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Copyright ©2014 PDG Software, Inc.; All rights reserved.
PDG Software, Inc. (“PDG Software”) retains all ownership rights to the software programs (referred to herein as “Software”) offered by PDG Software and related documentation. Use of the Software and related documentation is governed by the license agreement accompanying the Software and applicable copyright law.
THIS DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED “AS-IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. IN NO EVENT SHALL PDG SOFTWARE BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF BUSINESS, LOSS OF USE OR DATA, INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS, OR FOR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, ARISING FROM ANY ERROR IN THIS DOCUMENTATION.
Contents
Chapter 1
Welcome to PDG Commerce
21
What's New in PDG Commerce?... 21
Site Design... 21
Import/Export Utility ... 22
Administrator Passwords ... 22
Recurring Billing ... 22
Search Result Limitation ... 22
Product Description and Thumbnail Image on Basket ... 22
Web Store Logo ... 23
ThankYou Page Font ... 23
Macintosh OS X... 23
Moneris ... 23
Pricing Category Discounts ... 23
About this Guide... 24
Getting Help... 24
Chapter 2
PDG Commerce Basics
25
Storefronts on the Internet ... 25
What is a Shopping Cart? ... 26
A Database... 26
A Basket... 26
A Checkout Counter ... 26
How do Shopping Carts Work ? ... 27
Browsers, cookies, and AOL ... 28
Chapter 3
Installation
29
Backing Up ... 29
System Requirements ... 29
Chapter 4
Merchant Administrator
31
Reminders ... 31
Adding a New User... 34
Managing Existing Users... 34
Making “Live” Changes to Your Web Store ... 35
Backups... 36
Replicating and Restoring Master Data ... 37
Chapter 5
Database Configuration
39
Database Requirements... 39
Configuring Database Settings ... 39
Database Settings for Windows versions... 40
Database Settings for UNIX versions... 41
Setting Up the Database... 42
Chapter 6
Customer Maintenance
45
Customer and Customer Category Configuration ... 45
Customer Management ... 46
Number of customers to Display Per Page ... 46
Searching for Specific Customers... 46
Browsing a Customer Category... 47
Browsing the Entire Customer List ... 47
Adding a New Customer... 47
Moving All Customers in One Category to Another... 47
Deleting All Customers in a Specific Category... 48
Customer Display screen ... 48
Customer Data Management screen ... 49
Customer Page screen... 50
Customer Category Management ... 51
Category List and Basic Operating Rules... 51
Adding a New Category ... 53
Renaming a Category... 53
Changing the Registration Code of a Category ... 53
Customer Category Pricing Configuration ... 53
Reset Customer Category Pricing... 54
Do Not Change Taxable Price ... 55
Apply Discount Amount to Both Unit Price Price Discount and Taxable Price
Discount ... 55
Set as Tax Exempt ... 55
Set Taxable Price Discount Manually ... 56
Commerce Options ... 60
Product Configuration... 60
Site Design and Display Elements... 61
Place your web store’s site name here. This value is used in the Merchant
Administrator pages and in emails as well. ... 61
Site Configuration... 65
Secure Settings... 68
Complete URL to a SSL Secure PDG Commerce Executable... 69
Complete URL to a SSL Secure PDG Commerce Log Executable ... 70
Alternate SSL Checkout HTML Template... 70
Alternate SSL Verify HTML Template... 70
SSL Thank You Template File ... 70
Encryption... 71
IP List... 71
Chapter 8
Maintaining Products
75
Product Categories... 76
Staging Product Category ... 76
Grouping Product Categories... 76
Product Categories Page ... 76
Start At Category ... 77
Creating a New Product Category ... 77
View Products Button... 78
Details Button ... 78
Remove Button ... 78
Editing User Defined Field Names... 78
Display a Specific Product... 78
Product Category Details Page ... 79
Product Category Specific Details... 79
Product Category Discounting... 81
Products Page... 81
Product Position List... 81
Creating a New Product... 82
Details Button ... 83
Remove Button ... 83
Move To Button... 83
Product Definition Page... 84
Product Settings Section ... 84
Product Code... 85
One-line Description... 85
Taxable Price ... 86
Additional Unit Shipping... 87
Minimum Number to Order... 87
Maximum Number to Order ... 87
Weight... 87
Unit of Measure Label ... 88
Frequent Shopper Points... 88
Number of Items Per Box ... 88
Product Dimensions... 88
Allow Fraction Quantity? ... 88
URL of Product Image... 89
URL of Thumbnail Image... 89
Item Template ... 90
Specific Product Text... 90
Dynamic Pricing ... 91
Allow Dynamic Pricing for This Product ... 91
Set Dynamic Taxable Price to Zero... 91
Up Sales ... 91
Cross Sales... 92
Softgoods Section ... 94
Softgood Data to Display on ThankYou / CreditAccept Template ... 95
Location of Softgood Payload ... 96
MIME Type of Softgood Payload ... 96
Maximum Number of Allowed Downloads of Softgood Payload ... 96
Duration of Download Window (in Minutes) of Softgood Payload... 97
Inventory Settings ... 97
Track Inventory for Product ... 97
Track Inventory for All Option Variations ... 98
Discounts Settings... 98
Customer Category Settings ... 98
Product Options ... 99
Shared Options... 100
Creating a New Option ... 100
Copy Options From Other Products ... 100
Details Button ... 101
Remove Button ... 101
Invalid Option Combinations... 101
Default Option Combination ... 101
User Defined Data ... 102
Cross-selling With User Defined Fields ... 102
Sku Suffix ... 105
Price Change if Chosen... 105
Taxable Price Change ... 106
Weight Change if Chosen ... 106
Custom Text... 106
Cost/Letter of Text... 107
Taxable Custom Text Price... 107
One Time Price Change? ... 107
Display Selection Name if Chosen ... 107
Display Option Description Name if Chosen ... 107
Invalid Option Combinations... 109
Default Option Combination ... 110
Quantity Discounting... 111
View All Quantity Discounts... 111
Edit Selected Quantity Discount... 112
Copy Selected Discount... 112
Copy All Discounts... 113
Quantity Discount Table... 113
Chapter 9
Gift Certificates
115
Adding Gift Certificates... 115
Modifying Gift Certificates ... 116
Viewing Outstanding Gift Certificates ... 116
Deleting Gift Certificates... 117
Viewing Gift Certificate Usage ... 117
Chapter 10
Tracking Product Inventory
119
Inventory by Option Selection... 119
Enabling Inventory Tracking ... 120
Viewing Product Inventory... 120
Position Inventory List... 121
Product Code... 121
In Stock ... 121
Do Not Allow Backordering? ... 121
Do Not Display in Searches If Out Of Stock? ... 122
Display Inventory By Options ... 122
Product Code... 123
Track Inventory... 123
Adding Inventory... 124
Implementing Changes to Inventory Settings... 124
Rapid Inventory Update... 125
Chapter 11
Import/Export
127
CSV File Layout ... 127
The Discount Record ... 128
The Option Record... 129
The Option Lock Record ... 131
The Category Record ... 133
The Product Record ... 134
Getting Help... 144
Locating CSV File ... 145
Uploading CSV File... 145
Removing CSV Files ... 145
Downloading CSV Files ... 146
Synchronizing Products with CSV File ... 146
Append CSV file to Products... 147
Update Products with CSV File... 147
Importing the File ... 147
Create PDG Export File... 148
Create Froogle Data Feed File ... 149
Create Yahoo Product Feed File ... 149
Selecting Products... 149
Downloading the CSV File... 150
Chapter 12
Payment Methods
151
Payment Methods Setup ... 151
Rule #... 152
Method Description ... 152
Specifiers ... 152
Using an Internet Payment Service... 154
Authorization vs. Authorization and Capture ... 154
AVS ... 155
Payment Methods ... 155
USA ePay... 156
USA ePay Source Key... 157
USA ePay Server Name... 157
VeriSign ... 158
Necessary VeriSign Files for Payflow Pro ... 158
Recurring Billing ... 159
VeriSign Account Type ... 159
VeriSign Account Login ID... 160
VeriSign Account Password ... 160
VeriSign Partner ... 160
VeriSign Vendor Name ... 160
VeriSign Authorization Type... 160
VeriSign Host ... 160
VeriSign Port ... 161
File to which VeriSign Transactions are Logged ... 161
Send the Maximum Amount of Data when Using Pfpro... 161
Allow "Show Confirm" PayFlow Link page ... 162
Payflow Fraud Protection Service Settings ... 162
Payflow Link Settings in the Merchant Administrator... 163
Payflow Link Settings in the VeriSign Manager ... 163
SurePay ... 165
Your SurePay Merchant ID ... 165
SurePay Account Password ... 165
SurePay Server Name ... 165
SurePay Authorization Type... 165
File to which SurePay Transactions are Logged ... 166
PayPal ... 166
PayPal Account... 166
PayPal Server Name ... 167
PayPal IPN Notify URL ... 167
PayPal Redirect Template... 167
Page to Display When Returning to Your Site from PayPal After a Payment has been
Completed... 167
Page to Display When Returning to Your Site from PayPal After a Payment has been
Canceled... 167
PayPal Temporary Directory Maximum Size... 168
File to Which PayPal Transactions Are Logged... 168
Send items ordered to PayPal ... 168
Log Pending PayPal transactions to log files... 168
Configure PayPal Manager... 169
WorldPay ... 169
WorldPay Account Installation ID ... 170
WorldPay Preferred Account... 170
WorldPay Transaction Mode ... 171
WorldPay template for redirect back to site ... 171
Template for Post to WorldPay ... 171
WorldPay secret password for md5 signature ... 171
WorldPay callback password... 172
WorldPay temporary directory maximum size ... 172
WorldPay connection type (buyit action only) ... 172
File to which WorldPay Transactions are Logged... 172
WorldPay Administrator Settings... 173
LinkPoint ... 174
LinkPoint API Version ... 175
LinkPoint Store Name ... 175
PEM File Name ... 175
LinkPoint Server Name ... 175
Port Number... 175
LinkPoint Authorization Type ... 175
File to which LinkPoint Transactions are Logged... 175
AIM Gateway Protocol... 176
AIM Version ... 177
AIM Account Login ID ... 177
AIM Account Password... 177
AIM Transaction Key ... 177
AIM Gateway URL ... 178
AIM Authorization Type ... 178
AIM MD5 Hash ... 178
File to which AIM Transactions are Logged ... 178
CyberCash... 178
CyberCash Merchant ID (CYBERCASH_ID) ... 179
URL of CyberCash CashRegister (CPPS_HOST)... 179
SSL URL of CyberCash CashRegister (CPPS_SSL_HOST)... 179
CyberCash Merchant Key (MERCHANT_KEY) ... 179
Merchant's Authorization Type ... 180
File to which CyberCash Transactions are Logged ... 180
EFTSecure ... 180
EFTSecure Account Login ID ... 181
EFTSecure Account password... 181
EFTSecure Gateway Server Name ... 181
File to which EFTSecure transactions are logged ... 181
Moneris ... 182
Moneris Store ID ... 182
Include Items Ordered with Transaction Details ... 183
File to which Moneris transactions are logged ... 183
Moneris Gateway Email Settings ... 183
Metacharge... 183
MCPE Installation ID ... 184
MCPE Account ID... 184
Gateway ... 184
Authorization Type ... 184
File to which metacharge transactions are logged ... 185
Test mode... 185
Chapter 13
VeriSign Recurring Billing
187
Introduction... 187
Configuring a Product... 188
Number of Payments ... 188
Amount to be Charged per Payment... 189
Frequency of Payments... 189
When Billing Begins... 190
Customizing Templates ... 190
Chapter 14
Configuring Shipping
193
Charging for Shipping ... 193
Product setup... 194
Shipping Method setup ... 194
Shipping Charges setup ... 194
Shipping Methods ... 195
Rule #... 195
Description... 196
Additional Cost ... 196
Requires Shipping Info ... 196
Add Subtotal Rules? ... 196
Add Weight Rules?... 196
Add Quantity Rules?... 197
Do Not Display on Checkout Page ... 197
Real Time Shipping Settings ... 197
Discount Shipping?... 198
Adding Shipment Rules ... 199
Modifiying Shipment Rules... 199
Tracking Results Template ... 200
TRACK_RESULTS (Required) ... 200
Shipping with United States Postal Service... 201
Shipping Charges by Subtotal... 202
Shipping Charges by Weight ... 203
Shipping Charges by Quantity... 203
Establishing Rules for Shipping Charges Under More Than One Method ... 204
Chapter 15
Working with UPS OnLine® Tools
207
UPS® Options ... 207
Registration... 208
UPS® Details... 210
Pick Up Selections ... 210
Notification Options ... 211
Address Verification For Customer Checkout... 211
UPS® Tracking... 212
Shipping Methods ... 213
Schedule Shipment ... 213
Validate an Address ... 218
View UPS 1Z (tracking) Numbers and Shipped Invoices ... 219
Void a Scheduled Shipment (within 24 hours of scheduling) ... 219
Manage/View Ship Labels... 220
Show Labels for Printing All ... 221
Show Labels for Individual Printing... 221
Schedule All New Orders ... 221
Create a Shipment... 221
Chapter 16
HTML Template Files
223
Template Directory Location... 224
Template Header and Footer Settings... 224
Row Color Settings... 224
Standard HTML Templates ... 224
Basket HTML Template ... 225
Basket Empty HTML Template ... 225
Add Item HTML Template... 225
Inventory Option Template... 226
Item HTML Template... 226
Checkout HTML Template... 226
Thank You HTML Template ... 228
Template to Display if Authorization Fails ... 229
Template to Display if Authorization Succeeds ... 229
SSL Thank You Template ... 229
Search Results HTML Template ... 229
Advanced Search HTML Template... 230
Search Results Empty HTML Template... 230
Category Template File ... 230
Multiple Add Template File ... 230
Error Template... 230
Verify Inventory Error Template... 230
Shipping Rate Compare Template... 231
UPS Tracking Result Template File ... 231
UPS Tracking Request HTML Template ... 231
UPS Address Validation Template File... 231
Top Navigation HTML Template... 231
Left Navigation HTML Template... 231
Right Navigation HTML Template ... 232
Bottom Navigation HTML Template ... 232
About Us HTML Template... 232
Contact HTML Template... 232
Home HTML Template ... 232
User 1 HTML Template ... 232
User 2 HTML Template ... 232
User 3 HTML Template ... 232
User HTML Templates... 232
User Login Template File ... 233
Successful Login Template File ... 233
Login Failed Template File... 233
Checkout Select Template File ... 233
Guest Template File... 233
Register New User Template File... 233
Registration Successful Template File ... 233
User Update Template File ... 234
Unauthorized Action Template File ... 234
Anonymous Check-out HTML Template File... 234
Alternate Anonymous SSL Check-out HTML Template File... 234
Multiple Shipment Templates... 234
Multiple Shipment Check-out Template... 234
Multiple Shipment SSL Check-out Template... 235
Multiple Shipment SSL Thank You Template ... 235
Multiple Shipment Credit Accept Template... 236
Chapter 17
Sales Tax Configuration
237
Sales Tax Rules... 237
Chapter 18
Multiple “Ship To” Options
239
Adding Multiple Recipients to Customer Account... 239
Choosing Multiple Recipients for an Order... 240
Adding Shipping Addresses... 241
Modifying Multiple Recipient Addresses... 242
Deleting Multiple Recipients ... 242
Multiship Templates ... 243
Chapter 19
Custom Buttons and Frames
245
Custom Buttons Settings... 245
Frames Settings... 246
Name of Frame Containing Cart Contents ... 247
Name of Main Window Frame ... 247
Name of Checkout Window Frame ... 247
Chapter 20
E-mail Settings
249
E-Mail Settings ... 249
Do Not Include Credit Card Data ... 250
E-mail Customer Notifications To... 250
Template File for Customer Notifications ... 250
E-mail Vendor Notifications To ... 251
Template File for Vendor Notifications... 251
Email Program ... 251
Sendmail Client Program Location... 251
E-mail Server ... 251
Full Name From Which E-mails Are Sent... 252
QMAILUSER Environment Variable ... 252
‘From Address’ for Sent E-mails... 252
Call Tags in the E-mail Template ... 256
<!---ORDER---> Tag... 256
<!---SHIPTO---> Tag ... 256
<!---BILLTO---> Tag ... 256
<invoicenumber> Tag... 257
<contactname> Tag... 257
<billtext> Tag ... 257
<!---PASSTHROUGH---> Tag ... 257
<sitename> Tag... 257
<!---SOFTGOOD_LINKS---> Tag ... 257
Chapter 22
Order Settings and Logging
259
Order Logging/Retrieval... 259
Do Not Include Credit Card Data ... 260
Log Orders to Database ... 260
Order Log File ... 261
Order Log CSV File... 261
Order Log XML File... 261
CSV Text Delimiter ... 261
CSV Delimiter ... 262
Invoice Number Prefix... 262
Invoice Header File... 263
Create Relational-Ready CSV File? ... 263
Create One-line CSV File ... 263
Add One-Line Product Description to CSV File ... 263
Order Log Reports ... 263
Select Data Source ... 264
Select Date Range... 264
Show Order Invoices / Sales Reports ... 264
Chapter 23
Configuring Product Search Results
267
Search Result Style ... 268
Display Price for Thumbnail Searches ... 268
Search Product Description ... 269
Number of Results Per Page ... 269
Number of Results Per Row ... 269
Order of Search Results ... 269
Maximum Number of Search Results... 270
Use Product Category Templates for Category Search Results Display ... 270
Allow Searches of User Defined Fields... 272
Chapter 24
Exporting the Order Log
273
Standard CSV Order Log... 273
Relational CSV ... 274
Delimiters... 274
Records ... 275
The A Record... 275
The F Record ... 275
The B Record ... 276
The P Record ... 276
The X Record... 277
The S Record ... 277
The I Record ... 279
The T Record ... 280
The D Record... 280
One-Line CSV Order Log... 281
PDG Accounting Accelerator ... 283
Preparation ... 283
Installation ... 284
Setting Up QuickBooks for PDG Accounting Accelerator ... 285
Importing Orders... 287
Customizing Invoice Display... 290
Importing PDG Orders Into UPS Worldship... 291
Overview of Importing Process ... 291
Overview of Setting Up the Import Process ... 291
Setting up the Data Source Name ... 292
Installing the Worldship Mapping file... 293
Importing the Order CSV ... 295
Importing the Shipments into Worldship... 296
Chapter 25
Configuring Order Discounting
297
Pricing Category Discounting... 297
Order Subtotal Discounting ... 298
Edit Discount Table ... 299
Remove Discount Table... 299
Copy All Discounts... 299
Copy Selected Discount... 300
Currency Accepted ... 303
Secondary Currency... 304
Secondary Currency Conversion Factor ... 304
Percentage of Final Total Added to Order to Cover Currency Fluctuations ... 304
Default Country selected when entering customer information ... 304
Countries Selection Configuration... 305
Chapter 27
Working with Zones
307
Zone Options... 307
Zone Actions... 308
Editing Zones... 309
Chapter 28
Affiliate Tracking
313
Implementing Affiliate Tracking ... 313
Third-Party Affiliate Tracking... 315
Chapter 29
Embedding PDG Commerce
317
Calling PDG Commerce with HTML Forms ... 318
Calling PDG Commerce with Hypertext References ... 318
PDG Commerce Storebuilder ... 319
PDG Commerce Actions ... 319
PreAdd Action ... 320
MultiPreAdd Action ... 321
Add Action... 322
Display Action ... 323
Checkout Action ... 323
Embedding PDG Commerce's Search Function ... 324
Embedding a Soft Search... 325
Embedding a Hard Search with Form Tags... 326
Embedding a Hard Search with Images or Text Links ... 327
PDG Commerce Actions for Logging In and Registering... 327
Login Action ... 327
Register Action ... 328
hether you are a retailer or a wholesaler, a global company or a small shop, PDG Commerce is the commerce solution for marketing your products on the World Wide Web. Developed with the merchant in mind, PDG Commerce integrated into your Web store allows your customers to log in, easily browse the available products, choose a product to buy, spec-ify a desired attribute (size, color etc.), select payment and shipment options, submit the order and then sit back and anticipate delivery from you.
What's New in PDG Commerce?
As Internet commerce continues to evolve, so do the demands placed on our e-commerce software packages. In response to customer input and market trends, our development team has spent countless hours installing new fea-tures and capabilities that have made PDG Commerce a premier Internet com-merce tool.
Already one of the most robust shopping carts and database-oriented Internet catalog software packages, these new features will help set your Web store apart from the competition, allowing you to maximize sales.
Site Design
PDG Commerce now offers the Site Design feature, allowing you to config-ure the entire look and feel of your web site and Commerce templates directly through your Commerce Administrator. You can apply a pre-defined skin to your templates, which automatically sets button images, template layouts, font attributes, and web site colors for all Commerce generated pages. You may also choose different attributes from several different skins to install, or
An introduction to PDG Commerce and Internet commerce
configure your own custom site design. You may even save multiple custom skins and change between them with ease. PDG Commerce also allows you to define your own templates to be used with your Commerce, so even your static web pages can be displayed using the Site Design features. This new option allows you to specify your home page, contact information page, store information page, UPS tracking request page, and advanced searching page. There are also three available user defined templates that may be used for any purpose.
Import/Export Utility
New in PDG Commerce is the ability to import and export product CSV (comma delimited) files within the Commerce Administrator. These files may be edited within a spreadsheet application. Import new product lists to your Commerce database, add to your existing lists, and update existing prod-ucts by simply importing a new CSV file. You may also quickly and easily download backup files of any or all current product categories. Finally, the Import/Export utility allows you to export your product lists in Froogle or Yahoo sales formats for direct import into these applications.
Administrator Passwords
PDG Commerce now offers the ability to create several users for the Com-merce Administrator. The Admin user may create additional user accounts with separate usernames and passwords. The Admin user will determine which sections of the Commerce Administrator are accessible to each user, and restrict access as necessary. User accounts may be created, modified, or deleted at any time by the Admin user.
Recurring Billing
VeriSign Payflow Pro users now have the ability to configure recurring billing products. You may set your products to charge specific initial payments, as well as determine how much each additional payment will cost, how often they will be charged, how many payments will be required.
Search Result Limitation
Product Description and Thumbnail Image on
Basket
PDG Commerce now offers the option of displaying additional information on your default Basket page. You may now specify that you want the thumb-nail of each product to be displayed in the customer's basket. You may also choose to display the product descriptions in the cart as HTML links that open each product's details page.
Web Store Logo
In the Commerce Administrator, you may specify the location of your web store's logo image. This image will be displayed on the default templates, and you may specify its use on any custom templates.
ThankYou Page Font
You may now choose not to use the mono space font on the default ThankYou template. Disabling the mono space font will cause the ThankYou template to display in the same font used on the rest of the default Commerce templates.
Macintosh OS X
PDG Commerce is now available for use on Macintosh OS X Servers. Many companies that host graphics-intensive web sites prefer to offer Macintosh OS X Servers, and now they may integrate these sites with PDG Commerce.
Moneris
The Moneris payment gateway has been added as an integrated payment ser-vice for use in PDG Commerce. Moneris offers the ability to send additional customer and vendor e-mails, and you may choose to send these e-mails in your Commerce Administrator..
Pricing Category Discounts
About this Guide
This book is the general user's guide for PDG Commerce. It provides an overview of the installation, and an explanation of the configuration and administration of PDG Commerce.
Conventions used in this guide:
A companion manual entitled ‘Installation Guide’ accompanies this user guide and details the actual installation of PDG Commerce.
Getting Help
Technical support is available at our web site at http://support.pdgsoft.com. Additionally, there is a message forum available for PDG Commerce users, at http://msgboard.pdgsoft.com.
Convention Explanation
Monospaced font this typeface is used for any excerpts from configuration or data files
Bold monospaced font boldface type indicates items that should appear in the file exactly as it appears here
[bracketed monospaced font] bracketed text indicates text should be replaced with what it represents
ntil the advent of the World Wide Web, selling goods and services has tra-ditionally meant securing physical space or creating a mail order catalog, hiring salespeople and managers, investing in point-of-sale equipment and supplies and, of course, advertising – all to operate just ONE location for twelve or so hours a day.
Storefronts on the Internet
With Internet access to the World Wide Web, all of this has changed. Large and small companies alike have seized the opportunity created by the Web and developed what are known as Web stores – sites where products and ser-vices are available to be bought and sold – worldwide, 24 hours a day. Get-ting started requires very little capital investment, virtually no physical space requirements and minimal human intervention. Indeed, a level playing field for companies of all sizes has been established.
While it may seem simple, creating a Web store presents its own set of unique challenges. First, the site itself has to be created. From there, a Webmaster must continuously maintain the site, inputting changes and updates. Further, the product offering needs to be kept current (statistics, pricing, information on availability) and orders need to be fulfilled. And finally – create it and they will come? Not exactly. You must get the word out. Advertising is still necessary, even with a Web store.
But, for this discussion, let's say you have created a magnificent site – com-plete with nice graphics and text touting your company's products. You've registered with all of the necessary search engines and have even done some advertising external to the Web. Once visitors land on your site, how do they tell you, “Hey, I want to buy that nice blue gadget, so here's my credit card
An overview of Web stores and how shopping carts facilitate Internet commerce
number and here's where to ship it?” This is where a shopping cart completes the picture.
What is a Shopping Cart?
In general terms, an Internet shopping cart (sometimes referred to as a virtual shopping cart) is a software program that, when integrated into your Web store, enables customers to choose one or more items from the Web store, specify particular options that might be available and then purchase those items collectively in just a few steps – all online.
A Database
Of course, if you are already familiar with the general operation of a virtual shopping cart – you might consider the aforementioned an overly simplified explanation. The shopping cart needs to be able to obtain product descriptions and inventories, and store and retrieve orders and customer information. PDG Commerce stores all of this information in a third party commercial database. The database is specifically designed to hold large amounts of data efficiently and allow it to be stored and retrieved quickly. PDG Commerce takes advan-tage of this by connecting to popular database packages.
A Basket
Just as you might choose grocery items from several different aisles at your local supermarket, a visitor to your Web site can navigate through your site, choosing items which may appear on different pages from one another. Con-tinuing this analogy, as you walk down different aisles in a supermarket, items are placed in a shopping cart, which serves as a “holding basket” for those items until you are ready to check out. Similarly, shopping cart software keeps track of the chosen items as a customer navigates through your Web store.
A Checkout Counter
Of course, the analogy above assumes that the customer can rely on the shop-ping cart's “permanence” – that is, once items are placed in the cart, they remain there as the customer navigates from page to page until he is ready to check out. What's more, if the customer leaves the Web store without check-ing out, the items remain in the cart and are still there upon his return. PDG Commerce operates on this very notion of permanence.
As is the case with real life shopping carts, virtual shopping carts exist in many different varieties. Some are very sophisticated technically, and have a professional appearance about them, while others are very easy to use. Unfor-tunately, these attributes do not always co-exist within the same product. PDG Commerce has the flexibility to meet the needs of virtually every type of Internet storefront. It is customizable from the template pages right down to the type of navigational buttons you choose to use. This helps create a seam-less connection between the main body of your Web site and the e-commerce software itself.
How do Shopping Carts Work ?
Just as there are many different types of virtual shopping carts on the market today, the ways in which these carts function also differ. Some work by using simple data collection forms and passing the information through the URL of the Web store. Others work by storing the customer's shopping cart in a data-base on the Web store's server. Further still, many work by using “cookies” –
small pieces of information sent by a Web store's server to a customer’s Web browser so that it can be read back from that browser. Each method in and of itself has its advantages and disadvantages.
While relatively easy to implement, passing the information through the URL of the Web store involves using form variables in the URL and a listening CGI component on the Web store side. This method by itself can be messy, as URLs can get cluttered and unorganized.
Storing the customer's shopping cart in a database on the server allows Web store owners to see the existing shopping carts at any time, before or after pur-chase. This information can be valuable, allowing Web store administrators to gauge future product needs – based on the contents of shopping carts belonging to customers who, for whatever reason, did not complete the check-out process on their last visit, but may intend to complete the process at a later date.
Browsers, cookies, and AOL
You must have cookies enabled on your browser in order to use PDG Com-merce. If you or your customers attempt to use the webstore without cookies enabled, it will not function properly. Most likely, your customers will be unable to check out if they are not using a cookie-enabled browser.
To use the Merchant Administrator, your browser will also need Javascript enabled. Certain administrator functions rely on Javascript to preload data form fields.
AOL Browsers have several difficulties, particularly with a framed environ-ment. If you are having difficulties with your Web site and your site is designed using frames, try navigating through your site with the frames
dis-abled. You may also want to try removing the target names from the ‘Frames
efore you begin the installation and setup process for PDG Commerce, you should verify that the system which will be running the software meets certain requirements. Likewise, just as software is written one way for Windows computers and another way for Unix based systems, PDG Com-merce is available for a variety of platforms. Be sure that the copy you are installing is compatible with your Web server’s platform.
Backing Up
If you are upgrading from a previous version of PDG Commerce or PDG Shopping Cart, the importance of backing up your entire Web store cannot be stressed enough. If you encounter difficulties with the installation, or should you accidentally overwrite your product database file, a backup copy can be utilized to quickly restore your Web store’s functionality.
It is recommended that you duplicate all of your Web store’s files regularly. Optimally, this should be done in a directory that is not on your Web server. If this is not possible, then back up your files in a directory other than your Web store’s root directory. The files that need to be duplicated are located in the ‘PDG_Commerce’ directory.
System Requirements
Generally, the following requirements should be met in order for PDG Com-merce to function properly on your Web server:
• A Web server that is Common Gateway Interface (CGI) compliant (most major Web servers, including Netscape, Apache, IIS 4.0, NCSA, Cern, etc.)
This section provides an overview of the installation process, which is covered in depth in this guide's companion piece, 'Installation Guide.’
The CGI directory on your web server must be able to execute compiled binary scripts in the web browser.
• A database product compatible with PDG Commerce: For Windows based machines, this is an ODBC compliant database, like Access and Microsoft SQL Server. For UNIX, this will be mySQL.
• At least 6 Mb of hard drive space available in the CGI directory
• Ability for the Web server to access and write to the PDG_Commerce direc-tory and subdirectories for retaining logs, invoice numbers, and using other temporary data files.
• A Web server that is SSL (secure socket layer) compatible to be able to view order information through the Merchant Administrator
PDG Commerce is capable of sending emails itself, without the use of sendmail, blat, or any other 3rd party email program.
As for your customers, they will need to use a Web browser that supports cli-ent-side cookies and tables in order for PDG Commerce to display and func-tion properly while visiting your Web store. For the vast majority of your customers today, this will not be an issue as Netscape Communicator, Naviga-tor and Microsoft Internet Explorer are table and cookie capable.
The installation of PDG Shopping Cart follows these general steps:
1. Install PDG Commerce onto your Web server
2. Verify that PDG Commerce has installed its license, or manually install the PDG Commerce license if necessary
3. Setup database, and configure PDG Commerce to access this database. 4. Configure PDG Commerce using the Merchant Administrator (this includes
defining store settings, products, shipping options and payment methods) 5. Embed PDG Commerce calls into your current HTML pages
6. Create custom HTML template pages for your Web store (optional) 7. Test your Web store
he Merchant Administrator for PDG Commerce is your Web store's “cen-tral office.” It is here that you will perform “store manager” duties such as inputting or deleting products, updating product prices, configuring shipping options, tracking inventory, setting the operational parameters of PDG Commerce and much more.
Since it is a “Web-based administrator,” the PDG Commerce Merchant Administrator is easily accessed through your favorite Web browser such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer. If you are using a browser other than Navigator or Explorer, make sure that it is capable of dis-playing forms and tables, as the configurable settings in the Merchant Admin-istrator are embedded in HTML forms. In order to take advantage of all of the Merchant Administrator’s functions, using a JavaScript enabled browser is also recommended.
Reminders
Check with your ISP and verify the operating system (OS) used on their serv-ers. PDG Software supports the following platforms: Windows NT, Linux, BSDi, FreeBSD, Solaris, Digital Unix and IRIX.
Make sure you are using the correct PDG Commerce version for that OS, e.g. if your ISP is using Microsoft Windows 2000 on their host server, you must download the Microsoft Windows version of PDG Commerce.
The name of the PDG Commerce executable (in your CGI directory) should be commerce.exe on Microsoft Windows NT systems. The PDG Commerce executable (in your CGI directory) should be commerce or commerce.cgi on the various UNIX systems. Note that you can rename these executables to
Learning your way around your Web store's “central office”
suit your website. You may need to check with your Web host to verify which extension your executables require.
Note: Once you have explored the introduction provided on your
‘com-merce.html’ page, it is suggested that you remove that page from your Web server. You may also rename it on your Web server and continue to use it. If you do remove the ‘commerce.html’ page, you may access your Merchant Administrator by directing your browser to the following address:
www.[yourwebstore].com/CommConfig/index.html
If you suspect that there may be some corruption in your configuration files, DO NOT MAKE CHANGES LIVE! Doing so may make it impossible to recover the old settings without contacting your system administrator for a backup copy. See the section on ‘Backups’ later in this chapter for more details.
Accessing the Merchant Administrator
To enter the Merchant Administrator, point your Web browser to the ‘/Com-mConfig’ directory of the server where your Web store resides. For example, if your Web store's address is “http://www.webstorename.com,” then the Mer-chant Administrator is accessed by pointing your browser to “http://
www.webstorename.com/CommConfig/index.html”. This will load the login page for the PDG Commerce Merchant Administrator.
Login Screen
At this point, if the login page for the Merchant Administrator does not load, revisit the installation procedures and make sure that you copied all of the files from the archive’s ‘Your_document_directory’ subdirectory into your Web server’s primary document directory. Also, your Web server should be configured to use the filename ‘index.html’ as the default document for directories. Otherwise, PDG Commerce Merchant Administrator may not function properly. If you are using a 3rd party ISP to host your Web store,
check with them to verify this setting
Once the login screen appears, type your Merchant Administrator account’s user name and password and click the ‘Login’ button.
Merchant Administrator
Navigation Sidebar
When logging in, you have the option enabling the “Navigation Bar.” This is a frame on the left side of your browser, which allows you to quickly navigate the main sections of the Merchant Administrator. All of the sections are listed in the Navigation Bar, as well as a “log out” link, and a “Make Live” link (see below concerning “Make Live”). Additionally, product and product category quick-search boxes are added for ease-of-use. For the box labeled “SKU” enter in the product code or partial sku of the product or product’s inventory you wish to view. If you enter a partial sku, PDG Commerce will list the best matches (up to 50 maximum). You can then choose which product to view. The functionality is similar for product categories, except PDG Commerce uses the product category code.
Admin Users Section
Within the PDG Commerce Administrator you may create several users with varying access capabilities. The Admin user will determine which sections of the Commerce Administrator are accessible to each user as accounts are cre-ated, and restrict access as necessary. User accounts may be crecre-ated, modi-fied, or deleted at any time by the Admin user.
You may access the Admin Users section of the Commerce Administrator by clicking the 'Users' link from the Main Menu.
Note: All changes made in the Admin Users section are live as soon as the
Adding a New User
New users are created in this section. Enter the new user's name in the "User Name" field, the password in the "Password" field, and enter the password again for accuracy in the "Confirm Password" field. Next click the 'Add New User' button to create the user account.
Add New User section
User names may only contain alphanumeric characters. Only the following characters are allowed:
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890
Passwords may contain any characters. Each password must contain at least eight characters, one of which must be either a digit (1234567890) or a special character (non-alphanumeric character).
When created, new users do not have access to any sections of the Commerce Administrator. Please see the following section entitled "Configuring User Access" for further information on these settings
Managing Existing Users
The Admin user password, user passwords, and user settings may be config-ured in the Current Users section of the Admin Users page. You may also delete existing users in this section.
Changing the Administrator Password
The Adminstrator of the accounts will always maintain a user name of Admin. When logged in as the Admin user, you may change the password in the Admin Users section of the Commerce Administrator. If you have forgotten the Admin user password and cannot log in, it may be reset by modifying the ConfigPW file located within the PDG_Commerce folder. It is strongly sug-gested that you change the password immediately upon gaining access to the Commerce Administrator so the Admin password will once again be
encrypted.
Enter the new password in the "Password" field. Enter it again for accuracy in the "Confirm Password" field. Click the 'Update Password' button to change the password.
The Admin user password may contain any characters. Each password must contain at least eight characters, one of which must be either a digit
(1234567890) or a special character (non-alphanumeric character).
Changing User Passwords
User passwords may be changed in the individual user's section on the Admin Users page. Only the Admin may change users' passwords. Enter the new password in the "Password" field for the appropriate user. Enter it again for accuracy in the "Confirm Password" field. Click the 'Update Password' but-ton to change the password.
Configuring User Access
After creating a new user, the Admin will choose which sections of the Com-merce Administrator may be accessed by that user. Check the boxes next to the appropriate Administrator sections to grant access, then click the 'Update User' button to set the access.
The Users section of the Commerce Administrator does not appear in this list, as the Admin is the only user allowed to make changes to user accounts.
Removing a User
To remove an existing user, click the 'Remove User' button in the appropriate user's settings on the Admin Users page.
Making “Live” Changes to Your Web Store
indi-vidual setting will cause a “not live” status message to be displayed, regard-less of which page you happen to be on within the Merchant Administrator. Certain changes in your Merchant Administrator take effect immediately, and do not need to be made live. In general, these are settings that are stored in your database and are not staged. Things that you can change, that take affect without making changes live, include:
• Customer information (including any address information)
• Customer Categories
• Order Discounting (by subtotal)
• Product Inventory
• Product Categories
For example, let's say that you access the Merchant Administrator and make a change to a sales tax rule. Then, before clicking the ‘Make Changes Live’ link on the main menu, you go to the Shipping Rules page to review your set-tings. The status message on the top of the Shipping Rules page indicates that the settings are not live, even though you have not made any changes to the shipping settings. This is because the sales tax change you made earlier has not yet been “made live” or implemented.
Product definitions are different in regards to making changes live. When a product is added to the database, it is initially not live, although it is stored in the database. Clicking “Make Live” will then make the product available for your customer base. Products added to the database can also be made live by moving them temporarily to the Staging Product Category, and then moving them to their proper product category.
The “not live” message will remain until you click the ‘Make Changes Live’ link on the Merchant Administrator’s main menu, then the message will read “These settings are live.”
Of course, if you make any number of changes and then decide to discard them; you can do so by clicking “Discard Changes” on the main menu. This action will produce a confirmation screen. Once you have confirmed that you want to discard the changes, the Administrator clears all changes since the last time you clicked “Make Changes Live” – you do not have the ability to pick and choose which changes to discard.
Warning: Use of the “Back” button on your browser may cause the improper
status message to be displayed. It is recommended to avoid the use of your browser’s “Back” button when at all possible. Instead, use the links within the Administrator’s pages to navigate through your Merchant Administrator.
Backups
your fully functioning PDG Commerce. There are several files you should back up. All are under your ‘PDG_Commerce’ directory located in your Web server’s CGI directory. The following files, in particular, should be backed up.
• shopper.conf
• shipping.conf
• All of your Template files
Generally, it is a good idea to backup your entire ‘PDG_Commerce’ subdirec-tory, if you have the space. Such a backup can be performed inside many popular FTP programs, and several HTML editors. If you need more help with this topic, please contact your Web host for your required method to access/copy these files.
Replicating and Restoring Master Data
PDG Commerce has the ability to replicate your Web store’s master data files with a single click. From the Merchant Administrator’s main menu, the “Maintenance” link will lead you to a page with two links that control this feature: “Replicate Master Data” and “Restore Master Data.”
Clicking “Replicate Master Data” will make a duplicate copy of many of the files located in the “PDG_Commerce” directory, including the following files:
• shopper.conf • shipping.conf • countries.txt • currency.txt • configPW • shopper.txt • cartconfig.txt
• Templates folder (if located in the PDG_Commerce directory)
Note: If you are using Site Design or if your PDGCommTemplates or
Tem-plates folder is not located in your PDG_Commerce directory, your template files will not be copied by replicating master data.
• ProdText folder
• EmailTemplates folder
• All zone files in use
Warning: The “Replicate” and “Restore” function DOES NOT back up or
restore your database. If you wish to backup and/or restore you database, you will need to do so through the database itself. (In the case of Microsoft Access databases, you can just make a copy of the .mdb file.)
Note: The “Replicate” and “Restore” features will not be available to users
These replicated files will be stored in a ‘ReplicaData’ folder within the ‘PDG_Commerce’ directory. It is recommended that you replicate your mas-ter data files afmas-ter each session of changes to your Web store’s settings in the Merchant Administrator.
Once you have replicated your master data files, they remain in the
‘ReplicaData’ directory until they are needed. If any of your master data files become corrupt at any time, simply click the “Restore Master Data” link on the Maintenance page of your Merchant Administrator. This will replace the active files with your replicates.
Warning: The ‘Replicate’ and ‘Restore’ features should not be considered
he database is a critical part of the PDG Commerce program. Without a database, you would not be able to store and retreive information on your product catalog, customer information, and placed orders. With PDG Commerce, you use a third party database application, and configure PDG Commerce to communicate with it. PDG Commerce will then send queries and requests to the database as it needs to retreive and store data.
Database Requirements
PDG Commerce supports the following databases:
For the Microsoft Windows version of PDG Commerce, any ODBC compli-ant database is supported. PDG Commerce is specifically tested with Microsoft Access and Microsoft SQL Server.
For any UNIX version of PDG Commerce, mySQL is supported.
If you require support for a database not listed above, please contact PDG Software for availability.
Configuring Database Settings
Depending on the operating system of the web server, different settings will be present on the page.
An explanation of the Database Configuration Settings in the Merchant Adminis-trator
Database Configuration Screen
Database Settings for Windows versions
For the Windows versions of PDG Commerce, you can have PDG Commerce access your database in one of three ways:
• Using a Data Source Name (DSN)
• For most ODBC databases, specify the server name and the database
name
• For Microsoft Access, specify the .mdb file
In any of the three cases, you may also need to specify a username and a password to access your database.
Note: You only need to use one of the three mechanisms listed above. So, for
example, you have a DSN setup to a Microsoft Access file located on the web server. You can use either the DSN, or specify the Access filename. You do not need to do both.
Database Driver Type
This is a list of the database drivers installed on the web server’s system. This list is generated for PDG Commerce by the operating system. Choose the appropriate driver for the database you are using.
DSN
SQL Server
If you are specifying an ODBC connection to a database program, such as Microsoft SQL Server, place the name of the server’s fully qualified domain name here. If you are using the DSN or the Access filename, leave this field blank.
SQL Server Database
If you are specifying an ODBC connection to a database program, such as Microsoft SQL Server, place the name of the database to use here. Note that this database must already be setup and configured with the database applica-tion. If you are using the DSN or the Access filename, leave this field blank.
MS Access database filename
If you are specifying an MS Access .mdb file for your connection to a data-base, place the filename here.
Login Name
If you were provided with a login name for accessing your database, place it here. Otherwise leave it blank.
Password
If you were provided with a login password for accessing your database, place it here. Otherwise leave it blank.
Database Settings for UNIX versions
The UNIX version of PDG Commerce works with mySQL. You will need to have a mySQL account set up for you. Once you have verified this, fill in the following fields with the appropriate information.
SQL Server
SQL Server Database
Place the name of the database to use here. You should have this information if you are administrating the database application yourself, or this should be provided to you by your hosting company or server administrator if not.
Login Name
Place the login name to use to access the mySQL database here. If you do not require a login name, leave this field blank. You should have this information if you are administrating the database application yourself, or this should be provided to you by your hosting company or server administrator if not.
Password
Place the password to use to access the mySQL datavase here, if you have one. If you do not require a password, leave this field blank. You should have this information if you are administrating the database application yourself, or this should be provided to you by your hosting company or server administra-tor if not.
Setting Up the Database
Once these settings are configured, the database itself must be set up before it can be used with PDG Commerce. This involves making sure the proper tables are setup.
If you are setting up a new PDG Commerce and not upgrading from another PDG Software product, you will need to run PDG’s CreateDB utility. This utility constructs the database tables for you. The CreateDB utility is a CGI application that comes with PDG Commerce. To run it, you need to enter its URL in your browser. An example might be:
http://www.yourstorename.com/cgi-bin/CreateDB.exe?pw=
Your URL will be different - you need to change the server to be your web-server, and the cgi-bin and executable file extension may need to be changed. Once started, supply the needed database connectivity information on the page and follow the instructions. A separate user guide for the Create Data-base utility can be found at http://www.pdgsoft.com as well.
large aspect of PDG Commerce is the ability to retain customer informa-tion. Customers can log into your web store, where common information like their shipping and billing addresses can be stored and recalled for later return purchases. You can log into your Merchant Administrator and likewise administrate customer information, updating, adding, and deleting it as you need.
Using PDG Commerce, you can also create customer categories. With cus-tomer categories, you can sort cuscus-tomers into different groups. You can offer different pricing models for these different groups. For example, one group of your customers may be your resellers. These resellers have already provided you with proper tax reseller exemption IDs, and therefore should not be charged tax. You can create a customer category for them, and instruct PDG Commerce to not charge tax to any customer in that category. You can further instruct PDG Commerce to collect sales tax for customers not in the category - which allows you to also conduct a retail direct-to-consumer business.
Customer and Customer Category
Configu-ration
Selecting “Customers” from your PDG Commerce Main Menu will bring you to the primary customer and customer category configuration screen. From this screen, you can search for specific customers, so that you can alter or delete any information. You can also manage your customer categories, including moving customers to and from categories as well as setting price changes and tax changes for customers in a specific category.
Managing your customers and your customer categories
Customer Management
This first part of the Customer and Customer Configuration screen is devoted to customer management. Here you can browse all of your customers, browse customers by their category, or search for specific customers. You can also delete customers and move customers between categories.
Customer Management
Number of customers to Display Per Page
This setting controls the number of customers displayed per page for any search or browse operation against your customer database. If you search with specific criteria, the results will be returned with this number per page. If you browse by a category or browse the entire customer database, the results will be returned with this number per page.
Searching for Specific Customers
your search across all customer categories, and return a list of matching cus-tomers.
If PDG Commerce finds one or more customers matching your search criteria, they will be returned in a “Customer Display” screen, which is described in more detail below.
Browsing a Customer Category
You may browse all customers in a given category. To do so, use the pull-down box and select the customer category you wish to browse. Then click the “Browse Customer Category” button. PDG Commerce will then return a list of customers in the specified category in a “Customer Display” screen. This screen is described in more detail below.
Browsing the Entire Customer List
You may browse all customers registered with your web store. To do so, click the “View All Customers” button. PDG Commerce will then return a list of all customers registered for your web store in a “Customer Display” screen. This screen is described in more detail below.
Adding a New Customer
You may add a new customer to your customer database by clicking “Add a New Customer.” A blank “Customer Page” will be displayed allowing you to enter in the customer’s information. The “Customer Page” is described in more detail below.
Note that this is not the only way for customers to be entered into your cus-tomer database. You can set up your PDG Commerce so that cuscus-tomers can register themselves into your customer database.
Moving All Customers in One Category to
Another
Deleting All Customers in a Specific Category
You can delete all the customers in a specific category using the “Delete ALL customers in the [source] category” box, where “[source]” is a drop-down select box. For the “[source]” box, select the category whose customers you wish to delete. Then press the “Delete Customers” button. You will be given a pop-up box asking you to confirm this deletion. If you answer “OK” to this pop-up box, all the customers in the specified category will be removed per-manently from the customer database. Customers that are deleted in this man-ner cannot be restored later, so be certain of this action before confirming it. The Merchant Administrator will then return to the “Customer and Customer Configuration” screen once the deletion is complete. You can then browse the customer category to confirm the deletion.
Customer Display screen
After searching the customer database or browsing the customer database (in its entirety or by by category), the results will be returned on a “Customer Dis-play” screen. The number of customers displayed on this screen is set by the “Number of Customers to Display per Page” input from the previous screen. If there are more results than can be displayed per page, a “Next” and or “Pre-vious” button will be displayed near the bottom of the list, so that you can view the other customers.
A Customer Display output
For each customer, PDG Commerce displays the customer’s name and com-pany, email address, phone numbers, the customer’s login name, and the cus-tomer’s category. You can click the cuscus-tomer’s email address to email them - note that your browser must be configured properly to handle mailto link types.
To the right of this information, for each customer are some additional con-trols. Clicking on “Details” will bring up the “Customer Data Management” screen for that particular customer. This screen is described in detail below. To delete the user, click the “Remove” button to the right of that user. Remember that the deletion is permanent and the user cannot be restored once deleted.
Customer Data Management screen
The “Customer Data Management” screen allows you to modify information about the customer, including their password, their addresses (both billing and all shipping addresses), and other information.
Customer Data Management
The top part of the screen allows you to modify customer information not related to addresses. You can change the customer’s email address, company name, customer category, password, and customer specific comments. If you are changing the password, you will need to enter it in both password boxes. If the password typed in each box does not match the other, the password will not be reset. Select the “Update Customer Details” to update this information with your changes.
To display a blank address, which you may then fill in from scratch, select “Add New Customer”. To display the customer’s primary billing address information, select “Billing Information.” To display the customer’s primary shipping address information, select “Shipping Information.” If these two addresses are linked as the same (meaning the customer has indicated he wished to ‘ship to billing address,’ making a change on the billing information will change the shipping information as well. You may instruct PDG Com-merce to treat these addresses differently by clicking “Separate Contact.” Once done, PDG Commerce treats the shipping and billing address informa-tion differently, and changes to one will not effect the other. If the addresses are being treated differently and you wish to mark the account so that it will ship to the billing address, select either the “Use Billing” button or the “Use Shipping” button. If the “Use Billing” button is pressed, the customer’s cur-rent primary shipping address will be discarded, and the billing address will be used as the primary shipping address. If the “Use Shipping” button is pressed, the customer’s current billing address is discarded, and the the pri-mary shipping address will be used as the billing address.
If the customer has any secondary shipping addresses, each address’s
‘Friendly Name’ is displayed on the left. Once a specific secondary shipping address on the left is selected, the address information is displayed on the right. You may remove a secondary shipping address by selecting it on the left and pressing “Remove Contact.” Note that you cannot remove the cus-tomer’s primary billing address or primary shipping address.
On the right side of the display, you can view or modify the currently selected address information. At the end of the information are two buttons: “Update Information” and “Add New Contact.” If you select “Update Information”, then the currently selected address on the left will be updated, replacing any old information, including updating the “Friendly Name.” If you select “Add New Contact,” a new secondary shipping address will be created with the friendly name specified, and will then be listed on the left of the display.
Note: The friendly name for the billing information and the primary shipping
address are ignored. They can be set to any value. This value is not displayed to any customer.
