Website with Shopping Cart

shazndaz

OK. Firstly, I've never built a website before. I'm using NetObjects Fusion 8 which seems to be pretty easy using the wizard, until it comes to adding the catalogue. It says to sign up for a Store Engine. I did this but the whole thing just doesn't seem flexible enough i.e. it just creates one long list of items instead of being able to put things into categories for customers to browse through and I can't move buttons around etc. Also, it mentions being able to accept credit cards but there are no instructions on how to do this. When I preview my site, clicking on the "buy" button doesn't do anything. And once I've built the site, how do I know which hosting package will accommodate it?

The hosting company dataflame recommended on another thread looks very reasonable and it says it comes with a free shopping cart. But how can I know if this does what I want before I buy. OK I know I could ask them but my head is just spinning with all the different options for building and hosting I don't know where to begin.

So I think basically, what I'm asking for is the cheapest and easiest and most flexible way of building a website with a shopping cart that I can use my own credit card merchant with.

Phew.

meclive

Most hosting companies will give you cPanel which has osCommerce shopping cart included for you to install which is an easy to use cart that even beginners can get to grips with. Before you go with a hosting company always ask to trial their services before you buy, you will find the majority will give you one

shazndaz

Oooerrr

Thanks for that. Dataflame does have cpanel so perhaps I'll give them a try. Do you think I would be able to upload my netfusion site and then use the cpanel to add the cart? Would it take on the look of the rest of the website?

shazndaz

I just asked the live help person on dataflame if I could have a free trial and they said no! :wall:

ukbill69

I use https://www.session9.co.uk £15 per year web hosting and domain names at £6.50 a year, with 1 click install on over 40 scripts, including shopping cart and great support services with any script problem etc. They offer a 30 day money back, so give them a try, Ive been with them over a year with no down time on my site.

budgetflyer

Paypal can provide a shopping cart for you
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_wp-standard-ref-impl2b

F1F1

If you've never made a website, you would have quite a lot to think about in terms of making the website, hosting, ecommerce, etc. <on top of running your business!> Unless you're particularly interested in learning all about this, you might consider using something like https://www.oneandone.co.uk who provide an easy template, hosting and all the facilities for a monthly fee. I've never used them but know someone who has used them for an online shop and they seem pretty happy. <so far.. >

budgetflyer

https://www.rrhosting.com are selling lifetime hosting on ebay for £4.99. The control panel has the osCommerce shopping cart script among others like forums etc.
http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZrrhostingQQhtZ-1
I bought my domain name from 1+1 for a fiver for 2 years and moved it over to rrhosting. They took care of the back end stuff and are always on hand to help out with technical issues.Considering I only paid £2.89 for the package I cant believe the service I've had