Front-End
Once a customer has created an account, and logs in they will have access to features on the front-end that they otherwise would not have. This includes the My Account page, My Wishlist, and Checkout with Multiple Addresses.
My Account
When a customer clicks on the My Account link, they will be taken to the Account Dashboard. This is a summary of the most important account information, including Recent Orders, the general Contact Information, Newsletter status, default addresses, and Recent Reviews. If they click Edit for any of these options, they will be redirected to the corresponding tab of the more detailed My Account page. This offers more even more account information.
Account Dashboard
Takes the customer back to the summary page.
Address Book
Lists the Default Billing Address, Default Shipping Address (these are listed separately even if they are the same address, unlike in the admin), and all additional addresses with the option to edit each individually.
Account Information
Here the customer can edit the general contact information, including the account password.
My Orders
Lists all Orders placed by the customer, with more detailed information available when View Order is clicked. Here, the order status of each Order can be tracked by the customer via RSS feeds (refer back to Chapter 5 for more details).
Additionally, if an Invoice, Shipment, or Credit Memo has been created for an Order, an About this Order bar will appear above the Order information, containing an Invoices, Shipments, or Refunds link, respectively (or a combination of multiple links). Each link will contain more detailed information about all related Invoices, Shipments, or Credit Memos, with the ability for your customer to print a copy of each individually, or copies of all Invoices, Shipments, or Credit Memos simultaneously. Shipments have an additional feature. If a Shipment has one or more associated tracking numbers, your customer will have the ability to Track this shipment or Track all shipments, which will open a pop-up window
containing the shipment status, which Magento receives directly from the shipment gateway. There is more information about Invoices, Shipments, and Credit Memos in Chapter 8: Managing Orders.
My Product Reviews
Lists all product reviews placed by the customer, with and a link to the product, and more detailed information when View Details is clicked.
Newsletter Subscription
Lists all newsletters, with a checkbox next to the ones to which the customer is subscribed.
My Wishlist
List all products that the customer has added to the wishlist, with an option to add comments and add each item to the cart. When the customer is logged in, they can also see a quick view of their wishlist in the right column, below the
shopping cart feature. Additionally, the number of items in the wishlist will display next to the My Wishlist button at the top of the page.
Checkout with Multiple Addresses
In order to be able to use this feature, the customer must have an account and be logged in. Checkout as Guest is not available for this checkout process, even if you have enabled it. Additionally, there is no option to Register during
checkout. If a customer does not already have an account, they will have the option to Create an Account, which must be completed as a separate process before they can proceed to the checkout page. For more information about Checkout with Multiple Address, refer back to Chapter 4: Get Ready for Selling.
Back-End
Once a customer account is created, you will have access to more features in the admin than are available when creating an account in the admin. These features include those available to the customer in the My Account page on the front-end, along with several additional features.
Customer View
This is a summary of the customer’s information, including the most recent time and date the customer logged in, whether the customer is online currently, the time and date the account was created, the store in which the account was created, the Customer Group, Primary Billing Address, a summary of lifetime purchase information grouped by store, a list of all Recent Orders, and the items currently in the Shopping Cart and Wishlist.
Account Information
This includes the general contact information, and has the same functionality as when originally creating and account from the admin. It will also list the Website and Store View in which the account was created.
Addresses
This includes all the customer’s addresses, and has the same functionality as when originally creating an account from the admin.
Orders
Lists all Orders created by the customer, or created for the customer from the admin. Clicking on an order will redirect to the Order page, which contains for detailed information and has additional features, such as creating Invoices and Shipments. For more information about these features, refer to Chapter 8:Managing Orders.
Shopping Cart
Lists all products currently in the customer’s Shopping Cart, with the option to Delete each product. Clicking on a product will redirect you to that product’s page in the admin.
Wishlist
Lists all products currently in the customer’s Wishlist, with the option to Delete each product. Clicking on a product will redirect you to that product’s page in the admin.
Newsletter
Here you can subscribe or unsubscribe this customer from the newsletter, as well as view a list of all the newsletters of which this customer is a recipient. This looks very similar to the Newsletter Queue, and includes both Sent and Not Sent newsletters.
Product Reviews
Lists all Product Reviews submitted by the customer, and clicking on a Review will redirect you to that review’s page in the admin.
Product Tags
Lists all Product Tags submitted by the customer, and clicking on a Tag will redirect you to that tag’s page in the admin.