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Post by Tela on Nov 9, 2011 10:13:27 GMT -5
Laura pointed this out to me on another thread. Check out Ecwid www.ecwid.com/ This sounds too good to be true. Anyone else use it or have questions about it? I think I'm going to try it on my blog. I can even sell downloadable tutes on my blog with it. Or, I could get around to doing more with FB and set up a fan page, I could use it there, too. Laura, you are the go to person for web stuff ;D Thank you, I wouldn't have known about it, had you not mentioned it. Do you use it? One question that didn't immediately get answered on the site was, do they take Paypal? |
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Post by Tela on Nov 9, 2011 11:11:16 GMT -5
In about 15 minutes time, I got a free Google site and a free store widget from Ecwid. I also got the store put on a page on the site. I haven't set up the site and I can't figure out how to change the template, yet, but so far it has been pretty easy. I didn't know this, but Google has free sites.  Just sign in with your Gmail acct. I only did this to try out the Ecwid, I probably won't keep it, but ya never know. |
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laura
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Post by laura on Nov 9, 2011 11:35:40 GMT -5
I keep an eye on this software almost since it's been born and had no paid option It's getting better Best of all - it's EASY and FUN. The beauty of this software is that you don't have to bother with software install/update/maintenance - it all happens on their servers. You get control panel and a bunch of code snippets to place anywhere on your site - you can plant a whole shop with sections on one page, and you can also get individual product codes to put in e.g. blog posts. All you have to do is register an account with them, then set up your shop - shipping charges, what payments you accept, your information and other small stuff (shop name, etc). After that you just add products to your catalog via your control panel on their site - process is similar to any shop software - write descriptions, add photos, etc). To show the shop on your website you just copy/paste the code they provide (you'll see it in your dashboard) - the whole shop, one category, or each individual product. You can even insert it in blog post among other things you write there (e.g. you write an article about wire wrapping and paste the code for your tutorial product somewhere between text and photos and a reader can click "add to bag" right inside the post, no need to click outside). Payment options: kb.ecwid.com/w/page/15853303/Payment%20optionstheir knowledge base is one of the best I've seen - the right answers and EASY to understand. Without much tweaking it shouldn't take longer than one evening to have your shop up and running It's not a rocket science at all. At the moment I'm setting it up on my WP site, but since I prefer doing things the hard way, I'm playing with placing categories on separate sub-pages and adding some additional descriptions, individual page banners per category, etc. (I figure this is good for SEO too, not just pretty), also tweaking code (with the help of their knowledge base). You can register and play - they have some demo data available for that (so you can immediately copy/paste the code to your site and see how it looks) |
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Post by Tela on Nov 9, 2011 12:03:42 GMT -5
Yes! It is awesome! I'm setting up a few sample things to try it out on a blog page and then like you said, add individual things in whatever posting I want to. This thing is easy! And, yes the info available is very good, easy to understand. I haven't gotten to all of it, yet but I'm sure it won't be hard. I didn't know you could teak and add banners and such- I'll have to look into that. Also, sub categories and such. Since I know I like this, I'll have to map out how I want it set up. This is actually fun |
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Post by marytucker on Nov 9, 2011 12:12:42 GMT -5
This is so wonderful!! I just signed up with them myself and in future hope to give it a try! Laura you are a wealth of data!! Thank you!!!
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laura
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Post by laura on Nov 9, 2011 12:13:06 GMT -5
I didn't know you could teak and add banners and such- I'll have to look into that. Also, sub categories and such. Since I know I like this, I'll have to map out how I want it set up. This is actually fun Banners and such are tweaked on wordpress pages, not shop widget. Shop is just that - shop. It's in their philosophy to keep shop and content management separate. My plan is to make "Shop" page, then make subpages for each category. In the code you can tell which is the default category, so on each subpage place the code with different default sections. And my WP theme allows to set different "banners" or sliders per page. You can tweak some things in the code too - mainly "hide" stuff that you don't like (e.g. SKU, weight, "log in"). Most of this is explained in the knowledgebase. |
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laura
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Post by laura on Nov 9, 2011 12:18:45 GMT -5
This is so wonderful!! I just signed up with them myself and in future hope to give it a try! Laura you are a wealth of data!! Thank you!!! You can try straight away and place some demo cucumbers and cherries for sale on your blog if you have one ;D |
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Post by Tela on Nov 9, 2011 12:56:13 GMT -5
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Post by Tela on Nov 9, 2011 14:13:57 GMT -5
I just got a few things up on blogger. It wasn't easy because I was trying to put the code on the page instead of on a new post. You can't see it because I would have to have the store open in order for you to see it. It seems to work well, though. The only thing is, I had to leave off the (optional) categories script because it was running off the page.
Off to play some more and tweak to my heart's content. Just yesterday, I was miserable about this, but I feel much better now. I know this isn't the only way to go, but it gets me moving in the right direction and working on my descriptions and such.
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laura
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Post by laura on Nov 9, 2011 14:21:14 GMT -5
It should work on pages too.. works for me.
Categories (tabs) were breaking my layout too. But you can use categories widget to avoid it (place it in the sidebar)
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laura
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Post by laura on Nov 9, 2011 14:27:50 GMT -5
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Post by Tela on Nov 9, 2011 14:29:34 GMT -5
I tried to put the code directly on the page, but it just had a working bar forever! As soon as I made a post to put it under, it worked fine. I'll try again, maybe I did something wrong.
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Post by Tela on Nov 9, 2011 15:34:36 GMT -5
Naw, I can't get it on the page, but that's ok because the post doesn't look like a post. I have it here. telaformosa.blogspot.com/p/tela-formosas-boutique.html You may or may not see it open while I play with it. If you catch it open- DON'T try to buy anything! LOL! Nothing is for sale yet. Ultimately, I don't want my blog to my spot for selling, but it seems to be a good place to keep an eye on it while I build my store. At last count, I have 140 items to sell (I decided to keep quite a few ) That's NOT including earrings or rings. I dread doing the pictures for earrings- yuck!!! |
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Post by marytucker on Nov 9, 2011 16:27:47 GMT -5
That's wonderful Tela. So in case I need to sell 1,000,000 copies of my tute I won't have to send any emails!!
I wish!!
I think I will follow in your foot steps with this store pretty soon.
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Post by Tela on Nov 9, 2011 16:41:55 GMT -5
Mary, the beauty is that it is a standalone store that can migrate. As soon as you set it up you can place it just about anywhere. I have it on the blog while I fill inventory and decide where else to put it. This is like an answer to my prayers. ;D |
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Just sign in with your Gmail acct. I only did this to try out the Ecwid, I probably won't keep it, but ya never know. 
