OSCommerce. PHP and FrontPage

  • Thread starter Chris Leeds, MVP-FrontPage
  • Start date
C

Chris Leeds, MVP-FrontPage

you absolutely can work with php code in FrontPage and there's no reason at
all to bang you head against a wall. ;-)

Would you be doing a lot of development of the oscommerce software or
basically just making it look like the rest of the site?

Do you intend to use any FrontPage components in the php pages? components
like; navigation bars, include page, forms, etc?

I've found a number of ways to make it much less painful, and surprisingly
pleasant, to work with php in FrontPage see my app below. ;-)

Also, what version of FrontPage do you have?

--
Chris Leeds,
Microsoft MVP-FrontPage

Make More Money With Less Work
AND Blow Your Clients Minds!
http://contentseed.com/
 
D

Deborah

Hi Everyone,
I've been researching OSCommerce as a cart option for
current and future clients.
Some of my clients sites are built with StoreFront, but I've been
getting a lot of requests for OSCommerce and I use one of the
affiliated CCard processors, so in that respect I know the support
is great.

I found an app PHP Rocket that seems to make using PHP
with FrontPage a little more tolerable..anyone using or used this?
http://www.totalpconline.com/phprocketaddin/?page=main.html

Is there anyway to use OSCommerce with FrontPage? Is it possible
and if so, does it require banging my head against my monitor in
frustration level? Wanna know so I can get my hemet on ;-)

Any help is greatly appreciated, Thanks! Debb
 
D

Deborah

Hi Chris thanks for the speedy and informative reply :-D

I'm using FrontPage2K but will be upgrading my software.
For now, I'm still satisfied with 2k, but would like to know of
any conflict with an upgrade, or if there is need to reconfig
something when upgrading FP.

I'd like to do both, have some sites be basic template and others
be fully designed according to the clients spec's and some sites
being highly creative, such as photography sites.

I read about the changes that can be made in the FP Tools
etc and found the below article nice and straightforward
http://www.webworkshop.org/frontpage/working_with_php.htm
but other articles I've read..seem daunting.

The FrontPage components, I generally try to use NotePad for
say javascripting and import my completed work, or I use
a third party AddOn for some navigation components.

I checked out your APP :-D All my clients (almost ;-) ) want to edit
their own sites and usually what I do is install all needed software and
train them for a fee, or I'm still maintaining the site for a fee. With
OSC, it's free and it's everything I or the clients requesting it would
need to manage their own web based environments. Add your app
to the mix :) Many of my clients can't afford the inital shopping cart
fee's licenses, then the processing fee's (which I may now offer at a decent
price) hosting, etc. So I've affiliated myself with a few companies and
would like to start the OSC offering.

Thanks again Chris. Debb
 
C

Chris Leeds, MVP-FrontPage

Inline:

--
Chris Leeds,
Microsoft MVP-FrontPage

Make More Money With Less Work
AND Blow Your Clients Minds!
http://contentseed.com/
--
Deborah said:
Hi Chris thanks for the speedy and informative reply :-D

I'm using FrontPage2K but will be upgrading my software.
For now, I'm still satisfied with 2k, but would like to know of
any conflict with an upgrade, or if there is need to reconfig
something when upgrading FP.

I've had better success easier with frontpage 2003. before that I used fp
02.
2003 has better rendering of asp tags <? ?> in "design view" and it's a lot
nicer with "split view" which previous editions lacked.
IMHO it's well worth the upgrade.
I'd like to do both, have some sites be basic template and others
be fully designed according to the clients spec's and some sites
being highly creative, such as photography sites.

No sweat on either account. do a quick google for vincent van gallery or
vvg, they're a mod on the os comerce shopping cart specifically for
pictures.
I read about the changes that can be made in the FP Tools
etc and found the below article nice and straightforward
http://www.webworkshop.org/frontpage/working_with_php.htm
but other articles I've read..seem daunting.

That's a good trick, I use it myself in certain instances "surrounding the
php code with the <script> tag instead of the <? ?>.
It's much easier in frontpage 2003, all you've got to do is set php to open
as html (so you've got design view). You generally don't need to do the
script tag conversion and it'd be a little tedious on an entire package like
OS comerce.
The FrontPage components, I generally try to use NotePad for
say javascripting and import my completed work, or I use
a third party AddOn for some navigation components.

The reason I was asking was that I found a good way to get frontpage to
behave normally, ie allow navigation bars and other components is just leave
the file extension .htm/.html and set the server to process php code on it
anyway. it may seem a little much but it's really easy and works great.
this technique would be best suited if you wanted to add PHP functionality
to an existing web where the pages are .htm/.html and contain frontpage
components or need to interact fully with a frontpage dependant site.
there's a PDF i recently did on how to do this on a server. it's written
for the host really but the instructions are simple:
http://contentseed.com/help/files/PHP_as_HTM-HTML.pdf

I checked out your APP :-D All my clients (almost ;-) ) want to edit
their own sites and usually what I do is install all needed software and
train them for a fee, or I'm still maintaining the site for a fee. With
OSC, it's free and it's everything I or the clients requesting it would
need to manage their own web based environments. Add your app
to the mix :)

That's the idea. someone could buy a template, smack a "seed" into each
page the client needs, publish it to the web and just let the client put in
their content. there's even a "paste from word" button to clean up their
text.

Many of my clients can't afford the inital shopping cart
fee's licenses, then the processing fee's (which I may now offer at a decent
price) hosting, etc.

If you want to offer hosting check out a friend's site: http://arendkay.net
his "reseller" prices are great and he's a 100% stand-up guy.

So I've affiliated myself with a few companies and
would like to start the OSC offering.

I think it's a good Idea. The more you offer the better off you'll be. If
you find that you're more comfortable working with .asp check out
www.candypress.com I've done a number of carts with it and it's easy to work
with. i found it to be very "blendable" with the rest of the site. my site
uses one (for experimentation mostly) http://nedp.net/services and i think
it's blended pretty well.

Thanks again Chris. Debb

No problem Debb, Feel free to download one of the contentseed apps and try
your luck with it! I'll be glad to help you with any of the "finepoints".
 
D

Deborah

Thanks so much Chris, I'm going to take the plunge
and upgrade my software as it totally makes sense
to me that a FP upgrade will handle php with a little
more finesse.

You've given me valuable info and I think your enthusiasm
is contagious..lol I'm looking forward to getting started!

Thanks again Chris, I'll be trying contentseed, the more I look at it
the more I like it..lol
Take Care..Debb
 
C

Chris Leeds, MVP-FrontPage

That's great Deborah,
there's a help and contact page on my site so feel free to use them.

btw, IMHO the thing FrontPage resists most about PHP is simply the extension
(.php) which is little reason not to use php in conjunction with FrontPage
(since there's a workaround).

--
Chris Leeds,
Microsoft MVP-FrontPage

Make More Money With Less Work
AND Blow Your Clients Minds!
http://contentseed.com/
--
 

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