Hello E-commerce folks

[Bubzeebub]

How did you guys manage to set up your shopping cart? Did you do it yourself or have someone else do it? Also, what is/was the hardest part of getting your website up to speed?

[Essex_boy]

I did it myself wrote teh HTML and integrated teh cart - not very difficult the hard part was tweaking it for the SE's.

Its a lot of work in future Ill use a dynamic site that generates static HTML

[Bubzeebub]

I'm finding the shopping cart integration to be the hardest part of it all. Do web hosting companies usually provide the support for installing the shopping cart?

[mt_biker]

Most web hosting companies will not (necessarly)support shopping cart installation. There are many shopping carts and hosting companies can't be expected to know how to deal with them all. Installation support would normally be provided by whoever wrote the shopping cart, perhaps even helping your web host.

When it comes to hosting an ecommerce site with shopping cart I find it best to find a host who can handle (or will agree to work with) the shopping cart software you want to use. Some will not be able to do this as shopping carts can put a strain on servers.

IOW, first pick the shopping cart software you want to use then find a host that can deal with it (while not necessarily providing support for the shopping cart per se).

[Bubzeebub]

so what do most people do? I would imagine that quite a few people run into issues with the shopping cart install with no where to turn.

[Bubzeebub]

so what do most people do? I would imagine that quite a few people run into issues with the shopping cart install with no where to turn.

[palmpal]

Hello,

I set up a Mal's Shopping Cart on my website. At first it was harder to understand but I kept plugging along until I figured it out. They have Help Screens and a forum where user's help each other. Good Luck!

[Essex_boy]

I used Mals to its a bit tricky at first but after dead easy to set up.

[mt_biker]

I use Miva and they provide online manuals for installation. But I've never had to do an installation myself. I've always used hosts that specialized in or were at least familiar with Miva and how to install it.

[Rogerg]

I looked around and thought about doing it myself - then I used a company called HYVE who seem to have a lot of knowledge on this one and produced a great package for me something that going forwards I can now manage myself without additional cost - would deffo reccomend.

check them out at hyve.com

[mboydnv]

i'm gonna attempt to farm it out to India via elance.com, unless someone else knows a better alternative?

[raywood]

I've done three of my own. I tried Miva, and didn't like it. Haven't tried any other software packages. I wrote my code to fit right in with the functionality and look of my sites, and to interface to my own database structure.

If you want to farm the job out I think it is critical to have a detailed definition up front. If you go through e-lance, you'll probably get bids from lots of people who have done carts before, that they can just modify for your needs. Make sure you define the functionality you want in detail.

[duckhunter]

At first it was harder to understand but I kept plugging along until I figured it out.

That's the spirit.