Well we just took the plunge and purchased BV.


I just want to say thanks to everyone for helping me figure things out and explaining to me how some things work on BV. I know i'll have many questions as i get into the setup and doing the theme. I really think this is going to improve our site and hopefully make our customers more comfortable and buy more.



Thank you!

Welcome. Now, get to work for real, you've got a store to build.

Hey John, I remember you.

Search the forums for topics before you post - 'All dates' works best. SP3 is due soon, so don't get too caught up in SP2 and all the hotfixes, patches, etc. I'd say to work on your theme and get your database working - neither is likely to get hit by changes in SP3. If you know aspx and css you're in good shape. I didn't and it was a challege getting up to speed but I'm finding most of what I need here or in a few good books. Also, get a developer's mod for Firefox or IE. Use these to look at other BV5 site's css, etc. Once you see how other's have done it, you'll see it's quite intuitive and will flatten the learning curve a bit.

The members here (and the BVC staff) are very generous with their time and have posted some incredible mods/fixes. Take notes for later reference as you skim the threads.

Big difference, choices and modifiers (SF6 attributes).... shared choices edit all or nothing. Assigning a shared choice to a product doesn't cut the tie to all other instances. If you need SF type editability on a product-by-product basis, build a dummy product, build a set of choices and clone the product. The choices come along with the new product and can then be edited without touching any other instance.

I recommend Andy's Shipper and Rate Suite though I 'd ask him about appicability in the UK.

Mitch
www.missionfurnishings.com - based on Painted Paper

John,

I'd say with of any of the themes that BVC starts you off with, 75% of the changes you'll need to make can be handled in the css. Most of the rest is done with a pretty fast edit to the .aspx or .vb files, sometimes both. Graphics and background images finish up the 'look'. Function is modular and very adaptable.

BVC docs are a bit laking. This isn't yet a store owners' package, it's meant to be handed to a third party developer. The few who are here really know their stuff.

I just had a look st your site. If you did that, you won't have any problem. Having someone else recreate that will take some time and dough.