Looking for my shopping cart!

tom · #1 Dec 27th, 2005, 18:56

A Google search led me to a thread here about osCommerce. After reading the thread, I thought this might be a good place to seek some knowledgeable advice.
I sell a few products on a website and need to set up a shopping cart. So far, you can count my products on one hand. It looks like the way to do it is with PHP and MySQL. My experience with databases was 30 years ago and they didn’t have tables back then!

I started reading about MySQL and plan to learn PHP next. Then I decided to search for a package I could just modify to suit my needs. My host provider supplies a package called osCommerce. I thought this was the answer until I discovered it’s more of a catalog with only limited customization.

I already have pages for my products and I have no interest in using a catalog theme. I just need a simple cart system. Should I switch to the CP Commerce package hoping it’s compatible with my host’s osCommerce, look for some other smaller system or go back to reading about MySQL and PHP?

sypher · #2 Dec 27th, 2005, 19:45

oscommerce is very extensive.

If you want a smaller more custom solution i would advise you to build your own.

tom · #3 Dec 27th, 2005, 19:54

I was afraid that was going to be the answer. Yes, it appears to cover just about everything you would need and is easy to configure. But it doesn’t look visually like what I want. So it’s back to the books.
Thanks sypher

sypher · #4 Dec 27th, 2005, 21:42

You can customise it visually just takes a little effort.

tom · #5 Dec 27th, 2005, 21:49

So does that mean I can just have a button on each of my existing pages call the function to put the item in the cart and edit the cart page to look like it belongs in my site?

Wonder which route would take less effort or maybe I should look at it as be worth the effort.

sypher · #6 Dec 27th, 2005, 23:39

Well it would need alot of it taking apart but ye that could be done.

If your using paypal for payments then you can use their automated cart.

tom · #7 Dec 27th, 2005, 23:47

I was planning to offer Paypal as a payment option but it looked like if I used their cart I couldn't offer the options of check or money order.

As for hammering on osCommerce to fit my needs, would the CP Commerce not be better? I really haven't looked into it yet.

sypher · #8 Dec 28th, 2005, 01:45

You mean one of the fantastico scripts? It would be the same thing just installs easier.

tom · #9 Dec 28th, 2005, 01:54

Well, we're already past the installation point. I thought I had read somewhere when I was doing Google searches that it was more customizable. But, if I understand you correctly, it would require the same modifications. Is that right?

tom · #10 Dec 28th, 2005, 02:30

Okay, nevermind. I just went to their site and looked at it. Just not what I need.
Back to the book. Now where was I...

SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL READ COMMITTED;

Tim356 · #11 Dec 28th, 2005, 05:18

Have a look at www.hotscripts.com for a php/mysql/paypal cart. I'm sure there's one there that would suit your needs (or could be easily modified to do what you want).

tom · #12 Dec 28th, 2005, 05:26

Thanks for the suggestion Tim. A search on cart in PHP category got 344 hits! This may take a while.

While I'm at it, thanks for all your help too, Sypher.

Tim356 · #13 Dec 28th, 2005, 05:33

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention - put aside an hour or so to sift through the good, bad and the ugly!

sypher · #14 Dec 28th, 2005, 15:38

No problem

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
php shopping cart	Aaron1988	PHP Forum	4	Oct 18th, 2006 22:30
Shopping Cart	Aaron1988	PHP Forum	5	Sep 25th, 2006 10:08
shopping cart	Aaron1988	Web Page Design	0	Sep 25th, 2006 08:29
i don't know much at all about ASP - can it do shopping cart	benbacardi	Classic ASP	3	Jul 21st, 2004 14:47

		Webforumz.com > Main Forums > Program Your Website > Databases
Looking for my shopping cart!