Since many of my clients sell physical products I have learned to install and modify the OSCommerce ecommerce application on several websites. Out of the box, this is a very robust online storefront, complete with Administrators panels, a complete database for managing; Products, Product Categories, Customers, Shipping, Taxes, Communications, and other features which help with international orders.

But what really makes the OSC application shine is that there are hundreds of modification packages called “contributions” that have been submitted to a central library for anyone to use. In my clients sites I have added contribution modules that connected OSC to specific payment gateways, capture additional customer info, block spiders from crawling the site, added creditcard verification, and recently a module that lets me design my own store template layout and merely uses the elements from the OSC application.

There are also several OSC design templates on the market which can be purchased to save time modifying the base design. Some are done by professional designers and are very high quality. Others are merely color changes from the base design. Check the Oscommerce Contribution page for other free designs.

Some of the contributions are merely overlays of existing files while others are complex code changes. Usually the instructions will describe which files need editing and which lines are to be replace or added to. Adding contributions is not difficult but may be time consuming. Some contributions are full of bugs so be sure to check the forums for help before beginning. Always back up your files before installing a contribution.

If you have an OSC storefront and need help making it more functional or wish to change its design, I offer my services on an hourly basis. For those looking to begin a new storefront I offer a complete hosting and installation/setup package for $225.00 + time for mods you want to add, with free training to help you add your products and learn to administer the store.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 26th, 2006 at 11:45 am and is filed under Web Development, Code. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.