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    Building E-commerce Sites with VirtueMart Cookbook
    Building E-commerce Sites with VirtueMart Cookbook
    Building E-commerce Sites with VirtueMart Cookbook
    Ebook755 pages7 hours

    Building E-commerce Sites with VirtueMart Cookbook

    By John Horton

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    About this ebook

    Written in a friendly, recipe-based style, this practical cookbook will show you how to create, maintain and customize attractive eCommerce solutions with ease.This book is written for anyone who is interested in building eCommerce solutions with VirtueMart. If you have little to no experience with eCommerce this book will show you how to overcome any problem no matter how complex it appears. Experienced site builders and administrators will also find the solutions this cookbook offers useful. Basic HTML and CSS would be beneficial.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPackt Publishing
    Release dateJun 24, 2013
    ISBN9781782162094
    Building E-commerce Sites with VirtueMart Cookbook

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      Book preview

      Building E-commerce Sites with VirtueMart Cookbook - John Horton

      Table of Contents

      Building E-commerce Sites with VirtueMart Cookbook

      Credits

      About the Author

      About the Reviewers

      www.PacktPub.com

      Support files, eBooks, discount offers and more

      Why Subscribe?

      Free Access for Packt account holders

      Preface

      VirtueMart and Joomla!

      What this book covers

      What you need for this book

      Who this book is for

      Conventions

      Reader feedback

      Customer support

      Downloading the example code

      Errata

      Piracy

      Questions

      1. Setting Up Shop

      Introduction

      Installing Joomla! 2.5 in your web space

      Getting ready

      Connecting to your web host with FileZilla

      Have your details to hand

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Increasing the Joomla! session lifetime

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Installing VirtueMart and the core add-ons

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      There's more...

      Familiarizing yourself with VirtueMart

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Removing the VirtueMart AIO component

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Creating a link to our store

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Removing the currency not defined error

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      There's more...

      Filling out the company information section

      How to do it…

      How it works...

      See also

      Fixing the safe path warning

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Setting up your company identity in VirtueMart

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Creating a menu for your must-have information

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      Creating the menu

      Creating the container module

      How it works...

      There's more...

      Displaying the core VirtueMart menus

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      There's more...

      2. Merchandising VirtueMart

      Introduction

      Successful merchandising

      Adding manufacturers and manufacturer categories

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      There's more...

      Implementing your product category structure

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      Adding a simple product (information tab)

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      There's more...

      Adding a simple product (description tab)

      Getting ready

      How to do it....

      How it works...

      See also

      Adding a simple product (status tab)

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Adding a simple product (dimensions and weight tab)

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Adding a simple product (images tab)

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Adding similar products

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      There's more...

      See also

      Custom fields – adding consistent global information to multiple products

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      There's more...

      Custom fields – customizing products with versions and charging different prices for them

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      There's more...

      Custom fields – show related products on the product details page

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      There's more...

      Custom fields – adding customizable product text and charging per letter

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Custom fields – creating groups of custom fields

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Setting the sort and search options for products and categories

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      3. Shipping and Taxes

      Introduction

      Shipping

      Taxes

      Charging for shipping by weight range

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Configuring shipping by country, zone, or continent

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      There's more...

      Configuring shipping by zip code

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      There's more...

      Configuring shipping by a combination of criteria

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Configuring VAT on the entire purchase (including or excluding VAT on delivery costs)

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Configuring a tax to start or finish on a set date

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Configuring a tax on a per-category basis

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      4. Making Your Store Look Amazing

      Introduction

      Removing the Joomla! branding at the footer

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Installing a VirtueMart template

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Installing a Joomla! Template

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Creating and installing a template with an Artisteer design software

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      Designing your store pages

      How it works...

      There's more...

      Installing the Warp framework/template

      Advantages and disadvantages of using Warp

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Installing the Gantry framework/template

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Customizing the Gantry framework/template

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      The Layouts tab

      The Advanced tab

      How it works...

      Uninstalling a Joomla! template

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Cool header banners with jQuery and Sourcerer

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      5. Going Live

      Introduction

      Taking payments with PayPal

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Reset VirtueMart to a fresh install

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Configuring countries

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Configuring VirtueMart currencies

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Updating VirtueMart

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      There's more...

      See also

      Creating a backup of your Joomla! VirtueMart site

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Using the backup of your Joomla! VirtueMart site

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Enabling SSL for sensitive areas

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Shipping an order

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Refunding an order

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      6. Killer SEO

      Introduction

      Installing Piwik analytics

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Setting up Piwik for Joomla!

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Setting up Piwik for VirtueMart

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Choosing your keywords

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Creating categories in Joomla!

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Creating articles in Joomla!

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Making articles available in a menu

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Enabling Joomla! SEF URLs

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Writing great metadata

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Entering your metadata into Joomla!

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Entering your metadata into VirtueMart

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      7. Extending Joomla! and VirtueMart

      Introduction

      Installing Sourcerer

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also...

      Installing jQuery on Joomla! 2.5 using Sourcerer

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also...

      Personalizing your store content with Sourcerer

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Detecting the user's country with Sourcerer and GeoIP

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Installing Weever Apps

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Configuring a Weever App

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Installing the VM Affiliate component

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Setting up a campaign and testing it with VM Affiliate

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      8. VirtueMart Alternatives

      Introduction

      Installing HikaShop as an alternative to VirtueMart

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      HikaShop quick evaluation tour

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Installing RedShop as an alternative to VirtueMart

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      RedShop quick evaluation tour

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Installing J2Store for in-article products

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Configuring J2Store

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Adding a product to a Joomla! article with J2Store

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Installing MyMuse for digital download products

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Configuring MyMuse

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Adding products to MyMuse

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      9. Blueprint – Making an Android App out of Your Site Content

      Introduction

      Installing the Java Development Kit

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Installing Eclipse

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Installing the Android SDK

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Installing the Android Development Tools plugin

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Configuring an Android emulator

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Wrapping our site in an Android WebView

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Testing our app on the emulator

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Exporting our app to use it on a real Android device

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      See also

      Branding our WebView

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      Publishing our app on Google Play

      Getting ready

      How to do it...

      How it works...

      A. Apps, VirtueMart, and Joomla! Resources

      Apps

      VirtueMart templates

      Paid themes

      Free themes

      Joomla! templates

      Paid templates

      Free templates

      Custom made templates

      VirtueMart extensions

      Index

      Building E-commerce Sites with VirtueMart Cookbook

      Building E-commerce Sites with VirtueMart Cookbook

      Copyright © 2013 Packt Publishing

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

      Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.

      Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

      First published: June 2013

      Production Reference: 1170613

      Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

      Livery Place

      35 Livery Street

      Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.

      ISBN 978-1-78216-208-7

      www.packtpub.com

      Cover Image by Gorkee Bhardwaj (<afterglowpictures@gmail.com>)

      Credits

      Author

      John Horton

      Reviewers

      Jordi Catà Castillo

      Jörgen Hübner

      Sabuj Kumar Kundu

      Kelvyn Sheppard

      Acquisition Editors

      Andrew Duckworth

      Sam Birch

      Lead Technical Editor

      Mayur Hule

      Technical Editors

      Athira Laji

      Anita Nayak

      Zafeer Rais

      Sonali Vernekar

      Project Coordinator

      Shiksha Chaturvedi

      Proofreaders

      Amy Guest

      Bernadette Watkins

      Indexer

      Monica Ajmera Mehta

      Production Coordinator

      Nitesh Thakur

      Cover Work

      Nitesh Thakur

      About the Author

      John Horton spends his working hours helping people make their websites/apps/e-commerce enterprises successful through his business, www.HadronWebDesign.com.

      He also encourages the pursuit of mathematics through the free Android app, MathLegends which is available on www.MathLegends.com.

      In his spare time he likes shooting zombies with his two sons.

      For Jo, Jack, and James.

      About the Reviewers

      Jordi Catà Castillo is a software engineer with more than 12 years of experience in free software, focused on web development with technologies such as PHP, Joomla, Symfony2, and Prestashop.

      His graduation project, titled Interactive Architectonic Walkthrough was awarded the Best Graduation Project of the University of Girona.

      At the beginning of his career, Jordi was involved with the investigation of Graphical Computing in the development of new illumination techniques for state-of-the-art videogames through graphical engines such as Crystal Space and Ogre3D. He has also collaborated in the publication of several technical papers and the book ShadersX5.

      In 2005, he formed his own company (dunlock.com and webactualizable.com), specializing in web development and Joomla!. In 2010 he joined forces with another partner to create Arambee.com.

      With regards to Joomla! and Virtuemart, Jordi has worked on different kinds of projects, from corporative websites to the integration of Joomla! with ERP and CRM via web services, and has developed several extensions for customers.

      Jordi has participated as a speaker in several conferences on Joomla! and PHP development in Spain, such as the Joomla! Days Spain (2009: co-organizer and speaker in 2010, 2012), the PHPConference, and the Free Software Talks.

      Jordi is a part of different entrepreneurship initiatives in Spain such as Iniciador.com (co-organizer in Barcelona from 2008 to 2012, co-organizer in Girona since 2012) and the Junior Chamber International of Girona.

      Jörgen Hübner was born in Uppsala, near Stockholm, in 1961 and holds a degree in mechanical engineering. He has more than 20 years of experience in the development and design of microcontroller-based products. He is responsible for almost all of the development steps, schematic design, PCB layout, software design, programming in C, and also design of testing procedures for the finished products. He holds a black belt in Judo and has been active in Judo for more than 30 years, 15 years of these as an instructor. Besides this he also likes photography.

      He runs his own web shop www.kreativfotografi.se selling camera accessories. The web shop is of course powered by Joomla! and Virtuemart.

      Kelvyn Sheppard first learned the elements of computer programming around 1975 while working as a biomedical scientist in the UK National Health Service. Following a move to the English Lake district, he set up his first website development business in 1996 and now owns and manages Jenkin Hill Internet which provides website development services and consultancy.

      Having built an e-commerce website in 2007 using an early version of VirtueMart, Kelvyn became interested in the development of the component and became a moderator on the VirtueMart support forum in 2009. Working with the VM development team as a writer and tester, he now manages the busy support forum, all in his spare time and in a voluntary capacity.

      Sabuj Kumar Kundu is the founder and CEO of Codeboxr. He has almost 7 years of experience in the IT field.

      The website Manchumahara.com with the tag line let's start again… is his personal blog site where he writes about technology, spirituality, and poems.

      Codeboxr is a web service start-up company (founded in 2011) revolving around organic ideas and meeting demands of our clients with advanced solutions for a social and friendly web experience. The company is very enthusiastic about social media, its potential, and how to better integrate it within sites that want meaningful engagement with their visitors and customers. It builds extensions for industry leading content management systems (such as Joomla!, Drupal, and WordPress) to make web2.0 more socially integrated.

      I would like to thank myself as I managed time to review this book.

      www.PacktPub.com

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      Preface

      Welcome to Building E-commerce Sites with VirtueMart Cookbook. The next few pages will help you decide if Joomla!, VirtueMart, and this book can help you succeed with your latest online store or client. If you are a seasoned VirtueMart pro, you can skip a couple of paragraphs and jump to the section Who this book is for because you probably already realize the potential. But if you are a relative newcomer to Joomla!, VirtueMart or e-commerce, then you have a big opportunity and I urge you to find out more.

      VirtueMart and Joomla!

      Joomla! is huge. I was browsing their forums the other day and I noticed they now have over 600,000 members. According to their own statistics they now have 35 million core downloads and thousands of different extensions. It would be a fairly awkward argument to not agree that Joomla! is the foremost, one of the best-featured, and one of the most extendable CMS there is!

      In the recent past however there has been criticism of the Joomla! e-commerce options. It is still true that the e-commerce options are far from perfect. But now with the latest version of VirtueMart, alongside a growing list of high-quality extensions and a vast array of other Joomla!/e-commerce options to fill the occasional VirtueMart void; Joomla! users and developers are faced with a huge opportunity! To offer the best CMS bar none, integrated with just about any e-commerce feature imaginable. Oh, and most of it is free!

      Exploring this opportunity is the purpose of the recipes in this book.

      What this book covers

      Chapter 1, Setting Up Shop covers the installation of Joomla! and VirtueMart as well as the configuration of the basic and essential options.

      Chapter 2, Merchandising VirtueMart introduces the addition of our products and product categories as well as some advanced features via VirtueMart's custom fields.

      Chapter 3, Shipping and Taxes covers how to offer efficient and easy-to understand shipping and tax options to suit a number of different scenarios, the day our store can be unleashed on the public.

      Chapter 4, Making Your Store Look Amazing explains some of the template options available in Joomla!/VirtueMart, including pre-built frameworks to simple but the powerful GUI template creation software.

      Chapter 5, Going Live explains what to do about handling orders, refunds, and so on, when our VirtueMart store goes live.

      Chapter 6, Killer SEO explains how to make use of all the Joomla! and VirtueMart SEO features, in a crowded web, to make sure that our new store is found by the search engines.

      Chapter 7, Extending Joomla! and VirtueMart covers a number of ways to get more out of Joomla! and VirtueMart to add exciting features to our shop. Want

      Enjoying the preview?
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