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2-Get ready for selling

Monday, December 21, 2009

Get ready for selling

 

 

Global Settings
You can modify all of the settings of the store. The store common settings are controlled via admin area. Go to Configuration, then Global settings. You will be taken to the screen shown below.


Store info

  • Store name. Enter your store name as it will appear in the front-end
  • Store URL. Enter your store URL (on production server).
  • Store closed. If enabled then store will be closed.
  • Anonymous checkout allowed. Check to enable anonymous checkout (customers are not required to login/register when purchasing products).

SEO/Display

Default SEO-related meta and display information is controlled from here.
  • Enable store name prefix. Prefix product / category / manufacturer page titles with the store name e.g. Your Store: Your Product Name.
  • Default title. The default title will display in the browser’s title bar when site is being browsed.
  • Default meta keywords. This will show in the default tag of the HTML source.
  • Default meta description. This will show in the default tag of the HTML source.
  • Store theme. The public store theme.
  • Show welcome message on home page. Show the welcome message on your store's home page.
  • Display news RSS feed link in the browser address bar. Check to enable the news rss feed link in customers browser address bar.
  • Display blog RSS feed link in the browser address bar. Check to enable the blog rss feed link in customers browser address bar.

Media

Default media information is controlled from here.
  • Maximum image size. The maximum image size (longest side) allowed for image uploads.
  • Product thumbnail image size. The default size (pixels) for product thumbnail images.
  • Product detail image size. The default size (pixels) for product detail images.
  • Product variant detail image size. The default size (pixels) for product variant images.
  • Category thumbnail image size. The default size (pixels) for product thumbnail images on category pages.
  • Manufacturer thumbnail image size. The default size (pixels) for product thumbnail images on manufacturer pages.
  • Show product images on cart. Determines whether product images should are displayed in your store shopping cart.
  • Show product images on wishlist. Determines whether product images should are displayed on customer wishlists.
  • Cart/Wishlist thumbnail image size. The default size (pixels) for product thumbnail images on shopping cart/wishlist pages.

Units

Default measure units information is controlled from here.
  • Base weight in. Choose your store base weight.
  • Base dimension in. Choose your store base dimension.

Mail settings

Here you can specify email server settings for your store. Test Email also can be sent from here.
  • Store Admin Email. This is the from address for all outgoing emails from your store e.g. 'sales@yourstore.com'.
  • Store Admin Email Display Name. This is the friendly display name for outgoing emails from your store e.g. 'Your Store Sales Department'.
  • Host. This is the host name or IP address of your mail server. You can normally find this out from your ISP or web host.
  • Port. This is the SMTP port of your mail server. This is usually port 25.
  • User. This is the username you use to authenticate to your mail server.
  • Password. This is the password you use to authenticate to your mail server.
  • Enable SSL. Check to use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to encrypt the SMTP connection.
  • Use default credentials. Check to use default credentials for the connection.

Security

Here you can change your encryption private key and specify your SSL settings.
  • Encryption private key. The encryption private key used for storing sensitive data.
  • "Login captcha image" enabled. This controls whether "Login captcha image" feature is enabled.
  • "Registration captcha image" enabled. This controls whether "Registration captcha image" feature is enabled.

Customer profiles

Here you can change customer profile settings.
  • Customer name format. Customer name format displayed on news/blog/forum pages.
  • Allow customers to upload avatars. Determines whether customers are allowed to upload avatars.
  • Allow viewing customer profiles. Determines whether to viewing profiles of customers are allowed.
  • Show customers location.Determines whether to show customers location on news/blog/forum pages.
  • Show customers join date. Determines whether to show customers join date on news/blog/forum pages.
  • Allow private messaging. Determines whether private message are allowed
  • Allow customers to select time zone. Check to allow customers to select time zone. If checked, then time zone can be selected on the public store (account page). If not, then default time zone will be used.
  • Default store time zone. The default store time zone used to display dates.

Misc

  • "Usernames" enabled. This controls whether customer login/register by usernames (P.S. emails by default).
  • New customer registration is not allowed. This controls whether new customer registration is allowed.
  • Allow navigation only for registered customers. Check to don't allow customers to navigate anywhere without entering thier login information.
  • 'Customer email valifation' enabled. Check to require email validation during customer registration.
  • "Compare products" enabled. This controls whether "Compare products" feature is enabled.
  • "Wishlist" enabled. This controls whether "Wishlist" feature is enabled.
  • "Email a friend" enabled. This controls whether "Email a friend" feature is enabled.
  • "Recently viewed products" enabled. This controls whether "Recently viewed products" option is enabled.
  • "Recently added products" enabled. This controls whether "Recently added products" option is enabled.
  • Notify about new product reviews. This controls whether to notify store owner about new product reviews.
  • Show best sellers on home page. This controls whether to show best sellers on home page.
  • 'Products also purchased' enabled. Check to allow customers to view a list of products purchased by other customers who purchased the above.
  • Number of also purchased products to display:. The number of products also purchased by other customers to display when ''Products also purchased'' option is enabled.

 

 

 

Currencies
The currencies are controlled via admin area. Go to Configuration, then Location, then Currencies.



Primary store currency - This is the currency against which all other allowed currencies will be configured. While you can allow multiple currencies in which to display your product prices, this is the currency that will be used for payment transactions with online payment gateways. Primary store currency is used by store administrators only. It’s used for setting product prices. Primary store currency doesn’t have to be the same as published currencies. If you have only one published currency, the store will not show a currency selector, or show any currency symbol with prices. If more that one currency is published, all prices are marked with the currently selected currency. We recommend to remove any currency you will not need.

Don’t forget to
  • Select your primary exchange rate currency.
  • Select your primary store currency.
nopCommerce uses an exchange rate to calculate the amounts for published currencies. The exchange rate is entered when a currency is added or edited. Or you can use real-time exchange rate service (ECB: European Central Bank). To calculate the amount, the price of the product is multiplied by the exchange rate provided. Keep in mind that exchange rates fluctuate on a daily basis. You can edit the exchange rate as often as you need in order to stay current. Actual transactions are only handled in your stores primary currency. On credit card transactions, banks will usually make exchanges automatically based on the most current currency values.

 

 

 

Taxes
Depending on where your store is located, you may be required to collect tax. nopCommerce enables you to configure taxes for specific areas (Florida Tax) and specific products (Electronics Tax). New tax rates can be added to existing tax categories or to a new tax category, and are based on a country or a state. This allows products to be taxed accordingly to location, and achieves a final tax rate value by adding or compounding the tax rates defined in the assigned products tax class.

Tax settings

The tax settings are controlled via admin area. Go to Configuration, then Tax, then Tax settings.
  • Prices include tax. A value indicating whether entered prices include tax.
  • Allow customers to select tax display type. A value indicating whether customers are allowed to select tax display type.
  • Tax display type. Tax display type (incl/excl tax).
  • Display tax suffix. A value indicating whether to display tax suffix (incl tax/excl tax).
  • Hide zero tax. A value indicating whether to hide zero tax in order summary.
  • Hide tax in order summary. A value indicating whether to hide tax in order summary when prices are shown tax inclusive.
  • Tax based on. Here you select what tax basen on: Billing address / Shipping address / default address / shipping origin.
  • Default Country. The default country used for tax calculation.
  • Default State / Province. The default state / province used for tax calculation.
  • Default Zip / Postal code. The default zip / postal code used for tax calculation.
  • Shipping is taxable. A value indicating whether shipping is taxable.
  • Shipping price includes tax. A value indicating whether shipping price includes tax.
  • Shipping tax class. Select tax class used for shipping tax calculation.
  • Payment method additional fee is taxable. A value indicating whether payment method additional fee is taxable.
  • Payment method additional fee includes tax. A value indicating whether payment method additional fee includes tax.
  • Payment method additional fee tax class. Select tax class used for payment method additional fee tax calculation.


Tax classes

The tax categories are controlled via admin area. Go to Configuration, then Tax, then Tax classes. Tax classes are associated to product variants.

Tax rates


Don’t forget to select default tax provider. The tax providers are controlled via admin area. Go to Configuration, then Tax, then Tax providers.

Currently nopCommerce provides three tax providers:
  • No tax. Tax is zero cost.
  • Tax By Country & State. Tax rates are calculated based upon the country & state. Set to 0 if no tax collected in this country/state.
  • Strike Iron Basic. Tax rates are calculated based upon Strike Iron web service.



Tax By Country & State will calculate a tax fee based on upon the country & state & zip. While adding new tax rate you can specify:
  • Country.
  • State / province. f an asteriks is selected, then this tax rate will apply to all customers from the given country, regardless of the state.
  • Zip. Zip / postal code. If zip is empty, then this tax rate will apply to all customers from the given country or state, regardless of the zip code.
  • Tax class.

 

 

 

Managing shipping methods and shipping rates
Shipping methods are those ways in which you decide how to ship the products to the customers. The customer typically can then pick what type of shipping they want, and the cost for that shipping method is attached to the order. Typically shipping methods would be things like: “By Ground”, “By Air”, “Next Day”, etc… Your are free to choose any shipping method names that you want. The shipping methods are controlled via admin area. Go to Configuration, then Shipping, then Shipping methods.



Don’t forget to select default shipping rate computation method. The shipping rate computation methods are controlled via admin area. Go to Configuration, then Shipping, then Shipping rate computation. It’s used to calculate shipping rates.



nopCommerce provides several shipping rate computation methods:
  • Free Shipping. Shipping is zero cost.
  • Shipping By Order Weight. Shipping rates are calculated based upon the total weight of a shipment.
  • Shipping By Order Total. Shipping rates are calculated based upon the order total of a shipment.
  • Shipping By Country & Order Weight. Shipping rates are calculated based upon the country and the total weight of a shipment.
  • USPS (US Postal Service). Real-time shipping rates
  • UPS (United Parcel Service). Real-time shipping rates
  • FedEx. Real-time shipping rates



Shipping By Order Weight will calculate a shipping fee based on how much the shipment weighs. This is the recommended shipping calculation for companies that have products that vary a great deal in weight. The ability to charge different costs depending on the weight of the shipment helps to keep the company's shipping costs down when heavy items are shipped, yet keep the cost reasonable for customers who purchase products that are light in weight.

If you decide to use matrix by weight, you will set up weight brackets and how much shipping will cost if the shipment falls within that bracket. For example: 1 pound up to 5 pounds will cost $3.00 per kg, 6 pounds up to 12 pounds will cost $8.00 per kg. You can set up multiple shipping fees depending on the shipping methods. Using the first weight bracket above, 1 pound up to 5 pounds will cost $3.00 per kg using Ground and 1 pound up to 5 pounds will cost $18.00 per kg using Next Day.


Shipping By Order Total is much like shipping by order weight but instead of using a weight scale, you are using a cost scale. In this case, the cost is the total of all products being purchased.

 

 

 

Payment methods
A payment method is how a customer pays for the order. nopCommerce allows for both online and offline transactions. For the online methods, nopCommerce supports integration with several third party payment gateways, so that customer credit card information will automatically sent through the gateway (as either an authorization, or an authorization and charge) upon completion of an order. You can have multiple payment methods active at one time. The user can select how he wants to pay at checkout. The payment methods are controlled via admin area. Go to Configuration, then Payment, then Payment methods.



As a rule two transaction modes are supported by payment methods.
  • Authorize – authorize the charge, but does NOT capture or transfer funds. Just verifies card.
  • Authorize and capture – authorize and capture the transaction all at once.
If you don’t want to charge the customer until you ship, then use Authorize. For charges that come in as Authrorized only, you can later capture them via the admin area. There will be a capture button on the order.
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