[jegesmaci]

I am really excited for this version. We have three stores that we would like to manage with one admin. However, after I installed the beta, I am a little confused as to how to start. I added an idea to include a Getting Start Tutorial in the software after logging in. Please vote for this idea if you feel it will help.

https://cscart.userv...g-started-guide

Thanks,

Adam

[jegesmaci]

I tried adding a new store and when I click to view the site I get a 404 not found error. What did I do wrong?

Adam

[brandonvd]

Well apparently I'm not smart enough to figure out how to set this up correctly.

I want to play around with this, but with my own information, not the demo info.

I'm also trying to set this up a little differently.

I want to set up the stores on http://multi1.my-domain.com and http://multi2.my-domain.com but I can't figure out how to make it work.

First, do I need a CS-Cart installation in each of the subdomains?
How do I set up the .htaccess files?
I don't understand what Imac is talking about with the whole virtual host thing. Can anybody clarify that a bit?

What I kind of need is a dummy's guide to setting this up. If anyone has successfully set this up kind of like what I want, I'd love to know how you did it.

Thanks,

Brandon

[jegesmaci]

What I kind of need is a dummy's guide to setting this up. If anyone has successfully set this up kind of like what I want, I'd love to know how you did it.

Brandonvd,

I completely agree. I think they need to put something in the software to help get started. I even put an idea up for it.

Adam

[brandonvd]

Adam,

I don't think that having better instructions would be bad in the cart its self, but I was just kind of hoping to have something like:

1.) Install the cart
2.) Change this file
3.) etc.

I haven't tried just having this set up like how CS-Cart has it (domain.com and domain.com/store), but that isn't really a multistore solution to me. A multistore solution would be domeain1.com and domain2.com.

Hopefully CS or someone will post something on here that will help us.

Oh, you might also want to update you signature. I know you are with Secure Cart anymore.

Thanks,

Brandon

[Kayokoko Swimwear]

Here is how to setup two domains pointing to one multi store install....

- Create a cpanel account for domain #2
- setup the domain to point to a name server
- edit your http.conf file in apache and find domain #2 virtual entry:

<VirtualHost XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:80>S
ServerName domain2.com
ServerAlias www.domain2.com
DocumentRoot /home/domain1/public_html <------- this is the dir path of domain #1
ServerAdmin webmaster@domain2.com
## User XYZ # Needed for Cpanel::ApacheConf
<IfModule mod_userdir.c>
Userdir disabled
Userdir enabled domain1username <------ this is the username for domain1
</IfModule><
<IfModule mod_suphp.c>
suPHP_UserGroup domain1username domain1username <---this is the username for domain1

restart apache and it works perfect!

[brandonvd]

Wow, that worked perfect. Thank you very much for that.

I had to search around to see where my httpd.conf file was, but once I found it, I easily made the changes and now both sites come up.

Thanks again,

Brandon

[alexions]

Suggestion:

Allow to activate "catalog mode" on the "main" store.

So the main manufacturer or wholesaler could use cs-cart and the same database to create a site not to pickup orders but to show reviews and more detail information on their products or services.

In case there is not "main" store, allow any other be configured for this purpose.

Thanks.

Unfortunately, the catalog mode works improperly in this beta release.

We have already fixed this bug in the development version of CS-Cart Multi-Store. Now it allows a root admin to enable the catalog mode for each storefront separately. We plan to update the beta version of CS-Cart Multi-Store in 2-3 weeks, so that you will be able to test the catalog mode in your CS-Cart Multi-Store installation.

You can post other bugs and suggestions to our bug tracker: http://bt-mse.cs-car...y_view_page.php

Best wishes!

[alexions]

Dear Ranger-1,

Great news. I have installed the Beta but I need some clarification regarding the process of adding a new store to the multi-store. Lets say I have installed the CS-Cart multi-store under the domain: www.domain1.com/store/ and I want to add a new store to www.domain2.com. (on the same webserver)

Besides enabling the www.domain2.com store in the CS-Cart admin, what do I need to do in the webfolder of www.domain2.com? Is it the .htaccess file that redirects the content from domain1.com? If so, what is the actual RewriteRule? I have tried the following without success:

RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /var/www/domain1.com/store/$1 [L,QSA,E=/var/www/domain2.com]

There might be URL formatting that is wrong, but does the approach look correct?

In order that it could be easier to understand work of Multi-Store, I will explain how it works as exemplified by subdomains. Here is a small example of setting through cPanel (basically it will be the same for domains)

For example, we will create three stores:
example.com/store/
computers.example.com
phones.example.com

cs-cart files on our hosting are located at
/var/www/store/

Accordingly, the Document Root for example.com directs to /var/www/

We create the second store.
Add a new subdomain computers.example.com, but with this Document Root path:
/var/www/store/

And the third one (phones.example.com) will have the same Document Root path.

So we should get something like this.
http://clip2net.com/s/1bAie

We just have to specify paths for our storefronts.
Enter the admin area, open the first storefront and assign the following Storefront URL to it: example.com/store/
For the second storefront: computers.example.com
And for the third storefront: phones.example.com

That's all. When you open phones.example.com, you will see the third store.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.

Thank you!

[alexions]

Dear RocBoy001,

Will there be an option for each store to have their own admin user account and multiple user accounts?

As Lantan has said before, yes, we have this feature in mind.

Will there be an option for a superadmin to be able to login to each store also? --> This would primarily be a benefit for web designers, who manage multiple client e-commerce sites. This way, I can login through the MAIN admin area, and select which client's website I need to update/change.

This feature is implemented already. When you log in to your admin area, you can select different stores using a selection menu:
http://clip2net.com/s/1buDe

Can each store have their own products/customer list, and for the other stores to not be able to view that information? (Assuming each store is not related to one another, and are separate businesses.

In this beta version, under one storefront you can view only "your" customers, in other words those ones who is registered in this very storefront. Or if the "Share users" option is enabled, it will be possible to view all. This functionality is changed a little bit now. For one storefront, only its "own" customers are displayed. When the "Share users" option is enabled, only the customers who bought anything in this storefront will be displayed.

Can each store have their own vendor accounts?

Not now. But it is planned to be implemented.

Thank you.

[alexions]

Dear RocBoy001,

I also forgot to ask, if each site will have their own different domain URL, they each will need their own SSL correct? Or will it be linked back to the MAIN backend URL managing each store?

As any SSL certificate is issued to a specific domain name, then yes, you need to have a separate SSL certificate for each storefront with a unique domain name.

Thank you.

[Phoenix]

We create the second store.
Add a new subdomain computers.example.com, but with this Document Root path:
/var/www/cscart

Shouldn't the Document Root for the second store in your example be /var/www/store/ which would be the Multi-Store installation location?

I am in the understanding that all domains' Document Roots need to point to the Multi-Store installation location so if Multi-Store is installed on example.com with the Document Root of /var/www/ all other domains such as example2.com and example3.com need to be edited to point to /var/www/ as well, with each store loaded from the .htaccess file based on the resolving domain. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Also, from a search engine optimization perspective, will individual domains such as example2.com and example3.com be considered as unique content to that particular domain or will the search engines see that the content is simply being mirrored (or served up) from example.com? This is important to consider because if the other domains become penalized for mirrored content then this scenario would be an SEO disaster. When editing the document root for each domain within the httpd.conf, can unique IP addresses still be assigned to each domain and will the IP address resolve to the Multi-Store store as if it were a separate CS-Cart installation (unique content)?

[alexions]

Dear Phoenix,

Shouldn't the Document Root for the second store in your example be /var/www/store/ which would be the Multi-Store installation location?

I am in the understanding that all domains' Document Roots need to point to the Multi-Store installation location so if Multi-Store is installed on example.com with the Document Root of /var/www/ all other domains such as example2.com and example3.com need to be edited to point to /var/www/ as well, with each store loaded from the .htaccess file based on the resolving domain. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Sorry, I misprinted. You are absolutely right, the Document Root for the second and third stores has to direct to the installation location /var/www/store.

As regards the .htaccess file, you should use it only if you want to create a store in a subdirectory.
For example:
Your store is installed here: example.com

And you want to create
example.com
example.com/computers
example.com/phones

So you do not need to change anything in your cPanel. Just install one store on example.com (/var/www/)
And create two folders:
/var/www/computers
/var/www/phones

Inside these folders, you should create .htaccess with this content:
For "computers" directory (/var/www/computers/.htaccess)

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
  RewriteEngine on
  RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /$1 [L,QSA,E=DOCUMENT_ROOT:/var/www/computers]
</IfModule>

For "phones" directory (/var/www/phones/.htaccess)

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
  RewriteEngine on
  RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /$1 [L,QSA,E=DOCUMENT_ROOT:/var/www/phones]
</IfModule>

Do not forget to specify the Storefront URL parameter for these stores in the administration area.
Storefront URL for "computers": example.com/computers
Storefront URL for "phones": example.com/phones

Best wishes!

[brandonvd]

From the looks of things, you can change most of the content on a per store basis so I think it will be fine with SEO. The meta tags, description, etc. can all be changed individually so it won't be an exact copy.

Thanks,

Brandon

[karrde]

Will multi vendors possible for Multi-Store? So that i can have different vendors on one or different Stores?

[Ranger-1]

Thank you for good responses.

We want to start the process of converting our current webshops to cs-cart. This is obviously a big process as we have to move/register a lot of products. Is it possible to use a beta muli-storeinstallation for this and add/use a legitimate licence when this becomes available on the beta installation? We will of course not go live with the stores before we upgrade to latest version and have purchased the correct license. This would save us a lot of time as we would be able to start asap.

Btw, do you have an estimated timeframe when the multi-store becomes available?

Kind regards,

Joachim

[jegesmaci]

alexions,

For some of us that know a little less about the technical part of website setup, can you possibly show screenshots of what areas need to be changed when you have multiple domains?

My end result will be that I have three stores that are all hosted with the same hosting company under that same VPS.

store1.com - Main store
store2.com - sharing certain categories and products with store.com
store3.com - sharing certain categories and products with store.com

What is the best way to setup CS-Cart Multi-Store to accomplish this?

As for beta feedback, I really think you need to provide clear instructions for people to get this up and running and you will have a great product that will be in high demand.

I have also logged into the current beta install I have and I think you need a quick overview for a few different examples. Like:

How do I setup a product to share it among multiple stores?
How do I setup a category to share it among multiple stores?

Thanks,

Adam

[RocBoy001]

Will multi vendors possible for Multi-Store? So that i can have different vendors on one or different Stores?

It's not in the Beta now but is planned to be implemented.

[Darius]

Did not read very carefully.

Question, can one product be shared among say 2 stores and if in one it is sold then it is no longer available in both? If so very handy..

[alexions]

Hello Joachim,

We want to start the process of converting our current webshops to cs-cart. This is obviously a big process as we have to move/register a lot of products. Is it possible to use a beta multi-store installation for this and add/use a legitimate license when this becomes available on the beta installation? We will of course not go live with the stores before we upgrade to latest version and have purchased the correct license. This would save us a lot of time as we would be able to start asap.

No, you should not use the beta version of CS-Cart Multi-Store Edition for populating its database with your data because it will be impossible to upgrade this version to a stable one (at least we will be unable to provide any upgrade packages for the beta release). Please use it only for testing purposes.

I recommend you use separate CS-Cart Professional installations for your purposes (converting your current webshops to CS-Cart) because there will be a tool for transferring data from a CS-Cart Professional installation to a Multi-Store one.

Btw, do you have an estimated timeframe when the multi-store becomes available?

I am afraid, the stable release will come out no sooner than in 1.5-2 months.

Thank you.