Install AShop

Before installing the program files, test the site to make sure that the IonCube encoded program files will run on the server and that all of the server requirements are met. Download the pre-installation test script. Instructions are included with it in a text file. Run the ashoptest.php script from a browser. If all of the tests pass, go ahead with the installation.

AShop is protected under US and International copyright laws. The software is licensed for use per domain. Installing and using this software signifies that you have read and agree to the terms of our software license agreement.

The program files that are distributed from our shopping cart are encoded for copy protection and to prevent hacking. A registration key is required to activate the program. A free 30-day trial key can be used once for a domain. The trial period can be extended if you need more time to evaluate the software. Permanent registration keys are available through our online store.

Ensure that your FTP client is set to images in binary mode. Upload the AShop files and folders to the server. The AShop V files and folders may be installed in the public root directory or in a subdirectory. A single domain license can be used to install the shopping cart in any number of subdirectories with different names. The AShop directory structure must remain the same as in the distibution packate for each installation.

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Note: If there is a lot already going on in the public root or you are not sure, it is safer to install AShop in a subdirectory.

Note: .htaccess files are included in the products and updates directories to protect product files. These files may not appear within your FTP explorer on the server side after you have uploaded them, because a file with a name that begins with a punctuation mark is treated as a hidden file in Unix/Linux, but can usually be seen within your hosting services online file manager.

Create a database for AShop and add a user with a password to the database. If you do not have access to create a MySQL database on your server, then contact your web host technical support to have this done for you. You will need the path to the database (if it is not localhost), the database name, user name and password. The user must have all privileges for database table mods and creation of new tables.

5.	Open config.inc.php in a text editor such as NotePad and edit the following variables BEFORE running install.php:

The database is usually located at "localhost". If the database is hosted remotely or on a different server, this setting may be something like "mysql.server_name.com" or http://mysql.server_name.com.

Note: Changing the $noinactivitycheck variable in config.inc.php to "true" will deactivate the inactivity time out in your AShop admin panel.

6.	Run install.php from a browser. This will create the database tables. To do this, enter something like this into your browser address bar: http://www.yourdomain.com/install.php or http://www.yourdomain.com/ashop/install.php depending on where the AShop files and directories are located.

8. Remove the install.php file from the server. Installation of the program files and database is now completed.

After the initial installation of program files and the database is completed, the shopping cart can be customized and configured in various ways. Shopping cart pages, receipts, email notices, images, buttons, and page text for each language can be modified to suite your needs. A sample set of product categories and products are installed for you but these can also be modified or removed. Here is a quick list of the most important considerations during initial setup.

If you have not already seen the tour of AShop, go back and look at the section about page templates. It describes how page templates are included by the program. HTML templates are simply HTML web pages with a place where the shopping cart content appears. A separate page template is used for the catalog, delivery, checkout, affiliate pages and wholesale catalog. You can also edit the storefront file: index.php to create a more advanced layout for your shopping cart. It is a regular HTML page but named ".php" instead of ".html" and containing some PHP include codes to put the various modules in place. The other files with names ending in .php are encoded shopping cart software files and should not be edited or replaced.

Login to the admin panel. In the Configuration/Layout menu, set the default colors, sizes, fonts, widths, borders, thumbnail image size, and various other parameters, which are used in the dynamically generated areas of the shopping cart pages. These are applied to the shopping cart through a dynamic CSS stylesheet: includes/ashopcss.inc.php. A sample static CSS file is also included for your reference: includes/ashop.css. Change the templates to use that file instead if you wish to have full control over all layout elements.

If you don't need custom page templates and you just want to begin using the cart with a canned look, select a theme in the Layout menu. Themes can be a complete collection of page templates with buttons and pre-configured Layout parameters. Or, themes may only include a set of buttons, or only Layout parameters. Each them has a config file, which specifies how much it does and sets Layout parameters. The parameters in the theme.cfg.php file can be set so that the theme's config settings override the admin panel Layout settings and if the theme includes page templates, they can override the root AShop page templates. If the theme comes with an index.php.themename file you can put that one in the AShop root directory and remove the ".themename" part of the filename to use it as a storefront, adapted to the theme.

What! No themes to select from? There is a selection of themes and buttons on our site, which may be downloaded for free and used with AShop. Select a theme package, download it to your computer and unzip it. Upload the folder containing the theme to the themes directory where AShop is installed. Then, select the theme in the Layout menu.

Each supported language has a unique set of files called a Language Set. When a language is selected the program uses the corresponding language set. Each language set includes a set of images, a set of language text files, and a set of receipt templates. To change the text in shopping cart pages, edit the corresponding language file(s). The program file distribution packages contain only an English language set. More language sets are available for download from our site.

AShop supports several methods of linking to the shopping cart from HTML web pages and email messages. See the Order-Link help topic. See the Order-Link Tech Tip for specific step by step instructions. Also, some example files are included with distribution packages for new installation.

The shopping cart supports a variety of payment methods and integrates with most popular payment services such as Authorize.net, PayPal, Verisign, Card Services International, WorldPay, and many more. The degree of difficulty to set up each payment option varies widely. Instructions are provided as needed for the payment services that are supported by AShop. If you do not find instructions for your payment service in this help documentation, see if it is listed in the payment processor cross reference chart. There might not be instructions if the payment option requires only the merchant ID to be entered in AShop. If a payment service is not listed in the cross reference chart, it is probably not supported by AShop.

When the shopping cart is installed, the first orderid number will begin at 1. New orderid numbers will then auto increment from the highest existing orderid number in the orders database table each time a new order is created. The beginning orderid number can be increased using a database management tool such as phpMyAdmin. Either add a row with the higher orderid number or, if the highest existing orderid number is not needed for anything else (for instance it is an incompleted/unpaid or a test order), change the highest orderid to the higher number. Subsequent new orders will then auto increment higher orderid numbers. See also: Receipt and Order Reference Numbers

Many times the server time is different than your time zone and some servers may be set by Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). To adjust the time stamp for orders and stats, set the timezoneoffset in Configuration > Shop Parameters > Advanced Options. The value of the offset is in seconds. To add time enter only the digits. To subtract time, enter a minus sign in front of the digits. Example, Your time zone is 2 hours later than the time zone of the server. To adjust the time so that it matches your zone on receipts and notices, you would enter -7200, which is minus (60 seconds times 60 minutes times 2 hours).

If you are selling products that require sales tax calculations, visit Configuration > Taxes.

A purchase agreement may be included with acceptance required before checkout and payment. Create a file named agreement.txt. Put text or HTML content in the agreement.txt and upload it to the directory where AShop is installed. There is an agreementEXAMPLE.txt file included with the new installation packages. The agreement will then be required for each order before checkout. Note: This is completely separate from individual product license or terms of sale agreements.

If you are using the affiliate program, set up the default commission values before adding products. Otherwise, skip this step.

Email notices can be sent automatically based on which products are ordered. An automation fulfilment option can be used to activate third-party programs. SwiftCD automatic CD fulfilment service is also supported. To send fulfilment notices or activate fulfilment automation, set up the fulfilment options first and then assign each product to a fulfilment option.

There is an automatic visit counter in catalogue.php and search.php, which counts unique visitors. The current number of visitors, visitors today, and grand total (since last reset) displays in the admin panel index page.

If you run into trouble, contact us. Technical support is free for trial installations. Technical support and software updates are provided free for one year after a permanent registration key is purchased. After the first year, technical support and software updates may be subscribed to for $60 annually.