Favorable Designs = TXP + Multi-Category + E-Commerce

wilshire · 2005-11-03 18:38:19

As part of the Fall 2005 CSS Reboot, I’ve launched Favorable Designs. The site runs on TXP 4.0.1 along with some helpful plugins (not all of which start with rss_) and a few custom goodies that I added. Here are some notes on the site:

The site is run entirely using Textpattern.
I developed a shopping cart based on the WebForce PHP Shopping Cart class that runs as a plugin.
Payments are processed using PayPal including IPN integration. IPN responses are loaded into the TXP database.
I implemented multiple category support to allow products to belong to any number of categories.
I wrote several custom functions to list products and related products using the multiple category feature.
I implemented a /section/category/title URL scheme.
I adapted the ob1_googlenav, ob1_title and stw_category_tree to work with my /section/category/title URLs and to give me clean URLs for category paging.

I’m probably missing a few but those are the biggies.

Another note: before I started this project I knew that Textpattern was an excellent publishing tool for weblogs. If I’ve learned anything from this project its that the framework Textpattern provides for developing web applications is excellent as well.

Visit Favorable Designs

alexandra · 2005-11-03 22:06:32

wow technical perfect…although i am not the greatest fan of pink, i think the desing fits perfectly as well. certainly a victim for the txp gallery :)

nardo · 2005-11-03 22:13:16

fantastic work rob and look forward to reading about the /section/category/title implementation : )

Rufnex · 2005-11-03 22:21:52

Hu! greatly job and a nice design. the shopping cart stuff is very cool!

lee · 2005-11-04 06:59:40

Very nice, are you intending to release the cart plugin?

datnguyen · 2005-11-04 22:20:05

The site it very easy to naviagate through and acts the way I expect it to. The only thing I found jarring was the long “Add to Cart” buttons in Safari. It seems to be doing a line break on each word. Aside from that, you pulled it off very well for a small website like this.

instantok · 2005-11-06 18:21:05

i can’t wait to see the plugins that come out of this! i am designing/developing a website for a handbag designer who creates designed-to-order pieces and the multiple category and tagging features would be incredibly useful. i want customers to be able to build a profile of preferences in her work to send to her so that she can design for them more appropriately. the section/category/title clean url scheme is essential as well for larger scale websites. great advances toward using Textpattern as a CMS in addition to a blogging tool.

squaredeye · 2005-11-07 10:07:25

Rob,
I echo what these folks are saying. Well done, the site is clean and really functional. A great example of a sturdy txp site.

2 questions:

1. How do you usually go about schooling your client on the use of the txp admin interface? I am developing a community portfolio site and that is a big concern of mine.

2. Another echo. I wondered if you planned on releasing the cart bit as a plugin? :)

Well done,

Matthew

sthmtc · 2005-11-07 11:05:03

great work. i’d be interested in that cart plugin you developed as well…

wilshire · 2005-11-09 17:48:00

Thanks everyone. I think that the shopping cart could work as a plugin but I’m not quite sure about how. I’ve actually used it twice now, both differently. The system obviously is not going to be as functional or flexible as a real e-commerce system such as osCommerce or ZenCart. Product attributes are managed using custom fields but these attributes might be different depending on the products being sold.

I’ll have to consider what the best way would be to release the cart as a plugin. It took quite a bit of time to build the cart system and would take a lot more work to make more plugin friendly and document. Based on that I’d say its likely that the plugin would be ransomed. I’d also be open to requests or suggestions that people had before releasing it. The first step I need to take is to document the cart, what it does and how to use it.

ma_smith – I’ve created documentation for clients by taking screenshots and writing explanations of how to add articles and images and then edit them. When possible I meet with them as well to walk through the interface or do it over the phone. I think people have been able to understand pretty well. And I always use the QuikPik menu which I think is much easier than the tabs for my clients to use.

lee · 2005-11-09 18:02:26

I think a ransom would be in order considering how much work you need to put in. $50 from me.

NeilA · 2005-11-09 21:29:10

That cart as a plugin would also be hugely valuable to me.
I’d happily toss in for a ransom…

Cheers

sthmtc · 2005-11-10 14:23:55

I’d throw some cash into that ransom, too.

squaredeye · 2005-11-10 16:15:02

Rob,
I don’t know that I have any suggestions for how this could be used as a plugin, its hard to say at the front end of things. If I were to use it, I would implement it as a way of the folks on the community site I am working on being able to pay the small membership fee, and also for the sale artwork for any of the artists (they are grouped by sections on my site, so, if I were doing a cart, I would have a seperate (hidden section) for the sales stuff, and I would hope for the viewer to be able to browse by artist (in this case, either author, or section —>minus the sections “home, about, links, etc.”.

That’s all I can think of at the moment.

I would definitely fork it up for a plugin like this. I think a ton of people would. This could be the start of a new era for txp? era may be a strong word :) but it sounds so inspirational!

Also, thanks for the tips about how you interact with clients. Most of the folks on the community site won’t be accessable to meet with as it hopefully will be atleast a national or multi-national group of folks. But I am working on a pdf style tutorial as well as a punbb forum, like what txp uses here in order to help the “members” of the site, help eachother.

Cheers,

Matthew

squaredeye · 2005-11-10 16:42:21

Oh, and looking at the favorable designs site again, I notice that when rolling through the livesearch it gets hung up on the header behind it, which sort of shows through. Maybe a z-index thing?

I use safari 2.01?

If you care :)

email me if you want a screen shot.

Matthew

Textpattern CMS

Textpattern CMS support forum

#1 2005-11-03 18:38:19

Favorable Designs = TXP + Multi-Category + E-Commerce

#2 2005-11-03 22:06:32

Re: Favorable Designs = TXP + Multi-Category + E-Commerce

#3 2005-11-03 22:13:16

Re: Favorable Designs = TXP + Multi-Category + E-Commerce

#4 2005-11-03 22:21:52

Re: Favorable Designs = TXP + Multi-Category + E-Commerce

#5 2005-11-04 06:59:40

Re: Favorable Designs = TXP + Multi-Category + E-Commerce

#6 2005-11-04 22:20:05

Re: Favorable Designs = TXP + Multi-Category + E-Commerce

#7 2005-11-06 18:21:05

Re: Favorable Designs = TXP + Multi-Category + E-Commerce

#8 2005-11-07 10:07:25

Re: Favorable Designs = TXP + Multi-Category + E-Commerce

#9 2005-11-07 11:05:03

Re: Favorable Designs = TXP + Multi-Category + E-Commerce

#10 2005-11-09 17:48:00

Re: Favorable Designs = TXP + Multi-Category + E-Commerce

#11 2005-11-09 18:02:26

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#12 2005-11-09 21:29:10

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#13 2005-11-10 14:23:55

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#14 2005-11-10 16:15:02

Re: Favorable Designs = TXP + Multi-Category + E-Commerce

#15 2005-11-10 16:42:21

Re: Favorable Designs = TXP + Multi-Category + E-Commerce

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