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PM sent - I don't want the spambots finding me..... Jason

I notice that the topHeader.jpg is pretty large at about 163KB. I would expect it to reduce down quite a bit more. It looks like the aspect ratio is wrong - if you hit the file with your browser: http://www.cnt-wholesale.com/skins/hobbitt...s/topHeader.jpg Then compare with your homepage, you'll see what I mean. jpg compression doesn't work too well with flat colour, so try and get rid of the green footer, keeping the image purely as the photo. I would guess you should be able to get the image down to about 80KB without any serious degradation. If you want to send me the raw image (not a jpg, preferably a png/bmp/tiff etc), I'll do it for you. Cheers, Jason

Hi Will, I'm very sorry to hear of your problems. I too had the same situation 3 years ago, and found it pretty tough. However, things will sort themselves out in time - although you don't always believe it at first. Regarding single women, one option is to launch your own dating site, and contact the good ones first... hehe Take care, Jason

Happy Easter Vrakas, I now have a house of chocolate eggs, and my children are leaving them here until I see them again in 2 weeks time.... (slurp) Jason

Edited

BBClone is pretty good and may do what you want: http://bbclone.de/ You'll have to modify .htaccess to include some code on every .php page, but it doesn't require access to server logs. HTH Jason

Hi Will, This is probably similar to the problem I see when trying to share a (non wildcard) SSL cert using https://domain/~accountname If you can, create a sub-domain, rather than a parked domain. ie - test.domain.com Generally, this will have the path: /home/your_account/public_html/test (or something like that!) Cubecart does work fine on a subdomain - I use sub domains fairly reguarly to test things out. Jason

Ok, all appears ok on a different PC. I'll just report my findings for future reference... I copied and pasted a sizeble qty of text (over 10KB) into the RTE window and it appeared to work fine. It's probably my desktop PC which has been running slow and probably needs a reboot... (5 days uptime for a Win2K based hard-worked desktop isn't too bad..) Jason

Has someone messed with the caching on the Windows Server? Have you added some kind of caching mod? If you've not made any changes, speak to your hosting company. Jason

Hi, I'm currently working on some Terms and Conditions for a CC3.0.9 store. Everything is fine so far, and the store has no mods applied. I edit the Terms and Conditions page (using RTE) and paste a plain text file (from notepad) into the RTE window. Then, clicking UPDATE DOCUMENT displays the following error message: (Page title reads: 403 Forbidden) Forbidden You don't have permission to access /admin/docs/siteDocs.php on this server. Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request. Searching through the forums, I can see another post with the same problem: http://www.cubecart.com/site/forums/index....eDocs\.php As the post was closed for some reason, I can't see what the fix was.. Things I've tried: - Closing down the browser and starting again. - Running it on IE, as opposed to FireFox - Only copying parts of the text, this does work, but I can't get the whole document there. Can anyone help? I've set a few stores up, and this is the first time I've seen this. Is there a data size limit on the RTE document? The text file I'm copying is just over 10KB (11069 bytes to be precise). Thanks, Jason

Hi Carl, I agree with Robsta, keep your Ebay store if you can. Setting up a CC store should be fairly cheap. Hosting can be fairly reasonable, and you are not forced to pay for CC- which makes it ideal for this kind of thing. If you get a resonable hosting package, you could run a small discussion forum on it (as a subdomain), which will help keep your customers close to your site. If you promote this forum on the ebay store, you will get some migration of customers- especially if you offer an incentive... Ebay do have rules about selling off-site, so watch out for their T&C. For forum members I would personally suggest offering a bundled discount, with the discount being close to your Ebay fees... Marketing is always a difficult subject. As an point of interest, to kick off a new store, I've spent £30 on Google Adwords this weekend and total sales = 2 which amount to £0 profit once I've paid Adwords... doh! You probably can't afford to do an affliliate scheme if margins are fairly low. I suggest getting active in forums where your potential customers will lurk (other forums/newsgroups) and place a link to your site in your signature, and just join in the discussions. This will have a 2-fold effect, 1 will be increased visibility of your store name in your market area, and 2 most search engines will index forums, and the link to your store will increase your page rank and make it more "important" to the seach engines. Pricing a product is also hard to get right. At the moment, you're trying to price competitvly. This is ok if you have the turnover. Another option is to Premium Price - ie put your prices at the upper end of the scale, and present the product to suit the price. This could mean mounting the programme nicely, or something like that. You could also sell this as a value-added service. If you have someone local that can do engraving, offer a "gift wrapped" service with engraved messaged on the box/frame etc. Suddenly, your £0.50-£3 item could be worth £20? Could you offer to donate a prize to a suitable competition - online or in any of the footballing mags or Fanzines? Most places would give you a decent advert in exchange for this type of thing. CC also has a Froogle generator which can may also work for you. Once you've added your products, you can submit the feed to Froogle which will include your products. Other than that, you're left to the normal link exchanges. To cut costs further, you could also accept NoChex, which has a lower commsion rate than PayPal - and also doesn't require a customer sign-up. In fact, you could also offer payment by Postal Order/Cheque - some people still prefer to pay that way! Just ensure they make the payments payable to you - not your domain/brand name as it takes a while to set-up a buisiness acount and then clear a cheque. (I've been there..) I hope some of the above has been usefull. Regards, Jason

I'm not sure I understand? So, if a hosting company creates a directory for the htdocs, and leaves it to the user to upload application "x" - the server will default to allowing write/modify access to these files & directories? I've used Windows hosting for quite a while, with many different hosts, and apart from the ones that have their own control panel, I had to make a call/put a support request in to modify permissions. Can you please explain how this should be done? I have to install CC on IIS (on a friends server) in a few weeks - so if there is an easier way to set up the account, I'm all ears. Jason

Hi, You will have to give your private details. However, Evilhomer is trustworthy (check his posting history). I've only been using CC for a few months, and have been using these forums since my 1st install, and have seen him offer the same service to others. He also has his own Store, and a fine reputation to uphold. You will still require your host to change permissions on your uploads and thumbs directory (and your homepage file), to get your store up and running. Unless you have a strong need for a Windows server, you should be able to get a good Linux host for the same or most probably less money, and have many more features. I've got to install CC on a Windows host in a few weeks - but luckily its on a friends server, so I can just wake him up @ 11pm if I need a permission tweak! I'm sorry you can't get online - I've been there lots of times with hosts.. "yes, we have set-up your database/directory as discussed", only to find they havn't and I'm left with a dud site :-( Take some comfort in knowing, its not CubeCart - you would have the same problem with most other Carts. Regards, Jason

Hi jason, yes I am on windows, so I will give them a call now and ask them to change the file permissions. Then I will have to call them back after step 4? Right, well I shall make a start and get back to you! Thanks

Hi, Are you on a Windows server? If so, you'll probably have to get your web host to change permissions for you - put a support request in (or call them, as they will have to put the file permission back once step 4 is complete). If you get no joy from them, PM me. If you' on a Linux server, and you have CPanel (a control panel for your hosting) & Fantastico (an auto installer for many programs), you should be able to install from there, this is very quick and easy. Post your web host url and package, I'll check it out and help you futher. Jason

How does this work with images? Assuming 1 image per product... Will your customer with 11,000+ items have to upload (via CC) each image, or will they have to manually create thumbnails (on their PC) then FTP? Also, does this also mean they will have 11,000+ images in the uploads directory? This does sound like a potential file management problem. Jason

I unfortunately don't have CPanelX nor Fantastic I'm using Yahoo Business and they do not have the option to create anymore Databases for MySQL or users... which sucks completely. It would be greatly appreciated if you could help me install this. I'll PM you.

It's not unfortunately.... trust me, I've looked. Hi, do you have CPanel, or some other kind of control panel? If so, you'll find this info under "mySQL databases". Click on this link, and you will be able to create a database and add a user (and password) to that database. Another angle is - does your hosting company have "Fantasico"? This is a web front-end installer for lots of software, including CubeCart. Fantasico will allow you to set-up CC very quickly without messing around with mySQL etc. Who is your hosting company? They should be able to help with creating a database. If you're only testing the water, I can provide an installed CubeCart store in a few mins on my server (or create a free account for you - PM me if you would like this) Regards, Jason

You'll need to look at: /skins/skin name/StyleTemplates/content/viewProd.tpl Jason

I was quoted 6% from RBOS, not very competitive! Paypal is 3.4%+20p (the commision does decrease if you have higher turnonver) Banks are generally cautious about IMA, as you are being lent the money on the promise that you'll supply the goods... If things go really wrong for your company, they could be seriously out of pocket. Can you try mail order (cheque/po) for a while, and reduce your prices by the expected credit card fee? If you have some kind of established set-up you will be in a stronger position with the bank. I emailed PayPal over the weekend to try and clarify their position, but they reply wasn't very clear! I will quote the important part of their reply: " PayPal may be used to buy or sell certain types of adult gag gifts and novelty items as long as they do not fall within the description of adult items as specified in PayPal's policies. Such items may include various types of toys, vintage postcards and magazines, collectibles, or food items in the shape of genitalia primarily intended for adult buyers (unless the item requires the buyer to be 18 in order to purchase). On eBay, PayPal can only be used for these kinds of items if eBay's policy allows them to be listed outside of its Mature Audiences category. " Phew?! After a heavy night out on Friday, I didn't try to follow it, but with a fairly clear head today, I'm none the wiser! However, it looks like the answer is "no" for PayPal. If anyone is using PayPal for adult toys, they are breaking the T&C and could get their account pulled. I'd be interested to hear how you get on - best of luck! Jason

Have you asked your hsoting provider for the backup copy they should be makinmg at least every 24 hours? I own a hosting company and while I hear of clients occasional disasters such as yours, we usually get the most recent backup online within an hour. Ask 'em. Wishing the best for you !! Have you checked the database in myPHPAdmin? If you copied everything from the "upload" folder from CC3.0.9, it would have overritten your Config file. /includes/global.inc.php This file contains the basic set-up of your store - simply the database name, username and password, and a few other bits n pieces. If your database is intact- BACK-UP YOUR ACCOUNT IN CPANEL! Once this is done, you'll need to know the username and password, and name of the database. Edit the global.inc.php file with these values, and you should be ok :-) The at worst, you have lost your pictures - if you've deleted all the folders in a panic. Providing this fixes things, you will have lost your homepage text, so you will have to re-type that. I hope this is ok- post back here if you need any more help. Jason Hehe, it looks like Alarmed beat me to it :-) Jas

Mike, I had exactly the same problem. I don't think you'll find a Bueru(sp) service (PayPal/NoChex etc) which will do this. The reasons I've been told are: -High Fraud Risk with Adult material -Possibly Legal Problems The first reason is kinda true if you're selling Porn, but I was aiming more at "Ann Summers" type gear. The legal reasons are that some items are legal in one county and not in others. PayPal doesn't want to get into "local" discussions so has a blanket ban which also covers other items. I spent some time trying this out, and the bottom line was that I would have to get an IMA. If you're serious, and have stock (as opposed to Drop-Shipping), look around for an IMA. I was in discussion with Prox who had fairly low fees. I think WorldPay should be ok too. If your supplier takes Credit Cards online, speak to them. If they don't CubeCart doesn't have 100's of payment processors, so I'd check each one for adult sales. You can rule out PayPal(all 3 listed), 2CO (I've tried), and NoChex(ditto) In the end, I decided to leave it for another project. I hadn't put any products on a store, and only had a domain name registered - so no great loss to walk away. Jason

Brosville, You will see this error - as the browser is reporting a correct problem, some items are insecure. I'm not sure why Firefox doesn't report an error -but IE sounds like it is behaving! If you have your own SSL, then enter the Logo URL into your browser and ensure the logo appears - if so, enter that address into the logo url in PayPal. It should work fine, providing the server is set-up. Check it with the Preview button. If you don't have a SSL, you will need to host the logo somewhere else. I have my own SSL on my server, and it works fine. You won't find free SSL hosting online, as the certificate costs money and the host gets nothing out of it. (no real ad exposure) SSL also puts a higher drain on the server, hence the small charge. If its only $1/year, I'd personally pay it.. I use this system for 3 stores, and it works fine and helps customer confidence. Jason

...also remember to change permissions (assmuming english language site); /language/en/home.inc.php Set to 777 Otherwise you can't edit the home page :-) Jason

I've got PayPal IPN working fine here. The shipping value is displayed correctly (separate from the product value), which I *think* was a PayPal "bug" a month or so ago. I also show my store logo on the payment screen (Paypal customer payment screen), which helps customer confidence (some people get confused when a store suddenly jumps to a different site). I've taken quite a few real orders and things are currently running smoothly... Jason Does PayPal IPN work 'out of the box', or have you made any mods to get it to work properly? I've just set up another store and from a Fantastico install, it didn't work correctly. PayPal was redirecting to the http://mydomain.com rather than http://www.mydomain.com This was quickly fixed by editing global.inc.php and changing storeURL to point to the correct address, in this case: $glob['storeURL' ] = 'http://www.inspectourgadgets.co.uk' ; I also added a few other bits and pieces to transfer.inc.php, here is a copy the important bit (the bold bits are comments and should be removed): $hiddenVars = "<input type='hidden' name='cmd' value='_xclick' /> <input type='hidden' name='page_style' value='inspect'> [b]MY CUSTOM PAYMENT PAGE[/b] <input type='hidden' name='no_shipping' value='1'> [b]DO NOT REQUIRE SHIPPING ADDRESS[/b] <input type='hidden' name='business' value='".$module['email']."' /> <input type='hidden' name='item_name' value='Cart Order No: ".$cart_order_id."' /> <input type='hidden' name='item_number' value='".$cart_order_id."' /> <input type='hidden' name='amount' value='".$amount."' /> <input type='hidden' name='shipping' value='".$basket['shipCost']."' /> <input type='hidden' name='invoice' value='".$cart_order_id."' /> <input type='hidden' name='first_name' value='".$ccUserData[0]['firstName']."' /> <input type='hidden' name='last_name' value='".$ccUserData[0]['lastName']."' /> <input type='hidden' name='currency_code' value='".$config['defaultCurrency']."' /> <input type='hidden' name='address1' value='".$ccUserData[0]['add_1']."' /> <input type='hidden' name='address2' value='".$ccUserData[0]['add_2']."' /> <input type='hidden' name='city' value='".$ccUserData[0]['town']."' /> <input type='hidden' name='state' value='".$ccUserData[0]['county']."' /> <input type='hidden' name='zip' value='".$ccUserData[0]['postcode']."' /> <input type='hidden' name='day_phone_a' value='".$ccUserData[0]['phone']."' /> <input type='hidden' name='add' value='1' /> <input type='hidden' name='rm' value='2' /> <input type='hidden' name='no_note' value='1' /> <input type='hidden' name='notify_url' value='http://www.inspectourgadgets.co.uk/modules/gateway/PayPal/ipn.php'/> [b]NOT SURE WHY I CHANGED THIS..[/b] <input type='hidden' name='return' value='".$GLOBALS['storeURL']."/confirmed.php?act=conf&oid=".base64_encode($cart_order_id)."' /> <input type='hidden' name='cancel_return' value='".$GLOBALS['storeURL']."/confirmed.php?act=conf&f=1&oid=".base64_encode($cart_order_id)."' /> <input type='hidden' name='upload' value='1' />"; return $hiddenVars; Then, in my www.paypal.co.uk account I ticked the following boxes: Profile->Website Payment Preferences: Auto Return = ON Return URL = url shown on the CC PayPal Setup screen (probably http://www.domain.com/confirmed.php) (this value is overwritten by the above code, but PayPal needs a valid URL to start with) Payment Data Transfer = ON PayPal Account Optional = ON Leave everything else alone :-) You should edit or remove the "page_style" listed above. I mentioned custom payment pages on the post your replied to. Thats it :-) If you need help, post back. I've not done a "proper" install using the install script for a while, so I don't know if that is "broken" like the Fantastico installation. You would still be able to take payments, but when the customer was returned to the store, they would be directed to the wrong address (no www) - which messes things up, and they get the "you must log in" message. I use the same PayPal account for 3 stores, 2 are CC, the other is PD Shop Pro (and ASP based cart). Apart from the payment address and company name, they all have different page styles and all work fine with IPN. I hope this helps, Jason