CHAPTER 2 Setting Up Your Store

Store Data

The first step in setting up an online store is to enter the basic company information like name and address. Use the Store Data menu to access the data entry form shown below.

Keywords

In the Keywords field, enter all words that you feel describe your store and the products that it sells. Separate the words with a comma. Some Internet search engines index these words to use for searching.

Description

In the Description field, enter in a phrase or short paragraph that describes your store and the products. Some Internet search engines display this description when your site appears their search results.

Store Settings - Basic

From the Store Settings page you can specify global settings for your store. These include localization, inventory, and email settings. The form is broken into four sections: Basic Settings, Email Settings, Merchant Order Notification, and Customer Order Notification. Details for each section are shown below.

Template

If you wish to change the template your store uses, select the new template here. Check the "Update Template" box and the files will be updated when you save the settings.

Warning: Selecting this option will overwrite your current store webpages. If you have customized your webpages, back them up before proceeding.

Date Format

The format you select will be used to display dates wherever they appear in your website (e.g. invoices).

Time Format

The format you select will be used to display times wherever they appear in your website (e.g. invoices).

Weight Unit

The weight unit that you select here will determine how the products in your store will be weighed. This is especially important if you will be calculating shipping fees based on the weight of the merchandise (shipping matrix by weight and UPS OnLine® Tools).

Enable Inventory Management

If you wish to use the inventory management features within AbleCommerce, check this box. Inventory can also be enabled or disabled individually per product, but only if this option is enabled first. If you will not be tracking inventory with AbleCommerce, leave this unchecked to improve overall performance.

Email Settings

From the Store Settings page you can specify email server settings for your store. An explanation of each setting is described below.

Mail Server / Client

None - use if you do not want AbleCommerce to send any email
Local Microsoft SMTP Server / CDONTS - use if you have Microsoft SMTP Server running on the same server that runs AbleCommerce. This mode runs asynchronously, which means that AbleCommerce does not need to wait for response from the SMTP server before it can continue processing.
Remote SMTP Server / Persits AspEmail - use if you want to send mail via a remote SMTP server. This mode is synchronous, which means that AbleCommerce must wait for response from the SMTP server before it can continue processing. If the speed of your SMTP server becomes an issue, you will want either want to use CDONTS or purchase the premium version of AspEmail. Note that the AspEmail free version is included with AbleCommerce, so you do not have to install additional software to use this mode.
Remote SMTP Server / Persits AspEmail Premium w/ Email Agent - This method can also be used to send messages to a remote SMTP server. However, this method has the benefit of running asynchronously, so AbleCommerce performance will not be dependent on the speed of your SMTP server. To use this method you must purchase a license for AspEmail from Persits Software, Inc. (http://www.persits.com). Note, you can also use this mode if you have a valid evaluation copy of Email Agent running.

Remote SMTP Server

Enter the IP address (recommended) or DNS name of the SMTP server you want to use. This setting is only valid if you are using one of the AspEmail methods to send email.

Remote SMTP Port

Enter the port of the SMTP server you want to use. The port setting is almost always 25, so use that value unless you are sure it should be otherwise. This setting is only valid if you are using one of the AspEmail methods to send email.

Merchant Email Address

Enter the address where merchant notifications will be sent. This is also the address that customer notifications will be sent from.

Merchant Order Notification

From the Store Settings page you can specify who should receive email notifications for your new orders. An explanation of each setting is described below.

Send Merchant Notification of New Orders?

If you select Yes to this option, notification of new orders will be sent to the Merchant Email Address set above and the additional address given below. If you select No, notification of new orders will not be sent to any merchant email address.

Additional Notification of New Orders

If you want to receive order notifications at an additional email address, specify it here.

Customer Order Notification

From the Store Settings page you can customize the email notification your customers receive when ordering. An explanation of each setting is described below. The next section of this chapter explains the use of email variables to further enhance your order notifications.

Send Customer Notification of New Orders?

Select "Yes" to send the customer who placed the order a confirmation email. You can configure the subject and body of the email below.

Subject

In this field, enter the subject of the message that will be sent to customers upon submission of their order. You can use special variables to include dynamic information (see below).

Body

In this field, enter the body of the message that will be sent to customers up on submission of their order. You can use special variables to include dynamic information (see below).

If you choose to send an order confirmation to your customers, you can either modify the sample provided in the subject and body of the message or you can use variables to be replaced with dynamic information. To use a variable, type the name enclosed in pound signs. For example, type #ORDERID# to print the ID of the order in the confirmation email. The next section of this chapter explains the use of email variables in detail.

Customizing Order Email Notifications

Merchants can fully customize the customer notification email. It can include plain text, static HTML, and even dynamic information through the use of special variables. In the editor, variables are surrounded by square brackets (e.g. [variable]). The email editor supports two types of variables, simple variables and block variables. Each type is discussed briefly below, followed by a table of all available variables.

Simple Variables

When a simple variable is used in the email text, it is replaced with a single piece of information when the email is sent. An example is shown below.

Merchant Enters:

Dear [CustomerFirstName] [CustomerLastName],

AbleCommerce Sends:

Dear Joe Smith,

Block Variables

Block variables surround a section of code to indicate that it is a single block, meant to be repeated if necessary. Block variables are not replaced with any information. They merely show where a block begins and ends. When the email is sent, block variables are repeated (or "looped") with dynamic information. An example is shown below that demonstrates how a merchant might include an HTML table of items ordered.

Merchant Enters:

<table>

<tr><th>Name</th><th><SKU></th><th>Quantity</th></tr>

[OrderItems]<tr>[Name]</tr><tr>[SKU]</tr><tr>[Quantity]</tr>[/OrderItems]

</table>

AbleCommerce Sends:

<table>

<tr><th>Name</th><th><SKU></th><th>Quantity</th></tr>

<tr>Sample Product A</tr><tr>SPA001</tr><tr>1</tr>

<tr>Sample Product B</tr><tr>SPB002</tr><tr>3</tr>

<tr>Sample Product C</tr><tr>SPC003</tr><tr>5</tr>

</table>

As shown above, block variables can contain simple variables. Within a block, some simple variables will take on new meanings specific to the block they represent. Other variables will be displayed the same way as they would outside of a block.

In addition, some block variables can be nested so that one block is repeated within another. An example of this are the [OrderShipments] and [OrderItems] blocks. When the [OrderItems] block is used outside of the shipments context, it will loop for all items in the order. When it is used within the shipments context, it will only loop for items that were included in that shipment. In the latter case, the [OrderItems] block will be repeated for each shipment as will any other contents of the [OrderShipments] block.

Customer Order Notification Variables

All variables available for the customer order notification are shown below. Note that variable names must be enclosed in square brackets to be used in the email. They are shown in the table without brackets to improve readability. The type column indicates whether the variable is simple or block. The context column indicates the block that contains the variable (if applicable). This is used for variables that are either specific to a block, or have a different meaning when used within it. Finally the description is given which explains what the variable represents.

Two notes on using this table: 1) variables marked with an asterisk can also be used in the email subject. 2) The block variables OrderItems, OrderProducts, OrderShipping, OrderTaxes, and OrderFees are collectively referred to as "OrderItem Blocks" in the context field. These block variables are identical in the variables they support, and only differ on the type of information that is repeated. Additionally, these blocks can all be nested within the OrderShipments block which is why they are listed twice in the table (once for each context).

Variable Name	Type	Context	Description
Username*	Simple		Prints the customer username used to log in to store for future orders.
Password*	Simple		Prints the customer password used to log in to store for future orders.
OrderID*	Simple		Prints the ID of the order submitted.
CustomerID*	Simple		Prints the ID of the customer submitting the order.
BillFirstName*	Simple		Prints the first name of the customer submitting (billed for) the order.
BillLastName*	Simple		Prints the last name of the customer submitting (billed for) the order.
OrderDate*	Simple		Prints the date the order was submitted.
OrderTotal	Simple		Prints the total amount of the order.
OrderProductTotal	Simple		Prints the total price of all products in the order.
OrderShippingTotal	Simple		Prints the total price of all shipping charges for the order.
OrderTaxTotal	Simple		Prints the total taxes paid for the order.
OrderFeeTotal	Simple		Prints the total of all fee items for the order.
OrderWeight	Simple		Prints the total weight of the order.
BillingAddress	Simple		Prints the address of the customer submitting (billed for) the order. The address is formatted according to the rules specified in the regions section of the AbleCommerce store group administration.
OrderShipments	Block		Relates to the shipments within an order. This block is repeated for each shipment.
ShipMethod	Simple	OrderShipments	Prints the name of the shipping method used for the shipment.
Shipment_ID	Simple	OrderShipments	Prints the ID of the shipment.
Provider	Simple	OrderShipments	Prints the shipping provider (e.g. UPS).
ShipMessage	Simple	OrderShipments	Prints the message provided by the customer for the shipment.
ShipFirstName	Simple	OrderShipments	Prints the first name of the person receiving the shipment.
ShipLastName	Simple	OrderShipments	Prints the last name of the person receiving the shipment.
ShippingAddress	Simple	OrderShipments	Prints the address of the person receiving the shipment. The address is formatted according to the rules specified in the regions section of the AbleCommerce store group administration.
ShipmentNumber	Simple	OrderShipments	Prints the number of the shipment within the order (starts at 1).
Warehouse_ID	Simple	OrderShipments	Prints the ID of the warehouse where the shipment originates.
WarehouseName	Simple	OrderShipments	Prints the name of the warehouse where the shipment originates.
WarehouseAddress	Simple	OrderShipments	Prints the address of the warehouse where the shipment originates. The address is formatted according to the rules specified in the regions section of the AbleCommerce store group administration.
ShipmentTotal	Simple	OrderShipments	Prints the total cost of the shipment.
ShipmentProductTotal	Simple	OrderShipments	Prints the total price of all products in the shipment.
ShipmentShippingTotal	Simple	OrderShipments	Prints the total price of all shipping charges for the shipment.
ShipmentTaxTotal	Simple	OrderShipments	Prints the total taxes paid for the shipment.
ShipmentFeeTotal	Simple	OrderShipments	Prints the total of all fee items for the shipment.
ShipmentWeight	Simple	OrderShipments	Prints the total weight of the shipment.
OrderItems	Block		Relates to the items (including products, shipping, taxes, etc.) within an order. This block is repeated for each item in the order.
OrderItems	Block	OrderShipments	Relates to the items (including products, shipping, taxes, etc.) within a shipment. This block is repeated for each item in the current shipment.
OrderProducts	Block		Relates to the products within an order. This block is repeated for each product in the order.
OrderProducts	Block	OrderShipments	Relates to the products within a shipment. This block is repeated for each product in the current shipment.
OrderShipping	Block		Relates to the shipping charges within an order. This block is repeated for each shipping charge in the order.
OrderShipping	Block	OrderShipments	Relates to the shipping charges within a shipment. This block is repeated for each shipping charge in the current shipment.
OrderTaxes	Block		Relates to the taxes within an order. This block is repeated for each tax in the order.
OrderTaxes	Block	OrderShipments	Relates to the taxes within a shipment. This block is repeated for each tax in the current shipment.
OrderFees	Block		Relates to the fee items within an order. This block is repeated for each fee item in the order. Note that fee items are not necessarily negative (e.g. they could be a credit). These are used by custom components and plugins.
OrderFees	Block	OrderShipments	Relates to the fee items within a shipment. This block is repeated for each fee item in the shipment. Note that fee items are not necessarily negative (e.g. they could be a credit). These are used by custom components and plugins.
OrderItem_ID	Simple	OrderItem Blocks	Displays the ID of the order item.
Product_ID	Simple	OrderItem Blocks	Displays the product ID contained in the order item.
Parent_ID	Simple	OrderItem Blocks	Displays the OrderItem_ID of the parent of this order item. This is used to show the relationship between kits and the products they contain. The parent "contains" this order item.
Name	Simple	OrderItem Blocks	Prints the name of the order item.
SKU	Simple	OrderItem Blocks	Prints the SKU of the order item.
Quantity	Simple	OrderItem Blocks	Prints the Quantity of the order item.
UnitPrice	Simple	OrderItem Blocks	Prints the Unit Price of the order item.
UnitWeight	Simple	OrderItem Blocks	Prints the Unit Weight of the order item.
OptionNames	Simple	OrderItem Blocks	Prints the names of any options selected for the item, delimited by a comma.
KitNames	Simple	OrderItem Blocks	Prints the names of any kit products included with the item, delimited by a comma.
ExtPrice	Simple	OrderItem Blocks	Prints the extended price of the item (unit price X quantity)
ExtWeight	Simple	OrderItem Blocks	Prints the extended weight of the item (unit price X quantity)
Shippable	Simple	OrderItem Blocks	Prints whether or not the item is shippable.
Taxable	Simple	OrderItem Blocks	Prints whether or not the item is taxable.
LineMessage	Simple	OrderItem Blocks	Prints the message included for the line item.