AgoraCart Free User Forums

Hello,

Instead of your typical shopping cart system (i.e. the price of the item is already pre-determined and the customers only have choose the quantity, and the final purchase price is calculated.), I need to build a shopping cart system that asks the customers a series of questions, then calculate the price of this "customize" product base on the customers’ answers, and send this information to the transaction site (i.e. PayPal, VeriSign, etc...) for payment processing.

For example: Let say I'm selling "custom made" cars on-line, and the typical questions I would ask on my site would be:

A. Q: what's the rim size you would like? A: 36in
B. Q: How many speakers would you like to be installed in the car? A: 4
C. Q: What body kit would you like on your car? A: BMW
and so on...

Then, base on the answer that the shopping cart got from the customer, it would produce the following:

1. List of what that the customer wanted on his or her car (basically a report that regurgitate the customer's answer)
2. Calculate the price of the car base on those answers.

Finally, if the customer decided that they want to purchase the car, the site will be direct him or her to the credit card transaction site for payment; off course, the calculated price will be transfer to the transaction site as well.

Any suggestion regarding this matter is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

1SB

hell-o
you can do that.
with a combination of bulleted options, drop down options and etc. to break up the layout.
set a base price for the "product" in the manager then append the cost with each cost option. options which don't add to the base price are no problem. you can mix and match. bulleted options would be good for this. the question is posed then the client put a bullet in for the appropriate choice. depending on layout and room on the ppinc you may want to opt for drop down options as they save a lot of space. but they're ugly IMHO. bullets can actually add to the design if not used too frequently or too many options.
anyways, your needs can be implimented with agoracart , no prob.

there are a variety of gateways free and cost already scripted for agoracart.
regards,
dan

Hi Dan,

Take a look at the following two sites:

http://members.aol.com/paypalhelper/simp1.html

http://members.aol.com/paypalhelper/simpall.html

Can AgoraCart perform the same functions as the functions utilized in those sites for PayPal Shopping Cart?

Thanks for helping

1SB

You can have as many options for a product as you want with AgoraCart.
There is documentation on using options at:
http://www.agoracart.com/help/advancedoptions.html
AND for options to handle quantity price breaks:
http://www.agoracart.com/help/variableoptions.html

HTH!~


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hell-o
this is clientside stuff. agoracart is server side. this makes for more predictible functions and is vastly more secure than client side.
agoracart with paypalipn can do this in it's sleep. the free version has much more features and variables then most people even know.
so, yes agoracart can do that and more!
regards,
dan

Thanks for the info Scott & Dan,

By the way, do you guys know any sites, who uses AgoraCart, that utlizes the functions that I was talking about.

I like to see some real life example of the functions that I was asking for.

Thanks,

Eric

My site utilizes options:
http://www.scottcrewcandlesupply.com
In particular, click on the gift certificate link or the following link.
http://www.scottcrewcandlesupply.com/store/agora.cgi?p_id=EmbedWax&xm=on&ppinc=detail&hdr=csupply
The molds on my site utilize the quantity discount option.

Also, my (http://www.scottcrewwebservices.com) client's stores use options, too:
http://www.customrawhide.com
http://www.customrawhide.com/dogs

HTH!~



Last edited by scottcrew on Fri Jan 21, 05 5:00 am; edited 1 time in total
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Bonnie - AgoraCart Moderator

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hell-o
any default install has options included in the example store.
here is a http://www.cartsolutions.net client.

http://www.wholesaleposterframes.com/

this store is live so please don't mess with a purchase unless you intend to actually buy a frame which is quite alright!

the client side stuff is there for user convenience but all the options and other stuff is easily done with options.
well, the size variables and the price adjustment is a little more complicated than a default store. but you can see by example one aspect of agora options.

with the java example you provided note that you must select the option in addition to the price. agora options allow for the option selection to either appens the price, set the price or discount the total for that product when chosing qty discounts.

here is an example of a default store install...

http://www.hgltd1.com/cgi-bin/store/agora.cgi

this store is not an active store. it is a default install and not intended for anything other than example.

it has a variety of options i think you'll find interesting. go ahead and run purchases, add to cart, test the options and discounts.
if you use purchase order for testing then you wont have to mess with cc info. use false information for everything except your email so you can receive the confirmation email.

regards,
dan

Hi everyone,

In your opinion, what's the best payment gateway to intergrate with AgoraCart?

1SB

Well, Offline is the easiest.....


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Bonnie - AgoraCart Moderator

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Scott,

I'm not really familiar with the concept of Offline / Manual. Could you explain how it works compares to other types of payment gateways?

Thanks

1SB

1SB,
Offline is used with merchant accounts that process credit cards through a virtual terminal, regular terminal, by phone, etc.. and are not part of the supported real-time gateways available through AgoraCart.
They are credit card transactions that are processed offline or manually.
Also, the Offline gateway allows for collecting virtual check or echeck info. This works for people who have the capabilities of printing a bankable check for their customer, or can process the check through their merchant account's virtual terminal.
The other option available with the Offline gateway is the use of purchase orders. The purchase orders option can easily be converted to a mail-in payment option (money orders & checks).

HTH!~


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Bonnie - AgoraCart Moderator

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I'd suggest you review the gateways page at agoracart.com. You can use the menu to the left (under Merchants Corner) or the following link. There is information on each supported gateway so you can choose what fits your needs the best. Most merchants use more than one, plus offline for checks/purchase orders.
http://www.agoracart.com/paymentgateways.htm

Hi all,

I need help with the following topics:

1) How to intall AgoraCart into my site
2) How to create the shopping cart's page layout
3) Basically, I would like to learn how to create my site to look like the following web page.

https://st18.startlogic.com/~redtroni/cgi-bin/ecommerce/ac/agora.cgi?cart_id=997487.15425*Tc6p47&xm=on&product=HTML

Thanks for helping.

1SB

Check out the beginner's tutorial at:
http://www.allisonsonline.com/training/agora.cgi

HTH!~


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Hi Scott,

I have visited the tutorial site and have followed the instructions in the first three chapters.

My next issue is the following:

1. Right now, I'm building a sample shopping site for testing purposes.
2. When I installed AgoraCart onto my site, I followed the tutorial guide and made the necessary changes in the "Program Settings" page.
3. In the “Product Add” page, I added two test products on to the shopping site.
4. However, with the way it is right now, my shopping site looks like the site Dan recommended to me, http://www.hgltd1.com/cgi-bin/store/agora.cgi, plus the two test products that I have added. WHY IS THIS THE CASE?
5. Right now, I would like to eliminate all the extra mumble jumble stuff on my shopping site; leaving only my two test products. I would really appreciate it if you could show me how.

Thanks for helping.

1SB

hell-o
i suggest you leave the two defult categories in there for now. it gives you a good reference to to things you may need to examine. you can delete them at any time by logging into the store manager>delete products>select category then delete the individual products. when all the products are gone from the manager for that category then the category is purged.
regards,
dan

Hi Dan,

Thanks for your advice.

Actually, I was referring to all the texts below the product categories.
You know, the "The page you are currently viewing is called index.html ....."

I would like to know if it's possible to eliminate those text; leaving the site with just the product category.

By the way, I downloaded the "Main Page, Header and Footer" and "Simple Option File" Editors and would like to know how to use them.

Thanks for helping.

1SB

hell-o
DOH!
in the store_header.inc remove the agorascript that referrs to cartlink. make a backup so you have the default header, just in case.

the store header editor only manipulates the default header so if you plan on customizing the header and footer with your own design then don't use this addon.
the option file editor is a good one for setting up basic option which you can customize after creation or leave alone and they will function properly.
just upload to the store/protected folder ftp in ascii. then access through the store manager. play around with it some.
you create the option then fill in the fields and save. then go to edit products and add the option you just created to the product of your choice with the option dropdown. then go to the product in your store and test.
note. if you customize the option after creating with the editor then you shouldn't edit the file again with the editor. if the option is left alone then you can edit with the editor.
regards,
dan

1717sitebuilder wrote:

Hi Dan,

Thanks for your advice.

Actually, I was referring to all the texts below the product categories.
You know, the "The page you are currently viewing is called index.html ....."
......

Thanks for helping.

1SB

1SB,
The index.html file that is being referred to is located in the html directory of the store. The same place as the About_Us.html, Return_Policy.html, etc...

HTH!~


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Bonnie - AgoraCart Moderator

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Dan & Scott,

Where do I go to make the changes you guys are suggesting? Do I go to the "AgoraCart DELUXE Store Manager ver. 4.0K-3 Standard" page to use the header editor and erase the text that I was referring to in my previous message.

Thanks for helping.

1SB

P.S. as you can tell, my expertise regarding AgoraCart is very limited, and I thank you for your patience and understanding in answering my questions.

hell-o

1717sitebuilder wrote:

the store header editor only manipulates the default header so if you plan on customizing the header and footer with your own design then don't use this addon.

as you have found out it also defaults to the contents on save (apparently).

you need to make the changes you want with the store header editor then stop using it. then go to the store/html/html-templates folder and edit the store_header.inc in a plain text html editor or notepad or whatever. remove this code...


<!--agorascript-pre
&capture_STDOUT;
&cartlinks;
print "<font face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\">";
$cartlinks =~ s/<br>/<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;/ig;
# take make links underlined
$cartlinks =~ s/style=\"text-decoration: none\"//ig;
# to layout horizontally with 3 spaces
# $cartlinks =~ s/<br>/&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;/ig;
# to layout horizontally with | dividers spaces
# $cartlinks =~ s/<br>/&nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp;/ig;
print "&nbsp;&nbsp;";
print $cartlinks;
print "</font>";
&uncapture_STDOUT; -->

this will remove all the "company Info" links.

regards,
dan

Hello,

Just in case, if the shopping cart system set-up beomes to complicated for me, where could I find help to have someone set up the system for me?

1SB

hell-o
my first suggestion would be to sign up for the mentor program. the second one would be to employ cartsolutions.net.
the mentor program is best. cartsolutions.net also benefits agoracart. if neither is what you want or need then check on agoracart.com for recommended help resources.
regards,
dan

http://www.AgoraXchange.com is a service for finding assitance in various web development projects.

HTH!~


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Bonnie - AgoraCart Moderator

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