Q. Why Should I upgrade to version 4.6.1?
A. Version 4.6.1 has a whole slew of new features added to it that older versions didn't support. A few of the most impressive features include: enhanced reporting capabilities, shop customization, extended electronic payment connectivity, better multiple shop separation, and features for returning customers. We also provide a front page for your shop that shows customers your specials and allows them to log in directly to check on the status of their orders, as well as providing stronger searching features and category listings. Reports can be exported easily to Microsoft Excel or Sun StarOffice for better presentation.
Shop customization is now a breeze. With about 60 different customizable options, you can restructure your store to look and work the way you want it to. If you want more flexibility, and know HTML, you can also edit the parts of the store that control its look and feel easily without worrying about changing how it works.
To allow store owners to better understand their shop, we've provided a number of different reports. These reports can tell you more about your store, products, visitors and income. The reports can cover any amount of time, and can be grouped and sorted in a number of different ways, and can be exported to Microsoft Excel or Sun StarOffice.
Instead of having to verify each customer separately, we are now proud to connect directly to Cardservice Inernational, ICverify and Cybercash credit card verification and direct payment systems. By working with these two organizations, we've automated the process of payments by not only verifying that the customer has the money in their account right when they try to buy the products, but also pushing the payment through whenever you wish as the store owner. By providing you a choice of three companies, you can now decide which one will work best for you.
Q. Okay, Installed it, now what?
A. Webplus Shop is usually installed under the web address: http://yourhost/cgi-bin/webplus.exe?script=/webpshop4.6.1/store.wml. Web+ uses the concept of logical paths, which means that no matter where you actually store your Webplus Shop scripts, you can still access it through the logical path /webpshop4.6.1/. If you would like to make the path simpler for your users, such as by using http://yourHost/webpshop4.6.1/store.wml, you would have to set up a virtual path within your webserver itself to point to the correct directory.
The administrative part of your store can be accessed by going to http://yourHost/cgi-bin/webplus.exe?script=/webpshop4.6.1/admin/login.wml. After logging in, using the default login for a single shop of: storeadmin and default password of password, you have access to all of the administrative functions. If your store is part of a Web+Mall, your login and password will be given to you by the Mall Administrator.
After logging in using the default name and password, you should change the password to something specific to you. You can accomplish this in version 4.6 of Webplus Shop by clicking on 'Store' in the menu bar, and then clicking on the submenu 'Password'. Here you may change your password by filling out the form. You will not be given the ability to change your login name, to avoid overlapping it with that of another store. If you want to change your login name, you will need to contact your Mall Adminstrator and ask them to change it for you.
Q. My shop doesn't work? What's wrong?
A. If your shop was up and running before, and you haven't changed anything on your server, then your Web+ service may be down. The easiest way to correct for this is to simply to reboot your computer. If this still doesn't fix your computer, you can check to find out if your webserver is running by going to the following address in your browser: http://yourHost/cgi-bin/webplus.exe?about . This should show a page giving information about what version of Web+ you are running. If this shows up, your Web+ server is running, and the problem may be that you are typing in the wrong address to your browser.
If it does not show up, you should check and see if talentsoft Web+Monitor (Windows NT only) and talentsoft Web+Server are running on your system. If you are running on a Windows NT platform, you can open up the services and see if they are listed there. For any UNIX based platform, grepping through the 'ps' command will give you the same information.
Q. I have a website already created. Can I use Webplus Shop?
A. Yes. Webplus Shop integrates fully into your existing website. The Web+ server works in conjunction with your existing webserver to provide more dynamic content than you could have otherwise. All of talentsoft's Web+ products are able to be added to any website provided that you can add the Web+ server to it.
Q. I want to run my shop more securly, how would I do it?
A. Web+ has the ability to run over SSL, secure socket layer. This layer provides extra added security to prevent your transactions from being 'hacked'. To implement SSL into any of our products, you only need to:
1) make sure the first link to the shop uses "https" insted of "http".
Q. I've been running Webplus Shop of years and it's getting slower. How can I fix this?
A. Your database may be filled with hundreds, or thousands, of completed orders and old customer information. Future versions of Webplus Shop will have database archiving features included in them to solve this problem for you. You may solve this problem by manually opening your database and removing old records. If this is a problem, and you're not familiar enough with databases to be able to do this on your own, please contact our office and our support team can talk you through it.
Another option may be to upgrade the type of database you are using. The default database provided by talentsoft for the Windows platform is a MS Access database. This type of database is easy to modify to suit your needs, but may not live up to your speed requirements. We suggest that you consider switching to a more robust database such as MS SQL server.
Q. Can I run multiple shops on one server?
A. If you have purchased the Hosting Edition of Webplus Shop, you can. If you have Webplus Shop version 4.0 or lower, you already have access to a limited number of mall features, including the ability to add more than one store on your server. If you are intersted in adding more shops to your server please contact talentsoft.
Q. How do I add products to my store?
A. After logging in to your store (see I've installed Webplus Shop, now what), click on the image marked "Products". Halfway down the page, you will see a folder. By clicking on this folder, you are entering your product hierarchy. Within this heirarchy, products can be added in groups. The groups consist of three levels which can be thought of as paralleling the concepts of categories, groups and products. Each store can have many categories, each category many groups, and each group consists of one or more products. By clicking on the first folder, you have entered the store. Click on the pencil next to the store to edit the store's properties. Click on the plus sign if you'd like to add a category to the store.
After clicking on the plus sign, a screen opens up asking for information about this level of product grouping. Enter in the category name and click 'apply' and the category is added into the system. Returning to the products screen, you will find that a folder has been added beneath the store that contains the category you have added. As with the store, click on the pencil to edit the category, or the plus sign to add a group within the department. The group works in exactly the same was as the category does. By clicking on the plus next to a group, you are able to add a product to that group.
In adding a product, there are a number of different fields which provide information to the store owner, the user or the computer about the products. If you have questions about any specific field, the help file for the screen may answer your questions. Access the help file for any screen by clicking on the question mark located in the top left hand corner of the page.
Q. I want to hook my shop up to a form of electronic payment, how do I do this?
A. Starting at version 4.6.1 of Webplus Shop, we have included in the ability to connect to Cardservice Internatonal, CyberCash and ICVERIFY as methods of electronic payment.
Cardservice International
You will need to set up an account with Cardservice International. To get contact information and the requirements to do this, you can go to their website at http://www.cardservice.com. Please note, the Cardservice International payment service does not require additional software to be installed onto your computer.
Next, go to the Webplus Shop admin interface and log in as the mall administrator. Select the [Payment Methods] menu item. Enable Cardservice International by clicking the check box next to [Cardservice Int’l].
Next, go back to the Webplus Shop admin interface, but this time log in as the store owner. Click the [Store] icon, then click the [Payment Methods] menu item. At the bottom of the page, there is a drop-down menu box labeled [Credit Card Verification Method]. Select [Cardservice Int’l] and click [Update].
The Cardservice Int’l LinkPoint Settings Administrator Page will be displayed. When you sign up for Cardservice International, you will receive an e-mail with the required information for your account. Enter the [Store Name], [Host] and [Port] as provided to you in the appropriate text boxes.
You will also receive a URL address. Download the Linkpoint Certificate file at that URL address and save it as a *.pem file. Enter the name of the file along with the directory path into the text box labeled [Name and path of the Linkpoint Certificate File]. For example, when you download the file, you might call it linkpoint.pem and save it in a newly created directory called c:\webpshop4.6.1\cardservice. The text to add to the text box would be: c:\webpshop4.6.1\cardservice\linkpoint.pem. Click [Update] to save the new information.
Cardservice International should now be set up on your system.
CyberCash
You will need to set up an account with Cybercash. To get contact information and the requirements to do this, you can go to their website at http://www.cybercash.com. After setting up an account with Cybercash, you will have to download the Cybercash merchant software and install it on the server running Webplus Shop. Test the CashRegister software using CyberCash’s tools.
Next, go to the Webplus Shop admin interface and log in as the mall administrator. Select the [Payment Methods] menu item. Enable CyberCash by clicking the check box next to [CyberCash3.x].
Next, go back to the Webplus Shop admin interface, but this time log in as the store owner. Click the [Store] icon, then click the [Payment Methods] menu item. At the bottom of the page, there is a drop-down menu box labeled [Credit Card Verification Method]. Select [Cybercash] and click [Update].
The Cybercash Settings Administration Page will be displayed. In the text box labeled [Name and path of the CyberCash configuration file], specify the name and path of the CyberCash configuration file. (For example: c:\CyberCash\merchant_conf). Please make sure that the path and the name of the file are correct in order for your store to correctly function with CyberCash. For more information please see the CyberCash documentation. Click [Update] to save the new information.
CyberCash should now be set up on your system.
ICVERIFY
You will need to set up an account with ICVERIFY. To get contact information and the requirements to do this, you can go to their website at http://www.cybercash.com. After setting up an account with ICVERIFY, you will have to download the ICVERIFY merchant software and install it on the server running Webplus Shop. Test the ICVERIFY software using ICVERIFY’s tools.
Next, go to the Webplus Shop admin interface and log in as the mall administrator. Select the [Payment Methods] menu item. Enable ICVERIFY by clicking the check box next to [ICVERIFY].
Next, go back to the Webplus Shop admin interface, but this time log in as the store owner. Click the [Store] icon, then click the [Payment Methods] menu item. At the bottom of the page, there is a drop-down menu box labeled [Credit Card Verification Method]. Select [ICVERIFY] and click [Update].
The ICVERIFY Settings Administration Page will be displayed. Refer to the ICVERIFY documentation to obtain the name and location of the shared directory. Enter this path name in the text box labeled [Path of the ICVERIFY Share Directory]. Enter the name of the store owner/administrator into the text box labeled [Clerk]. Click [Update] to save the new information.
ICVERIFY should now be set up on your system.
