Re: Ecommerce Solution

On Sat, 19 Jun 1999 03:26:54 +1000, "Alexander Papli"
<papli(at)pipeline.com.au> , late of Pablo Fanques Fair wrote:

>Hey all! Just a quick question regarding online shops.
>
>In the future I will be probably "officially" asked to set up a fully =
>functional e-shop. For the beginner, what is the best software to do =
>this with, knowing that I have a strong knowledge of HTML? In other =
>words, I want the software to set up the database, shopping cart and =
>credit card facilties (where does the secure server fit into this?), =
>while I code the pages so they look and function beyond user =
>expectations. The database would preferably be able to be edited by my =
>client on their 95/98 based system, and could update the web site (on a =
>virtual server) once they were finished (..updating prices, products =
>etc).
>=20
>Keep in mind that I am from Australia, so I would need a global =
>solution. :)

You have several options, depending on whether you would rather
spend some money, or spend some time learning stuff to save a little
money. Also, what server will it be hosted on, and who will control
it?

Cold Fusion, by Allaire, is an excellent program for integrating a
database into a Web site. This option might set you back a few grand
if you are running your own server, but this program is widely
enough used that some ISPs now offer Cold Fusion capability to their
customers. If you have no experience beyond HTML, getting an account
with an ISP that supports e-commerce and Cold Fusion is probably the
easiest way to get started. You would need the Cold Fusion authoring
software, but this is hundreds, not thousands, of dollars. (I'm
using US dollar prices here, don't know the exchange rate offhand)

Blueworld offers a program called Lasso that is intriguing, you
might want to check it out. 

If you want to spend time instead of money, you need to look at
Linux as a server, and programs like MySQL. With Linux, you can find
a free program for anything you want to do, but you need to learn
how to configure, install, and use the software yourself. That might
be a steep learning curve, and you need to evaluate whether that is
something you want to do and can do in a reasonable time frame.

There may be some other options, but this is enough to get you
started, anyway.


-- 
Kevin B. O'Brien                  TANSTAAFL
kob1(at)ix.netcom.com
"Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest." 
                           -- Mark Twain

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