Digital Good Store Manual

Table of Contents

Welcome
Requirements
Installation
Configuration
Setting Up The Store
Product Administration
Customer Administration
Editing Template
Error Log
Frequently Asked Questions

Requirements

The Digital Goods Store (DGS) has a very modest set of requirements.

It will run on any web server that supports PHP, such as Microsoft IIS on Windows or Apache on Unix/Linux.. It requires PHP version 4 or above.
In order to receive payments you will need a PayPal account.

The Digital Good store is viewable on all modern browsers. It has no client side scripting and will work even on computers with restrictive security settings.

Installation

If you prefer we can install the script for you, just send us your FTP details using the contact form.

In order to use the Digital Good Store you need to be familiar with unzipping files, editing text files and uploading files to your web server.

Step 1.

Following purchase of the script extract the contents of the ZIP file to somewhere on your local machine, making sure you remember where you put them.

Step 2.

Upload the files in the "store" directory to your web server where it is visible. (e.g. so it can be accessed from http://www.yoursite.com/store/)

Step 3.

The files in the "db" directory need to be uploaded so they are not accessible over the internet (yet still on your web server). Ensure these are under the root of the website. If you place them one directory below that of the store then set up will be easier.

If running on a unix server all files should be (CMOD 666).

This completes the installation of the Digital Good Store onto your website. You now need to configure it.

Configuration

To configure the Digital Goods Store, simply point your browser to your location on your websever where you uploaded the store and follow the prompts. Before you can continue with the configuration, the location of the DB folder must be set. If you put it in the location described above then this process should be automatic.

Setting up the Store

To complete installation login to the admin area which will be at http://www.yoursite.com/store/admin/

The password is "digitalgoods" by default.

Once logged in select the "Edit Config" option from the navigation menu.

The store may not look correct as the style sheet cannot be found. Therefore it's a good idea to set the store URL first.

Enter the URL of your store, for example http://www.yourstore.com/store/ in the first box on the page. Don't forget the trailing slash. You should be able to copy and paste this from the address bar in your browser. It is recommended that you press save straight away and refresh the page. If you typed in the correct value, the page should now look a lot nicer.

You should now set up the admin password. Enter the the new password in the box provided and tick the "Reset Password" box.

You should now add in all the remaining details to the the "Edit Config" page following the instructions above each field.

The next step is to enter your PayPal details, visit the PayPal config page to do this.

Product Administration

From the admin area, click on "Product Admin" to access.

Here you can see all currently listed products and the information about them. For each product you can see its name and price. You can also see whether the product is disabled (whether it shows up in the store), whether the file for the product exists (you should be careful about enabling products for which the file doesn't exist) and whether a preview for the file exists. All of these features can be edited by clicking on the update button. You can also delete products using the "delete" button but beware that this is non reversible. If you think you may want to re-add the products at a later point then it is better to just disable them.

To add new products click on "Add new Product". Enter all the relevant details and click "Add" . The product will now be listed on the main web site.

Customer Administration

For customers to purchase products from your site they must first register. They are offered the opportunity to register their details when they make their first purchase. These details are stored enabling them to return and logging in to the site to check their past purchases.

By clicking on "Customer Admin" from the admin area you will be able to see a list of all customers who have registered for your site. From here you can see what products they have purchased. Customers can manually be added by clicking on "Add new customer".

Editing Templates

From the admin area, click on "Edit Templates " to access.

This page allows you to change how the page is displayed. There are four sections that can be edited:

• Store Header
• Store Footer
• Home Page
• Product Page

For all these pages it is recommended that you edit the text which is already present rather than diving in and doing your own stuff. These templates require HTML code to be entered, though there are some shortcuts you can use. As shown at the top of the page, you can put certain keywords between square brackets. This allows common objects to be easily added. If you are unfamiliar with HTML then a good place to start is here.

An example of editing the Header:
Here is an example of adding a link to the menu bar on the left. To do this you need insert a line above "</td><td class="main_cell">". Make sure you don't delete this last line. To add a link to your main site add the line in bold:

[store_search]<br />[currency_options]
<a href="http://www.yourdomain.com">Main Site</a>
</td><td class="main_cell">:

Error Log

From the admin area, click on "Error Log " to access.

This page shows any errors that the script has encountered. This can be a useful function when setting up the site to reveal any problems.

Frequently Asked Questions

When setting up the script I get an error "Database directory does not exist or match $DB_DIR "

This error occurs when the script cannot find the database files. Adjust the database directory variable in setup_variables.php .

How can I customise the design?

Use the tools in the Edit Templates area, or edit the stylesheet. Please try not to edit the PHP files, as these may be replaced when an update is released.

I am getting errors when accessing the site about files not readable or writable.

If you are running unix (this problem shouldn't occur on windows) ensure that all the files within the db folder have the correct permissions (CHMOD 666). See your FTP program documentation for how to CHMOD a file.

What is the password for the admin area?

The password is "digitalgoods" by default.

How do I access the admin area?

Go to http://www.yoursite.com/yourstore/admin

How do I change the way my site looks?

Look at the section entitled "Template Editing" in this document.