CartXpress Powered by
osCommerce Reference Manual

CartXpress Powered By osCommerce is an online shop e-commerce solution. It features "out-of-the-box" installations that allow storeowners to set up and maintain online stores, with very little effort.

Having osCommerce power CartXpress provides you with an open e-commerce platform, which combines the best in open-source solutions. osCommerce’s open-source aspect allows you to be part of an online community of people who share the same goal of improving your ability to get your products to your customers in an easy manner, which will encourage your customers to return again and again.

CartXpress powered by osCommerce allows you to use all the features you came to expect in powered by osCommerce, along with the following new features:

The interface of CartXpress is easy to use. The many features of CartXpress can easily be accessed from your store’s homepage. These include:

Configuration

Configuration has the following features:

Catalog

Catalog has the following features:

•Contents: Determine what contents you will have in your online catalog, and how you will categorize them.

•Manufacturers: Keep track of the manufacturers of your products.

Customers

Customers has the following features:

  • Customers: Keep track of your customers
  • Orders: Track your orders.

Reports

Reports has the following features:

Modules

Modules has the following features:

• Payment: Determine what methods of payment you will accept credit card, check, Paypal, Pay Flow, World Pay, Gift Voucher, etc.

• Shipping: Determine and list shipping charges and arrangements.

Locations/Taxes

Locations/Taxes has the following features:

Localization

Localization has the following features:

• Currencies: Display which currencies you will accept and determine the exchange rates.

• Languages: Determine which languages your site will be available in.

Tools

Tools has the following features:

Vouchers/Coupons

Vouchers/Coupons has the following features:

Other features that can be accessed include OsCommerce's support functions such as:

Immediate tracking of your orders under the following categories:

Immediate tracking of statistics concerning your site:

1 Installation of CartXpress

Before you may use CartXpress, it must be installed on your domain. To install it, click on the CartXpress icon in your Control Panel.

Clicking on the CartXpress icon will display the following Install osCommerce page:

There are three things you need to determine before you install CartXpress powered by osCommerce.

Once you have determined these three things, click Install osCommerce.

If you already have AlaCart powered by osCommerce installed and are upgrading to CartXpress powered by osCommerce, when you click the CartXpress logo in your Control Panel the following screen will be displayed.

This page will allow you to upgrade to CartXpress, by simply clicking an Upgrade button.

2 File Manager

The CartXpress Powered by osCommerce File Manager allows you to manage the files needed to successfully run your online store

The File Manager lists the files in an onscreen Filing Cabinet that allows you to click on each file. This allows you to control the content of your site quickly and easily.

Clicking on each file will allow you to manage it. Changes you make will take effect after you click the Submit button in any of the sections below.

account.inc

This section allows you to write an overview of the various products you are selling, as well as manage your account information.

contact us.incThis is where you manage the Contact Us section of your site.

index.inc

This section lets you set up an Index of your site; allowing you to more easily keep track of where your product content is located on your site.

login.inc

This section allows you to manage the content that you place in the Login portion of your site.

password forgotten.inc

This section allows you to inform any customers of what to do if they have forgotten their password.

product reviews.inc

In this section, you may set up parameters for customers to leave reviews of your products.

product review write.inc

This section is where the text from the reviews is converted to HTML, so that it may be placed on your site.

shipping.inc

This section is where you set up the page for clients to enter their shipping information.

conditions.incThis is where you list your Conditions of Use agreement for your customers.

cookie usage.inc

This section allows you to detect whether or not a customer's browser supports cookies, as well as displaying instructions on how to enable cookies if their browser does not.

info shopping cart.inc

This section allows you to enter information about the various shopping carts you use on your site.

logoff.inc

You may enter the text for your log off message in this section.

product info.inc

This section allows you to enter information about any of the products that you are selling on your site.

product reviews info.inc

This section allows you to determine the method your customers will use for reviewing products.

products new.inc

This section is where you enter the description, manufacturer and price of new products on your site.

3 Style Sheet Manager

The CartXpress Powered By osCommerce Style Sheet Manager is where you coordinate the different fonts you wish to use for different areas of your site.

.boxText

This section controls the style of the font in the side boxes. It will not affect any hyperlinks or box headings.

.checkoutBarCurrent

The style for the current step in the checkout progress bar at the bottom of the checkout page is set here; it controls the font-family, font-size, and color.

.checkoutBarFrom, .checkoutBarTo

This sets the style for the steps prior to, and after the current checkout steps in the checkout bar at the bottom of the checkout pages; it controls font-family, size and color of the checkout bar steps.

.errorBox

This controls the style of the error box, which is displayed when there is an error in the checkout process. It controls the font family, size, and weight; as well as the background color.

.infoBox

Background colors of the info boxes are specified in this section. These are all the side boxes and the new products box on the main page.

.infoBoxContents

The styles for the actual contents of the information boxes are specified here. The colors and styles can be changed, as well as the font family, size and background.

.infoboxNotice

This section allows you to set and change the background color of the information box notice.

.infoBoxNoticeContents

The background color, font family, and font size may be changed in this section.

.inputRequirements

The font family and size as well as the font color may be changed in this section.

.linkListing-Heading

This section allows you to edit the font family, size, and weight. It also allows you to change the background and color, as well as align the text.

.messageBox

The font family and font size in the message box may be changed in this section.

.messageStackError, .messageStackWarning

This section is where you may edit the font family and size and the background color for the Stack Error and Stack Warning sections.

.messageStackSuccess

Changes may be made to Stack Success font family and size in this section.

.moduleRowOver

This section allows you to control the mouse over color of rows in modules during the checkout process. You may edit both the cursors and the background color.

.moduleRowSelected

This section allows you to control the selection of colors of rows in the modules during the checkout process.

.orderEdit

In this section you control the style of the Edit text on the checkout confirmation page. You also change the font family, size, and color; as well as the text decoration.

.productListing-Heading

Changes to the product listing and headings may be made in this section. You may modify the color, background, and the font family, size, and weight.

.productsNotifications

This section controls the table style for product notifications on the checkout success process.

.stockWarning

The stock warning properties may be edited in this section. These properties include, text, and the font family, size and color.

A

This section controls the style of all hyperlinks, colors, borders, images, etc.

A.HeaderNavigation

This section controls the color of the links in the header navigation bar, including the breadcrumb and navigation links.

A.HeaderNavigation:hover

The hover colors of the links in the header navigation bar, include the breadcrumband site navigation links, are controlled in this section.

A.pageResultsThis section controls the color of the page results.

A.pageResults:hover

This section allows you to control the background and color of the page results.

A:hover

This element controls the hover style of all hyperlinks in CartXpress Powered By osCommerce (color, style, borders, image, etc.).

Body

This section allows you to control styles of the CartXpress body. You may change backgrounds, colors, images, margins, and the width of the catalog, as well as the main font, color and texts.

CheckBox, Input, Radio, Select Controls

This section controls the CheckBox, Input, Radio, and Select Controls for all CartXpress Powered By osCommerce settings. You may control background, color, size, and font.

SPAN.error test

The font family and color for the Span.error test are controlled in this section.

SPAN.greetUser

This section controls the style of the username in the greeting on the main page. The font family, size, weight, and color may be edited.

SPAN.markProductOutOfStock

This section is where you may control the font style (color, size, weight, and family) of the "Out of Stock" marker that shows up in the shopping cart display next to the out of stock product.

SPAN.newItemInCart

The "New Item in Cart" section is controlled here; this is for any new item put in the cart. The newest item in the cart will be highlighted.

SPAN.productSpecialPrice

This section controls the style of the "special price" text; it controls both the font family and color.

TABLE.formArea

This controls the style of tables in forms, such as the "My Account" form. This specifies background color, border, images etc.

TABLE.linkListing

The controls for the link listings are in this section. You may edit the border, border style, color and spacing.

TABLE.productListing

This section is where you control the borders of the product tables, including border style, color, spacing, and border size.

TD.accountCategory

You control the font family, size, and color of the account category portion of CartXpress in this section.

TD.fieldkey

This section allows you to edit the font family, size, and weight in various fields.

TD.fieldValue

This section is where you may change the font-family, size, and weight in field values on CartXpress Powered By osCommerce.

TD.footer

You may edit the styles of the footer bar at the bottom of the page from this section. It controls the font family, size, weight and color.

TD.formAreaTitle

This section controls the styles of form title text on the user account pages. You may control the font family, size, and weight.

TD.headerError

You may edit the style of the header error messages (default is set to red at the top of the cart) from this section. You may also edit the background, font family, size, and weight, background, text alignment, and color of the header error.

TD.headerInfo

This section allows you to control header info messages (the default is green at the top of the cart). You may edit color, background, text alignment, and font family, size, and weight.

TD.headerNavigation

The style of the header navigation text and background may be changed from this section. You may edit the background, color, and font family, size, and weight.

TD.infoBox, SPAN.infoBox

This section allows you to edit the font family and size for the TD and SPAN information boxes.

TD.InfoBoxHeading

This controls the style of all the headings in the side boxes and new products box. You may change the color, background image, and font family, size and weight.

TD.linklisting-data

This section allows you to edit the bottom and right borders, the font family and size, and the padding.

TD.Main, P.Main

This section controls the style of the main text areas in OSCommerce, the default page, product text and info pages. You may edit the font family and size, and the line height.

TD.pageHeading, DIV.pageHeading

This section controls the style of every page heading. You may edit the font family, size, weight, and color.

TD.productListing-data

This section controls the style of product listing data on the product listing pages. You may edit the font family and size.

TD.smallText, SPAN.smallText, P.smallText

This controls the styles of small text. This is the text found in the copyright notice, category links, product names and prices etc. You may edit the font family and size.

TD.subBar

This section allows you to edit the font family and size in the sub-bar portion of CartXpress Powered By osCommerce.

TD.tableHeading

This section controls the style of the headings in the shopping cart. You may edit the font family, size, and width.

Text Area

This section controls the style of the product display area, but not the actual text (text is controlled in the Body section). This section also controls the background of the larger text input fields. You may edit the font family, size, and width.

TR Section

The final section allows you to control the following TR sections:

  • TR.addressBook-even
  • TR.accountHistory-even
  • TR.alsoPurchased-even
  • TR.addressBook-odd
  • TR.accountHistory-odd
  • TR.alsoPurchased-odd
  • TR.footer
  • TR.headerError
  • TR.headerInfo
  • TR.HeaderNavigation
  • TR.linkListing-even
  • TR.subBar

4 Configuration

The Configuration section of CartXpress Powered By osCommerce is where you will set up and monitor your online store. You have access to many processes in this section, including:

  • My Store
  • Minimum Values
  • Maximum Values
  • Images
  • Customer Details
  • Shipping/Packaging
  • Product Listing
  • Stock
  • Logging
  • Cache
  • Email Options
  • Downloads
  • Gzip Compression
  • Sessions

My Store

The My Store section allows you to determine and keep track of what will happen in your store. For instance, this is where you enter the Store Name and Store Owner; as well as the main Email Address and Store Address and Phone. You will also be able to determine and keep track of assorted functions such as the Expected Sort Order, the Default Language Currency, the Default Search Operator, and whether or not to show Category Counts, among other functions. Each of the sections in the Configuration module can be edited. Editing is done by clicking on the edit field in this section, and filling in your changes in the drop-down box that appears.

Minimum Values

In this section you may list and determine the minimum values that can be given to such fields as First Name, Last Name, Date of Birth, Email Address, Telephone Number, Password, Credit Card Number, etc.

Maximum Values

This section is where you may enter and determine the maximum values that can be given to such fields as Address Book Entries, Search Results, Special Products, Manufacturers List, News Reviews, Best Sellers, Order History, etc.

Images

This is where you can determine and change the size and features of your images. You may upload, customize, and generate thumbnail images.

Customer Details

The Customer Details section allows you to track statistics about your customers such as Gender, Date of Birth, Company, Suburb, and State.

Shipping/Packaging

This is where you will keep track of, and edit countries of origin, postal codes, maximum package weights, package tare weights, and the percentage of increase for larger packages.

Product Listing

The Product Listing section allows you to display and edit product images, product manufacturer names, product models, weights, manufacturer filters, etc.

Stock

This section determines how stock levels are displayed and adjuisted. You can subtract stock levels, allow checkouts, mark a product as "out-of-stock", and determine the re-order level.

Logging

Logging lets you log your store page parse time, destination, and date format, display the page parse time, and store database queries.

Cache

This section lets you determine whether you will use the cache function and creates a cache directory.

Email Options

Email Options lets you determine your email transport method, email linefeeds, use MIME HTML when sending emails, verify email addresses, and send emails.

Download

This section allows you to enable downloads, download by redirects, expiry delay by days, and determine the maximum amount of downloads.

GZip Compression

If you wish to compress any files into GZip drives you may do so from this section.

Sessions

This is where you can set up session directories, force cookie use, check SSL session ID's, check user agents, check IP addresses, prevent spider sessions, and recreate sessions.

5 Catalog Administration

The Catalog section of CartXpress Powered By osCommerce is where you will set up and monitor the day-to-day functions of your online catalog. You will monitor the following functions from this section:

  • Categories/Products
  • Products Attributes
  • Manufacturers
  • Reviews
  • Specials
  • Products Expected

Categories/Products

Categories/Products allows you to determine what categories you would like to place your products under for selling and inventory purposes. There are also buttons for adding a new category and adding a new product. You may also keep track of features you offer your customers such as free gifts with orders, free shipping, quantity price breaks, and gift vouchers as categories in this section. Categories may be edited, deleted, and moved by clicking on the edit, delete, and move buttons.

Products Attributes

This section lets you determine various attributes for your products. Under the Product Options portion you may edit or delete product color, size, model,or versions. You may also insert language preferences.

The Option Values portion lets you edit or delete the various options you make available for your products. You may also set language preferences.

The Products Attributes section is where you edit and delete various attributes of your products; when you click edit an update button appears, and you can update the product name, option name, option value, value price, and prefix of your products. You may also sort the order of the attributes that are listed. You may sort the order of attributes by Price, Prefix, and Sort Order.

ManufacturersThis section lets you edit or delete various manufacturers of your products.

Reviews

This section allows customers to rate and give feedback about your products.

Customers may leave testimonials about your products as well as reviews.

Specials

This section allows you to add, delete, and edit products that you wish to offer in specials in your online store.

Products Expected

This section allows you to keep track of any products you expect to add to your inventory in the future.

6 Customers

The Customers section of CartXpress Powered By osCommerce is where you keep your customers’ account records. There are sections for both Customer records and Order records.

The Customers module has fields that allow you to store relevant information on your customers, such as Last Name, First Name, and the account creation date.

Edit a customer’s record by clicking on the edit button. You will be able to change information about the customer such as address, phone number, options, etc. Once the changes are made, click the update button to keep the information current.

You may also email customers about their orders and accounts with the email template that is provided in this section.

You may delete customers from your records by clicking the delete button.

Orders

You may keep track of an individual customer’s orders or all orders to your online store from this section. To track an individual customer’s order, click on their name and then click the order button.

Click the invoice button to see a detailed listing of each order, including sold to, ship to, payment method, product name and price information.

Click the edit button to make changes to the following information date, customer notification, status of shipment, comments about the order, shipping method, and a tracking number.

Click the packing slip button for a packing slip to send with any orders you are shipping out.

Clicking on orders on the sidebar will also open up a list of all orders placed to your online store. You may edit, delete, create invoices and packing slips for any of the orders on this list.

Customers may also track shipments from your site through UPS, USPS, and FedEx, by entering in their account number and a tracking number in the My Account section of your website.

7 Reports

The Reports section of CartXpress Powered By osCommerce allows you to both keep track of, and develop detailed reports on, products and the customers that purchase them. It is a simple way to keep track of your market. It contains fields for reports on the following:

  • Products Viewed
  • Products Purchased
  • Customer Orders-Total
  • Low Stock Report

Products Viewed

This section is where you keep track of what products have been viewed, in what language they have been viewed, and how many times they have been viewed.

Products Purchased

This section allows you to keep track of what products were purchased and in what quantities.

Customer Orders- Total

This section lets you display what was purchased in each order, and the quantities in which they were purchased.

Low Stock Report

This section shows products that are low in stock. When the quantity of a product falls below the Stock Re-Order Level, that product will appear in the Low Stock Report. This report enables the Administrator to know when to purchase additional products.

8 Vouchers/Coupons

The Vouchers/Coupons section of CartXpress Powered By osCommerce is where you manage the coupons and gift vouchers you choose to offer in your online store.

Coupon Administration

This is where you administer the coupons you wish to offer your customers.You can make records based on the status of a particular coupon (active, inactive, or all coupons). You may also create fields for the coupon name, coupon amount, and add a coupon code.

By clicking on insert or edit, the following fields can be edited for each coupon.

  • Coupon name: A short name you give the coupon.
  • Coupon description: A description you give the customer of the coupon.
  • Coupon amount: The value of the discount for the coupon, either fixed or add a percentage point on the end for a percentage discount.
  • Coupon minimum order: The minimum order value before the coupon is valid.
  • Free shipping: The coupon gives free shipping on an order. Note. This overrides the coupon_amount figure,but respects the minimum order value
  • Coupon code: You may enter your own code here, or one will be generated for you.
  • Uses per coupon: The maximum number of times the coupon can be used, leave blank if you want no limit.
  • Uses per customer: Number of times a user may use the coupon. Leave blank for no limit.
  • Valid product list: A comma separated list of the product_ids that this coupon can be used with. Leave blank for no restrictions.
  • Valid categories list: A comma separated list of the paths that this coupon can be used with. Leave blank for no restrictions.
  • Start date: The date the coupon will be valid from.
  • End date: The date the coupon expires.

You may also create records for the coupons by clicking on the records button.

You may email coupons by clicking on the email button.

Gift Voucher Release Queue

This queue is where you track of the gift vouchers that have been purchased. They must be released from this queue before the customer may use them.

  • Customer: The customer’s name or account number; something you use to identify the customer.
  • Order number: The number that identifies the gift voucher.
  • Voucher value: The amount of money or merchandise that the voucher may be redeemed for.
  • Date purchased: The date the voucher was purchased.
  • Action: The voucher was either released from the queue and redeemed, or just released from the queue.

To release the voucher so the customer may use it, click redeem. If the customer is using it now and you wish to clear it as used, click redeem.

Mail Gift Voucher

This section allows you to email customers their gift vouchers. To do so, fill out the email template provided.

  • Customer: A drop-down box in this section allows you to determine who to send your emails to. Choose from all customers, all newsletter customers, and select customers (a particular customer with a particular email address).
  • Email: Use for sending single emails, otherwise use the drop-down box next to the customers field.
  • From: Your store’s email address.
  • Subject: The title of the gift voucher, or what the gift voucher is to be used for.
  • Amount: The amount of the voucher.
  • Message: A message you wish to send along with th