Digital download site/store

ScottGirvan · 2011-08-09 16:21:17

Hi,
I have built several TXP sites and love working with it.
Currently I am working on a digital download site. We are going to sell video downloads. I’m not sure if TXP is the way to go so I thought I’d ask.

Here’s what I want to accomplish with the site.

Home page with latest product
Product page with categories
Category pages with product listing (ability to add to cart from this level)
Product detail pages with more info / video preview and add to cart
‘Normal’ about us, contact us pages…

An integrated forum* which I haven’t been able to accomplish in TXP yet

Here’s the real meat of the question:
I would like to have a user account section. New users register an account upon first purchase. When returning they simply log in. They can view purchase history. We gather thier email addresses to send newsletters/promotions. They can view their forum posts etc… from the account page.

I have been considering e-junkie however I would like a complete integrated solution for this.

I and thinking that Drupal/Ubercart might be the only way to build this however I would LOVE to be able to stay with TXP.

Thank you very much for any insight you can provide.

Last edited by ScottGirvan (2011-08-09 16:31:55)

maruchan · 2011-08-09 18:30:10

Here’s the avenue I would explore:

Vbulletin forum on subdomain
Amember ties TXP, ordering system, and Vbulletin together (they have a Vbulletin component).

In fact you can ask for help from the Amember people.

This lets you stick with TXP while using a very good membership management package that integrates with an excellent forum package.

ScottGirvan · 2011-08-09 18:37:55

Hmmm. That’s interesting. Thanks you maruchan.

I haven’t heard of Amember before.

So, I’d be looking at about $400 for the licenses. If it works the way I need it too this could be the way to go.

I really hate to try to learn Drupal for this…..it’s so – awkward.

maruchan · 2011-08-09 18:54:40

Yeah, I think Drupal would represent much higher maintenance overhead, compared to this solution—as long as it works for you. I would make sure your plan will work out beforehand…there is a TXP Tip on integrating Amember as well; you might want to take a look at that.

ScottGirvan · 2011-08-09 19:01:03

Cool. Thanks.

We are going to sell HD Video downloads, eBooks, DVDs and Books. All Hobby Related content.
Our inventory isn’t going to be in the hundreds of items so I’m sure TXP is up for the challenge. If I use e-junkie/paypal for the download and cart then TXP is up for that too.

Having member only content (and forum privledges) opens up another avenue for revenue too.

Lots of research before I go this route, however it looks promising.

– On a side note, I currently operate www.scalemodeladdict.com on TXP and would love to integrate the forum into that as well. This might work for that project too.

Here’s the Amember integration tip if others are intersted: http://txptips.com/amember-membership-software-integration

ScottGirvan · 2011-08-10 13:50:16

Well, the search continues….

I’ve checked out vBulletin, SilverStripe, Expression Engine…

Man, I wish Textpattern had forum integration.

hcgtv · 2011-08-10 14:56:10

ScottGirvan wrote:

Man, I wish Textpattern had forum integration.

Textpattern doesn’t have a user sing-up requirement per se. Unlike other systems where you should sign up so the system will remember you on subsequent comments. The only integration I see is on the presentation level, so as to make the site look seamless.

What integration would you like to see?

ScottGirvan · 2011-08-10 15:04:16

I would love to have the site allows one login with the ability for users to add photo galleries, comment on gallery entries, post int eh forum, comment on articles etc…

Basically a complete community site. Currently on scalemodeladdict.com we have the SMForum where all the ‘talking’ takes place and I and my team manage site content. It’s really disconnected though and I have more traffic to the forum that the rest of the site. I would be ideal to allow ‘talking’ all over the site.

hcgtv · 2011-08-10 16:29:18

There are few systems with full integration, ExpressionEngine, Drupal with modules and Joomla! componetized come to mind. But when you look at them, apart from the content side of things, which they all do quite well, their forums and galleries are not on par with standalone projects like phpBB or Gallery.

So that leaves you with having to integrate the various parts if you desire more functionality. There’s no way around it since the majority of Open Source projects are their own islands, and most often bridges are built by interested parties not by core developers.

Textpattern is a benign front-end to an integrated system since it’s user system is used for administration and content creator services. There’s no need to hack things between Textpattern and the other parts of the site aside from the presentation layer. A widget of sorts that embeds the forum responses to an article, underneath said article, would bring traffic to the front side of things.

As for a gallery, the forum could serve as one, whether by using a specific forum tailored in style and functionality to resemble a gallery or if said forum had a gallery plugin one could use. That would leave you with one end user database to deal with.

ScottGirvan · 2011-08-10 16:56:48

Thanks hcgtv. All good points.

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#1 2011-08-09 16:21:17

Digital download site/store

#2 2011-08-09 18:30:10

Re: Digital download site/store

#3 2011-08-09 18:37:55

Re: Digital download site/store

#4 2011-08-09 18:54:40

Re: Digital download site/store

#5 2011-08-09 19:01:03

Re: Digital download site/store

#6 2011-08-10 13:50:16

Re: Digital download site/store

#7 2011-08-10 14:56:10

Re: Digital download site/store

#8 2011-08-10 15:04:16

Re: Digital download site/store

#9 2011-08-10 16:29:18

Re: Digital download site/store

#10 2011-08-10 16:56:48

Re: Digital download site/store

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