Questions
I’m full of questions tonight, but I’ve narrowed it down to 2, I think. The first is related to a web pg I’m doing for my niece. She would like to have a catalog of all her products online & also to put the catalog on a disk for her customers. Q: anyone know of a catalog program or how to best do this? I’m thinking an html type catalog would be good because then anyone with a browser could pull the catalog up on their computer without having to download or install a particular program to view it.
My next question is about this Write Post. At the top under Discussion it has allow comments (I think I understand that) but what does the allow pings mean/do?
uh oh… 3rd question—what does it mean Post Password? (hmmm still much to learn grasshopper. 
)
thanks
nikki
24th March 2005 at 16:30
1. Allow pings: This is to do with pinging (or alerting) any other blogs to which you have referred in your message. For example: If I was talking about this great new blog by Jane Smith, and I gave a link in the post to Jane Smith’s blog, if she was using suitable blogging software, she would be pinged to let her know that I had linked to her in my post.
2.Post password: This is if you want to password protect a post so that only users who know the password can gain access to it. Rather like a secret room for staff only - something like that.
As regards your website catalog, I am afraid this is one area that I dont know much about yet, (altho I will be doing more about ecommerce sites in college). Many people get web design companies to install a database and software to allow you to display your wares, and connect to a shopping cart via forms (add to basket).
This doesnt sound like what you had in mind, tho. Putting it on disk does sound a bit fraught with problems, I must admit. Try Google or any other search engine for free software to display a catalog.
You may like to look at Zen Cart which is a free open source shopping cart system. Other than that, I am out of ideas. You must now go away and learn, grasshopper.
28th March 2005 at 11:22
Allow pings sounds like a cool feature. Post password is kinda neat too. Glad I asked because I would have never guessed either correctly.
re the catalog- I’ve been surfing around tonight/this morning for more on this. I found a place that does have catalog type sites that you can get with hosting. It looks pretty good & I may recommend it to my niece. I have an idea that the cost may be more than she was planning on. Just to get her started I made a template page that has cells for her to insert pics & prices. Plus I set up her with files using your “Structure” tutorial. Right now I have her putting her pics in the folders (images>>sitewide & products). Doing pics will keep her busy for some time.
Thanks for the shopping cart info too. Seems like a very handy script to have. 
nikki
28th March 2005 at 16:18
Upon investigating the Zen Cart, it does look quite good (and cheap!). All she really needs is some cheap hosting that gives her a database, (only one is required), and she could be away. You could set it up for her quite easily, and it sounds like a lot less work for you that what you are actually doing now. Give it some consideration before you continue with your manual setup. I am not knocking it by any means, but it could get very labour-intensive for you if she wants to offer more than a few products
Installing these database apps is very easy, as full instructions are always provided. (Child’s play for a geek-in- training really!).
If you do decide to go down this road, give me a shout if you need any help.
1st April 2005 at 03:26
Re hosting I am with Stayhosted.com… and it is very cheap. I pay $5.95 every three months for 5 gig bandwidth and 200meg of space. I have recently upgraded to 10 gig and 750meg of space for only $4.95 a month, so that is really cheap and they have full control panel and unlimited email
See here
www.stayhosted.com…
Kerry xx
2nd April 2005 at 11:43
oh my, scary to me but what the heck. I do know someone who is an ace at this stuff & she has friends who know too. (lol Jewel, Kerry
) One last question for now. Is there something that writes it all for you or ????
It may just take getting the site & digging in, eh?
[Products incl: has bait & tackle & fishing supplies, aquariums & all that goes with them, pets & exotic birds, she works with wood, scroll saw etc & ‘intarsia’ (I think that’s how you spell it) so she makes clocks etc. &…. she has t-shirts with art pics on them—endless really.
]
2nd April 2005 at 12:17
Right Grasshopper: Let’s start at the beginning. First of all, you buy some hosting. I wil go and have a look at Kery’s hosts to see if they look suitable for your niece. I venture to suggest my own hosts too, and one I mentioned in an earlier post. I’ll go and find the link in a minute .It is not as difficult to do as it seems to install a database honestly. In fact, my own hosts offer Zen Cart through their control panel. This is really easy to do, as they actually install the application for you! Once installed, you can go and set everything up following their instructions. I see no reason why your niece couldnt just have the one site with several different categories for each type of product she wants to sell. That would mean that once you had set her up and shown her how to add her products, she could add them herself as she gets them ready for sale. How computer-literate is she? Will she expect you to take charge of the whole operation? Are you willing to do this, or would you rather she did it herself?
I can do you a few screenshots of Control Panel if you go with a host who has it, to get you started.
Here are a couple of links for you:
My Hosts
Features Explained
This article explains a bit about databases behind shops. Dont worry about the technical stuff on what to do, because you are not going to do it yourself. You are going to let Zen Cart do all the hard work for you. This is just to give you an overview of the principles underlying what you will be doing. Databases Behind Shops
I know it sounds as if I am pushing my hosts, but honestly I have been with them now for over 2 years, and really cant complain about the standard of service I have received. They are not expensive, and offer a lot of features as standard which other hosts chrage extra for. For example, you can have any amount of databases you want with them, whereas some other hosts only give you one at the entry level.
The entry package costs $3.95 a month, which I suspect would be fine for your niece, initially. If she found her products were hugely popular and she turned into Walmart, she could upgrade her package to something bigger. It seems pointless to pay a lot at first though, until you have a better idea of how much business you are going to generate.
I am sure you can do this nikki. It just requires a bit of concentration, and following of instructions when installing stuff. I have every confidence in you.
4th April 2005 at 22:23
\Had an idea then Nikki with the articles she is offers there is something called Cafe Press - www.cafepress.com…
You can set up a shop, catalogue all sorts and they take a small commision, loos like a good start to me Nikki
Kerry xx
5th April 2005 at 12:03
The trouble with cafepress is that they only carry a certain range of articles that you can design images for (unless they have changed recently) like mugs, clothing, mousemats bags etc and their commission is huge
, because they set a base price for each article (say $11 for a mug for example) , so you have to give cafepress $11 for each mug you sell. Therefore you have to add your markup to make a little profit yourself. However, if you add too much markup, your goods are too expensive, so you dont get enough sales. 
I think cafepress is ok for a little sideline when you dont expect to make much money, but I honestly wouldnt recommend it to anyone trying to set up a small business and make any money out of it. If nikki and her niece buy some hosting and set up something like Zen Cart, their only costs are for hosting. If transactions are conducted using Paypal or WorldPay, there are no costs involved there, which there would be for setting up your own credit card acceptance program (this requires secure socket layer (SSL) to encrypt the card details).
Goodness, maybe I should hire my services out to set up these things? I obviously know more than I thought..lol
The only reason I dont have one myself is because I have nothing to sell but my knowledge and expertise.
5th April 2005 at 17:13
Just found this link to the documentation for CPanel which you will need to use if you get a hosting account with a provider that offers it (most do).
CPanel Docs
8th April 2005 at 13:20
Thanks Jewel. I just went there & that will definitely come in handy. I checked out the MySQL link too. Very nice, thank you for those. As of yet I haven’t had time to do much toward her site. Once I do start tho it will be much nicer to be able to click for help rather than searching for help.
I’m trying the ‘more’ tag again. hmm? Ah & ty for the vote of confidence J. …re the more tag. It isn’t an option when you use quick tags & I don’t know how to post a reply any other way. If this makes sense maybe you will enlighten me.Kerry thanks for the suggestions. As Jewel mentions for all the products my niece has cafe press probably won’t work. I want to do one tho.
I’ve seen some that look really neat.