Pushing the envelope

[David Sheridan]

I have found that ShopSite (We use 4.3 Pro) has a 100 template limit to the
number of page templates that can be used. It also appears the names must
contain at least 2 digit number (more than 2 and some numbers get tossed?).
Thinking back to the manual the Numeric name would make sense since you are
told to assign standard page templates with a number. No mention of custom
page template naming conventions/restrictions was made though

So I have a couple of new questions -
1. Is this really the limit?
2. For a work around - I have heard of people replacing shopsite made pages
with ones they create. My question is: how does one address the shopping
cart with out knowing the item number? (ie: Is there a way to get the unique
item number pre publish or some other database field that can be used to
identify what we are trying to add to the cart?)

FWIW I am trying to improve our site, we have 4000+ products and hope to
increase our page count from 200 to 600+ pages while improving the
navigation and look/feel of the site. Being a VB programer I had written up
some helpers for our database to make updating the site easier and mistakes
fewer. Recently I wrote a bit of programming to create templates for most
every page. These contain static html (from shopsites point of view at
least) representing the navigation assignments held in the database. The
navigation of the site is what makes the updates so complex. I am really
trying to create foward and reverse navigation as you move through the
pages.

So you can get a better idea of what I trying to accomplish - Here is a link
to some test pages I put up (no products on them and not everything is
working). Pages that have no dead images are completely static pages created
through my program, pages with dead images are published through shopsite.
You can see my problem by navigating the 3M Automotive Products sub pages.
Notice how the item you click on, say "Cut Off Wheels" you wind up on a page
that says something other than what you would expect. This is the because
both of these page's templates have "10" in their template's name and
template assigned to " 1" to 4" Disc Abrasives, Roloc " happens to be
the first one ShopSite grabs onto.

http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/shop/Manufacturers.html

I realize that ShopSite's creators surely didn't see this use (abuse when
writing the program, but I am still hopefull that there is some good info to
be had here. Any and all ideas to help recreate the site as I had planned
would be appreciated.

Thanks for your time,

David Sheridan
davidsheridan@hotmail.com

[Barney Stone]

David -

You should check out the Stone Edge ECom Assembler
http://www.stoneedge.com/ecomassembler.htm ). The Assembler gives you an
alternative to ShopSite's custom templates and without some of ShopSite's
limitations. It lets you organize your products into a 4-level hierarchy
(Categories, Subcategories, Groups and Individual Products), then creates
static HTML pages for all of the levels that you create. You can assign each
product to any number of those pages. The template system is very powerful,
and includes dozens of custom fields, feature lists, etc. that ShopSite does
not support.

Working together with the Stone Edge Product Manager for ShopSite, the
program "knows" your ShopSite product id's, so it has no problem building
either Order Anywhere tags or Smart Tags for your Buy buttons.

And, as a programmer, you should appreciate the fact that the ECom Assembler
is written in "open" Microsoft Access VBA, so adding new capabilities can be
done quickly and inexpensively.

Please feel free to call or email if you have any questions about the ECom
Assembler or any of our other ShopSite utility programs.

- Barney Stone, President
Stone Edge Technologies, Inc.
www.ShopSiteUtilities.com
215-641-1837



"David Sheridan" <davidsheridan@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:9or0bq$qa3$1@support.shopsite.com...

I have found that ShopSite (We use 4.3 Pro) has a 100 template limit to
the
number of page templates that can be used. It also appears the names must
contain at least 2 digit number (more than 2 and some numbers get
tossed?).
Thinking back to the manual the Numeric name would make sense since you
are
told to assign standard page templates with a number. No mention of custom
page template naming conventions/restrictions was made though

So I have a couple of new questions -
1. Is this really the limit?
2. For a work around - I have heard of people replacing shopsite made
pages
with ones they create. My question is: how does one address the shopping
cart with out knowing the item number? (ie: Is there a way to get the
unique
item number pre publish or some other database field that can be used to
identify what we are trying to add to the cart?)

FWIW I am trying to improve our site, we have 4000+ products and hope to
increase our page count from 200 to 600+ pages while improving the
navigation and look/feel of the site. Being a VB programer I had written
up
some helpers for our database to make updating the site easier and
mistakes
fewer. Recently I wrote a bit of programming to create templates for most
every page. These contain static html (from shopsites point of view at
least) representing the navigation assignments held in the database. The
navigation of the site is what makes the updates so complex. I am really
trying to create foward and reverse navigation as you move through the
pages.

So you can get a better idea of what I trying to accomplish - Here is a
link
to some test pages I put up (no products on them and not everything is
working). Pages that have no dead images are completely static pages
created
through my program, pages with dead images are published through shopsite.
You can see my problem by navigating the 3M Automotive Products sub pages.
Notice how the item you click on, say "Cut Off Wheels" you wind up on a
page
that says something other than what you would expect. This is the because
both of these page's templates have "10" in their template's name and
template assigned to " 1" to 4" Disc Abrasives, Roloc " happens to be
the first one ShopSite grabs onto.

http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/shop/Manufacturers.html

I realize that ShopSite's creators surely didn't see this use (abuse
when
writing the program, but I am still hopefull that there is some good info
to
be had here. Any and all ideas to help recreate the site as I had planned
would be appreciated.

Thanks for your time,

David Sheridan
davidsheridan@hotmail.com

[Don Charley]

Speaking of "pushing the envelope" Barney, you have out done yourself this
time! I cannot believe the changes you have made to the Order Manager. The
online credit card processing feature is wonderful and the continued
development of the product has made my job so much easier, your program
does not cost money it makes money. I don't know how our sites would have
progressed this far without your help and the products that you offer. Thank
you kindly!



Don Charley
President, J&J Health Foods Inc.
http://www.getbigger.com
http://www.getleaner.com
http://www.wobenzymn.com
http://www.getbigger.com/locations.html

"Barney Stone" <Barney@StoneEdge.com> wrote in message
news:9or3kn$qh7$1@support.shopsite.com...

David -

You should check out the Stone Edge ECom Assembler
http://www.stoneedge.com/ecomassembler.htm ). The Assembler gives you an
alternative to ShopSite's custom templates and without some of ShopSite's
limitations. It lets you organize your products into a 4-level hierarchy
(Categories, Subcategories, Groups and Individual Products), then creates
static HTML pages for all of the levels that you create. You can assign
each
product to any number of those pages. The template system is very
powerful,
and includes dozens of custom fields, feature lists, etc. that ShopSite
does
not support.

Working together with the Stone Edge Product Manager for ShopSite, the
program "knows" your ShopSite product id's, so it has no problem building
either Order Anywhere tags or Smart Tags for your Buy buttons.

And, as a programmer, you should appreciate the fact that the ECom
Assembler
is written in "open" Microsoft Access VBA, so adding new capabilities can
be
done quickly and inexpensively.

Please feel free to call or email if you have any questions about the ECom
Assembler or any of our other ShopSite utility programs.

- Barney Stone, President
Stone Edge Technologies, Inc.
www.ShopSiteUtilities.com
215-641-1837



"David Sheridan" <davidsheridan@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:9or0bq$qa3$1@support.shopsite.com...
I have found that ShopSite (We use 4.3 Pro) has a 100 template limit to
the
number of page templates that can be used. It also appears the names
must
contain at least 2 digit number (more than 2 and some numbers get
tossed?).
Thinking back to the manual the Numeric name would make sense since you
are
told to assign standard page templates with a number. No mention of
custom
page template naming conventions/restrictions was made though

So I have a couple of new questions -
1. Is this really the limit?
2. For a work around - I have heard of people replacing shopsite made
pages
with ones they create. My question is: how does one address the shopping
cart with out knowing the item number? (ie: Is there a way to get the
unique
item number pre publish or some other database field that can be used to
identify what we are trying to add to the cart?)

FWIW I am trying to improve our site, we have 4000+ products and hope to
increase our page count from 200 to 600+ pages while improving the
navigation and look/feel of the site. Being a VB programer I had written
up
some helpers for our database to make updating the site easier and
mistakes
fewer. Recently I wrote a bit of programming to create templates for
most
every page. These contain static html (from shopsites point of view at
least) representing the navigation assignments held in the database. The
navigation of the site is what makes the updates so complex. I am really
trying to create foward and reverse navigation as you move through the
pages.

So you can get a better idea of what I trying to accomplish - Here is a
link
to some test pages I put up (no products on them and not everything is
working). Pages that have no dead images are completely static pages
created
through my program, pages with dead images are published through
shopsite.
You can see my problem by navigating the 3M Automotive Products sub
pages.
Notice how the item you click on, say "Cut Off Wheels" you wind up on a
page
that says something other than what you would expect. This is the
because
both of these page's templates have "10" in their template's name and
template assigned to " 1" to 4" Disc Abrasives, Roloc " happens to
be
the first one ShopSite grabs onto.

http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/shop/Manufacturers.html

I realize that ShopSite's creators surely didn't see this use (abuse
when
writing the program, but I am still hopefull that there is some good
info
to
be had here. Any and all ideas to help recreate the site as I had
planned
would be appreciated.

Thanks for your time,

David Sheridan
davidsheridan@hotmail.com

[Switch Hits]

We've praised Barney and Order Manager in generalities, but here is a
specific time saving feature instituted in the latest update of Order
Manager that is so magical it is almost scary.

I hate processing refunds. It goes way beyond just giving the money back.
In the old days, I used to have to go back and forth between either two
screens or two computers to enter all the customers information -- a lot of
cutting and pasting or manually entering data. A process I always dreaded.

Now, in probably less than 2 seconds and a few clicks, I've returned the
stock to my inventory and the customers account has been credited -- done in
a flash. In fact, I don't even have my browser connected, but when I open
up my account in Authorize.Net (and I know it's the same for Verisign also)
the credit is magically there. No more transferring information. No more
adding machines. No more credit card terminals. Just a couple of clicks in
Order Manager to process refunds and replace the stock in the system.

Barney, we love you.

Jimmy Hilburger
www.switchhits.com


"Don Charley" <doncharley@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:9orfqg$rci$1@support.shopsite.com...

Speaking of "pushing the envelope" Barney, you have out done yourself this
time! I cannot believe the changes you have made to the Order Manager. The
online credit card processing feature is wonderful and the continued
development of the product has made my job so much easier, your program
does not cost money it makes money. I don't know how our sites would have
progressed this far without your help and the products that you offer.
Thank
you kindly!



Don Charley
President, J&J Health Foods Inc.
http://www.getbigger.com
http://www.getleaner.com
http://www.wobenzymn.com
http://www.getbigger.com/locations.html

"Barney Stone" <Barney@StoneEdge.com> wrote in message
news:9or3kn$qh7$1@support.shopsite.com...
David -

You should check out the Stone Edge ECom Assembler
http://www.stoneedge.com/ecomassembler.htm ). The Assembler gives you
an
alternative to ShopSite's custom templates and without some of
ShopSite's
limitations. It lets you organize your products into a 4-level hierarchy
(Categories, Subcategories, Groups and Individual Products), then
creates
static HTML pages for all of the levels that you create. You can assign
each
product to any number of those pages. The template system is very
powerful,
and includes dozens of custom fields, feature lists, etc. that ShopSite
does
not support.

Working together with the Stone Edge Product Manager for ShopSite, the
program "knows" your ShopSite product id's, so it has no problem
building
either Order Anywhere tags or Smart Tags for your Buy buttons.

And, as a programmer, you should appreciate the fact that the ECom
Assembler
is written in "open" Microsoft Access VBA, so adding new capabilities
can
be
done quickly and inexpensively.

Please feel free to call or email if you have any questions about the
ECom
Assembler or any of our other ShopSite utility programs.

- Barney Stone, President
Stone Edge Technologies, Inc.
www.ShopSiteUtilities.com
215-641-1837



"David Sheridan" <davidsheridan@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:9or0bq$qa3$1@support.shopsite.com...
I have found that ShopSite (We use 4.3 Pro) has a 100 template limit
to
the
number of page templates that can be used. It also appears the names
must
contain at least 2 digit number (more than 2 and some numbers get
tossed?).
Thinking back to the manual the Numeric name would make sense since
you
are
told to assign standard page templates with a number. No mention of
custom
page template naming conventions/restrictions was made though

So I have a couple of new questions -
1. Is this really the limit?
2. For a work around - I have heard of people replacing shopsite made
pages
with ones they create. My question is: how does one address the
shopping
cart with out knowing the item number? (ie: Is there a way to get the
unique
item number pre publish or some other database field that can be used
to
identify what we are trying to add to the cart?)

FWIW I am trying to improve our site, we have 4000+ products and hope
to
increase our page count from 200 to 600+ pages while improving the
navigation and look/feel of the site. Being a VB programer I had
written
up
some helpers for our database to make updating the site easier and
mistakes
fewer. Recently I wrote a bit of programming to create templates for
most
every page. These contain static html (from shopsites point of view at
least) representing the navigation assignments held in the database.
The
navigation of the site is what makes the updates so complex. I am
really
trying to create foward and reverse navigation as you move through the
pages.

So you can get a better idea of what I trying to accomplish - Here is
a
link
to some test pages I put up (no products on them and not everything is
working). Pages that have no dead images are completely static pages
created
through my program, pages with dead images are published through
shopsite.
You can see my problem by navigating the 3M Automotive Products sub
pages.
Notice how the item you click on, say "Cut Off Wheels" you wind up on
a
page
that says something other than what you would expect. This is the
because
both of these page's templates have "10" in their template's name and
template assigned to " 1" to 4" Disc Abrasives, Roloc " happens to
be
the first one ShopSite grabs onto.

http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/shop/Manufacturers.html

I realize that ShopSite's creators surely didn't see this use (abuse

when
writing the program, but I am still hopefull that there is some good
info
to
be had here. Any and all ideas to help recreate the site as I had
planned
would be appreciated.

Thanks for your time,

David Sheridan
davidsheridan@hotmail.com