Rank: Member
Joined: 1/22/2008(UTC)
Posts: 2
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Hi. I'm considering purchasing BV5 and have a few questions. I figured I'd try posting here rather than going through BV's support, as it looks like there's a helpful community on here, and maybe this will help other novices browing the forum.
This is probably a dumb question; I have HTML & CSS knowledge, but do not have knowledge/experience with asp.net or SQL. How difficult will the set up/installation be without that knowledge? I'm between using a hosted ecommerce solution (either 3Dcart or Volusion) or software (most likely BV Commerce) and using a 3rd party hosting company. I'm just trying to gauge the learning curve. To clarify, with BV commerce, I'd install the software on my computer, build the site (mostly) offline, and upload the site to the hosting company via FTP? What programming knowledge (beyond HTML/CSS/javascript design) is required?
One other question. Does BV5 include an email program, or would I use an outside email program for customer email?
Thanks in advance for any info.
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Rank: Member
Joined: 11/6/2003(UTC)
Posts: 1,903
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If you are on a good host that supports BV, you should be all set.
Application support at the host level will help you a lot. You shouldn't need to know SQL or .NET to get a store going. There will be times where the code may need to be modified or tweeked and you can go to your host to get help or the community.
Setting it up locally would be your first big challenge. Most merchants we work with don't even attempt to run it locally because now it's server, IIS, .NET, SQL, permissions etc. A good BV host would have you going in 30 minutes.
If you do get it all going locally, you would (after you're done) upload all your files to the web account and send your SQL backed up to the host who can get it wired up on their end.
BV will handle mailing all order info, update order info etc. It can handle promotional mail to your users up to hundreds, but not thousands, it is not a list server. |
Noah |
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Rank: Member
Joined: 1/22/2008(UTC)
Posts: 2
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Thanks for your response Noah.
So all the site updates would be made online through the admin interface? Would I be able to access the .html & .css files online or would they have to be saved locally? I didn't see access to them in the demo.
Would it be easy to use software like M-soft Web Developer, Dreamweaver, etc with BV5?
A separate question: how easy is it to add plugins like a list server, web chat, etc?
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Rank: Member
Joined: 6/6/2005(UTC)
Posts: 483
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DCG: I think I'm one of the guys your talking about. I know some html and poke around css a bit. I don't use any web developer software at all. My impression is BV has a lot of web developer stuff already built in. I just use straight html or xml to format articles and descriptions. The software will accept straight text. Noah just set up a test site for us on his server. I played around with it for a couple months while I learned the software until we got it to a point where we wanted to go live. I let Noah know and like magic - we were live. Bob Noble www.laurastamm.net
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Rank: Member
Joined: 11/6/2003(UTC)
Posts: 1,903
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Code and design updates are generally performed on the actual pages and stylesheets (via FTP), or in the BV templates (via admin or FTP)
You can use any editor you like. The editor picked tends to be closely coupled with the person doing the works experience. Programmers use visual studio. Designers tent to use Expressions or Dreamweaver. I tend to use notepad - lol.
Plugins - how easy? Changing an engine to a mechanic is easy, for me not so easy. Changing a fuse for a mechanic is a PITA, for me it's pretty easy. So it really depends on the mod/add-on and the person implementing it. BV has a great plug-in architecture so you won't be hampered by that. |
Noah |
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Rank: Member
Joined: 11/30/2005(UTC)
Posts: 2
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Can anyone tell me where to find docs for how to create plugins for BVC5? All I've been able to find is the info in the general docs about creating themes and "content" user controls. I'm looking to do something that modifies how the checkout works. Haven't been able to find docs about the general architecture anywhere. Looking at plugins others offer, it doesn't seem like the themes and user controls are the only ways to create plugins.
?
Thanks much!
- Jack
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Rank: Member
Joined: 3/3/2006(UTC)
Posts: 1,737
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Jack, I'd suggest posting this in it's own thread. This one is quite old. |
Optimists invent airplanes,
Pessimists buy parachutes. |
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