Build an Online Store with the Commerce Manager Add-in to Front Page
Published: November 26, 2002
Host Guide_KenM
Welcome to today's TechNet Chat. Our topic is Build an Online Store with the Commerce Manager Add-in to Front Page. Questions, comments, and suggestions are welcome.
Host Guide_KenM
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We're ready to begin taking your questions.
Host Guide_KenM
I am now turning the chat over to Pam_MS and team. :)
Host Guest_Pam_MS
Thanks Ken
Host Guest_Pam_MS
Jeff, Mike, Esther: Please feel free to answer questions at will.
Host Guest_Pam_MS
Welcome, Larry.
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
MrNiceGuy... to build a store using FrontPage and Commerce Manager simply requires that you have an account with Commerce Manager and download the FP E-commerce Add-in (free)
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
After entering your product information into Commerce Manager (think of it as an online inventory depository) the wizard int he Add-in will download that information and generate pages for those products
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
You can edit templates for each different department you create to give your pages a personal look and include specific information fields
Host Guest_Mike_MS
Q: What are the server requirements for Commerce Manager?
Host Guest_Mike_MS
A: Commerce Manager is an online service hosted by bCentral. You need a browser to access the bCentral services. The store front that you create using FrontPage and the Commerce Manager plugin must meet the requirements of FrontPage. Commerce Manager does
Host Guest_Esther_MS
Q: digits007: Is there a step-by-step whitepaper w/screenshotes showing how to add a product page?
Host Guest_Esther_MS
A: digits007: Instructions for using the FrontPage Add-In are available on the download page. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=C9BC29A6-23D6-4DDE-83FA-547366D2561F&displaylang=EN
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
Q: Does Com Mgr have it's own shop cart?
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
A: Yes it does
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
Q: Is it possible to enter product options (such as shirt size) in the UPLOAD.CSV file
Host Guest_Rob_MS
A: digits: This is a quick start guide for commerce manager http://www.bcentral.com/downloads/public/cm/cm_quickstartguide.pdf
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
A: Tim, not at this time. The upload file can include multiple images, but not product options
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
Q: Can you load products and services into the store
Host Guest_Mike_MS
Q: BS : What is the Commerce Manager Add-in? Where can you buy it and how much does it cost?
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
A: Yes, using Commerce Manager you can enter products and regenerate the pages for your FrontPage website using the Add-in
Host Guest_Mike_MS
A: You can download the plug-in here for free. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=C9BC29A6-23D6-4DDE-83FA-547366D2561F&displaylang=EN
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
A: Services can also be entered in the form of products
Host Guest_Esther_MS
Q: How do you edit templates for each different department?
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
Q: Can the shop cart be used with other domains?
Host Guest_Mike_MS
Q: How does SSL fit in to this process?
Host Guest_Mike_MS
A: All of the shopping cart pages use SSL.
Host Guest_Rob_MS
A: existing account will not integrate with bCentral. Accounts need to be provisioned for Commerce Manager specifically
Host Guest_Esther_MS
A: If you are creating an ecommerce site using FrontPage, the templates for department lists are in the catalog_templates folder. Select a file with departmentname_list.htm to open the template.
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
A: The shopping cart pages are hosted from http://ulogin.bcentral.com however Commerce Manager provides links to direct your customers to these pages.
Host Guest_Mike_MS
Q: Ed : can youn integrate the order submit, inventory, order status with a back end system?
Host Guest_Mike_MS
A: Not at this time.
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
Q: How does a site in Commerce Manager compare to a Yahoo store?
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
A: CM allows the merchant to push their products to a variety of marketplaces (eBay, etc) in addition to their web store. Using FrontPage as a website editor allows for more flexibility
Host Guest_Rob_MS
A: BS: Currently the payment options are Paymentech, CSI & paypal
Host Guest_Esther_MS
Q: Does each page have it's own name?
Host Guest_Esther_MS
A: You can view the individual pages that the FrontPage Add-In creates in the Catalog folder. The pages should include your product name. To modify the item pages, go to the catalog_templates folder and open a deptname_detail.htm page.
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
Q: Does the Commerce Manager Add-in use the Database Feature of FP2002? I'm wondering whether the server must have ODBC installed to get it to run?
Host Guest_Rob_MS
A: gl1800: Commerce Manager does not list you in search engines there is another bCentral product Called Submit It! That lists sites on search engines.
Host Guest_Mike_MS
Q: TimBarrett : Ed, I believe Yahoo hosts the pages for you. Commerce Manager houses the content database, and you pull those items into Frontpage (on a site someone else
Hosts).
Host Guest_Mike_MS
A: We host a gallery (an online catalog) of your products on bCentral that your customers can view/order your products from. The FrontPage add-in allows you to create a store front on your website that integrates with your catalog of products on bCentral
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
A: No, the FP Add-in simply pulls the product data down as an XML file and use that file to generate the pages. If you change the product details in Commerce Manager you must rerun the FP Add-in to regenerate your product pages
Host Guest_Rob_MS
A: mailordman : A The cart supports Visa, M/card, Discover and AmEx
Host Guest_Esther_MS
Q: Can the pages created by the Wizard be renamed - more to my naming scheme?
Host Guest_Esther_MS
A: The best way to do this is to update the naming scheme for your departments and products. This is done inside your Commerce Manager account.
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
Q: Is it possible to have products in the catalog that are for information purposes only? For example, an option for a custom-built item (like a guitar) that includes a link to an Adobe PDF order form.
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
A: Yes you can do that, you can also use the Product Options to customize such an item.
Host Guest_Mike_MS
Q: Can I use my own merchant account with the online store?
Host Guest_Mike_MS
A: Yes, but it is a manual process. Meaning that when an order comes through, you will need to runthe credit card through your third party merchant account manually, then go into Commerce Manager and approve the order.
Host Guest_Rob_MS
A: gl1800 : I am not sure how much Yahoo allows you to change your header, Commerce Manager does not specifically address spidering issues.
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
Q: My domain is houseofwright.com, can I tie Com Mgr to it?
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
A: Using the FrontPage Add-in or the Commerce Manager Gallery marketplace you can add Commerce Manager's functionality to your domain
Host Guest_Mike_MS
Q: gl1800 : I am having trouble getting a decent showing with search engines on my yahoo store. Would building my own site with frontpage and having it
Hosted give extra flexibility and increase chances of success?
Host Guest_Mike_MS
A: Absolutely! And you can also sign-up to use SubmitIt (another bCentral tool) to manage search engine submissions and provides guranteed Inktomi submissions.
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
Q: Can products with the same department path be used separately? Currently they are on the same page after the Wizard run.
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
A: The products should appear on a 'list' page taht lists all the products in the department and also have individual pages created for each product. Are you not getting the individual product pages?
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
Q: Can you do search engine for each page or department?
Host Guest_Esther_MS
Q: How can I force customers to use my web site for placing orders - and prevent them from accessing my products through Commerce Manager web site?
Host Guest_Esther_MS
A: One option is to remove the Add to Cart button and View Cart link in the templates in the FP catalog_templates folders. You can replace them with a link to your own order form.
Host Guest_Rob_MS
Q: digits007: Where can I find the template to use in Excel which will allow my products to be imported into CM?
Host Guest_Rob_MS
A: The Add multiple products link
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
A: Currently we do not include search functionality with the FP Add-in (it is for CM's Gallery I believe). However the FP Add-in pages should work with third-party 'search' components
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
Q: My web site is a resturant. I do not have shipping. How can I prevent the shipping page from displaying during checkout?
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
A: There is not way to not display shipping, but you should be able to set it to zero for your purposes
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
Q: Is it possible to turn off sales tax for same-state sales? We wholesale some items to other dealers, and they are tax-exempt.
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
A: Yes, you should be able to goto Settings -> Tax and set the tax rate for your state to 0%
Host Guest_Mike_MS
Q: Is it possible to have products in the catalog that are for information purposes only? For example, an option for a custom-built item (like a guitar) that includes a link to an Adobe PDF order form.
Host Guest_Mike_MS
A: No. But you can add product attributes (such as size, color, etc.) to your order form in Commerce Manager. You can provide up to 30 attributes per product.
Host Guest_Rob_MS
A: digits007 The excel file will have your department structure and a header fields, enter your product name, Sku, price..ect under the corresponding header
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
Q: Rob_MS I saw that link - my question is (Q what column/row format my products need to be in - in Excel?
Host Guest_Rob_MS
digits007 :
Q: Can I add one product - then export it to Excel - to see the format?
A: The products do not download to the .csv file. Just the departments and field structure
Host Guest_Mike_MS
Q: Does CM support Purchase Orders (PO) as a payment method?
Host Guest_Mike_MS
A: You can configure your shopping cart to advertise that you accept cash, money order, and casiers checks. Keep in mind that credit card and PayPal are the only payment options that are automated though. We will consider adding purchase order as an optio
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
A: The file needs to be comma separated for each column and row Excel can save in this format if you specify it when you save the file (though EXcel will of course ask you "are you sure?")
Host Guest_Mike_MS
Q: Firebird: If I use the 30 day test, can I then switch to the yearly plan?
Host Guest_Mike_MS
A: YES
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
Q: What happens if you enter "0" as your item price? Does it get added to the cart for free, or is it impossible to add it?
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
A: Yes, you should be able to have a product with a zero price and have it added to the shopping cart
Host Guest_Pam_MS
Just to let you know, this chat will be ending in 7 minutes. Please post your final questions so that the Hosts will have time to respond.
Host Guest_Esther_MS
A: digits007, are you concerned that your customers are going through the CM shopping cart? Instead of a different order form?
Host Guest_Mike_MS
Q: mailordman : My domain is houseofwright.com, can I tie Com Mgr to it?
Host Guest_Mike_MS
A: You can copy the 'add to cart' links to your site. In the product pages of Commerce Manager, we provide you with direct links to each of your products to use on custom web pages. Or you can also use the FrontPage add-in to create your custom shopping pages.
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
Q: Can you customize the look of the "tunne;" (checkout process) to match the theme of your FrontPage site, or is it a look determined by bCentral only?
Host Guest_Jeff_MS
A: Yes you can match the Shopping Cart theme to you FrontPage theme by going to Settings -> Shopping Carts -> FrontPage in Commerce Manager
Host Guest_Esther_MS
Q: I know that the products can be viewed and purchased without a web site - however, I want the website to be the portal to the products.
Host Guest_Esther_MS
A: If you have your own website, perhaps on created using FrontPage, you can add links from your portal site to specific CM department or product pages. To help users navigate back to your portal site, you can include a link inside the header of your CM shopping cart.
Host Guest_Mike_MS
Q: mailordman: Can you do search engine for each page or department
Host Guest_Mike_MS
A: You're required to select at least one shipping method. One suggestion is to create a custom shipping method called Email, or Web, or something like that. You can configure it so that it is free.
Host Guest_Mike_MS
Meant to answer this question: digits007 : My web site is a resturant. I do not have shipping.
Q: How can I prevent the shipping page from displaying during checkout?
Host Guest_Rob_MS
A: Brian currently Commerce Manager only supports USD.
Host Guest_Pam_MS
Thank you so much for joining us today. If you'd like a transcript of this chat, one will be posted on Technet in the next few days under FrontPage Chat transcripts.
Host Guest_Pam_MS
If you'd like more information on the FrontPage Community, check out http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/
Host Guest_Pam_MS
Thank you for joining us today, and a special thanks to our
Hosts from bCentral! Check out http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness for more information.
Host Guest_Esther_MS
Q: The product pages have links to 'catalog' and 'view' on them - can these links be removed?
Host Guest_Esther_MS
A: Yes, digit007. You can remove them from the pages in the catalog_templates folder.
Host Guide_KenM
Thank you Pam and Team!