating the
Product Bot for.
Have Images Use Link: if you check this option, then the Small Image or Large Image
for this product will be linked to the URL you specified in this product’s Link field.
Price: the Price of the product you are adding a product bot for.
Category: the Category of the product you are adding a product bot for.
Manufacturer: the Manufacturer of the product you are adding a product bot for.
Vendor: the Vendor of the product you are adding a product bot for.
Use OANDA Currency Conversion*: this will add the code necessary to use the
OANDA Currency Conversion features to this page. You must have an account configured
with OANDA before you can use this option.
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Use Sale Feature*: checking this option will add a product bot to the page. The sale
price and regular price will also be added, and the amount you saved will be shown as
well.
ADDITIONAL OPTIONS
Email a Friend Button: checking this option will add a button to the page below the
Product Bot. Customers will be able to click this button to access the Email to a Friend
page. If you select Use Design Default Image, the image used for the button will be the
image specified under the design parameters for the theme your site is using. If you
choose Use Custom Image, you can enter the URL to a different image to be used instead
of the default. If you do not know the URL of the image, click Browse to select it from
those currently in the web.
Save to Order Button: checking this option will add another button to the page below the
Product Bot. Customers will be able to click this button to use the Save to Cart feature,
storing the item in their Saved Cart for a future order. If you select Use Design Default
Image, the image used for the button will be the image specified under the design
parameters for the theme your site is using. If you choose Use Custom Image, you can
enter the URL to a different image to be used instead of the default. If you do not know the
URL of the image, click Browse to select it from those currently in the web. The Saved
Order feature is described in greater detail on page 12.
Add to Cart Button: every product bot will contain an Add to Cart button. Normally, the
image used for this button will be the one specified in the design parameters for the
Theme your site is currently using. If you would prefer to use a different image for the Add
to Cart button, choose Use Custom Image, then enter the URL to a different image to be
used instead of the default. If you do not know the URL of the image, click Browse to
select it from those currently in the web.
Display Attributes: attributes will always be added to the page if the product has been
assigned attributes. You can specify whether the attributes will be listed as Radio
Buttons or in a Drop-Down List.
Frequently Used StoreFront Page Links
There are certain navigation elements that you should include in the design of your StoreFront
web in order to make the flow of the site as smooth as possible. Ideally, your customers
should be able to proceed to checkout and complete an order from any product page in the
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web. You may also want to include a link to the StoreFront Search Engine on each of your
catalog pages, ensuring that, if a customer is unable to locate a specific item, they can easily
search your inventory to find it. Finally, returning customers should be given a convenient
means to retrieve their previous order.
The StoreFront Page Link Creator contains tools that will allow you to quickly and easily
create any of these three links on any page in your web. The next few sections describe the
links that can be created with the Page Link Creator, and the functions that they perform.
CREATING AND USING LINKS TO SEARCH
Most catalog pages in your web should contain a link to the StoreFront Search Engine to
simplify the ordering process as much as possible for your customers. If a customer is having
trouble locating a specific item in your site, they can always proceed to the search engine and
use it to quickly search your entire inventory.
Links to Search are simply links to the search.asp page, which is the page that begins the
Search Engine. StoreFront includes tools in the Page Link Creator to easily perform this task.
Follow the instructions below to create a link to Search using the Page Link Creator.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Click on the icon for the Page Link Creator.
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3. Select Link to Search Page.
4. In the Link Text field, specify the text for the link. If you would prefer to use an image
for the link, check the Use Image Link check box, then click Browse. Select the
image you want to link, then click OK. If you already know the URL to the image you
want to use, enter it in the Image Path field.
5. Use FrontPage to open the page you want to add the link to. Place your cursor where
you would like the link to be added.
6. Click Create Link to add the link to the page.
CREATING AND USING LINKS TO RETRIEVE A PREVIOUS ORDER
Encouraging customers to return to your web is just as important as attracting new ones.
StoreFront is designed with this goal in mind. Any customer who has previously ordered from
your site can be automatically presented with a link to retrieve their previous order. Clicking
this link will retrieve the customer’s previous order, allowing them to order the same items
again in addition to any others they selected from your site. Follow the instructions below to
create a link that will allow your customers to retrieve a previous order.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
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2. Click on the icon for the Page Link Creator.
3. Select Retrieve Order Link.
4. In the Link Text field, specify the text for the link. If you would prefer to use an image
for the link, check the Use Image Link check box, then click Browse. Select the
image you want to link, then click OK. If you already know the URL to the image you
want to use, enter it in the Image Path field.
5. Use FrontPage to open the page you want to add the link to. Place your cursor where
you would like the link to be added.
6. Click Create Link to add the link to the page. The link will not be visible to any
customers unless they have already placed orders in the site.
CREATING AND USING CHECKOUT LINKS
Every product page in your web should contain a conveniently placed Checkout Link. A
Checkout Link is a link to order.asp, a page in the root of your web which marks the beginning
of the checkout process. StoreFront includes development tools in the Page Link Creator to
easily perform this task. Follow the instructions below to create a link to Checkout using the
Page Link Creator.
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1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Click on the icon for the Page Link Creator.
3. Select Link to Checkout.
4. In the Link Text field, specify the text for the link. If you would prefer to use an image
for the link, check the Use Image Link check box, then click Browse. Select the
image you want to link, then click OK. If you already know the URL to the image you
want to use, enter it in the Image Path field.
5. Use FrontPage to open the page you want to add the link to. Place your cursor where
you would like the link to be added.
6. Click Create Link to add the link to the page.
Dynamically Generating Product Pages
Dynamically Generated Product Pages are catalog pages that are built “on-the-fly” by
StoreFront when a customer requests them. This is done through the use of specially designed
links created using the Page Link Creator.
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There are many advantages to using dynamically generated pages. Since they are built using
the information in your database, they use the latest information and do not need to be
updated manually if product information changes. They are also easy to construct; there is
nothing more to their creation than the inputting of product information into your database and
the creation of the link.
The following sections describe the four varieties of dynamically generated product pages that
can be created using links created with the Page Link Creator.
CREATING PRODUCT PAGES USING LINKS TO THE SEARCH ENGINE
Using the Page Link Creator, you can create a special link that, when clicked on by a customer,
will automatically cause the StoreFront Search Engine to output a dynamically generated
product page listing all product items that match a certain predefined criteria. An entire
web can be built in this fashion. Follow the instructions below to learn more about generating
product pages using links to the StoreFront Search Engine.
Note: you must finish the tasks described under Database Connectivity Configuration, page
43, before you will be able to use a link to the Search Engine. You must also have created
products in your database matching the criteria specified by the search link.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Click on the icon for the Page Link Creator.
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3. Select Link to Search Engine. Under Search Link Options, specify the criteria for
the product listing you would like this link to generate. You can specify the Category,
Manufacturer, and Vendor of the products that will be listed by the page the link
generates. You can also specify keywords to further narrow the output of the page.
4. In the Link Text field, specify the text for the link. If you would prefer to use an image
for the link, check the Use Image Link check box, then click Browse. Select the
image you want to link, then click OK.
5. Use FrontPage to open the page you want to add the link to. Place your cursor where
you would like the link to be added.
6. Click Create Link to add the link to the page.
You can test the search link by viewing this page in a browser independent of FrontPage, then
clicking the link. It should produce a catalog page listing all products matching the criteria you
specified while creating the link.
CREATING PRODUCT PAGES USING LINKS TO DETAIL.ASP
You can use a link to detail.asp to dynamically generate a product page listing all the information
for a single item. Follow the directions below to learn more about creating links to
detail.asp using the Page Link Creator.
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Note: you must finish the tasks described under Database Connectivity Configuration, page
43, before you will be able to use a link to detail.asp. You must also have created a product in
your database matching the product ID specified by the link to detail.asp.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Click the icon for the Page Link Creator.
3. When the Page Link Creator opens, select Link to Detail Page.
4. Enter the Product ID of the product you want to be displayed by detail.asp.
5. In the Link Text field, specify the text for the link. If you would prefer to use an image
for the link, check the Use Image Link check box, then click Browse. Select the
image you want to link, then click OK.
6. Use FrontPage to open the page you want to add the link to. Place your cursor on the
page where you want the link to be added.
7. Click Create Link to add the link to the page.
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You can test the detail link by viewing this page in a browser independent of FrontPage, then
clicking the link. It should produce a catalog page displaying the product matching the product
ID you specified while creating the link.
CREATING A LINK TO THE NEW PRODUCTS PAGE
The New Products Page (newproduct.asp) will create a product page listing all products that
have been added to your inventory within the last 14 days. This list is dynamically generated
based on the information stored in your database, and will change as product entries age.
Follow the instructions below to use the Page Link Creator to create a link to the New Products
Page.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Click the icon for the Page Link Creator.
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3. Select Link to New Product Page.
4. In the Link Text field, specify the text for the link. If you would prefer to use an image
for the link, check the Use Image Link check box, then click Browse. Select the
image you want to link, then click OK.
5. Use FrontPage to open the page you want to add the link to. Place your cursor on the
page where you want the link to be added.
6. Click Create Link to add the link to the page.
You can test the new items link by viewing this page in a browser independent of FrontPage,
then clicking the link. It should produce a catalog page listing all items added within the last
14 days. If you encounter an error, please refer to Troubleshooting or the StoreFront Knowledge
Base.
CREATING A LINK TO THE SALE PAGE
The Sale Page (SalePage.asp) automatically lists all products in your web’s inventory that are
currently marked as sales items. The list of products generated by SalePage.asp is dynamic,
and changes according to the information stored in your database. Please see Creating Sale
Items for more information on putting a product on sale. Read the instructions below to learn
how to create a link to SalePage.asp using the Page Link Creator.
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1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Click the icon for the Page Link Creator.
3. Select Link to Sale Page.
4. In the Link Text field, specify the text for the link. If you would prefer to use an image
for the link, check the Use Image Link check box, then click Browse. Select the
image you want to link, then click OK.
5. Use FrontPage to open the page you want to add the link to. Place your cursor on the
page where you want the link to be added.
6. Click Create Link to add the link to the page.
You can test the Sale Page link by viewing this page in a browser independent of FrontPage,
then clicking the link. It should produce a catalog page listing all the web’s sale products.
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Opening
For Business
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Once your web has been configured, your products have been created, you have designed and
applied a theme, and you have finished creating the product pages that will be used to display
your products to customers, it is almost time to open the web for business. Before you open
the web, there are some additional steps you should take to ensure that the web is secure
and running smoothly. This includes implementing several necessary security measures to
protect the privacy of your customers. The steps you must take to secure your web are
described in this chapter.
Security
One of the keys to building a successful e-commerce site is ensuring that the checkout
process is secured. If your site is not secure, customers will not feel confident purchasing
your merchandise. Furthermore, the customers who do purchase from the site stand the
chance of being defrauded and having their privacy violated if someone decides to exploit your
unsecured web. It is your responsibility, working in conjunction with your host, to ensure that
your StoreFront site is as secure as possible.
StoreFront is secured in several ways. These are listed and described briefly below, and
covered in further detail in the following sections.
Permissions: these are the server-side restrictions applied to the web’s folders where
necessary. Properly applied permissions will prevent users from browsing files in these
folders without first submitting a username and password.
Secure Sockets Layer: The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is used to encrypt the
information that customers submit to your site during the checkout process. This ensures
that sensitive information such as credit card data is not exposed during checkout.
Credit Card Encoding and Credit Card Deletion: StoreFront has the ability to encode
credit card information before it is stored in your database. This will ensure that, even if
someone should manage to bypass your other security measures and download you
database, all of the credit card numbers will be useless. You can also configure
StoreFront to periodically delete credit card data for orders. This will help ensure that your
customers will be protected if the database is compromised.
CONFIGURING YOUR PERMISSIONS
Correctly configured permissions are a vital part of securing your StoreFront web. Follow the
steps below to configure the permissions for your web:
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1. Contact your host.
2. Request that the MSADC virtual directory be set to disallow anonymous access.
3. Request that the Admin folder be set to disallow anonymous access. These are the
only two security-related permissions changes that the server admin must make.
4. Open your remote web in FrontPage by selecting File|Open Web, then entering the
URL to your web, ie : http://www.myliveweb.com. Once the web is open, rightclick
on the fpdb folder and select Properties. Under Properties, uncheck the option
for “Allow files to be browsed.” Click Apply, then OK.
IMPLEMENTING A CREDIT CARD DELETION POLICY
StoreFront offers a handy secondary security feature in the form of an optional Credit Card
Deletion Policy. This feature allows you to direct StoreFront to automatically delete the credit
card data for orders that are older than the number of days you specify. This ensures that,
should the security of your web be compromised, the amount of sensitive customer data that
is exposed will be limited to the most recent orders.
Follow the instructions below to implement a Credit Card Deletion Policy in your web.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Open the Web Manager. Click on the Order Processing tab.
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3. Under the Credit Card Security section, select Delete Credit Card Data.
4. Enter the interval at which you would like the credit card data for orders to be deleted.
5. Select Do Not Delete Credit Card Numbers if you prefer not to use the Credit Card
Deletion Policy.
USING CREDIT CARD ENCODING
StoreFront can encode credit card data using a special encryption algorithm to scramble
credit card numbers as they are input into your database. Another algorithm is used to decrypt
the credit card information as you retrieve the numbers using the StoreFront sales reporting
tools. This feature ensures that even if your security should be breached and your database
compromised, the credit card data obtained in this way will be useless. Follow the steps
below to enable credit card encoding in your site.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Open the Web Manager. Click on the Order Processing tab.
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3. Under Credit Card Security, check the box labeled Encode Credit Card Numbers.
Uncheck this box to disable credit card encoding.
4. Save the changes to these settings by clicking File, then Save before closing the
Store Builder.
Using SSL
Most hosts offer two options for clients who want to use SSL. Usually, you can purchase your
own SSL Certificate from a provider such as Thawte or Verisign, which your host can then
install on your domain. A SSL certificate can be purchased for as little as $79.99, and it
greatly simplifies the configuration of your site. StoreFront Support highly recommends the
purchase of an individual SSL certificate for your web.
A more commonly used form of SSL is known as Shared SSL. In Shared SSL, the web host
has applied an SSL certificate to a single domain. For a monthly fee, hosting clients requiring
SSL are allotted space in a folder or subweb of the domain. The main advantage of this
configuration is its economy. The primary disadvantage is that some browsers will show
warning messages to your customers when they leave your domain and enter the secure
location. These messages will simply state that the customer is being redirected to a new
location, however, customers are sometimes disconcerted by them. Adding an explanation to
the checkout page (order.asp) is usually sufficient to handle for this.
Read the following sections for detailed information about using SSL, and step-by-step
instructions for different types of SSL configurations.
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USING SHARED SSL IN A SEPARATE SECURE LOCATION
This is the second of two methods of configuring shared SSL that are commonly used by
commercial web hosts. If the instructions below do not match your configuration, please see
Using Shared SSL with a Virtual Directory, page 171.
In this configuration, the host creates a subweb under the secure domain for your files. After
creating the subweb, the host does not configure the subweb as a virtual map back to the
existing SSL folder in your root web. Instead, you must move all the files from the root web’s
ssl folder to the secure location. Follow the instructions below to configure your site to use a
Shared SSL folder in a separate location.
1. Open the root web in FrontPage by selecting File, then Open Web. Enter the URL of
your web in the Folder Name field, then click OK. Enter your server login information
if you are prompted for it.
2. One the web has opened, switch to Folders view, then double-click the SSL folder.
Click on the top folder or file listed in the SSL folder. Scroll to the bottom of the list,
then hold down Shift and click on the last file in the list. This should select all the files
and folders within the SSL folder. Right-click on the files and select Copy.
3. Open your secure folder in FrontPage by selecting File, then Open Web. Enter the
URL of your secure subweb in the Folder Name field, then click OK. Enter your
server login information if you are prompted for it.
4. When the secure location opens in FrontPage, right-click in the root of the subweb
and select Paste. This should import all of the files you selected from the SSL folder
previously.
5. After all of the files have been pasted into the secure location, open the SFLib folder
by double-clicking it. You should see a file called db.conn.open.asp. Right-click on
this file and select Open with. Open the file using Notepad and locate this line:
Session(“DSN_Name”) = “Type Your DSN Here”
Enter your DSN within the quotes, replacing “Type Your DSN Here.”
6. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
7. Open the Web Manager and click on the General tab. Make sure that the Secure
Directory Path is the complete URL to process_order.asp in the secure location
using a https:// prefix.
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8. Save your changes to these settings by clicking File, then Save before closing the
Web Manager.
A disadvantage to this form of SSL is that if you change the Theme that is in use in your web,
you must copy the incdesign.asp file from your fpdb folder into the sflib folder of the secure
location before the changes will take effect.
USING SHARED SSL WITH A VIRTUAL DIRECTORY
It is also common for web hosts to use a separate Shared SSL location in tandem with a
virtual directory that is mapped back to the SSL folder of your site. When this is done, the files
located in your web’s SSL folder also become the same files that are at the secure location.
For example, the files contained at http://www.yourweb.com/ are the same files that might be
found at https://secure.Yourhost.com/yourSecureSubweb/.
This sort of Shared SSL configuration doesn’t generally require any work on your part. All you
need to do is to configure your path settings in the Store Builder according to the instructions
below.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Open the Web Manager and click on the General tab. Make sure that the Secure
Directory Path is the complete URL to process_order.asp in the secure location
using a https:// prefix.
3. Save your changes to these settings by clicking File, then Save before closing the
Web Manager.
4. Open your web in FrontPage, then open the SSL/SFLib folder by double-clicking it.
You should see a file called db.conn.open.asp. Right-click on this file and select
Open with. Open the file using Notepad and locate this line:
Session(“DSN_Name”) = “Type Your DSN Here”
Enter your DSN within the quotes, replacing “Type Your DSN Here.”
A disadvantage to this form of SSL is that if you change the Theme that is in use in your web,
you must copy the incdesign.asp file from your fpdb folder into the sflib folder of the secure
location before the changes will take effect. In this sort of shared SSL, simply paste a copy of
the incdesign.asp file into the SSF/sflib folder of your web.
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USING AN INDIVIDUAL SSL CERTIFICATE
Although most hosts offer shared SSL resources, you can also purchase your own SSL
certificate from a company such as Thawte or Verisign. This is simplest and, over time, the
most economical form of SSL security. StoreFront Support strongly recommends that you
purchase your own SSLS certificate. You should contact your host to determine their preference
and to coordinate the process of obtaining the certificate.
Once the SSL certificate has been obtained, your host can apply it to your site. The SSL
protocol will become available on your entire domain. Follow the instructions below to configure
your site to use an individual SSL certificate.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Open the Web Manager and click on the General tab. Make sure that the Secure
Directory Path is the complete URL to process_order.asp in your SSL folder. Also
make sure that it uses an https:// prefix.
3. Save your changes to these settings by clicking File, then Save before closing the
Web Manager.
4. Open your web in FrontPage, then open the SSL/SFLib folder by double-clicking it.
You should see a file called db.conn.open.asp. Right-click on this file and select
Open with. Open the file using Notepad and locate this line:
Session(“DSN_Name”) = “Type Your DSN Here”
Enter your DSN within the quotes, replacing “Type Your DSN Here.”
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It is important that your site be secure before you begin taking orders. Follow the steps below
to ensure that every aspect of your site has been properly secured. If a certain security
measure is not functioning, refer to Security, page 166, for more information or follow the
instructions below each step for a quick fix. Note: these instructions apply only to live webs,
hosted on remote servers.
1. Make sure your database is not downloadable (for webs using an Access database
only). To do this, open your remote web in FrontPage. Locate the database in the fpdb
folder and right-click on it. Select Copy, then open a browser. Right-click in the
address window of your browser and select Paste. This will paste the URL of your
database into the address window. Hit enter. Your browser should be denied access
to the database. If your browser starts to download a file, this indicates that the
database has not been properly secured.
Solution: Open your web in FrontPage and right-click on the fpdb folder. Select
Properties. Make sure that Allow files to be browsed is unchecked.
2. Make sure that your Admin folder is password-protected. To do this, open your
browser. Enter the URL to your admin folder in the address window (the Admin folder
is located under the SSL folder; i.e. http://www.yourweb.com/ssl/admin/).
Hit enter. You should be prompted for a username and password. If you are not
prompted for a username and password, this indicates that the Admin folder has not
been properly secured.
Solution: Contact your host and request that the Everyone account be removed from
the admin folder, or that this folder be otherwise password-protected.
3. Make sure that your MSADC virtual directory has been password protected. To do
this, open your browser. Enter the URL to your MSADC folder in the address window
(the MSADC folder is located under the root of your web; i.e. http://
www.yourweb.com/MSADC/). Hit enter. You should be prompted for a username
and password. If you are not prompted for a username and password, this indicates
that the MSADC folder has not been properly secured.
Solution: Contact your host and request that the MSADC virtual directory be configured
to disallow anonymous access.
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Store
Management
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Your site should now be built, configured, tested, and secured, and you should be ready to
begin taking orders and assuming the management duties for the site. These will include
retrieving sales reports, advertising, managing a mailing list, and creating sales and discounts.
These features of StoreFront 5.0 and how to use them are covered in this chapter.
The StoreFront Sales Reports
StoreFront contains two sets of sales reporting tools to allow you to monitor ordering activity in
your site. The first set of tools can be accessed by clicking the Administrator icon of the
StoreFront toolbar in FrontPage, then selecting Reports. The second set of Sales Reports is
composed of a set of ASP files in the admin folder of your web. These tools can be accessed
through a browser to retrieve sales reports for your web from any computer with Internet
access. There are 6 basic Sales Reports tools. These are described briefly below. Step-bystep
instructions for the use of each sales report can be found in the following sections.
· Sales Details: this is the standard StoreFront Sales Report. Sales Details reports will
list all individual orders that have been placed within a specified date range.
· Sales Summary: this reporting tool will summarize net and gross sales for a specified
date range.
· Transaction Service Reports: this report will only be useful if you are using a live
transaction processing service such as CyberCash, AuthorizeNet, or LinkPoint. Use
this sales reporting tool to view authorization numbers and other pertinent information.
· Affiliate Partners Report: if you choose to use StoreFront’s Affiliate Partners
program, you can use this reporting tool to view the total sales referred from any of
your partners.
· Product Sale Report: the Product Sale Report functions similar to the Sales Summary,
but produces a sales summary for only a single product instead of counting all
sales. This report is an excellent tool for gauging the popularity of a new item by
viewing its total sales within a certain time period.
· Retrieve Order: this tool can be used to retrieve a sales report for a single order.
SETTING A DATE RANGE FOR THE SALES REPORT
The Sales Reports tools allow you to use a number of different date formats to expedite the
process of retrieving a sales report. You can set a date range by right-clicking on the button for
any one of the Sales Report types, or by selecting a Report type from the Reports menu. See
the descriptions below for more information.
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Year to Date, Month to Date, Week to Date, Today: select one of these short-cuts to
view the sales reports for the specified time period. The reports displayed will be for the
Report type you right-clicked or selected from the Reports drop-down menu.
Define a Date Range: Click Define after selecting a Report type from the Reports dropdown
menu or when right-clicking on the button for a Report type. This will allow you to
specify the exact date range you would like to collect sales reports for.
Set a Default: You can set a default date range to be used by all reports by clicking
Misc, then selecting default. Specify the date range, or choose a short-cut such as
Week-to-Date.
You can return to this menu at any time to change the date range used by your reports.
CREATING A SALES DETAILS REPORT
The Sales Details Report is the standard StoreFront sales report. It will list all individual orders
that have been placed in your site within the specified date range. Any of the orders in the list
can be viewed individually for greater detail.
Follow the instructions below to produce a Sales Details Report using the Sales Reports
tools.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Administrator. If you are unsure of how to
do this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for
further instructions.
2. Click the Reports option. You will be presented with a list of the available report
types. Set the date range you would like to produce a report for (see Setting a Report
Date Range, page 176), then click Sales Details to produce the Sales Details
Report.
Follow the instructions below to produce this report using the Online Sales Reporting tool in
the admin folder of your web.
1. Open a browser. Enter the URL to the sfreports.asp file in the ssl/admin folder of your
web, for example:
http://www.yourweb.com/ssl/admin/sfreports.asp
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2. Select Sales Detail Report from the Select Report: drop-down box. Use one of the
short-cuts (Day, Week, Month, Year to Date) or else enter a date range in the Start
Date and End Date fields.
3. Click Submit.
CREATING A REPORT FOR A SINGLE ORDER
You can use the Sales Reports tools to produce a report that will list the details for a single
customer’s order. Follow the instructions below to create this report using the Sales Reports
tools.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Administrator. If you are unsure of how to
do this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database , page 21, for
further instructions.
2. Click the Reports option. Select Retrieve Order.
3. Enter the Order ID or the customer’s First Name or Last Name. Click GO.
Follow the instructions below to produce this report using the Online Sales Reports tool in the
admin folder of your web.
1. Open a browser. Enter the URL to the sfreports.asp file in the ssl/admin folder of your
web, for example:
http://www.yourweb.com/ssl/admin/sfreports.asp
2. Select Retrieve Order from the Select Report drop-down box. Click Submit.
3. Enter either the order ID of the order you’d like to retrieve, or the first or last name of
the customer who placed the order. Click Submit to retrieve the order. If more than
one order matches the criteria you used to search for the order, you can choose a
single order by clicking the order ID.
CREATING A TRANSACTION SERVICE REPORT
The Transaction Service Report will only be useful to you if you are using an Online Payment
Processing Service. This report lists information regarding credit card transactions, such as
authorization number, error codes, and so forth. Follow the instructions below to create a
Transaction Service Report using the Sales Reports tools.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Administrator. If you are unsure of how to
do this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for
further instructions.
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2. Click the Reports option. You will be presented with a list of the available report
types. Set the date range you would like to produce a report for (see Setting a Report
Date Range, page 176), then click Transaction Services to produce the Transaction
Service Report.
Follow the instructions below to produce this report using the Online Sales Reporting tool in
the admin folder of your web.
1. Open a browser. Enter the URL to the sfreports.asp file in the ssl/admin folder of your
web, for example:
http://www.yourweb.com/ssl/admin/sfreports.asp
2. Select Transaction Service Report from the Select Report: drop-down box. Use
one of the short-cuts (Day, Week, Month, Year to Date) or else enter a date range in
the Start Date and End Date fields.
3. Click Submit.
CREATING A SALES SUMMARY REPORT
A Sales Summary Report will display the cumulative sales for your store during any given date
range. Follow the instructions below to create a Product Sales Report using the Sales Reports
tools.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Administrator. If you are unsure of how to
do this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for
further instructions.
2. Click the Reports option. You will be presented with a list of the available report
types. Set the date range you would like to produce a report for (see Setting a Report
Date Range, page 176), then click Sales Summary to produce the Sales Summary
Report.
Follow the instructions below to produce this report using the Online Sales Reporting tool in
the admin folder of your web.
1. Open a browser. Enter the URL to the sfreports.asp file in the ssl/admin folder of your
web, for example:
http://www.yourweb.com/ssl/admin/sfreports.asp
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2. Select Sales Summary Report from the Select Report: drop-down box. Use one of
the short-cuts (Day, Week, Month, Year to Date) or else enter a date range in the
Start Date and End Date fields.
3. Click Submit.
CREATING AN AFFILIATE SALES REPORT
The Affiliate Sales Report can be used to access sales reports listing the total sales for each
of your Affiliate Partners. Follow the instructions below to create an Affiliate Sales Report using
the Sales Reports tools.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Administrator. If you are unsure of how to
do this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for
further instructions.
2. Click the Reports option. You will be presented with a list of the available report
types. Set the date range you would like to produce a report for (see Setting a Report
Date Range, page 176), then click Affiliate Sales to produce the list of Affiliate sales.
Follow the instructions below to produce this report using the Online Sales Reporting tool in
the admin folder of your web.
1. Open a browser. Enter the URL to the sfreports.asp file in the ssl/admin folder of your
web, for example:
http://www.yourweb.com/ssl/admin/sfreports.asp
2. Select Affiliate Partners Report from the Select Report: drop-down box. Use one of
the short-cuts (Day, Week, Month, Year to Date) or else enter a date range in the
Start Date and End Date fields.
3. Click Submit.
CREATING A PRODUCT SALES REPORT
The Product Sales Report will list the cumulative sales of a single product within any given
date range. Follow the instructions below to create a Product Sales Report using the Sales
Reports tools.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Administrator. If you are unsure of how to
do this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for
further instructions.
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2. Click the Reports option. You will be presented with a list of the available report
types. Set the date range you would like to produce a report for (see Setting a Report
Date Range, page 176), then click Products Summary.
3. You will be presented with a list of all the products in your inventory. Select the item
you wish to view a report for, then click View Report.
Follow the instructions below to produce this report using the Online Sales Reporting tool in
the admin folder of your web.
1. Open a browser. Enter the URL to the sfreports.asp file in the ssl/admin folder of your
web, for example:
http://www.yourweb.com/ssl/admin/sfreports.asp
2. Select Product Sales Report from the Select Report drop-down box. In the Start
Date and End Date fields, enter a date range in MM/DD/YY format, or else use one
of the shortcuts (Day, Week, Month, Year to Date).
3. Enter the Product ID of the product you would like to view sales reports for, or else
select the product from the Product drop-down box.
4. Click Submit.
Managing your Mailing List
StoreFront automatically maintains a mailing list of all customers who choose to subscribe
during the checkout process. You can then send Promotional Mail to these customers. Follow
the instructions below to begin building a mailing list and to select which customers will
receive Promotional Mail. Promotional Mail is covered in this chapter under Using the
StoreFront Promotional Mailer.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Builder. If you are unsure of how to do
this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for further
instructions.
2. Open the Web Manager, then click on the Mail tab. Check the option for Show
Mail Subscription on Checkout.
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3. Select File, then Save Setup. Close the Web Manager and Store Builder.
4. Connect to your database with the Store Administrator. If you are unsure of how to
do this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for
further instructions.
5. Open the Mailing List Manager. You will be presented with a list of the email
addresses of customers who have already subscribed to your mailing list. To activate
a customer’s email address as part of the mailing list, simply check the box next to
that customer’s email address. To remove a customer from the mailing list, uncheck
the box next to that customer’s email address.
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6. Click Update to save the changes before you exit this menu.
Using the StoreFront Promotional Mailer
When most people think of advertising and marketing, they think primarily of its use as a tool
to attract new customers. An equally important aspect of marketing is to keep your existing
customers informed of special events such as promotions and sales, encouraging their return
to the store.
The StoreFront Promotional Mailer is designed to provide you with the tool you need to do this.
The Promotional Mailer can be used to send an email to any or all of the customers who have
signed up for your web’s mailing list. This tool is perfect for sending a periodical newsletter
and for announcing sales or promotions.
Unlike most of the other StoreFront tools which are directly plugged into the FrontPage 2000,
the Promotional Mailer is an ASP page that you will view through a browser to use. There’s no
link to this page by default, so you will simply have to enter the URL of the page in the
address window of your browser. You can access the Promotional Mailer from any machine
with Internet access and a browser. Follow the instructions below to learn more about sending
promotional mails.
Note: you won’t be able to use the Promotional Mailer until after you have finished the configuration
tasks described under Mail Configuration, page 60.
1. Open your browser. In the address window, enter the URL to the promo_mail.asp
page. This page will be found in the SSL/admin folder of your web, so the URL to the
Promotional Mailer in a live web might be something like http://
www.yourweb.com/ssl/admin/promo_mail.asp.
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2. The Promotional Mailer should load in your browser. In the Start Date and End Date
fields, enter a date range in MM/DD/YY format to select the customers you would like
to send your promotional mail to. The mail will be sent to all customers who have
made a purchase in the web or signed up for the mailing list during the specified date
range.
3. In the From field, enter the email address you would like any replies to your promotional
mail to go to.
4. In the Subject field, enter the text you would like to have appear as the subject for
this promotional mail.
5. Compose the body of your message in the Mail Message field. After you’ve composed
your email, click on the Submit button to send the promotional mail.
Every message that is sent with the Promotional Mailer will also include a link to
unsubscribe.asp in the root of your web. Customers who follow this link will be allowed to
remove themselves from your mailing list.
Using the StoreFront Affiliate Partners
StoreFront has built-in support for an affiliate trading program. StoreFront’s affiliate program
allows other webmasters to create a special link from a page on their site to an ASP page on
your site. When someone clicks on this link and is referred to your site, StoreFront begins
tracking the customer. If the customer orders merchandise from your site, it is recorded that
Customer A from Affiliate A placed an order in the site. A running count of the total orders
placed by customers referred to your site by each affiliate will be kept, and can be accessed
through the Affiliate Reports. You can then pay a commission to the affiliate partner as a
reward for their business. The following sections describe how to create and manage affiliate
partners.
CREATING NEW AFFILIATES
Affiliate programs are an excellent way to build business relationships and to attract traffic to a
new site. Follow the steps below to create new affiliate partners.
1. Locate the site you want to establish the affiliate relationship with, ideally one that
complements or parallels your own site. Contact the site’s webmaster and establish
the ground rules for the relationship: where your link will be placed, the amount of the
incentive that will be offered for referred sales, etc.
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2. Direct the prospective affiliate to the affiliate.asp page in your web. This is the
affiliate logon page. By clicking on New Account, your new affiliate can submit their
information and create an account. The affiliate.asp page will also provide them with
the syntax of the special link they should create to your site.
3. Track the revenue you get from sales to customers referred by the affiliate site by
using the Affiliate Sales Report tool. Pay your affiliate partner according to your
agreement. Your affiliates can view the same information by going to affiliate.asp and
entering their user name and password, then clicking Submit.
MANAGING YOUR AFFILIATE PARTNERS
As a part of the Affiliate Partners function, StoreFront also stores contact information such as
name, email address, and mailing address for each of your Affiliate Partners. You can view
this information and modify it through the use of the Affiliate Partners Manager. Follow the
instructions below to view the information for an affiliate partner.
Note: you won’t be able to use this tool until you have created affiliate partners as described
previously, under Creating New Affiliates.
1. Connect to your database with the Store Administrator. If you are unsure of how to
do this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for
further instructions.
2. Select Affiliate Partner Manager.
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3. You will be presented with a list of current affiliate partners. To view the information for
a partner, highlight the partner’s name in the list by clicking on it. That partner’s
information will be displayed in the fields to the right.
4. You can modify a partner’s information as it is displayed in the input fields to the right
of the partner list. Click Update after making any modifications to save the changes.
Becoming a StoreFront Affiliate Partner
LaGarde, Inc. offers StoreFront developers membership in our Affiliate Referral Program. We
will pay you for customers referred to www.StoreFront.net who purchase StoreFront products.
To participate in the Affiliate Referral Program, simply read and submit the Affiliate Referral
Agreement, complete the Affiliate Registration form, and place an approved link on your
qualifying web site. When you complete the Affiliate Registration form, you will receive a
StoreFront Affiliate ID. Place this Affiliate ID in the StoreFront Affiliate ID field of the Web
Manager, under the General tab. This will cause a “Powered by StoreFront” icon to appear in
the footer of your StoreFront pages.
Commissions are 15% of all sales generated from orders which originate directly from your
StoreFront Affiliate Referral link. Sales on the StoreFront web site generally range from
$200.00 to over $1,000.00 per transaction, producing commissions of $30.00 to $150.00 per
sale for orders generated from your link.
The satisfaction, success and loyalty of our customers has been a vital part of our continuing
success. We are pleased to have an opportunity to reward our customers and supporters for
their support and goodwill.
Using Discounts and Free Shipping
StoreFront includes development tools that will allow you to create different forms of customer
incentives, such as a store-wide sale, sales on individual product items, and free shipping for
orders over a certain amount. Please see the following sections for more information.
CREATING A PRODUCT SALE
You can designate any item in your inventory as a Sale Item. When a product is marked as a
Sale Item, its price changes from the normal price to the sale price. Products that are marked
as Sale Items will be displayed by the Sale Page when it is viewed by a customer. Sale Items,
when viewed on the pages output by the StoreFront Search Engine and Advanced Search
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Engine, will be distinguished from other products: the regular price will appear crossed out
with red, and the sale price will be displayed below it. A message will also be displayed,
saying “You saved (Normal Price minus Sale Price)!” Follow the instructions below to place an
item on sale.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Administrator. If you are unsure of how to
do this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for
further instructions.
2. Select StoreFront Sales, then Administer Product Sales.
3. You will be presented with a list of the products that are currently in your inventory.
Select the product you want to designate as a Sale Item and check the box to the left
of the product’s name. The sale price that is currently set for the product will appear in
the Product Sale Price field in the lower right-hand corner of the menu. You can
modify the Sale Price for the product here.
4. After you have finished selecting the products you want to designate as Sale Items,
click the Update button to save the changes to the Product Sale settings. You can
deactivate a Product Sale at any time by returning to this menu and unchecking a
product in the list, then clicking Update to save the changes.
CREATING A STORE-WIDE SALE
When it is in effect, a Store-wide Sale will discount all orders placed in your site by a certain
percentage specified. The global discount will also be applied to any products that have
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already been designated as Sale Items. Follow the instructions below to create and apply a
Store-wide Sale.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Administrator. If you are unsure of how to
do this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21, for
further instructions.
2. Click the Store-wide Discount Manager.
3. In the Store-wide Sale Percent field, enter the amount you would like to discount
orders by when the Store-wide Sale is active. The amount should be entered as a
decimal value of 1. For example, a rate of .1 will apply a 10% discount to orders.
4. Check Activate to begin using the Store-wide Sale. You can uncheck this option later
to end the sale.
5. Click Update to save these changes before you close the Administer Store-wide
Sales menu.
ENABLING FREE SHIPPING
In addition to the customer incentives provided by product sales and store-wide sales, you can
also allow your customers to have free shipping on orders with totals exceeding a preset
amount. Follow the instructions below to enable free shipping.
1. Connect to your database using the Store Administrator. If you are unsure of how to
do this, please refer to Connecting to a Remote or Local Database, page 21 for further
instructions.
2. Click on the Store-Wide Discount Manager.
3. In the Free Shipping for Sales Above: field, specify the order total where you want
shipping to become free to a customer. Check Activate.
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4. Click Update to save the changes and make free shipping available. You can disable
free shipping at any time by returning to this menu and unchecking Activate, then
clicking Update.
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Merchant
Tools
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This section is only for users with StoreFront 5.0 Merchant Tools.
The StoreFront 5.0 Merchant Tools are designed to allow you to administer your StoreFront 5.0
web through a browser. You can perform tasks using the Merchant Tools from any machine
with internet access that would normally only be possible from a development machine that
has StoreFront 5.0 and FrontPage 2000 installed.
Please note that the Merchant Tools do not provide the same functionality as the StoreFront
5.0 development tools that can be accessed through FrontPage. Configuration settings that
are vital to the operation of the web, such as path settings and mail settings, are not included
in the Merchant Tools. The functionality that is included in the merchant tools is listed below.
You can find more information on how to use these functions beginning on page 194, following
the Merchant Tools installation instructions.
· General Configuration: this section describes how to set a Store Name and how to
activate or deactivate the Email to a Friend and Savecart functions.
· Geographical Settings- Currency and Supported Shipping Destinations: refer to
this section to learn more about selecting the currency for your web and choosing the
countries and states that you will ship orders to through the use of the Merchant
Tools.
· Mail Functions: refer to this section to learn more about using the StoreFront 5.0
Promotional Mailer, and how to configure your confirmation email settings.
· Creating Products: refer to this section to learn more about creating product items
and managing your inventory through the use of the Merchant Tools.
· Organizing your Inventory: refer to this section to learn about using Categories,
Manufacturers and Vendors to organize the items in your inventory.
· Sales Reports: refer to this section to learn about using StoreFront 5.0’s sales
reporting tools and how to views sales summaries, affiliate sales, retrieve orders, and
print invoices.
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· Shipping: StoreFront supports three different methods of shipping cost calculation.
Refer to this section to learn how they work, and how to configure them with the
Merchant Tools.
· Store Management: Store Management includes setting a store name, configuring
ezeehelp, tax configuration, affiliate partner programs and promotional incentives like
free shipping and store-wide discounts. Refer to this section to learn more about how
these work and how to use them.
· Security: refer to this section to learn about the security measures you can
implement using the Merchant Tools.
Installing the Merchant Tools
If you purchased the Merchant Tools as an upgrade to an existing copy of StoreFront 5.0 AE
or SE, then you will need to install it on the same machine where StoreFront 5.0 is already
installed. This will give you the ability to import the Merchant Tools into any web site using the
Store Creator development tool.
If you run the installation program on a machine where StoreFront is not installed, it will install
only the StoreFront Sales Reporting Tools, which can be used to generate a variety of different
sales report types, and the StoreFront “You’ve got a Sale!” tool. Follow the instructions below
to install the StoreFront Merchant Tools on any machine.
FROM A DOWNLOAD
1. Close all applications.
2. Double-click the executable (.exe) file that you downloaded from StoreFront.net.
3. Enter your Product ID code when prompted. You should be able to find this in the
email you received from sales@storefront.net when you were authorized for your
download.
4. Proceed with the installation.
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FROM A CD
1. Close all applications.
2. Insert your StoreFront 5.0 Merchant Tools CD in your CD-ROM drive.
3. Enter your Product ID code when prompted. You can find this on the back of the
sleeve for your StoreFront 5.0 CD.
4. Proceed with the installation.
ADDING THE MERCHANT TOOLS TO A WEB SITE
You can add the Merchant Tools to any existing web site by using the Store Creator
development tool. Follow the instructions below to import the Merchant Tools into a web site.
1. Open FrontPage. Open the secure location of the web site you want to add the
Merchant Tools to by clicking File, then Open Web. Enter the URL to your web site
in the Folder Name field, then click Open.
2. Once the web site is open, click on the StoreFront50 menu of FrontPage and select
Web Creation Wizard. This will cause the Store Creator to load.
3. Select Import HTML Admin Tool. Click Next.
4. When the wizard has finished importing the necessary files, click Finish.
This will complete the addition of the Merchant Tools. Open a browser and enter the URL to
the menu.asp file in the admin folder of your web; for example:
https://secure.yourhost.com/yourweb/admin/menu.asp
Now that the Merchant Tools have been added to your web, you will be ready to begin using
them to administer the site. The following sections describe all the functions that can be
performed using the Merchant Tools.
General Configuration
DEACTIVATING SAVECART AND EMAIL TO A FRIEND
The Savecart and Email to a Friend features are activated by default in your web. If you
prefer, you can deactivate these options, which will make them unavailable on search output
pages and other dynamically generated pages. Deactivating these options through the
Merchant Tools will not, however, remove them from static product pages. Follow the
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instructions below to activate or deactivate the Email to a Friend and Savecart options in your
web with the Merchant Tools.
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for General Configuration.
2. Use the Activate Email to a Friend and Activate Savecart checkboxes to activate
or deactivate these options. If the box is checked, the option is active. If the box is
unchecked, the option has been deactivated.
3. Click Submit.
SETTING A STORE NAME
The Merchant Tools can be used to change your web’s Store Name. This is a title that will
appear on some of the dynamically generated pages in your web. Follow the instructions
below to change your Store Name using the Merchant Tools.
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for General Configuration.
2. Enter the text you would like to use as your Store Name in the Store Name field. For
example: “My Web Store.”
3. Click Submit.
Geographical Settings/Language and Currency
Configuration
Your web should be configured to use the currency of the country/language that comprises
your target market. Follow the steps detailed under Setting a Currency Type or LCID which
follow to set a currency type using the Merchant Tools. All price and cost amounts will be
output using the currency type of the geographical area specified here.
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In this area, you should also select the states and countries you plan to ship orders to. Once
a state or country is selected here, it will be available as a choice to your customers on the
process_order.asp page when they submit their shipping information while processing an
order. Continue reading for more information.
SETTING A CURRENCY TYPE
The currency type your StoreFront web uses is determined by the Locale Identifier (LCID).
Each geographical area or country has a unique LCID. StoreFront will associate the
appropriate LCID with whatever location you select.
Follow the steps below to set an LCID using the Merchant Tools:
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Geographical Settings.
2. Select the appropriate geographical area from the drop down list.
3. Click Submit.
SELECTING SUPPORTED STATES AND COUNTRIES
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StoreFront includes an extensive shipping list of most countries, states, and some provinces;
however, you may not be willing to ship orders to all of them. Customize your list of supported
shipping destinations before you open your web for business.
1. Follow the steps below to select supported states and countries using the Merchant
Tools:
Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Geographical Settings.
2. The countries and states which the web store currently ships to will be displayed in
two columns under the Supported Shipping Destinations section. To add countries
and states to the lists, scroll down to the section labeled Add Shipping
Destinations. Use your mouse pointer to select additional states and countries from
the lists by left-clicking them. To select more than one country at a time, use
Ctrl+left-click and Shift+left-click.
3. Click Submit after you have selected the states and countries you’d like to add to
your list.
4. Click the Delete button next to a country or state’s name to remove support for that
country or state.
Mail Functions
The Merchant Tools give you some control over the mail functions of your web. While you can
not use them to make fundamental changes to the mail configuration (like changing the
address of your SMTP Server), you can still send Promotional Mailings and modify the format
of the customer and merchant confirmation emails that are sent when an order is placed.
Read the following sections for more information.
CONFIGURING YOUR CONFIRMATION EMAILS
Follow the instructions below to modify the format of the confirmation emails that are sent
when an order is placed in your site, and to set the email addresses that these will be sent to.
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Mail Configuration.
2. Enter the email addresses that you would like to receive confirmation emails at in the
Primary Email Address and Secondary Email Address fields. The Primary Email
Address is required; the other is optional.
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3. In the Subject field, enter the text you would like to use as the subject for the
confirmation emails.
4. In the Mail Message field, enter the text you would like to form the body of the
confirmation emails. For example: “Thank you for shopping www.mystore.com! We
will ship your order immediately!”
5. If you would like to give your customers an option to subscribe to your mailing list
while checking out, check Display Mail Subscription Checkbox on Order Form.
You will be able to send these customers email messages using the Promotional
Mailer.
USING THE PROMOTIONAL MAILER:
StoreFront includes a promotional mailing tool that can be used to send promotional emails,
announcing a sale or other event, to customers who have subscribed to your mailing list.
Follow the instructions below to use the StoreFront Promotional Mailer.
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1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Under Daily Store Management, click the
link for Promotional Mail.
2. In the Start Date and End Date fields, enter a date range in MM/DD/YY format to
select the customers you would like to send your promotional mail to. The mail will be
sent to all customers who have made a purchase in the web or signed up for the
mailing list during the specified date range.
3. In the From field, enter the email address you would like any replies to your
promotional mail to go to.
4. In the Subject field, enter the text you would like to have appear as the subject for
this promotional mail.
5. Compose the body of your message in the Mail Message field. After you’ve
composed your email, click on the Submit button to send the promotional mail.
Creating Product Items
Before you can begin selling your products online you must create an “inventory” by entering
product data into the StoreFront database using the Product Management Tools. The next few
sections describe how you can create an inventory and the methods by which you can
organize your products.
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STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE
1. Create lists of Categories, Manufacturers, and Vendors. These will allow you to create
an effective organizational hierarchy for your inventory, listing general Categories,
specific Manufacturers, and individual Vendors. For more information about creating
Categories, Manufacturers, and Vendors, please refer to Organizing your Inventory,
page 135.
2. After creating your basic lists of Categories, Manufacturers, and Vendors, click Add
Products under the Products section of the HTML Admin tool.
3. Enter the information for your product, beginning with the Product ID. The Product ID
should be unique to this product. Avoid using spaces and special characters; text and
numbers will be best.
• The Product Name should be a brief descriptive title or label for this
product.
• The Product Price should be the price for this product. Enter
numbers only, do not use currency symbols.
• The Product Short Description should be a brief description of the
product item. This can be up to 255 characters. This is the
information that will be shown when the item is displayed as the
results of a search using search.asp. If no Product Short
Description is entered, the Product Long Description will be used
instead.
• The Product Long Description should be a more detailed
description of the product item. This can be up to 32,000 characters.
When detail.asp (see page 159) is used to generate a product page
for this item, the Product Long Description will be displayed.
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• The Confirmation Message should be the message you would like
to have displayed to customers when they add this item to their
carts.
• The Link should be the path to a larger image of the product, a page
with more information, or anything you choose. When customers
search your inventory for this product, the Product Small Image in
the search results will be linked to this path. If no small image is
specified, the large image will be used instead. If no large image is
specified, the default image for the product’s category will be used. If
there is no category image to use, the word “Link” will appear, and
will be linked to the path specified here. If you don’t specify a Link
path, the image or Link will instead be a hyperlink to the root of the
web.
• Enter the weight in pounds of a single unit of the product in the
Weight field.
• Check Activate Product to allow customers to search your web for
this product, and to order this product from the search results. If this
option is unchecked, then no searches of the store’s inventory will
list this product item.
5. StoreFront supports the use of product attributes. Attributes allow you to create
variations on a single product to allow the customer to choose options such as Size
or Color, or to allow customers to add extra options to an item. An attribute can also
add or subtract from the total cost of the item. If you plan to use attributes with an
item, please follow the instructions on page 202. Otherwise, proceed to the next step.
6. Select your images. In the Product Small Image field, enter the path to a thumbnail
image for this product. If no image is available, simply leave the field blank to use the
Product Large Image. In the Product Large Image field, enter the path to a larger
image for this product. If no image is available, leave the field blank to use the
Category Image.
7. If you plan to charge shipping for orders of this item, check Activate Shipping. If
you’d prefer to make this item shipping exempt, leave this box unchecked.
8. If you plan to charge country or state tax for this item, check Activate (Country or
State) Tax. If you’d prefer not charge tax on orders of this product, leave these boxes
unchecked.
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9. Click Submit to add the item to your inventory.
USING PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES
Attributes allow you to create variations on a single product to allow the customer to choose
options such as Size or Color, or to allow customers to add extra options to an item. An
attribute can also add or subtract from the total cost of the item. For example, you might
create an attribute such as: Extra Cheese, add $5.
Follow the steps below to create and apply attributes using the Merchant Tools.
1. From the Add Product menu of the Merchant Tools, click Add Attribute under
Product Attributes.
2. Enter the title or name of the attribute in the Title field. For example: Color.
3. Click on Options. Enter the name of the first attribute in the field labeled Option 1
(this number will increase as you add attributes, for example: Option 2, Option 3, etc.)
, then choose how to attribute will affect the price of the product.
Same Price means that the price will not be altered by the addition of this attribute.
Increase By means that choosing this attribute will increase the price of the item by
the amount entered in the field to the right.
Decrease By means that choosing this attribute will increase the price of the item by
the amount entered in the field to the right.
4. Click Add Attribute to complete the process. Repeat these steps as many times as
necessary to add all of your product attributes for each product. StoreFront 5.0
supports the use of unlimited attributes.
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Organizing Your Inventory
CREATING MANUFACTURERS
Every time you add a product to your inventory you will be required to specify the manufacturer
of that product. You should create a basic list of manufacturers before you begin adding
products to your inventory. Additional manufacturers can be added to the list as necessary. To
create a manufacturer using the Merchant Tools, simply follow the steps listed below.
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Under Manufacturer, click the link for Add
Manufacturer.
2. Enter the name of the manufacturer in the Name field. This is the name that will be
displayed to your customers when they search your inventory using search.asp.
3. Enter a brief description of the manufacturer in the Description field.
4. Click Submit to add the new manufacturer to the list. Repeat this process for each
manufacturer. Additional manufacturers can be added at any time.
To retrieve the list of available manufacturers, click List All Manufacturers under
Manufacturers. To modify the information for a manufacturer, click Edit/Delete
Manufacturers. Enter the Name for the manufacturer you want to edit, then click Submit.
The manufacturers matching the entry will be displayed, and can be edited or removed.
EDITING AND DELETING MANUFACTURERS
You can modify any of the information for a manufacturer at any time after it has been added
to your list. The instructions that follow describe how to modify or remove a manufacturer
using the Merchant Tools.
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1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Edit/Delete
Manufacturers.
2. Select the manufacturer you want to delete or edit from the Manufacturer Name
drop-down box.
3. Click Edit. This will open the manufacturer editing screen. Modify the information for
the manufacturer however you like, then click Submit to save the changes.
4. If you’d like to remove this manufacturer entirely, click the Delete button instead.
CREATING VENDORS
Every time you add a product to your inventory, you will be required to specify the vendor of
the product. You should create a basic list of vendors before you begin adding items to your
inventory. Follow the instructions below to create a vendor using the Merchant Tools.
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Under Vendors, click Add Vendor.
2. Enter the name of the vendor in the Vendor Name field. This is the name that will be
displayed to your customers when they search your inventory.
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3. Enter the contact information for the new vendor, filling in the fields according to each
field’s label (email address, phone number, etc.). This information is for administrative
use, and will not be available to customers.
4. Click Submit to add the new vendor to the list. Repeat this process for each vendor.
Additional vendors can be added at any time.
To retrieve the list of available vendors, click List All Vendors under Vendors. To modify the
information for a vendor, click Edit/Delete Vendors. In the Vendor Name field, enter the
name for the vendor you want to edit, then click Submit. The vendors matching the entry will
be displayed, and can be edited or removed.
EDITING AND DELETING VENDORS
You can modify any of the information for a Vendor at any time after it has been added to your
list. The instructions below describe how to modify or remove a Vendor using the Merchant
Tools.
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Edit/Delete Vendors.
2. Select the vendor you want to delete or edit from the Vendor Name drop-down box.
3. Click Edit. This will open the vendor editing screen. Modify the information for the
vendor however you like, then click Submit to save the changes.
4. If you’d like to remove this vendor entirely, click the Delete button instead.
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CREATING CATEGORIES
Every time you add a product to your inventory you will be required to specify the product’s
category. You should create a basic list of categories before you begin adding products to
your inventory. Additional categories can be added to the list as necessary. To create a
category using the Merchant Tools, simply follow the steps listed below.
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Under Category, click the link for Add
Category.
2. Enter the name of the category in the Category Name field. This is the name that will
be displayed to your customers when they search your inventory using the StoreFront
search engine(search.asp).
3. Enter a description of the category in the Category Description field. This
information is for your administrative use and reference, and will not be available to
customers.
4. Enter the path to an image for the category in the Default Category Image URL.
This image will be used as the default image on the search results pages for items
that do not have a Product Small Image or Product Large Image specified. If no image
path is specified, no default image will be used. For more information on product
images, please see Creating Products page 201.
5. Check Activate Category to make this category available on your site. If Activate
Category is not checked, then items in this category will not be available from the
search engine. Items in this category can still be purchased from other product pages
that you have created using product bots.
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6. Click Submit to create the new category. Repeat this process for each category.
Additional categories can be added at any time.
To retrieve the list of available categories, click List All Categories under the Categories
section of the HTML Admin Tool. To modify the information for a category, click Edit/Delete
Categories. From the drop-down box, select the category you want to edit, then click
Submit. The categories matching the entry will be displayed and can be edited or removed.
EDITING AND DELETING CATEGORIES
You can change the information for a product Category at any time after it has been added to
your list. The instructions below describe how to modify or remove a Category using the
Merchant Tools.
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Edit/Delete Category.
2. Select the Category you wish to modify from the Category Name drop-down list.
3. To delete the Category you’ve selected, click the Delete button.
4. Click the Edit button to modify the information for the selected category.
5. If you have any questions about the options found under the editing screen, please
refer to the preceding section.
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Store Management
There are many more tasks involved in managing a store than simply building an inventory of
products. It is also necessary to establish business contacts, build relationships with your
customers, and find a way to process and fulfill orders. The Merchant Tools include functions
that will allow you to perform these tasks. These are described in the following sections;
· Configuring your Tax Settings: refer to this section to learn how to assign individual
tax rates to states and countries.
· Using the Affiliate Partners Program: the Affiliate Partners Program gives you the
tools you need to establish a referring partner relationship with other sites. Refer to
this section for more information.
· Sales and Discounts: StoreFront gives you the ability to create discounts and free
shipping incentives to encourage your customers. Refer to this section for more
information.
· Payment and Transaction Processing: refer to this section to learn more about
different ways to bill the orders that customers place in your site.
· Payment Methods: StoreFront supports seven different payment methods that your
customers can use to pay for orders. However, you may choose not to accept all of
them. Refer to this section to learn about the different payment methods and how to
select which ones you will support.
· Sales Reports: refer to this section to learn how to use the StoreFront Sales
Reporting tools to monitor your sales and process orders.
· ezeehelp, Ltd: refer to this section to learn what ezeehelp is, and how to activate it
in your site using the Merchant Tools.
CONFIGURING TAX SETTINGS
Although tax as it concerns e-commerce transactions is still an evolving issue, most states
and countries have developed policies mandating tax in one form or another. Check with your
local Chamber of Commerce for more information.
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Setting Tax Rates
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click on the Tax Configuration link under
Store Configuration.
2. Select a state or country from the drop-down list of supported states and countries.
Enter the appropriate tax rate in the field to the right of the drop- down, then click the
Submit button to set the tax rate. If the country or state you need to set tax for is not
listed in one of the drop-down menus, you can add them through by following the
instructions on page 197. Note: tax rates should be entered as numbers only,
without a %.
Removing Tax Rates
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click on the Tax Configuration link under
Store Configuration.
2. The states and countries that currently have set tax rates will be listed under Tax
Settings. Click the Delete button next to a country or state to set its tax rate to 0.
Modifying Tax Rates
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click on the Tax Configuration link under
Store Configuration.
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2. The states and countries that currently have set tax rates will be listed under Tax
Settings. To modify a tax rate, change the rate displayed to the right of each country
or state name, then click the Submit button.
USING THE AFFILIATE PARTNERS PROGRAM
StoreFront has built-in support for an affiliate trading program. StoreFront’s affiliate program
allows other webmasters to create a special link from a page on their site to an ASP page on
your site. When someone clicks on this link and is referred to your site, StoreFront begins
tracking the customer. If the customer orders merchandise from your site, it is recorded that
Customer A from Affiliate A placed an order in the site. A running count of the total orders
placed by customers referred to your site by each affiliate will be kept, and can be accessed
through the Affiliate Sales Reports (page 218). You can then pay a commission to the affiliate
partner as a reward for their business. Continue reading to learn more about creating and
administering affiliate partners.
Creating Affiliate Partners
Affiliate programs are an excellent way to build business relationships and to attract traffic to a
new site. Follow the steps below to create new affiliate partners.
1. Locate the site you want to establish the affiliate relationship with, ideally one that
complements or parallels your own site. Contact the site’s webmaster and establish
the ground rules for the relationship: where your link will be placed, the amount of the
commission that will be offered for referred sales, etc.
2. Direct the prospective affiliate to the affiliate.asp page in your web. This is the affiliate
logon page. By clicking on New Account, your new affiliate can submit their
information and create an account. The affiliate.asp page will also provide them with
the syntax of the special link they should create to your site.
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User Guide
3. Track the revenue you get from sales to customers referred by the affiliate site by
using the Affiliate Sales Report tool (page 218). Pay your affiliate partner according to
your agreement. Your affiliates can view the same information by going to affiliate.asp
and entering their user name and password, then clicking Submit.
Administering Affiliate Partners
You can modify or review the information for any of your affiliate partners. The Administer
Affiliate tool is a great way to keep track of affiliate contact information. Follow the directions
below to learn more.
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Administer Affiliates
under the Store Management section.
2. Select the Affiliate you want to modify in the list and click Edit.
3. Click Remove to delete an Affiliate from your list.
BECOMING A STOREFRONT AFFILIATE PARTNER:
In addition to creating affiliate partners of your own, you can become a StoreFront Affiliate
Partner. Commissions for StoreFront Affiliate Partners are 15% of all sales generated from
orders which originate directly from your StoreFront Affiliate Referral link. Sales on the
StoreFront web site generally range from $200.00 to over $1,000.00 per transaction, producing
commissions of $30.00 to $150.00 per sale for orders generated from your link. Follow the
instructions below to become a StoreFront Affiliate Partner.
1. Open a browser and go to www.StoreFront.net. Select Affiliates from the Partners
menu of the homepage. Follow the instructions outlined here to register as an affiliate.
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2. After registering as a StoreFront Affiliate Partner, you will be provided with an Affiliate
ID. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser and click the link for General
Configuration.
3. Enter your Affiliate ID in the Affiliate ID field. Check the option for Activate next to
this field.
4. Click Submit. This will cause “Powered by StoreFront” links to appear in the footers
of your web’s dynamically generated pages, such as search.asp. Customers can use
these links to navigate to StoreFront.net. If they purchase StoreFront, you will be paid
a 15% commission.
SALES AND DISCOUNTS
StoreFront allows you to create customer incentives in the form of discounts or sales, as well
as offering free shipping for orders over a certain amount. These features can be turned off or
on in the Merchant Tools with just a few mouse clicks. Continue reading for step-by-step
instructions on how to set up free shipping for orders over a certain amount, or how to create a
discount.
Enabling Free Shipping
Free shipping can be an excellent incentive in an e-commerce web. StoreFront allows you to
offer free shipping to all customers who place orders with a total over a certain amount, which
can encourage customers to purchase more items in order to make the free shipping break.
Follow the instructions below to enable free shipping in your web for orders over a certain
amount.
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Administer Sales and
Discounts under the Daily Store Management section.
2. Enter the order total where free shipping should begin in the field labeled Free
Shipping for Purchases Over. Check Activate Free Shipping.
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3. Click Submit.
User Guide
Creating A Global Discount
StoreFront gives you the ability to create a global discount within your web. This will allow you
to discount all orders placed in the web by a certain percentage while the discount is active.
The global discount can not be applied to specific products or product categories,
manufacturers, or vendors; only to all orders placed within the site. Follow the instructions
below to create a global discount in your site.
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the Administer Sales and
Discounts link under the Daily Store Management section.
2. Enter the amount of the global discount in the Global Discount field. This should be
a decimal value. For example, .1 will create a 10% global discount.
3. Check Activate Global Discount
4. Click Submit.
ORDER PROCESSING
The default transaction processing method for StoreFront 5.0 is Email Merchant Processing.
In email merchant processing, when orders are placed in your site you will be sent an email
containing the details of the customer’s order and either the customer’s payment information
or a link to retrieve the information securely. You can then authorize the transaction using a
credit card terminal. This method is usually fine for most smaller e-commerce webs, but you
may eventually want to investigate opening an account with an automated transaction
processing service. These are companies that will process credit card orders automatically as
they are placed, saving you the trouble of processing them manually. Refer to the StoreFront
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5.0 help files for more information on the supported processors and how to configure them.
Continue reading to learn how to configure you site to use Email Merchant Processing, and
how to select which payment methods and credit cards your site will accept.
Selecting Supported Payment Methods
StoreFront supports the use of seven different methods of payment processing. You can
choose which methods to support. See the step-by-step guide below for instructions on
choosing which payment methods to accept, and for descriptions of each of the methods.
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Transaction Processing.
2. Check the payment methods you will allow customers to use when placing orders in
your site. Uncheck the methods you would like to disable. Each method is described
in more detail below:
• Credit Card: check this option to allow customers to place orders in
your site using credit cards.
• Electronic Check: check this option to allow customers to place
orders in your site using electronic checks. You can then print the
electronic check off later for processing.
• Purchase Order: check this option to allow customers to place
orders in your site using purchase orders.
• Internet Cash: Internet Cash is a proprietary payment method offered
by SpendCash.com. In order to accept payment in Internet Cash, you
must first establish an account with SpendCash. Please refer to the
StoreFront help files for detailed instructions on configuring StoreFront
5.0 to accept orders with Internet Cash.
• COD: check this option to allow customers to place COD orders in
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your site. Specify the additional fee that will be added to the order in
the Amount field.
• Phone or Fax: Recorded: check this option to allow customers to
place phone or fax orders in your site. In a phone or fax order, the
customer submits their information, then prints the order page and
either faxes it or calls it in. Many customers still prefer this method of
ordering because it eliminates the necessity of sending credit card
data across the net. The customer’s information, however, is still
recorded in your database and can be retrieved using the sales
reporting tools.
• Phone or Fax: Non-Recorded: This payment method functions in
the same way as Phone or Fax: Recorded with the exception that
the customer’s information will not be written to your database upon
the completion of an order.
3. Click Submit.
User Guide
Using Email Merchant Processing
Email Merchant Processing is the default transaction processing method used by StoreFront
to handle credit card orders. In Email Merchant Processing, an email is sent to you when an
order is placed, containing the details of the customer’s order and either the customer’s credit
card data or a link to retrieve the credit card data securely. You can then process the
transaction manually from a credit card terminal. Use Email Merchant Processing if you don’t
want to establish an account with a payment processing service such as CyberCash,
AuthorizeNet, or Linkpoint.
Follow the steps described below to configure your web to use email merchant processing.
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Transaction Processing.
2. Select Email from the Transaction Method drop-down box.
3. Click Submit.
USING THE SALES REPORTS TOOLS
By clicking on the Sales Reports link under the Daily Store Management section of the HTML
Administration tool, you can access a complete set of 6 different sales reporting tools. These
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tools will produce invoice-style sales reports with a printer-friendly format. Each of the tools is
listed below with a brief description, and described in detail in the following sections.
· Sales Details: this is the standard StoreFront Sales Report. Sales Details reports will
list all individual orders that have been placed within a specified date range.
· Sales Summary: this reporting tool will summarize net and gross sales for a
specified date range.
· Transaction Service Reports: this report will only be useful if you are using a live
transaction processing service such as CyberCash, AuthorizeNet, or LinkPoint. Use
this sales reporting tool to view authorization numbers and other pertinent information.
· Affiliate Partners Report: if you choose to use StoreFront’s Affiliate Partners
program, you can use this sales reporting tool to view the total sales referred from any
of your partners.
· Product Sale Report: the Product Sale Report functions similar to the Sales
Summary, but produces a sales summary for only a single product instead of
counting all sales. This report is an excellent tool for gauging the popularity of a new
item by viewing its total sales within a certain time period.
· Retrieve Order: this tool can be used to retrieve a sales report for a single order.
Creating Sales Summary Reports
The Sales Summary reports provide a quick summary of the total sales for a given time
period. Follow the step-by-step guide below to use the Sales Summary Reporting Tool.
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User Guide
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Sales Reports under
Daily Store Management.
2. Select Sales Summary from the Select Report drop-down box. Use one of the
short-cuts (Day, Week, Month, Year to Date) or else enter a date range in the Start
Date and End Date fields in MM/DD/YY format.
3. Click Submit.
Creating Sales Details Reports
The Sales Details report will produce a list of all orders that have been placed within any given
time period. Follow this step-by-step guide to use the Sales Details reporting tool.
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the Sales Reports link under Daily
Store Management.
2. Select Sales Details from the Select Report drop-down box.
3. Enter a date range in the Start Date and End Date fields, using MM/DD/YY format,
or else use one of the short-cuts (Day, Week, Month, Year to Date).
4. Click Submit to produce the report. Click the Order Details next to any of the orders
listed to produce an individual report for that order, or click the Transaction Details
link to view a Transaction Service Report for that order (remember that if you aren’t
using a payment processing service, then the Transaction Details will be empty).
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Creating An Affiliate Sales Report
StoreFront has built-in support for an Affiliate Partners program. The Affiliate Sales
Reporting Tool will allow you to view the total sales for a single affiliate. Follow the
instructions below to use the Affiliate Sales Reports.
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Sale Reports under the
Daily Store Management section.
2. Select Affiliate Partners Report from the Select Report: drop-down box. Use one of
the short-cuts (Day, Week, Month, Year to Date) or else enter a date range in the
Start Date and End Date fields.
3. Click Submit.
Creating A Transaction Service Report
The Transaction Service Report sales reporting tool will allow you to view the information
returned by your payment processing service regarding credit card transactions. This report
will only be useful if you are using a live payment processing service. If you are using email
merchant processing, then this report will not return any results. Follow the step-by-step
instructions below for help on using this tool.
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User Guide
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Sales Reports under the
Daily Store Management section.
2. Select Transaction Service Report from the Select Report drop-down list. Enter a
date range in the Start Date and End Date fields, or else click one of the short-cuts
(Day, Week, Month, Year to Date).
3. Click Submit.
Creating A Product Sales Report
The Product Sales Report will allow you to view the sales of a single product within a given
time period. This is an excellent tool for measuring the popularity of individual products. Follow
the instructions below to use the Product Sales Report.
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Sales Reports under the
Daily Store Management section.
2. Select Product Sales Report from the Select Report drop-down box. In the Start
Date and End Date fields, enter a date range in MM/DD/YY format, or else use one
of the shortcuts (Day, Week, Month, Year to Date).
3. Enter the Product ID of the product you would like to view sales reports for, or else
select the product from the Product drop-down box.
4. Click Submit.
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Retrieving Sales Reports For A Single Order
Follow the instructions below to retrieve a sales report for a single order.
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Sales Reports under the
Daily Store Management section.
2. Select Retrieve Order from the Select Report drop-down box. Click Submit.
3. Enter either the order ID of the order you’d like to retrieve, or the first or last name of
the customer who placed the order. Click Submit to retrieve the order. If more than
one order matches the criteria you used to search for the order, you can choose a
single order by clicking the order ID.
CONFIGURING EZEEHELP
Ezeehelp is a third party service provided by ezeehelp, Ltd.. By establishing an account with
ezeehelp, Ltd. , you can make ezeehelp links appear on the StoreFront pages throughout your
site. When a customer clicks on one of these links, it will activate an HTML-based customer
service chat application that will allow the customer to speak directly to yourself or an
ezeehelp service representative. Ezeehelp offers several different service plans to suit a variety
of operations; visit www.EzeeHelp.com for more information.
Follow the instructions below to use the Merchant Tools to configure your site to make
ezeehelp available to your customers.
1. Establish an account with ezeehelp, Ltd. at www.ezeehelp.com.
2. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for General Configuration
under the Store Configuration section.
3. Enter your ezeehelp ID in the field labeled EzeeHelp Login. Check the option for
Activate next to this field.
4. Click Submit. This will complete the ezeehelp configuration and cause ezeehelp links
to appear on your web’s pages.
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CONFIGURING SHIPPING
User Guide
StoreFront supports the use of three different methods of shipping calculation designed to
support shipping costs for a variety of configurations and possible types of merchandise.
Shipping rates can be figured based on
1. the total cost of an order, through the use of Value Based Shipping.
2. the combined weight of the items ordered, through the use of Carrier Based
Shipping.
3. a specific shipping cost can be assigned to each item by using Product Based
Shipping.
Read the following sections for more information about using each of these shipping methods,
and how to configure them using the Merchant Tools.
Using Carrier Based Rates
StoreFront’s ability to obtain real-time calculations of shipping costs from UPS, USPS, and
FedEx makes it the ideal e-commerce program for any site selling heavy or bulky products
that incur high shipping costs. Carrier Based Rates use the StoreFront Carrier Based Shipping
component to get up-to-the-minute quotes of shipping costs based on the total weight of the
items in an order.
Before you begin configuring your carrier-based rates, make sure that every product you want
to charge shipping for is set to charge shipping. You can verify this under Product
Management, page 200. Also make sure that every product that you will be charging shipping
for has a weight. If a weight is not specified, the shipping calculation will default to the Backup
Shipping method (see below). You can verify the weight of a product under Product
Management. Be aware that depending on your location not all of these shipping methods will
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be available to you. Consult the UPS (www.UPS.com), FedEx (www.FedEx.com), and USPS
(www.USPS.com) web sites for more information.
1. Ensure that the StoreFront Server Component has been installed on the server where
your site is hosted.
2. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Shipping Configuration.
3. Under Shipping Methods, select Carrier Based Rates.
4. Select the shipping methods you will support by checking or unchecking each of the
methods listed. The methods that are selected will be listed in a drop-down menu at
the checkout page (order.asp), where your customers will choose one as they finalize
their orders.
5. Under Carrier Based Shipping Options, enter the country abbreviation for the
country the orders are being shipped from and the zip code of the area that products
are being shipped from.
6. Select and configure a backup shipping method. This is the method that will be used
to calculate shipping if the Carrier Based Rates fail for some reason. See the following
pages, Product Based Rates and Value Based Rates for more information about
configuring these shipping methods.
7. If you are using USPS shipping methods, ensure that an account with USPS has
been established and that the USPS components are installed on your server. Enter
your USPS username and password in the USPS Username and USPS Password
fields.
8. Click Submit to apply the new shipping method.
Using Product Based Rates
Product Based Rates allow you to charge a preset shipping cost per product item. The total
amount of shipping charged when using Product Based Rates will depend on the items
ordered and the quantity of each item ordered. The amount charged for each product is that
product’s Ship Cost, set under Product Management, page 200. Ensure that each item that
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User Guide
you plan to charge shipping for has a Ship Cost set, and that the product is not marked to be
exempt from shipping charges.
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Shipping Configuration.
2. Under Shipping Methods, select Product Based Rates.
3. Click Submit to apply the new shipping method.
Using Value Based Rates
The Value Based Rates shipping method will calculate the cost of an order based on the total
cost of the items ordered by a customer. An unlimited number of value based shipping levels
can be created to accommodate shipping calculation. The use of Value Based Rates might be
most appropriate for a web store selling merchandise that doesn’t incur heavy shipping costs.
Before you begin configuring your value-based rates, make sure that every product you want to
charge shipping for is not set to be exempt from shipping charges. You can verify this under
Product Management, page 200.
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Shipping Configuration.
2. Under Shipping Methods, select Value Based Rates.
3. Set your shipping rates. Under Value Based Shipping Setup, enter the first level of
the Value Based Shipping scheme. Each level should include the upper limit of the
range of order totals that will be affected, and the amount of shipping that will be
charged for orders that fall within that range.
4. After entering the first level of value based charges, click Add Value Based Level.
The screen will reload with a new set of input levels to accommodate the next value
based level. Enter the next level of shipping costs and click Add Value Based Level.
Repeat this step until you have entered as many levels of shipping charges as
necessary. An example of a Value Based Shipping scheme is shown below.
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5. Click Submit to apply the new shipping rates.
USING PREMIUM SHIPPING, HANDLING CHARGES, AND MINIMUM SHIPPING
CHARGES
In addition to the standard shipping calculation provided by Carrier Based Rates, Value Based
Rates, and Product Based Rates, additional shipping charges may also be necessary. To
accommodate this possibility, StoreFront includes options for handling charges, minimum
shipping charges, and a premium shipping option. Premium Shipping gives your customers
the option to choose some form of priority shipping, for which they will be charged a flat fee
set by you. Handling Charges allow you to charge a flat handling fee or service charge for all
orders, or shipped orders only. The Minimum Shipping Charge option, when enabled, ensures
that shipping on any order will never be less than the amount specified by you.
Using A Handling Charge
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Shipping Configuration.
2. Under Handling Charges, select Yes for Apply Handling Charge.
3. Choose which orders the handling charge will be applied to. If All Orders is selected,
handling will be applied to all orders. If Shipped Orders Only is selected, handling
will not be applied to orders of products that are marked Shipping Exempt.
4. Specify the amount of the handling charge in the field labeled Handling Charge.
5. Click Submit to apply the changes to the shipping configuration.
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User Guide
Using A Premium Shipping Charge
Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Shipping Configuration.
Under Shipping Charges, select Yes for Activate Premium Shipping.
In the field labeled Premium Shipping Charge, enter the amount you would like to
charge in addition to the standard shipping fees. The premium shipping option will
appear as a checkbox on the checkout page (order.asp). Customers will be allowed to
choose this option while checking out.
Click Submit to apply the changes to the shipping configuration.
Using A Minimum Shipping Charge
1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Shipping Configuration.
2. Under Shipping Charges, enter the amount of the minimum shipping charge in the
field labeled Minimum Shipping Charge.
3. Click Submit to apply the changes to the shipping configuration.
Security
ENABLING CREDIT CARD ENCODING
StoreFront can encode credit card data using a special encoding algorithm to scramble credit
card numbers as they are input into your database. Another algorithm is used to decrypt the
credit card information as you retrieve the numbers using the StoreFront sales reporting tools.
This feature ensures that even if your security should be breached, the credit card data will be
useless. Follow the steps below to use the Merchant Tools to enable credit card encoding in
your site.
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1. Open the Merchant Tools in your browser. Click the link for Transaction Processing.
2. Set the radio button for Encode Credit Card Data to Yes.
3. Click Submit.
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User Guide
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228

A
Activate Product 129
Add to Cart Button 153
Adding StoreFront to a Web
Live Development 41
Local Development 48
Advanced Search Engine Design 98, 100
Affiliate Partner Manager
Introduction 32
Affiliate Partner Program
Becoming a StoreFront Affiliate 186
Creating New 184
Managing Partners 185
Overview 184
Affiliate Sales Report 180
Approve.Net 80
Attributes 131, 132
Display on Product Page 153
AuthorizeNet 84
B
Bottom Banner 108
Business Rules
Currency 62
ezeehelp 55
Mail Services 60
Order Processing 78
Shipping 65
Store Name 58
Supported Shipping Destinations 59
Tax Rates 54
Buttons
Locations and Definitions 116
Overview 115
Step-By-Step 116
Index
C
Carrier-Based Shipping Rates 70
Adding Methods 72
Deleting Methods 74
Shipping Components 76
USPS Requirements 76
Category
Creating New 135
Editing 136
Charge Solutions 80
Checkout Links 156
Checkout Process
Overview 12
COD 92
Confirmation E-Mails 62
Confirmation Message 130
Content 111
Content Alternating Colors 114
Content Bar 113
Country Tax
Activating for Product 132
Setting Rates 54
Creating a Web Store
Access or SQL? 36
Introduction 36
Live vs. Local Development 38
Local Store Creation 46
Path Configurations 56
Remote Store Creation (Live) 41
Using the Web Template 51
Credit Cards
Accepting on your Site 91
Adding and Deleting 94
Deletion Policy 167
Encoding 168
Selecting 93
User Guide
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Currency 62
Currency Conversion 62
OANDA 63
Currency Type 62
LCID Settings 64
Custom Connection String 23
Customizing StoreFront Files 13
CyberCash 86
D
Database
Choosing Access or SQL 36
Creating a Database Connection 43
SQL Server 37
Database Connection Box 21
Connecting to a Database 22
Creating a Database Connection 43
Custom Connection String 23
Database Upgrade Tool 40
Design Tab 98
Design-Time Product Bot 150
Detail.asp 159
Discounts and Free Shipping 186
Free Shipping 188
Product Sale 186
Store-Wide Sale 187
Display Attributes 153
Dynamically Generating Product Pages 157
E
E-Mail a Friend Button 153
E-Mail Order Processing
Configuration 90
Overview 78
Electronic Check 91
ezeehelp 55
F
Footer 110
Free Shipping 186
Enabling 188
G
Geography Tab 59
H
Handling Charges 66
Help Files 20
Hosting Company Selection 41
How a StoreFront Web Store Works 10
Checkout Process 12
Ordering Process 10
Saved Cart 12
Search Engine 11
I
Image Selector 142
Import Wizard
Introduction 25
Step-By-Step Guide for Live Development
41
Step-By-Step Guide for Local Development
48
Installing StoreFront 5.0 9
Internet Cash 85, 92
L
LCID Setting 64
Link Field 131
LinkPoint API 79
Links 153
Live Web Development 38
Adding StoreFront to a Remote Web 41
Choosing a Host 41
Creating a Database Connection 43
Creating MSADC Service 45
Server Requirements 8
Local Web Development 38
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Adding StoreFront to a Local Web 48
Creating a New Web Store 47
Overview 46
Personal Web Server 46
System Requirements 8
M
Mail Services 60
Compatible Mail Components 62
Configuration 60
Confirmation E-Mails 62
Mailing List Management 181
Mailing List Manager
Introduction 33
Manufacturer
Creating New 138
Editing 139
Merchant Online 80
Merchant Tools 191
Middle Banner 107
Minimum Shipping Charges 67
MSADC Service 45
Multiple Product Bots 151
N
New Products Page 161
O
OANDA 63
Ordering Process
E-Mail Merchant Processing 90
Internet Cash 85
Overview 10
Payment Methods 91
Payment Processing Methods 78
Payment Processing Services 78
Selecting and Editing Accepted Credit
Cards 93
Output Labels 98
P
Package Dimensions 131
Page Link Creator
Checkout Links 156
Introduction 29
New Products Page 161
Overview 153
Product Detail Pages 159
Retrieve Previous Order 155
Sale Page 162
Search Engine Links 158
Search Links 154
Path Configurations 56
Secure Directory Location 56, 57
Payment Methods 91
Payment Processing Services 78
Approve.Net 80
AuthorizeNet 84
Charge Solutions 80
CyberCash 86
LinkPoint API 79
Merchant Online 80
PayPal 89
PSiGate 81
QuickCommerce 88
SecurePay 87
SurePay 83
PayPal 89
Permissions 166
Personal Web Server 46
Phone or Fax Orders 92
Plural Name 129
Premium Shipping 66
Previous Order 155
Price 130
Product Attributes 131, 132
Product Bot Creator 149
Adding Data Elements 151
Design-Time Bots 150
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Introduction 28
Multiple Product Bots 151
Run-Time Bots 150
Product Detail Pages 159
Product Discount Manager
Introduction 31
Product ID 129
Product Images 130
Product Long Description 129
Product Manager
Introduction 27
Product Attributes 131
Product Manger
Creating New Products 128
Detail Tab 130
Confirmation Message 130
Link Field 131
Product Images 130
Editing an Existing Product 134
General Tab 129
Activate Product 129
Long Description 129
Plural Name 129
Price 130
Product ID 129
Product Name 129
Sale Price 130
Short Description 129
Image Selector 142
Manufacturer 138
Organizing your Inventory 135
Categories 135
Product Attributes 132
Shipping/Tax Tab 131
Package Dimensions 131
Product Weight 131
Ship Price 131
Ship this Product 132
State Tax 132
Vendor 141
Product Name 129
Product Pages
Creating 146
Adding Data Elements 151
Additional Options 153
Design-Time Bots 150
Multiple Product Bots 151
Run-Time Bots 150
Step-By-Step Guide 149
Creating Dynamic 157
Definition 146
Page Template 147
Product Sale 186
Product Sales Report 180
Product Weight 131
Product-Based Shipping Rates 70
Promo Mail
Managing List 181
Sending Mailings 183
PSiGate 81
Purchase Order 92
Q
QuickCommerce 88
R
Reports 176
Affiliate Sales 180
Date Range 176
Product Sales 180
Retrieve Order 178
Sales Detail 177
Sales Summary 179
Transaction Service Report 178
Retrieve Order 178
Retrieve Previous Order 155
Run-Time Product Bot 150
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S
Sale Page 162
Sale Price 130
Sales Reports
Affiliate Sales Report 180
Date Range 176
Introduction 30
Overview 176
Product Sales Report 180
Retrieve Order 178
Sales Detail 177
Sales Summary 179
Transaction Service Report 178
Save to Order Button 153
Saved Cart
Introduction 12
Search Engine
Design 98
Output Labels 98
Overview 11
Using to Create Product Pages 158
Search Links 154
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) 169
Individual SSL Certificate 172
Shared SSL - Separate Location 170
Shared SSL - Virtual Directory 171
SecurePay 87
Security 166
Credit Card Deletion Policy 167
Credit Card Encoding 168
Permissions 166
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) 169
Testing 173
Ship Price 131
Ship this Product 132
Shipping 65
Additional Charges 65
Carrier-Based Rates 70
Adding Methods 72
Deleting Methods 74
Shipping Components 76
USPS 76
Handling Charges 66
Minimum Charges 67
Premium Shipping 66
Product-Based Rates 70
Value-Based Rates 68
Shipping Destinations 59
Short Description 129
SQL Server Database 37
State Tax
Activating for Product 132
Setting Rates 54
Store Administrator
Introduction 29
Store Builder
Introduction 26
Store Creator 25
Import Wizard 25
Web Creation Wizard 25
Store Design
Buttons 115
Locations and Definitions 116
Step-By-Step 116
Overview 98
Search Engine Design 98
Advanced Search Options 100
Output Labels 98
Using Themes 101
Step-By-Step Guide 102
Store Name 58
Store-Wide Discount Manager
Introduction 31
Store-Wide Sale 187
StoreFront Files 13
Customizations 13
Files in the FPDB Folder 15
Files in the Images Folder 16
233

StoreFront 5.0
Files in the Root Folder 13
Files in the SFLIB Folder 16
Files in the SSL Folder 16
Files in the SSL/Admin Folder 17
Files in the SSL/SFLIB Folder 17
StoreFront Tools
Database Connection Box 21
Help Files 20
Overview 20
Store Administrator 29
Store Builder 26
Store Creator 25
SurePay 83
System Requirements 8
Client Machine (Development) 8
Web Server (Hosting) 8
T
Tax Rates 54
Tax Tab 54
Template Page 147
Testing Store Security 173
Themes 101
Bottom Banner 108
Choosing Buttons 115
Locations and Definitions 116
Content 111
Content Alternating Colors 114
Content Bar 113
Footer 110
General Settings 103
Middle Banner 107
Step-By-Step Guide 102
Top Banner 106
Top Banner 106
Transaction Service Report 178
Database Upgrade Tool 40
Introduction 38
Step-By-Step Guide 39
USPS 76
V
Value-Based Shipping Rates 68
Vendor
Creating New 141
W
Web Creation Wizard
Introduction 25
Step-By-Step Guide 47
Web Manager
Currency Tab 62
Design Tab
Search Engine Design 98
Themes 101
General Tab
ezeehelp 55
Path Settings 56
Store Name 58
Geography Tab 59
Introduction 26
Mail Tab 60
Order Processing Tab 78
Shipping Tab 65
Carrier-Based Rates 70
Handling Charges 66
Minimum Shipping Charges 67
Premium Shipping 66
Product-Based Rates 70
Value-Based Rates 68
Tax Tab 54
Web Template 51
U
Upgrading From A Previous Version
234

User Guide
235