Apache/MySQL/PHP

[blondegeek]

I want to start my own webstore, but being a control freak (the kind that got DreamWeaver but still uses scripts everything a lot more than use any of the GUI [if you can call it that] stuff) I really don't want to submit to using a webstore program that only gives me limited options of where I can put things and whether or not I can imbed flash. So I've been doing a bit of research and it looks like Apache, MySQL, and PHP are the way to go for me (open source is so beautiful it makes me cry). SO, what now? I know I have to build a cart (or tweak a free one) and I actually have to have some knowledge of databases but besides that I'm pretty lost.

 

[root]

what exactly are you trying to do?
create your own site thats statis, or create a dynamic site, you say you want a cart, are you trying to build a shop site?

 

[blondegeek]

Well hopefully at the end of all this I'll be able to do all that but I'm specifically interesting in building my own webstore

 

[Grundee]

Do you know PHP, have you setup Apache? Compiled MySQL? Do you own a server?

Also how will you handle credit cards?

 

[root]

OK...
here's the best advice...

Firstly, don't jump right in at the deep end, you can setup a good enough store using plain html and a credit gateway shopping cart application.
for instance, I once made a friends business a shop site using static HTML and the paypal shopping cart, that way, the cart is premade, yet unobtrusive, and you don't have to worry about the security.

another good credit gateway is worldpay,
to put it simply, as a new starter, (and even as a professional) handling credit transactions is a hassle and a burden.
to start with you pretty much have to get an SSL certificate, these are costly, not only that but they are a recurring cost.
secondly you have to worry about data security in terms of you having and holding sensative information, (like credit card details).
thirdly you have to worry about data protection acts and record keepnig... these issues can really bog you down...

More advice,
get a decent, (and helpful) hosting package, this will most likely include mySQL databases, and PHP and apache, although if you're worknig from your own server at home then I'll gladly post help and advice on setting these up.

Anyway...
php is a fairly easy to use language... the first thing that I'd say (advice wise) is sort out exactly what you want the page to look like before you start with the php.

once you have an idea of what your shop pages should look like (product search forms and results pages / catalogue pages/ order forms/ product description pages) then you should start thinking about storing and pulling the dynamic data from the database,
(by dynamic data I mean product descriptions, stock levels, price pictures etc...).

even the most complicated PHP site will be built on simple principals, so perhaps the best thing to suggest is that you maybe try a few test projects first, (like storing and returning simple text strings from a database before you try to go the whole way and build a shop...

I guess that's probably enough to make you think of a few things for now...

 

[benfellowsnz]

Hi,
A lot of people rave abotu PHP/MySQL. At the end of the day its what works for you, so I wouldn't ommit using ASP/IIS. Its still just as good. The only reason PHP/MySQL is so popular is because it is open source, so works well for developers. However, there are alternatvies, which come with ecommerce out of the box.

See HotcakesCMS -ASP Open Source CMS

If you do decide to download it please email for help, no cost... I don't mind helping people in need. I know your (potential) frustration...

 

[blondegeek]

Awesome, that gives me plenty to work with and chew on for a while. I already have started on designing the store part of it all. It seems that that's going to be the much simpler part of things.

I was wondering about the whole SSL thing and am glad you brought that up. Does the SSL certificute deal with just making the page secure or does it have to deal with the transfer of information to the credit card processing company or a combination of this that and other things?

I was also looking into switching my hosting company. My current one (hostway.com) doesn't support anything unless you use their interfaces (they offer an e-commerce solution that won't allow you to change what most of the content of your store looks like). I was looking at Blue Host (bluehost.com) from but would gladly take any suggestions.

Another question that doesn't really follow this topic:
FTP accounts - if someone decided to actually take the time to try and get onto my server through my FTP account it wouldn't be that hard. with an automated password and username cracker and only three names that have to be figured it wouldn't take very long. Is there anyway to make an FTP more secure. I know there is SFTP but from what I've read, that's just in the transfer of files from your computer to the server, not in general access to the account.

Also, (this is more of an opinion question) I want to use flash for my navigation bars for my store. That way, I can have a interactive menu that I only have to change once that can be used for every single page. Every different possible look of the navigation bar is just a different frame of the file and the frame desired for the page is specified in the embed tags in the html. Is it pretty safe to use flash for this kind of stuff? my store is going to be gear toward the more computer literate anyway.

Big thanks to all of you and especially to root. I know I probably should be posting these questions in seperate threads under seperate forum categories, but it's late and finals are this week so please excuse me.

 

[root]

Right...

first I'll tell you about the interactive menu,
since you want it done in flash, you will just be embedding the same menu in each page, so this isn't really a problem, however, if you later found that you'd rather have a html/javascript menu, then you should look up the include function in php...
http://uk2.php.net/manual/en/function.include.php

that way you can just include a menu from one file, and any changes you make to this master file will be reflected across your whole site.

Next FTP
FTP is file transfer protocol, SFTP is Secure File Transfer Protocol, they both offer the same thing, the only difference in that with sftp it'll usually work with some encryption,
but that doesn't make it any more or less hard for a would be hacker to guess your password or brute force the password with hundreds of guesses.

SSH gives you console access, but I don't know if your host offers this.

Now SSL
SSL is secure Socket Layer and refers specifically to encrypting data too and from a server, you can generate your own certificates, (google for openSSL) but these will give your clients an error message about the secure certificate and that won't inspire confidence in your store.
SSL only encrypts data to and from the server nothing else, it's used for sending credit card data and usernames passwords etc simply because it's very secure, it's not a credit gateway or anything like that.

depending on how many transactions you think you'll be processing you may want to consider what I suggested before though, a company like world pay lets people pay with their cards online and does it all securely and hassle free as far as you are concerned.
if you take credit cxard details you then have to take those details to the bank, banks will usually charge you for credit card processing able accounts, this is something you'll have to find out at the bank though.

as I said before though, simply because of the leagal implications around security (i.e transfer security SSL certificates server security backups etc) it might be fore the best to just let someone else deal with that...
also if you head over to verisign where you can buy certificates, you'll see that for one year you have to pay ~$1000 for an SSL certificate, (and you'll be paying that each and every year).

 

[blondegeek]

I just looked again at the features of the host that I want to switch to. It's got the SSH, MySQL databases, PHP support, more free scripts than anyone could possibly use and as far as features relating to e-commerce there's a shared SSL server (the shared part is what I'm wondering about), a couple different carts, and some other stuff that I have no clue what it is:
Open PGP / GPG Encrytion
Free Generated Certificate (certificute for openSSL certificute?)
Password Protected Directories (refering to server access as far as altering the server or just viewing what's on the server?)

I was also looking into one of the shopping carts (Agora) and that particular shopping cart supports the integration of various Payment Gateways such as Authorize.net. WorldPay is just another payment gateway, right?

So if I use the Agora shopping cart and Authorize.net does that pretty much solve most of my problems? (besides tweaking the layout of the shopping cart like mad, because the defualt ain't looking too shnazy, but I've looked at a few different websites who seem to make it look quite nice without changing the basic functions of the cart. it does help that the cart is opensource.) Will the shopping cart deal with the database stuff or will I still have to tell the shopping cart where to put the data? I'm still a little confuzzled about what actually forms the order database.

 

[root]

SSH is secure shell access... you'll use this to physically be able to get to the server and browse through your files as though you were sitting at the computer using a DOS window, (though it's most likely to be a linux server).

if there are some good carts on the host you want to move to then you may as well use them,, there is no sense in making something new if there are perfectly good ones fully available to you!

Shared SSL means that it's be shared between other sites on the same hosting plan, but it's still secure.
PGP is pretty good encryption, and it reffers to emails
password protected directories will help you to secure certain areas of your site, like to restrict folders to only yourself so you can keep some information private.

World pay is just another gateway, all the cart script has to do is keep a track of the expenses and then pass that to the gateway, that's not all that difficult...