CS-Cart Manual

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Shopping cart software v. 1.3.5 User Manual Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.2007 Page 2 of 5 Table of contents 1. Welcome to CS-Cart shopping cart software . . . . . . . . 5
2. Introducing CS-Cart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2.1 What Is CS-Cart? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2 Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3. Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 3.1 Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.2 Installing CS-Cart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 3.2.1 License Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.2.2 Checking Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.2.3 Host And Database Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.2.4 Installing Database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.2.5 Shop Outlook Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.2.6 Installing Skins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.2.7 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 4. CS-Cart Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 4.1 Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 4.1.1 Storefront interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.1.2 Administrator area interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 5. Administration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 5.1 Orders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 5.1.1 View orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
5.1.2 New orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.1.3 Incomplete orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.1.4 Create order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.1.5 Sales reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5.1.6 Order statuses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
5.1.7 Return requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
5.1.8 Gift certificates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 5.2 Catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 5.2.1 Manage categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
5.2.2 Add new category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
5.2.3 Bulk category addition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
5.2.4 Manage products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
5.2.5 Add new product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
5.2.6 Bulk product addition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.2007 Page 3 of 5 5.2.7 Product features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
5.2.8 Global options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
5.2.9 Product configurator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
5.2.10 Manufacturers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
5.2.11 Discounts and coupons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
5.2.12 Promotions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
5.2.13 Reward points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 5.3 Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 5.3.1 All Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
5.3.2 Administrators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
5.3.3 Customers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
5.3.4 Partners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
5.3.5 Suppliers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
5.3.6 Create Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
5.3.7 Profile fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
5.3.8 User carts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
5.3.9 Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
5.3.10 Memberships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 5.4 Shippings/Taxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 5.4.1 Shipping methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
5.4.2 Manage taxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
5.4.3 Manage states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
5.4.4 Manage countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
5.4.5 Manage destinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 5.5 Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
5.6 Administration Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 5.6.1 Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
5.6.1.1 Addons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
5.6.1.2 Affiliate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
5.6.1.3 Appearance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
5.6.1.4 Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
5.6.1.5 Dynamic HTML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
5.6.1.6 E-mails. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
5.6.1.7 Froogle/Google base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
5.6.1.8 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
5.6.1.9 Image verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
5.6.1.10 Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
5.6.1.11 Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
5.6.1.12 Shipping settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.2007 Page 4 of 5 5.6.1.13 Sitemap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
5.6.1.14 Thumbnails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
5.6.1.15 Translate Settings Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
5.6.2 Addons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
5.6.3 Languages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
5.6.4 Payment methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
5.6.5 Shipping settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
5.6.6 HTML catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
5.6.7 DB Backup/Restore. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
5.6.8 Credit cards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
5.6.9 Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
5.6.10 Currencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
5.6.11 Access restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
5.6.12 Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
5.6.13 Import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
5.6.14 Export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 5.7 Look And Feel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 5.7.1 Site layout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
5.7.2 Appearance settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
5.7.3 Top navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
5.7.4 Site map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
5.7.5 Template editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
5.7.6 Skin selector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
5.7.7 Manage ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 5.8 Content Management System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 5.8.1 Manage Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
5.8.2 Manage pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
5.8.3 Form builder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
5.8.4 Comments and reviews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
5.8.5 Newsletters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
5.8.6 Site News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
5.8.7 News subscribers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
5.8.8 Listmania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 5.9 Affiliate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 5.9.1 Product groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
5.9.2 Manage banners. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
5.9.3 Affiliate plans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
5.9.4 Approve partners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
5.9.5 Approve commissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.2007 Page 5 of 5 5.9.6 Pay partners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
5.9.7 Payouts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
5.9.8 Accounting History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306 5.10 Partner back-end . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307 5.10.1 Text banners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
5.10.2 Graphic banners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
5.10.3 Product banners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
5.10.4 Affiliate plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
5.10.5 Account balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
5.10.6 Commissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
5.10.7 Payouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317 5.11 Live Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320 5.11.1 Manage operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
5.11.2 Chat History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321 FAQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340 Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 5 of 324 1. Welcome to CS-Cart shopping cart software The CS-Cart shopping cart software is designed to help you build a robust online store. This software can satisfy both a professional user, interested in up-to-date and advanced functionality, and a novice for whom the simplicity is the main factor. Moreover, our slogan Buy easy, sell easier speaks for itself. You just go to our site, buy the software, build your store and start trading. Although CS-Cart shopping cart software is designed to be intuitively simple to use, this tutorial is offered to make learning to use it even simpler and quicker. The manual will guide you step-by-step through installation, setup and use of the shopping cart software. Thank you for using CS-Cart software. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 6 of 324 2. Introducing CS-Cart 2.1 What Is CS-Cart? CS-Cart is powerful shopping cart software built using industry standard PHP and MySQL. Optimized programming code makes it possible to build stores that can easily handle over 10,000 products. CS-Cart also uses the PHP Smarty template engine that makes it very simple to change the look-and-feel of the store in the minimum amount of time, and with advanced catalog management tools your store can be maintained with the least amount of effort. CS-Cart is your best choice if you are: • looking for quality PHP shopping cart software to start an online business;
• a site owner wishing to integrate a shopping cart with your existing web site;
• a web developer searching for a professional low-cost PHP shopping cart;
• an ISP or web hosting company that wants to offer a shopping cart solution as a part of your services;
• looking for a good PHP/MySQL platform to create a dynamic website with some specific functionality. The CS-Cart software includes: • complete source code;
• one domain lifetime license;
• 1 month of free technical support;
• free access to future releases. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 7 of 324 2.2 Features Setup: • No programming knowledge required;
• Web-based installation wizard;
• Complete ready-to-use store package;
• Bulk uploading of categories, products and images;
• Import/export products using CSV;
• Localization: easy addition of new languages, configurable currency and weight symbols, configurable list of countries/states/provinces;
• Free 1 month technical support. Search Engine Optimization: • Custom keywords for products and categories pages;
• Custom META description for products and categories pages;
• Custom keywords for content pages;
• Custom META description for content pages;
• Generation of static HTML product catalog;
• Site map generation;
• Optimized PHP code. Design & Layout: • 100% template driven storefront and backend;
• Easy integration of CS-Web to match your site's current look-and-feel;
• Fully customizable design & layout;
• Category and product thumbnails;
• Category and product detailed images;
• Catalog page;
• Mini-cart presence on all pages;
• Bread crumbs;
• Addition of custom content pages via administrator interface;
• Debug console: displays a tree of templates for all pages. Product Catalog features: • Unlimited number of products;
• Unlimited number of categories;
• Unlimited category nesting;
• Bulk product addition/modification;
• Bulk category addition/modification;
• Custom META tags for product/category pages;
• Featured products list;
• Cross selling; Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 8 of 324 • Enabling/disabling products and categories with one click;
• Membership based access for every category/product. Product Details: • Unlimited product options w/optional surcharges;
• Product options can be presented as dropdown selectbox, radio buttons group, checkbox or text input;
• HTML enriched product short and full descriptions;
• Custom META tags for each product page;
• Manageable product manufacturers list;
• Related products list;
• Unlimited product images;
• Product larger image popup. Merchandising/Inventory: • Full product stock control;
• 'List Price' and 'Our Price' options;
• Wholesale trade;
• Enabling/disabling product inventory control. Shipping & Tax: • UPS, FedEx & USPS real-time calculations;
• Intershipper real-time calculator;
• Unlimited custom delivery methods;
• Unlimited custom-defined destinations;
• Restrict shipping by location;
• Customers can choose delivery methods;
• Customizable tax calculation;
• Product-specific taxes. Payment Gateways & Methods: • Full list of offline payment methods: Checks, purchase orders, phone orders and others;
• Real-time credit card processing: please contact us to get more info about your payment processor. Web-based administrative panel: • Add multiple items (products, categories, static pages etc.) at one click;
• Password-protected administrative access;
• Configure every aspect of your e-commerce site in realtime;
• Integrated database backup/restore tool;
• Quick and easy add/modify/delete multiple products;
• Quick and easy add/modify/delete multiple categories; Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 9 of 324 • Organize your webshop informational part;
• Unlimited number of admin accounts. Customer Care: • Integrated configurable store search;
• Password reminder for customers;
• Customers can view order history;
• Customer memberships and special pricing;
• Membership based access to the informational part of the store;
• 'Continue shopping' button;
• 'Clear cart' button;
• Customer can edit product options directly in the cart;
• All orders are stored securely in a MySQL database. Security: • Full HTTPS/SSL support;
• Secure HTTPS/SSL administrative access;
• Secure HTTPS/SSL checkout;
• Encrypted customer data;
• Password-protected administrative access. Repeat Customer Accommodation: • Cart content is stored in database;
• Each customer can have unlimited number of profiles;
• Registered customer can edit his account details at any time;
• Registered customer can view his order history. CS-Cart is highly customizable. If your business has some specific feature requirements our engineers would be happy to help you customize your store so that it will satisfy all of your business needs. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 10 of 324 3. Installation 3.1 Requirements 1. PHP version 4.1.1 or above (including PHP 5). PHP configuration should include the following options (all these values are default):
• disabled safe_mode;
• enabled file_uploads.
2. MySQL database version 3.23 or above.
3. PHP CURL is required for operation of several payment gateways and systems (such as PayPal, Authorize.NET, Google Checkout, etc) and real-time shipping services (FedEx, UPS, DHL/Airborne). CS-Cart runs on: CS-Cart runs on most server configurations, ranging from dedicated servers to shared servers that utilize different PHP configurations. NOTE: If your webserver has mod_security enabled, you may see the "403 Forbidden" or "Not Acceptable" error messages after submitting forms that contain the words "curl", "perl", "file(", etc. It is recommended to disable the mod_security module or reconfigure it in the way these words are not forbidden. Windows Linux FreeBSD RedHat Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 11 of 324 3.2 Installing CS-Cart The instructions below are about CS-Cart installation on a hosting server accessible on the Internet. If you would like to make a CS-Cart installation on your local computer (desktop), please download the "How to install CS-Cart on a local computer" manual on the "File area" page in our Customer Help Desk (https://helpdesk.cs-cart.com) and skip chapter 3.2 in this manual. Briefly, CS-Cart installation includes the following steps:
1) extracting the software distribution package and uploading the files to a web server; 2) setting file access permissions;
3) creating a MySQL database;
4) running the Installation Wizard. The first step is to uncompress the CS-Cart distribution package (the "cscart_vX.X.X.tgz" file) anywhere under your web server directory. On a WINDOWS-based server, you can do it with any TAR-compatible archive software. On a UNIX-based server with terminal access to it, please run one of the following commands: tar -xzvf cscart_vX.X.X.tgz
or
gunzip < cscart_vX.X.X.tgz | tar -xvf If none of the ways listed above works for you, you should uncompress the distribution package on your local computer using any TAR-compatible archive software, e.g. WinRAR ( http://www.rarlab.com/rar/wrar370.exe ), and upload all the files to your server by FTP. The next step is setting file access permissions.
On a UNIX-based server with terminal access to it, run the following commands one by one: chmod 666 config.php
chmod -R 777 catalog
chmod -R 777 images
chmod -R 777 skins Most versions of control panel have the so-called file manager that allows to unpack a TGZ archive by one click. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 12 of 324 chmod -R 777 var
If you do not have terminal access to your server, you can change file access permissions using an FTP client. Most of them have the "Change permissions" or "Change mode" functions. With the help of the function you are to set the permissions for the 'config.php' file and the directories listed above. The 'chmod 666 config.php' command means that you must set 666 permissions (in other words, read, write and execute permissions for the file user, group and other) for the 'config.php' file. Other commands (e.g. 'chmod -R 777 catalog') mean that you must set the same 777 permissions for the directory, its subdirectories and all the files under these directories. Please refer to your FTP client documentation for more detailed instructions on setting file permissions. In order to set the same file access permissions on a WINDOWS-based server, you may need to give full permissions for the files and directories to the user with the IUSER_ComputerName account. Then create a MySQL database (you may need to create a MySQL user before that) in your website control panel. Remember the MySQL name, host, user name and password to use them at the next installation step. The last major installation step is running the CS-Cart Installation Wizard. In your browser go to the following URL: http://www.my_site.com/install.php (replace "my_site.com" with your site's URL). Now you should follow the Installation Wizard. The installation progress is shown in the ‘Installation steps’ box on the left. Installation steps Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 13 of 324 3.2.1 License Agreement Please read the license agreement. If you accept its statements, tick off the ‘I agree...’ check box and click the ‘Next’ button. License agreement If you launch the install.php file again, you will be asked to enter the authentication code and choose whether it will be a new installation or only skins will be reinstalled. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 14 of 324 3.2.2 Checking Requirements This phase checks your PHP and MySQL configuration, and checks for PHP CURL support on your server. If all tests are passed, you should click the ‘Next’ button. Otherwise, contact your server administrator. Checking requirements Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 15 of 324 3.2.3 Host And Database Settings Now the Installation Wizard needs to know some details about your web server. Host and database settings You should fill in the following fields: • Server host name This is a name of the website on which you are installing CS-Cart, for instance www.my_site.com. There should be entered only a domain without HTTP:// prefix or a directory path following the domain.
• Server host directory If you install CS-Cart in a subdirectory on your website (and all the CS-Cart files are already under this subdirectory), for instance, the shop should be accessible via URL http://www.my_site.com/shop, the value of this field should be /shop (it is required NOT to have the '/' sign at the end of the path). If your CS-Cart installation is in the web root directory (so your online store will be accessible via URL http:// www.my_site.com), the field is required to be empty.
• Secure server host name This is an URL of your secure server (the domain should be entered according to the same rules as for the "Server host name" field above). If you do not know the URL of Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 16 of 324 your secure server, enter here the same value you entered into the "Server host name" field above, as they are the same usually.
• Secure server host directory Enter the subdirectory of your secure server (if CS-Cart is not in the web root directory) according to the same rules as for the "Server host directory" field above. • Database server host Usually it is named ‘localhost’, but in order to be certain, refer to the Databases page in your website control panel or contact your hosting provider.
• Database name
• Database user
• Database password
• Secret key to encrypt orders data In order to conform to the "Protect Cardholder Data" point of PCI Data Security standards CS-Cart uses BlowFish algorithm to encode credit card information. Enter a sequence of symbols (letters, digits, etc) into this field, it will be used as a key for the encryption algorithm.
• Administrator e-mail Enter a real e-mail into the field. The default administrator e-mail, company e-mails (of Order, Support, etc departments) and contact form recipient's email will be changed to the value of this field.
• Additional languages Select additional language packs you wish to install. • Install demo catalog Tick off this check box to install demo products, orders, discounts, news and banners. Although the Wizard fills in the fields above automatically, it may detect the server host names and directories incorrectly on some server configurations. Please check by yourself whether the values are correct. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 17 of 324 3.2.4 Installing Database Database installation starts if all previous conditions are met. You will be notified if database installation was successful. Installing database Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 18 of 324 3.2.5 Shop Outlook Settings Select the skin you wish to install. A screenshot will be displayed for each selection. Shop outlook settings Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 19 of 324 3.2.6 Installing Skins Please have a bit of patience while the Installation Wizard is installing template files on your server. You will be notified when a skin has been installed successfully. Installing skins 3.2.7 Summary Congratulations. Your CS-Cart shopping cart software is installed. You will see a summary page which informs you about special features. Summary Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 20 of 324 After the installation process, do the following: • Remove or rename the install.php file (for security reasons).
• Change the password in the administrator account. You can do this in the administrator back-end using the ‘Administrators’ link in the ‘Users’ box. Use the following links for access: • http://www.my_site.com/index.php - storefront;
• http://www.my_site.com/admin.php - administrator back-end. The default administrator login and password are as follows: • username: admin;
• password: admin. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 21 of 324 4. CS-Cart Architecture 4.1 Interfaces The CS-Cart shopping cart software has different interfaces for the storefront and administrator back-end. 4.1.1 Storefront interface Storefront interface Elements of the storefront: • Company logo;
• Site menu;
• ‘Category’ box;
• ‘Manufacturers’ box;
• ‘Events’ box;
• ‘Bestsellers’ box;
• ‘Site info’ box;
• Bottom links; Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 22 of 324 • Top links;
• ‘Search’ section;
• ‘Select language’ select box;
• ‘Select currency’ select box
• ‘Quick search’ box
• ‘Cart’ box;
• ‘Authentication’ box;
• ‘Site news’ box. 4.1.2 Administrator area interface The CS-Cart shopping cart software allows the administrator to control and to configure the shop using administrator back-end. Administrator back-end interface You can change the store outlook and locations of the elements listed above by yourself, or make use of our design integration service (for more information please visit http://www.cs-cart.com ). Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 23 of 324 Elements of the administrator back-end: • Company logo;
• ‘Orders’ box;
• ‘Catalog’ box;
• ‘Users’ box;
• ‘Shipping/Taxes’ box;
• Bottom links;
• Content box;
• Top links;
• ‘Select currency’ select box;
• ‘Select language’ select box;
• ‘Administration’ box;
• ‘Look and feel’ box;
• ‘Content Management System’ box;
• ‘Affiliate’ box;
• ‘Live Help’ box. You can change the store outlook and locations of the elements listed above by yourself, or make use of our design integration service (for more information please visit http://www.cs-cart.com ). Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 24 of 324 5. Administration 5.1 Orders The CS-Cart software includes an overall order management system that features automatic e-mails to customers and merchants. The administrator can manage shop orders by making use of the ‘Orders’ box. ‘Orders’ box Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 25 of 324 5.1.1 View orders Using this link will display the ‘Orders’ page in the content box. Orders The ‘Orders’ page contains the ‘Search’ pattern which allows you to search for orders by the following parameters: - Customer - customer’s name;
- E-mail - customer’s e-mail;
- Total - order total;
- Tax exempt;
- Order status; Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 26 of 324 - Period
- Order ID;
- Gift certificate code.
If you want to make the search results more precise click on , the search form will be expanded and you will be able to: search by order status and order ID; by words or phrases in product name, product description, full description, keywords; search in various categories and subcategories; search by product code; specify price interval and quantity interval (number of bought products); specify whether the product is configurable and whether it is shipped for free. After filling in any of the search fields click on to display the order. The ‘Orders’ page contains a table of all orders, with the following columns:
- Select column - selects the order;
- ID – order identification number; - Status – order status (the processing stage of this order);
- Customer – full name of the customer who placed this order;
- E-mail - e-mail address of the customer;
- Date - order registration date;
- Points - the number of points a customer gets for this order;
- Total – order total amount. The ‘Status’ field has the following values:
- Open – an order that has been placed but not yet processed;
- Completed – an already processed order (seller got money and sent product to customer); - Backordered – a backordered order;
- Failed – a failed order;
- Declined – an order which was declined by the seller;
- Cancelled – an order which was cancelled by the customer;
- Processed – a processed order (seller got money, but product is not sent yet); If you wish, you can change the initial value from which order identification numbers will count, by using the following path: Administration->Settings- >General->Initial order ID value. You can change the number of orders shown, by using this path: Administration->Settings->Appearance>Orders per page. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 27 of 324 - Decreasing status - the status when the number of products in stock is decreasing; - Increasing status - the status when the number of products in stock is increasing; To change the order status:
- choose the new status value in the ‘Status’ field;
- click on . To delete an order:
- place a check mark in the Select column of the order you want to delete; - click on . To print several invoices at the same time:
- place check marks in the Select column of the orders you want to print the invoice; - click on . To remove a credit card information of the selected order from the database click on . To export the selected order(s) to Quickbooks click on button. To export the selected order(s) click on . To inform the customer of some changes tick off the ‘Notify customer’ check box. To look up order details:
- click on the ID link or date link to display the order detail page (‘Order info’ page). In addition to the general information this page contains the following: - Products information – a list of all ordered products, including the options selected; Products information Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 28 of 324 - Order info – information about the order total amount, shipping cost, carrier and taxed amount. To enter notes about the order:
- enter text into the ‘Order details’ field;
- click on . Order info - Payment information - payment method that is used to pay for the order; Payment information - Fraud checking - shows whether the order meets the anti-fraud requirements or not. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 29 of 324 Fraud checking - Customer information – the customer’s personal and contact information, shipping and billing addresses. Customer information To add a new post set the value of the ‘Communication’ field to communication. To change some order data click on . Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 30 of 324 5.1.2 New orders Using this menu item you can see a list of orders that have not been viewed yet. 5.1.3 Incomplete orders Use this item to see the list of incomplete orders. Incomplete orders are orders that have one of the following statuses: ‘Open’, ‘Backordered’, ‘Failed’, ‘Declined’ and ‘Cancelled’. 5.1.4 Create order Under some conditions it is desirable for a store administrator to have the ability to create order manually, for instance if a customer places an order by phone. CS-Cart has a feature that allows you to create orders via the administrator area. It can be done on the ‘Create order’ page.
To create an order the store administrator will need to pass 4 steps:
- select products that need to be included in the order (‘Products’);
- enter customer information (‘Customer info’);
- select shipping and payment methods (a discount coupon can be applied and calculated tax and shipping rates can be defined manually) (‘Totals’); - enter payment details and order notes (‘Summary’). At the first step you will need to select products that will be ordered.
Using the ‘Search for products’ section you can select the necessary products. CS-Cart provides two types of search: basic and advanced search. Basic search allows you to search for the products by a word or a word combination, it allows to conduct a search in ‘Product name’, ‘Short description’, ‘Full description’ fields as well as in different categories and subcategories. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 31 of 324 Search for products This section has the following fields:
- Find results with:
Available options: • Any of these words - search for any entered word;
• All of these words - search for all entered words in any order;
• The exact phrase - search for exact entered phrase. - Search in ;
You may have the system search for products which contain the specified text within any of the following product fields: • Product name;
• Short description;
• Full description;
• Keywords. - Search in category;
This field allows you to define the location of the order(s) you are looking for. For example, to search for orders in all categories, choose the item ‘-All categories-’ in this select box. You can also enable/disable the option of searching in subcategories using the ‘Search in subcategories’ check box. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 32 of 324 - Search by product code - you search by unique product code. Advanced search options allow you to specify additional advanced search criteria: - Search by supplier;
In order to make the search results more accurate you can fill in the following fields: - Price($);
- Shipping freight($)
- Weight(lbs);
- Quantity;
For the above-listed options you should specify the minimum and maximum values in order to limit the search process. - Configurable;
- Free shipping;
- Available.
For these three options you need to select Yes or No. After filling in any of the search fields, click on to start the search process. After that a list of products is displayed. The list is represented as a table with the following columns:
- Product;
- Price - product price;
- Quantity - the number of products. To add the product(s) to cart:
- enter the number of products that a customer wants to buy into the ‘Quantity’ input field(s); - click on . Now the selected products are included in the list of ordered products. This list is represented as a table with the following columns: - Select product;
- Product - product name;
- Price - product price;
- Discount - product discount;
The ‘Discount’ column appears in this section if the product is subject to product discount. - Quantity - the number of products. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 33 of 324 If the product has product options they are displayed below. The list of products If you change the value of any field click on . To delete a product from the list:
- tick off the check box opposite the entry you want to delete;
- click on . Click on to proceed to the next step. At the second step you should enter customer information (contact information,
billing address, shipping address). If billing addess is the same as shipping address click on the ‘Shipping address the same as billing’ check box. By ticking off the check box before the price, discount, shipping, etc. you are able to define your own values. Otherwise values will be taken from the database. The fields marked with * are mandatory. You cannot proceed to the next step without entering the necessary information in these fields. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 34 of 324 Customer information After the fields are filled in click on to save the information. If the customer is registered you can use the ‘Search’ section to enter his/her information automatically. You can search for the customer by name, login, e-mail, company, membership, tax exempt, address, city, zip/postal code, state/province,
country. When any of the fields is filled in click on .
User(s) information is displayed. The list of users is represented as a table with the following columns: - Select column;
- E-mail - user e-mail address;
- Username - unique name identifying the user;
- Name - full name of the user;
- Registered - date and time of registration;
- Type - status of the user;
- Active - shows whether the user is active or not. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 35 of 324 Search
To enter user information into the necessary fields:
- tick off the radio button of the user; - click on button. Now that all the fields are filled in click on to turn to the third step. Now you are at checkout. The following elements are included in the ‘Checkout’ form: - the ‘Product list’ section;
- Subtotal - order subtotal;
- Including discount - discount amount;
- Points - points which are added to the user’s account;
- Including taxes VA’ - tax amount;
- Shipping cost (Custom shipping method);
- Total cost;
- the ‘Coupon’ select box - you can apply the coupon(s) to the order if it meets all coupon requirements; - the ‘Gift certificate code’ input field - enter the gift certificate code to apply it to the order; - the ‘Shipping method’ select box;
- the ‘Promotion’ select box - choose a promotion applicable to the order;
- the ‘Payment method’ select box - here you choose a payment method;
- the ‘Affiliate code’ input field.

The ‘Product list’ section is represented as a table consisting of the following columns: - Code - product code; Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 36 of 324 - Product - product name and its options;
- Price - product price;
- Quantity - the number of products;
- Points - the number of points the user gets on his account for this product;
- Discount - product discount amount;
- Tax - product tax;
- Subtotal - order subtotal. If you change the value of any field click on . Click on to proceed to the fourth step. Checkout Now you are on the ‘Summary’ page. The order and customer information is displayed on the page: - Contact information;
- Billing address;
- Shipping address; Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 37 of 324 - Payment method;
- Shipping method;
‘Payment method’ and ‘Shipping method’ have the [Change] link. By using it you can return to the third step. - Payment details - details peculiar to the payment method;
- Text input box - write the notes regarding the order if you have any. The note will be placed in the ‘Customer notes’ text input field on the ‘Order info’ page and at the bottom of the invoice. Depending on the selected payment method here appear some additional fields. To add the order to the list of orders click on . To start the order processing click on button. Summary Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 38 of 324 5.1.5 Sales reports Using this feature you have the ability to make quantitative and qualitative analyses of the existing orders and their components (purchased products, used payment methods, customers, etc.). The reports will help you to study the market and to increase in sales. On the ‘Sales reports’ page you can view reports which help you to make the analysis of your sales. The ‘Reports’ section contains 5 reports which are already defined by default. They are:
- ‘Order Reports’;
- ‘Top 10 Customers’;
- ‘Top 10 Categories’;
- ‘Top 10 Products’;
- ‘Payment Methods’. Each report consists of the ‘Update report period’ section and report charts. The ‘Update report period’ section enables you to manage the ‘Period’ drop- down boxes of all charts. It contains three elements: - Select period - select from the list of defined periods (e.g. last week) to set values of ‘Data from’ and ‘Data through’ select boxes to appropriate dates. - Data from;
- Data through. Date range If you change the value of any field click on . Let's consider the ‘Top 10 Products’ report. It contains 4 charts:
- the ‘Top 10 Products - Items Sold’ chart; Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 39 of 324 - the ‘Top 10 Products - Cost’ chart;
- the ‘Top 10 Products - Cost(monthly)’ chart;
- the ‘Top 10 Products - Items Sold(monthly)’ chart.
Each chart has its own ‘Time interval’ and ‘Period’ drop-down select boxes. If you edit any values click on to apply the changes. Top 10 Products - Items Sold The ‘Update report period’ section at the top affects time period values of all charts in the current report section. Pie and pie 3D charts do not have the ‘Time interval’ drop-down select box. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 40 of 324 ‘Top 10 Products - Items Sold’ is a chart represented as a graphic pie where object to analyze is products, value to display is the number of products, date range - current year, and where values are selected by the number of items. ‘Top 10 Products - Cost’ is a bar chart where object to analyze is categories, value to display is product costs, time interval - total, date range - current year, and where values are selected by the number of items. Top 10 Products - Cost Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 41 of 324 Top 10 Products - Cost (monthly) ‘Top 10 Products - Cost (monthly)’ is a chart represented as a table where object to analyze is products, value to display is product costs, time interval - total, date range - current year, and where values are selected by total cost. ‘Top 10 Products - Items Sold (monthly)’ is a chart represented as a table where object to analyze is products, value to display is the number of products, time interval - month, date range - current year, and where values are selected by the number of items. Top 10 Products - Items Sold (monthly) If you want to edit the chart click on Edit chart . You will be taken to the page where you will be able to set new report parameters. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 42 of 324 To view the list of all reports you should follow the ‘Manage report’ link at the top. The ‘Report page’ page will be opened. This page contains two sections: - the list of defined reports;
- Add new repot(s). Manage reports The list of defined reports is represented as a table consisting of the following columns: - Select column;
- Position - ordinal number;
- Report name;
- Available - this field allows you to enable or disable the report. If you edit the value of any fields, click on to save the changes. To delete a report from the list:
- tick off the check box opposite the entry you want to delete;
- click on . Pie and pie 3D charts do not have the ‘Time interval’ drop-down select box. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 43 of 324 To create a new report use the ‘Add new form’ section. To add a new row with empty fields to the section, click on . To add a new row with identical values to an existing one ("clone" section), click on . To delete a row, click on . (You can delete all the rows except the last one) Then click on button to save the changes in the database. 5 most popular reports are already defined in CS-Cart 1.3.4 for the convenience of our clients. They are: - ‘Order reports’;
- ‘Top 10 Customers’;
- ‘Top 10 Categories’;
- ‘Top 10 Products’;
- ‘Payment Methods’.
Let's consider a report and its components by the example of ‘Top 10 Products’.
To edit the ‘Top 10 Products’ report click on Edit . The ‘Edit report’ page is open. It contains: - Report name;
- Position;
- Available;
- the ‘Charts’ section.
The ‘Charts’ section is represented as a table consisting of the following columns:
- Select column;
- Position;
- Chart name;
- Chart type - type of chart representation (table, bar, pie, pie 3D);
- Value to display - what is figured in the chart. If you edit the value of any field, click on to save the changes. To delete a chart from the list:
- tick off the check box opposite the entry you want to delete;
- click on . To add a new chart click on button. The ‘Top 10 Products’ report consists of 4 charts:
- ‘Top 10 Products - Items Sold’; Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 44 of 324 - ‘Top 10 Products - Cost’;
- ‘Top 10 Products - Cost(monthly)’;
- ‘Top 10 Products - Items Sold(monthly)’. Edit report If you want to edit the chart click on Edit chart button. The ‘Edit Chart’ and ‘Chart conditions’ sections are displayed. ‘Edit Chart’ contains the following elements: - Chart name;
- Position - ordinal number of the chart;
- Chart type - type of chart representation (table, bar, pie, pie 3D);
- Object to analyze - an object that is analyzed with the chart;
- Value to display - it is what is figured in the chart (parameters according to which analysis is fulfilled); - Time interval - time intervals that are analyzed; - Date range - period of time over which analysis is carried out;
- Limit - max number of chart components; If chart type is a pie or a pie 3D the ‘Time interval’ field is hidden. The value of the ‘Limit’ field can not exceed 25 if chart type is not ‘Table’. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 45 of 324 - Select values by - whether you select values that are displayed by the number of items or by total cost. Edit chart If you edit the value of some fields, click on to save the changes. To see the page with the chart click on View chart . You are found on page ‘Order reports’ where you can view the chart. To return to the ‘Edit chart’ section click on Edit chart . The ‘Chart conditions’ section helps you to set the conditions of the chart managing some settings (Orders, Status, Payment methods, Locations, Users, Categories, Products). In other words, you can select only e.g. orders that have been paid by credit card and/or orders that have been placed by certain customers, etc. If no conditions are defined, all existing orders are taken into account. Using ‘Orders’ you can select certain orders that will be analyzed. The ‘Orders’ section contains two subsections: - Defined orders; For more information see the chapter Orders->Order reports. The note with all defined chart conditions is displayed at the top of the page and above the chart while it is being viewed. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 46 of 324 - Add orders to the section. Orders ‘Defined orders’ is represented as a table consisting of the following columns:
- Select column;
- ID;
- Status - order status;
- Customer - customer name;
- Date - registration date;
- Total - order total. To delete an order from the list:
- tick off the check box opposite the entry you want to delete;
- click on . ‘Add orders to the section’ is represented as a search pattern. You can look for the order by the following parameters: by customer name, by total, by order status, by period, by order ID. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 47 of 324 After any of the fields is filled in click on to display a list of orders. To add the order(s) to the list of defined orders:
- tick off the check box of the entry you want to add;
- click on . ‘Statuses of orders’
This is where you can set up the statuses of the orders you want to analyze: whether it is open, completed, processed, declined, failed, cancelled, backordered. Statuses of orders Tick off the check box of the status(es) and click on . The ‘Payment methods’ section displays a list of all defined payment methods and it is represented as a table consisting of the following columns: - Select column;
- Payment - payment method;
- Processor - payment gateway defined for the payment method;
- Membership - ‘All’ is set up by default. If you place or remove a check mark, click on to save the changes. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 48 of 324 Payment methods With the help of the ‘Locations’ section you can select the destination(s). Locations Choose the destination, tick off its check box and click on . This means that orders that have been placed by customers from the selected destination zone(s) will be selected as chart conditions. To make an analysis of orders placed by certain users select them in the ‘Users’ section. ‘Users’ contains two subsections: - Defined users;
- Add user(s) to the section. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 49 of 324 Users The ‘Defined users’ section is represented as a table with the following columns:
- Select column;
- ID;
- Username;
- Name;
- Registered;
- Type - type of the user;
- Active.
‘Add user(s) to the section’ is represented as a search pattern. You can look for the user by the following parameters: by name, by login, by e-mail, by company, by membership, by address, by city, by zip/postal code, by state/province, by country. After any of the fields is filled in click on to display a list of users. To add the user to the list of defined users:
- tick off the check box of the entry you want to add;
- click on . The ‘Categories’ section enables you to choose among categories and subcategories. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 50 of 324 Categories Tick off the check box of the category and click on to save the changes. The selection of categories means that the orders that have purchased products under the chosen categories will be selected as chart conditions.
Using the ‘Products’ section you can select certain products for analyzing.
‘Products’ contains two subsections:
- Defined products;
- Add product(s) to the section.
The ‘Defined products’ section is represented as a table with the following columns: - Select column;
- Product name.
‘Add product(s) to the section’ is represented as a search pattern. You can look for the product(s) by the following parameters: - Find results with;
Available options: • Any of these words - search for any entered word;
• All of these words - search for all entered words in any order;
• The exact phrase - search for exact entered phrase. - Search in category; Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 51 of 324 This field allows you to define the location of the product(s) you are looking for. For example, to search for products in all categories, choose the item ‘-All categories-’ in this select box. - Search by product code. After any of the fields is filled in click on to display a list of the products. To add the product to the list of defined products:
- tick off the check box of the entry you want to add; - click on . Products The selection of products means that orders that have the chosen products will be selected as chart conditions. To cancel all chart conditions click on Clear conditions link. 5.1.6 Order statuses This feature allows you to define new and change the existing order statuses according to your needs. The list of defined statuses is represented as a table with the following columns:
- Select column; Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 52 of 324 - Status - letter symbol of the status;
- Name - status name. ---------------------------------------break-------------------------------------- Order statuses For every order status the following fields are displayed: Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 53 of 324 - E-Mail subject - the subject of the e-mail which is sent to customers automatically and which notifies them of the processing stage of the orders; - E-Mail header - the header of the e-mail which is sent to customers automatically and which notifies them of the processing stage of the orders; - Notify customer - tick off if you want to inform customers that the status of their order has changed; - Inventory - the value of this field shows whether this order decreases or increases the product quantity; - Remove CC info - if it is ticked off the credit card information is removed from the database; - Pay order again - if it is ticked off a customer can pay for the order again in case the previous attempt failed; - Change gift certificate status to - choose the status which a gift certificate status will change to when the order has this particular status. - Consider the products delivered & Allow return registration - if it is ticked off customers can register return in the storefront. Here you enter the subject and the body of the e-mail letter that is automatically sent to a customer. The letter notifies the customer of the processing stage of the order. Some statuses are already defined, but you can add your own statuses using the ‘Add new status’ section. This section also allows to add several statuses simultaneously. To add a new row with empty fields to the section, click on . To add a new row with identical values to an existing one ("clone" section), click on . To delete a row, click on . (You can delete all the rows except the last one). Then click on button to save the changes in the database. This field also contains tools for text editing. If you want to use them, click on . Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 54 of 324 5.1.7 Return requests This add-on allows to return products which customers are not entirely satisfied with. Customers can register the return following the 'Orders' link in the 'My account' side box. There is the 'Registration of the return' link above each order page. Following this link customers see which products of the order can be returned. Moreover, there they can specify the reason for the return, provide their comments and other related information. But note that customers can return only those products which are defined as returnable by the administrator and only within a specified period of time. The Return requests link is displayed in the side box if the RMA check box is enabled in Main->Addons->Administration. Return requests The 'Return request' page is represented as a list of customers' requests for return of goods. For the convenience of the administrator the 'Search' section is displayed at the top. It allows to find the necessary return request without any difficulty. Moreover the search can be performed by lots of parameters: name of the customer who registered the return; customer's e-mail; number of returned products (quantity); return identification number (Return ID); action that should be applied (e.g. refund or replacement), return status; period in which the return was registered. If you want to make the search results more precise, specify some additional parameters. Clicking on the Search by order and returned products link you expand the Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 55 of 324 search criteria form and will be able to: search by order status; order ID; product code; by words or phrases in the product name, short description, full description, keywords; search in categories and subcategories; specify price and quantity intervals and specify whether the product is configurable or whether it is shipped for free. Then follows the list of all existing return requests:
- Select column;
- ID – request identification number;
- Status – the current status of the request;
- Customer – the full name of the customer;
- Date – date and time the request was submitted;
- Order ID – identification number of the related order, click on this link to open the page of the related order; - Quantity – the number of products the customer wants to return. To delete a return request:
- tick off the necessary request; - click on . Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 56 of 324 To print packing slips/lists of several requests at once:
- place check marks in the Select column of the requests you want to print; - click on . Click on ID or Date links to view the return information. The page Return info contains the following information: - Return – return request number;
- Date – date and time the request was submitted;
- Status – the current status of the return request; - Gift certificate – the code of gift certificate and its amount, this gift certificate is created by the administrator and granted to the customer who submitted the request. This field is displayed only if the administrator has created the certificate for the customer. Then follows two tabs: Return products information and Declined products information. There are the same columns in these two tabs:
- Select column;
- Product – product name;
- Options – options of the product if there are any;
- Price – product price;
- Quantity – the number of products;
- Reason – reason for the return;
- Action – the action which the customer preferred. At first all the products that the customer wants to return are displayed in the 'Return product information' tab. Here the administrator can decline some or all products by ticking off the corresponding check boxes and clicking on the DECLINE PRODUCTS button. The declined products will be shown in the 'Declined products information' tab and the products that were not declined will be left in the first tab. Furthermore, if the administrator for one reason or another cannot apply the action required by the customer (for example, cannot replace the required item), he can create a gift certificate for this customer instead. In order to do this the administrator
should tick off the necessary products and click on . The code certificate will be displayed above the tabs and its amount will directly depend on the number and the price of the products the administrator checked. So the gift certificate amount is calculated in the following way: the price of the checked product multiplied by the quantity of this product, if several products were checked this action is performed for all products and then the results are added. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 57 of 324 If the customer provided some additional information related to the return request it is displayed in the Comments section.
If you make some changes and want to notify the customer of them tick off the Notify customer check box and click on . To calculate the order again taking into account the return request:
- check the 'Recalculate order' radio button; - click on . If you do not want to recalculate the order, check the Do not recalculate order radio button. Following the RMA reasons link in the top box you go to the page where you can define the reasons which customers specify when they register the return. The information is represented as a table consisting of the following columns:
- Select column;
- Position – ordinal number;
- Reason – reason name;
- Available – if it is ticked off the reason will be available in the storefront. If you make changes click on to save them to the database. To add a new reason use the 'Add new reasons' section. To add a new row, click on . To add a row identical to an existing one ("clone" an existing reason), click on . To delete a row, click on . (You can delete all the rows except the last one) Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 58 of 324 RMA reasons By clicking on the RMA actions link you open the page where you can edit the actions that are applied to the products customers want to return. For example, it can be a refund or replacement of the item. Customers will be able to choose among the given variants in the storefront. Following the RMA request statuses link you go to the page where you can specify the return request statuses. The way you can do this is similar to the way you set order statuses. For more information about statuses see Orders->Order statuses. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 59 of 324 5.1.8 Gift certificates Gift certificate is the best solution for the customers who don't know what to buy as a present. Customers just buy a gift certificate and specify its parameters. It is the administrator who sends it to the recipient via e-mail or via postal mail. Customers have the ability to add a message to the certificate (it may be various greetings, wishes, etc.). Along with a gift certificate customers can also present any product(s) of the store. These products are added to the certificate as free products . Gift certificates can be created both by administrators in the back-end and customers in the storefront. Gift certificates are very convenient in use. In order to pay for the order with a gift certificate a customer enters its code on the checkout page and specifies the amount he wants to spend. If the certificate amount is not enough to pay for the order, the customer can apply the certificate and pay the rest amount using a credit card or some other payment method. Another advantage of the certificate is that it has no period of validity. Following the Gift certificates link in the Orders side box you open the page where all the existing gift certificates are displayed. This link is displayed in the side box only if the Gift certificates check box is enabled in Main->Addons- >Administration. Gift certificates If you have a large number of gift certificates the search section will help you to find the necessary one or several certificates that meet some conditions. - From – the name of the person who sent/gave this certificate; Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 60 of 324 - Go – the name of the person the gift certificate is going to;
- Amount – certificate amount;
- E-mail – e-mail of the gift certificate recipient;
Gift certificate status - the processing stage of the certificate (Pending, Active, Used, Cancelled), the current status of the certificate; - Period – specify the period wi thin which the certificate was created; - Gift certificate code – code that is assigned to a certificate, internal code of the certificate which is used in the database and generated automatically; When all or some of the following search conditions are specified click on to display the search results. Then follows the table of all gift certificates which is represented as a table with the following columns: - Select column;
- Code – internal code of the certificate which is used in the database and generated automatically; - Status – the current status of the certificate;
- From/To - the name of the person the gift certificate is going to;
- Type – method of dispatch of the certificate (via e-mail or via postal mail);
- Date – certificate's creation date;
- Amount – cash value of the certificate;
- Debit balance – gift certificate amount left after the purchase(s) (unused gift certificate amount). On this page you can also change the certificate status or delete some unnecessary certificates. If you change the status click on to save the changes to the database, but if you want to delete some certificates, tick off the necessary certificates and click
on . To add a new certificate: - click on or ; - fill in the form and click on . If you want to inform your customer of the status change, put a tick mark in the ‘Notify customer’ check box. But note that it can be ticked only for a single action. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 61 of 324 By clicking on Code, Date, Debit balance links you are redirected to Gift certificate detail page which consists of two tabs: Detailed information and Cost sharing. Detailed information tab contains all main information about the certificate and have the following fields: - Gift certificate code – internal code of the certificate which is used in the database and generated automatically; - Status – current gift certificate status;
- To – the name of the person the gift certificate is going to (the recipient of the gift certificate); - From – the name of the person the gift certificate is coming from (the sender of the certificate); - Message – a message that will be displayed on the gift certificate;
- Amount – cash value of the certificate. Here you can choose among the given variants or set the amount by yourself; - Template - choose the certificate appearance and view it by clicking on . - E-mail – recipient's e-mail address. You can enter the address only if the 'Send via e-mail' option is enabled. If it is so it means that you select the e-mail gift certificate and it will be sent via e-mail. If the option 'Send via postal mail' is enabled the following fields should be filled in: Title, First name, Last name, Address, City, Country, State/province, Zip/Postal code. It means that you select the postal certificate which needs to be printed and sent to the delivery address. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 62 of 324 Detailed information Also products can be included in the certificate. Click on the Free products button and using the 'Search for products' section select the products you want to add to the certificate and click on the Add products button. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 63 of 324 By clicking on you will see the card that will be sent to the recipient. All information necessary for checking the certificate balance is in the ‘History’ tab. The tab contains five columns: - Date – certificate creation date;
- Username - unique name identifying the user;
- Name – full name of the gift certificate user;
- Balance – the initial amount on the certificate account and the products attached to the certificate as free products. - Debit balance – the certificate amount left after the purchases. Cost sharing Above the Gift certificates page you can see the link Gift certificate statuses. By clicking on this link you open the page where you can create statuses for gift certificates. If you want to inform your customer of the status change, put a tick mark in the ‘Notify customer’ check box. But note that it can be ticked only for a single action. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 64 of 324 -------------------------------------break----------------------------------------- Gift certificates statuses You can create certificate statuses as you create order statuses. For more information about Order statuses see Orders->Order statuses. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 65 of 324 5.2 Catalog You can manage the categories and products sold in your shop using the ‘Catalog’ box. ‘Catalog’ box 5.2.1 Manage categories You can manage your store categories and its featured products using this menu item. Store categories are managed by using the ‘Categories’ page, which contains the following sections: - the list of product categories;
- Select fields to edit. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 66 of 324 List of product categories The list of product categories shows you all the current categories you have set up in your store. It is represented as a table consisting of the following columns: - Select column - selects the category;
- Position – ordinal number of the category in the category tree;
- Categories – category name;
- Products – number of products in the category;
- Available – allows you to enable or disable the category in the storefront. To enter the category position number:
- enter the desired number in the ‘Position’ field; - click on . For example, in the figure above, entering 12 for the ‘Children’s Book’ category and 11 for the ‘Computers & Internet’ category will change the order of these categories in the storefront: the ‘Computers & Internet’ category will be displayed first. To delete a category, either: - use the link in the category row; By default, if there are no numbers in the ‘Position’ field, categories will be ordered alphabetically. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 67 of 324 or:
- place a check mark in the Select column of the category you want to delete; - click on . To add a new category: - use the link at the top; or:
- click on . This will open the ‘Add new category’ form, in which you will be able to set the parameters of the new category (see Catalog->Add new category). To add a new subcategory: - use link in the category row. or: - click on . This will open the ‘Add new category’ form where you will be able to set the parameters of the new subcategory (see Catalog->Add new category). To change the parameters of several categories:
- place a check mark in the Select columns of the categories you want to change;
- click on ; This will open the ‘Update categories’ form, in which you can change the parameters of a set of categories. - click on . Select fields to edit The ‘Select field to edit’ section is represented as a group of check boxes. This section allows you to choose the fields you wish to change in the ‘Update categories’ form. Be careful when deleting a category, because its subcategories and products will also be deleted automatically. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 68 of 324 Also you have the ability to create category reviews where you can evaluate the category and give your rating for it. These reviews will be displayed on the category page in the storefront. In order to enable this feature select ‘rating’, ‘communication’ or ‘all’ (both rating and communication) in the ‘Reviews’ field on the ‘Update category’ page. Reviews In the ‘Reward points’ tab you specify the number of points customers will get for buying any product of this category. Override global point value for all products in this category – if the check box is ticked off the values defined for the memberships below will prevail over those which are specified globally (on the 'Reward points' page). - Membership – list of all memberships of the store and option 'Not a member' for those who do not have any membership; - Amount – the number of reward points you set for the membership;
The value in the 'Amount' field is absolute by default. So if you set this option to e.g. 50, the customer will get 50 points for buying this product. If you make some changes click on to save them to the database. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 69 of 324 Reward points In the ‘Listmania’ tab the lists with the ‘Category’ object are represented. To enable the necessary list, tick off the ‘Enable for this page’ check box. Items of the list are displayed in the Listed items section. If the type of the list is Manually set, first you should choose items in the bottom section and add them to the Listed items section. To find more information about Listmania see CMS->Listmania. Copyright © 2004-2007 CS-Cart.com Last Revised: 10.11.07 Page 70