SiteGround Tutorials

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osCommerce Tutorial

Don't have an osCommerce site yet?
Get osCom installed for free with the eCommerce hosting pack!

osCommerce is a free, open source online shop software. The default installation includes a large number of features that you can easily enable and configure. With SiteGround hosting you can use all osCommerce features.

Advantages of the osCommerce shopping cart:

• Easy installation of osCommerce;
• Unlimited number of items;
• Unlimited number of categories;
• Multiple Languages;
• Custom Currencies;
• Custom taxes and shipping modules;
• Optional secure shop (requires usage of SSL certificate);
• Multiple payment gateways to choose from, additional modules available for download;
• 'Best selling items' category;
• Ability to add Search engine friendly (SEF) URL's;
• Option to backup and upgrade the osCom system;
• and much more...

SiteGround offers hosting for trouble-free running osCommerce shops and SSL certificates for securing the purchases. Our Support Team has gained experience in securing and troubleshooting osCommerce. We are ready to assist you by installing your shop, setting up the security certificate and making sure it runs smoothly!

 

We have also prepared the following video tutorials for osCommerce:

Add payment module	Backup database	Install osCommerce	Send email
Add product	Change tax rates	Manage banners	Setup promotion
Add product category	Configure currency	Manage customers
Add shipping module	Configure store	Product attributes

 

osCommerce Installation

Get a FREE osCommerce installation with the eCommerce hosting pack!

To start your online store, you will can install osCommerce shopping cart through the Fantastico Script Autoinstaller. Fantastico is located at the bottom of your  cPanel menus.

How to install osCommerce?

Once logged into Fantastico, look for the osCommerce link in the left menu and click on it. A short description will appear in the right part of the screen. Follow the New Installation link to start the setup of your shop.

Select the domain name that you wish the shop to be attached to. In the box below type in the folder you would like to have the store in - you can select a name to your preference (e.g. 'shop', 'store', 'catalog', etc.). Then fill in the administrator username and password, the name of the shop and its owner and the contact e-mail address. Unless you have an SSL certificate already purchased and set up, please leave the Use SSL option to No. The last six options are to your preference.

Click the [Install OS Commerce] button to proceed to the next step.

On the next page you will be asked to confirm the details you have entered. Click on the [Finish installation] button to go to the next step.

The third page displays confirmation that the setup and the configuration have been successful. The installation requires one last click on [Click here to protect the administration area] in order to be completed.

On the final page, you will see the addresses of the store and the administrator's panel. Add these to your bookmarks, as you will visit the two addresses often.

 

Manual installation of osCommerce

Get a FREE osCommerce installation with SiteGround osCommerce hosting services

To install OsCommerce on your hosting account manually, you should first of all download the OsCommerce files archive on your hard drive. You can download the osCommerce files here.

Upload the osCommerce file on your hosting account

Once you have downloaded the release you would like to use, you can upload it to your hosting account using an FTP client or the File Manager tool under your Cpanel. More detailed information how exactly you can do that can be found here:

• How to upload your website with FTP?
• How to upload your website with Cpanel -> File Manager?

As soon as the upload of the file is completed, you can unpack it using the File Manager tool. In order to do that, you should access the File Manager from your cPanel, find the osCommerce package, click on it and extract it using the [Extract File Contents] button.

Creating a Database and Adding a User to It

You can create a MySQL database and add a username to it through the cPanel -> phpMyAdmin tool. More information on how to do this can be found at the: How to create MySQL database and user tutorial.

OsCommerce Web Installation

To start the installation, you should go to yourdomain.com/shop (for the purposes of this tutorial, we will assume that /shop is the folder of your osCommerce installation) and click on [Continue].

Then you should fill in the Database information:

Database Server: localhost
Username: youruser_osc
Password: your password
Database Name: youruser_osc

and click on [Continue] again.

The next page shows the Web Server settings. In most cases you won't have to change anything here because the installation detects them automatically.

Again, to proceed to the next step you should click on [Continue].

Then the OsCommerce installation will prompt you to enter the shop info, as well as the administrator username and password.

After you fill in the details, don't forget to click on the [Continue] button to proceed to the last page.

Finally there are two more steps that you should make to complete the installation.

1. Rename the /install folder or delete it, using the File Manager or FTP.
2. Change the permissions of the files /includes/configure.php and /admin/includes/configure.php to 444 using the File Manager.

 

osCommerce Templates

Don't have an osCommerce site yet?
Get osCom installed for free with the eCommerce hosting pack!

Installing an osCommerce template is not an easy task. osCommerce does not support a template installer option, as Joomla CMS or phpBB forum do, for instance. Installing a new template for osCommerce is actually a new installation of the osCommerce files. (Please, note that the installation of the template will not affect your database, which means you will not lose your data and products)

Where to find osCommerce templates?

Here you can find 3 very popular sites for osCommerce templates. The template prices vary from $100 to $200/template.

• osCommerce templates from TemplateMonster.com
• osCommerce templates from WebsiteTemplateDesign.com
• osCommerce templates and CREloaded templates from AlgoZone.com

 

Configuring osCommerce

Let's start customizing your osCommerce. The first thing to do is check the settings of the shop. To do that, please login to your store administration area, using the bookmarked address and the login credentials you provided upon installation. To edit store settings, please start by clicking the [Configuration] link in the left menu.

On the new page you will see a list of chapters (My Store, Minimum Values, etc.). In the middle of the screen chapter details are listed. In order to change a setting please select a row and it will be highlighted. An [Edit] button will appear in the right column.

Click that to be able to edit the details. When you type in the correct details, please use the [Update] button to apply your changes.

When you are done with all the applicable details in a section, you can proceed with the next section by selecting it from the leftmost column and updating the details the very same way.

 

Customizing osCommerce Catalog

The next step is to add categories that will contain the products you will be selling in your store. To do that, please select the [Catalog] icon from the administration index page. You will be taken to a page where the three default categories are being displayed. You will be able to edit or delete an existing category, or add a brand new one after clicking the respective button.

After clicking the [New category] button the page will refresh and a box for the new category name will appear in the rightmost column.

Since osCommerce is a multi-language shopping cart, you will be able to add category names for German and Spanish as well as for the default English name. Please note that these are only optional and you may leave them blank. You can also select an image to represent the specific category (images are also optional and you can ignore warnings for a missing image). It can be uploaded from your local computer. The last thing to do before clicking the [Save] button is to select the order number for the category. The lower the number - the higher in the list will your new category appear (zero will represent the top of the list).

Next you should add a product to your new catogory. To do this, please click on [New Product].

First off, select whether you have the product in stock or not. Next, select the availability date and the manufacturer. Type in the name of the product on the languages you have installed and decide whether the item is taxable or not; select the Net and the Gross price.

Enter the product description in the language fields, the quantity of the product and its model. Images can also be uploaded from your local computer - osCommerce automatically creates a thumbnail. If you are linking to an external product page, please enter the address without the http:// part for the specific languages. Last thing to add is the product weight, since this will help in determining the shipping costs. When done, hit the [Preview] button to see the result.

Then scroll down to the bottom of the previewing page and select one of the three buttons ([Back] to continue editing, [Insert] to confirm product creation and [Cancel] to drop the new entry). If you have not uploaded an image, you can disregard the warning for no uploaded file.

When you insert the product, you will be taken to the category/product list. If you wish to move the product in a parenting directory, select the desired category from the dropdown list and click the [Move] button in the rightmost column.

You will be able to see the new addition at the top of your product list when you visit the store. The new item will also increase the count of items in a category.

 

Payment Modules

Don't have an osCommerce site yet?
Get osCom installed for free with the eCommerce hosting pack!

Next step is to set up payment handling. For this to happen, you will need a merchant account with a payment processor, e.g. PayPal, Authorize.net or 2CheckOut.com. If you already have one, please locate the Payment link under the Modules icon in the administration index page of your osCommerce and click it.

A list of payment options will appear. These are all included in the default osCommerce, but you need to install a module in order to be able to receive payments.

The installation process is very easy. Simply select the vendor you have an account with and click the [Install] button.

When the installation is complete, you will notice that the symbol 0 appears on the row. In the rightmost column two buttons will appear: [Remove] and [Edit].

Clicking the [Edit] button will allow you to insert your merchant account details, set your preference for e-mail notifications, etc.

There are two important choices that have to be made: one is the Transaction Mode and the other one is Sort order of display.

The Test transaction mode can be used for checking whether the payment links are correct or when your store is offline. It is important to switch to Production mode once your store goes live.

Transaction Mode to Production

Sort order of display refers to the payment handler preference: the lower the number - the higher the preference for the particular module, with 0 representing top choice. When done click the [Update] button to save your changes.

Sort order of display - the lower the number - the higher the preference

 

Payment Modules

OsCommerce works with WorldPay payment gateway. The connection between them is being done with the Gary Burton's module Worldpay v4.0 - 1.8, which can be downloaded here.

In order to install the module, you first have to have a WorldPay merchant account.

1. Edit the filenames.php file from the cPanel of your account:

Go to File Manager in your cPanel and find the folder where you have installed the osCommerce.

Then click on the folder includes and look for the file called filenames.php.

Edit the file and somewhere between the

tags put the following line:

Do not forget to save the file after you have completed the change.

2. Log into the WorldPay Admin area:

Find the option called Set callback URL and enter the following:

-- In case that you are using SSL for the checkout procedure:

-- In case that you are NOT using SSL for the checkout procedure:

Check if the following parameters are set correctly:

--Callback Enabled: make sure it is ticked on

--Use callback response: make sure it is ticked on

They are ticked in case that they are enabled.

--Callback suspended: make sure this option is unchecked- this automatically selects if callback fails.

--Do not use callback passwords - it is not enabled!

3. Unzip the .zip archive of the module and upload it via FTP into your OsCommerce directory.

Overwrite certain files when you are asked to do it.

4. Go to the OsCommerce admin panel and activate the WorldPay payment type.

Click the red button next to it. You will be asked to enter your Worldpay ID and the mode:

--100 is for test mode

--0 is for live mode

 

Currencies and Languages Setup

With osCommerce you can also set up the sales taxes for certain regions of countries or states. That can be done in the Locations / Taxes section of the administrative interface.

To change the languages and currencies, you will need to visit the Localization section.

Currencies in osCommerce

The currencies that are included in the standard installation will be listed, with US Dollar being the default one.

You can define other currencies as well, according to your preference. Please note that in case you are having more than one currency, you will need to specify values for the additional ones, relative to the default one (the default currency value should become 1, and all other have values relative to it in order to have the prices calculated correctly).

Languages in osCommerce

New languages can be downloaded from the address below:

http://www.oscommerce.com/community/contributions/category,7

The language packs include instructions on how to set up the new language.

 

Creating Special Items

Setting up special prices (discounts, etc.) is easy with osCommerce. To create up a special item, you should login to your osCommerce admin area, go to Catalog and select the Specials link in the leftmost column. Then click the [New Product] button under the special products list.

You will be prompted to select an item and create a special price for it. You should also enter an expiration date - this determines until what day the discount will be active.

After you have filled in the details, you should click the [Insert] button. The new special item will immediately be included in the list.

 

Search engine friendly URLs

To enable SEF functionality in your osCommerce, you need to install a SEF contribution. There are several SEF contributions for osCommerce, but in this tutorial we'll focus on installing (probably the best) one - Ultimate SEO URLs. You can download Ultimate SEF contribution here.

After downloading the .zip archive on your local computer, please extract it in a directory of your choice.

Please make sure you backup up your files and database before installing the contribution. Find more information on how to backup your files and database here.

Then you should upload the files from the catalog folder to your osCommerce directory, overwriting the existing files. Please note that if your shop is highly modified, overwriting the existing files may break your osCommerce installation.

After that you should modify the .htaccess file, changing catalog in this line:

RewriteBase /catalog/

to the folder of your osCommerce.

Then, in the admin/includes/languages/english/categories.php file, before the final ?> you should add:

define('TEXT_PRODUCTS_SEO_URL', 'Products SEO URL:');
define('TEXT_EDIT_CATEGORIES_SEO_URL', 'Category SEO URL:');
define('TEXT_CATEGORIES_SEO_URL', 'Category SEO URL:');

The last step is updating your database. Please go to your cPanel -> MySQL Databases -> phpMyAdmin. Once there, select your osCommerce database from the drop-down menu on the left, click on SQL and in the blank field paste these SQL queries:

ALTER TABLE 'categories_description' ADD 'categories_seo_url' VARCHAR( 100 ) NOT NULL ;
ALTER TABLE 'products_description' ADD 'products_seo_url' VARCHAR( 100 ) NOT NULL;

Then click on [Go] and the queries will be executed.

Now you should login to your osCommerce admin area. Under Configuration you will have a new setting - SEO URLs. Click on it to configure your newly installed SEF contribution:

 

osCommerce Backup

First, you need to know of what does your store consist and what should be backed up and restored. Usually sites are composed of files and databases. You should take care of them all if you want to have your site exactly the way it has been before.

How to Backup/restore your osCommerce files?

To back up the osCommerce files to your computer please, use an FTP client to connect to your account. Then navigate to your osCommerce application folder and download it to your local computer. Here you can learn more about how to configure and use an FTP client.

How to export/backup your osCommerce database?

To export/backup your database please check the How to backup/restore MySQL database tutorial.

For more information on that matter you can refer to our  How to create a backup of your site and restore it tutorial.

 

osCommerce Upgrade

 

Fantastico Upgrade:

The Fantastico upgrade procedure is quite straight forward. All you need to do is login to cPanel -> Fantastico -> OS Commerce and click the Upgrade link. However, please note that besides Fantastico performs automatic backup it might get corrupted if the size of your website is too big. Thus, it is best to manually create backups of your OS Commerce installation prior to attempting the upgrade. Please note also that the automatic backup is only possible for the most recent OS Commerce versions after 2.2 RC1. For previous versions you should refer to the manual upgrade instructions.

To back up the osCommerce files to your computer please, use an FTP client to connect to your account. Then navigate to your osCommerce application folder and download it to your local computer. Here you can learn more about how to configure and use an FTP client.

To export/backup your database please check the how to backup/restore MySQL database tutorial.

Here you can find more information how to create a backup of your site and restore it.

 

Manual Upgrade:

The latest osCommerce versions include specific upgrade instructions in the „upgrade.html“ file for the installation package. Unfortunately the procedure varies depending on the current  version of OS Commerce you are running and different steps have to be accomplished. We strongly recommend to create a backup of your website before you initiate the upgrade procedure.