Properly configuring your store settings is one of the most important steps when opening your store for eCommerce. There are several groups of settings, shown as separate links below the toolbar of the module. Clicking on any of these links will allow you to edit the settings for that group.

General Settings

The general settings for configuring your store consist of your company identification to shoppers, and what the header of the orders and purchase orders show.




The next section of this page deals with image dimensions, each image type has controls to change the default number of pixels per width and height of the picture. To change/maintain a standard throughout the module, enter your values here if the defaults don’t suit your needs.
The following settings are the defaults of the system and will be reverted to unless values are entered here.

Thumbnails
Width 100px
Height 125px
Main images
Width 300px
Height 400px
Icon
Width 60px
Height 60px




Try to keep in mind that enlarging small photos too big will cause distortion and your images may not be properly viewable at the size you want. Experiment a bit with larger photos, until you get what you want, or stick with the defaults if you don’t feel comfortable dabbling.




Clicking the Update button in the image above will cause all changed settings on the page to be sent to the database for future use. Leave the Affiliate ID as the default (-1) unless you are using a shared catalog via web services, in which case the Affiliate ID identifies you within that catalog.



eCommerce Settings

At the time of the 3.1.1 release, the supported credit card payment gateways are Authorize.net, Moneris and Paypal. There are options to configure if a user can place mail orders (cash or check), or pay with Credit Card or Paypal as payment options. There are distinct differences between:

a. Standard merchant account such as Authorize.net or Moneris
b. A web based transaction agent such as Paypal

Merchant Gateways are the industry standard to provide eCommerce Transaction services for Credit Cards, and we have included the industry leaders.

Web Based Gateways like Paypal require linking to a bank account or credit card, and act as a middle man to provide the web based eCommerce and security for those transactions, independent of the Merchant Gateways.

To activate Credit Cards as a preferred payment method there are a few steps, including acquiring and configuring the merchant account you will need from Authorize.net or Moneris. Each has unique requirements and configuration settings, but they both will give you the two required pieces of identification in order for the software to interact: your Username and Password.

When you have your Username and password, you can enter it on this page using the following process;

First select the type of processor you are trying to access from the drop down list as shown.



Authorize.Net Settings

To login to Authorize.Net, navigate to https://secure.authorize.net and login using your username and password assigned when you received your account with your merchant provider. After login, you need to click on the button titled ‘ACCOUNT’ in the upper menu of the home page. This will bring you to the central administration screen for your authorize.net account.

There are two versions of interfaces provided in the Authorize.Net settings screen, and they have very minor but important differences.

Authorize.Net Accounts created after May 2006 have the updated administration screen, which has a link titled ‘API Login ID and Transaction Key’. If you see this link, you must generate an API Login ID and insert it into the textbox for ‘Processor Username/User ID’ for the Credit Card Settings shown above. You must also generate a transaction key and insert it into the textbox for ‘Processor Gateway Transaction Key’.

Authorize.Net Accounts created prior to May 2006 may still show the old screen, which has a link titled ‘Transaction Key’. In this case, you need to use the User Account ID that you use to login to Authorize.net. You must also generate a transaction key and insert it into the textbox for ‘Processor Gateway Transaction Key’.

In both cases, you must set the API Version to 3.1 . You do this by clicking on the ‘Transaction Version’ link from the Authorize.Net Settings screen. You will see a box with 3.1 written in it, and an arrow beside it. If you see this box, you should click the Submit button to set the transaction version to 3.1. If you do not see the box, and only see a label that says ‘Current Version 3.1’, you do not need to make this change.

On the main Authorize.Net Settings screen, click on the ‘Direct Response’ link. You must set ‘Use Direct Response’ to Yes, select ‘,(comma)’ from the list of items for the Default Field Separator and type ‘~’ in the textbox for the Field Encapsulation Character. Now click Submit.

You should now be able to use your account with the store.

The checkboxes shown here are by default checked and provide functionality for testing the cart before putting it into production, the ability of shoppers to checkout without requiring them to register, as well as whether or not shoppers must view their shopping carts every time they add an item.




When you’ve set everything to your satisfaction, click ‘Update General Setup’ in the lower left corner of the module. The page will refresh and allow you to correct any errors, or continue on to another section of administration.

Shipping Settings

At the time of the 3.1.1 release, the store is integrated with three providers for shipping quotes UPS, FedEx and the US Postal Service (USPS). These systems are reliable and global.
You will need to register with them directly for a free online shipping account. There are a few steps to receiving the access keys you require to place into the Freight Carrier setting in order to activate shipping quotes on orders less than 150 pounds.
Each carrier (FedEx, UPS and USPS) has different registration and activation requirements. The steps for each process must be followed to successfully incorporate the carriers you would like to include in the checkout process.

You will need three pieces of identification to activate shipping quotes in UPS:
2. Your UPS XML Access Code
3. Your UPS Username
4. Your UPS Password

When you’ve acquired those settings, selecting the appropriate company in the drop down list provided will show you controls in which to provide these to your module to allow it to give shoppers an approximate shipping cost.




Clicking ‘Update’ in the lower left corner will save your settings. If your Password/Transaction Key doesn’t show up after you’ve clicked update, this is for security reasons, don’t be alarmed! It will not be reset unless you type a new password in. 

Layout Settings

At the time of this release only the default layout is included with the installation.