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By mdev on
Selling Online with Drupal e-Commerce is Packt's new book, written by Michael Peacock, aimed at users wishing to create an online store, and uses Drupal and its e-Commerce modules to achieve this. With more and more websites aiming to integrate all of their components to give a more slick and streamlined effect for users - by using Drupal e-Commerce, the site and the store are already integrated providing both a powerful website and a powerful online store.
The basics of Drupal are covered, for users who are unfamiliar with Drupal, and then the fun of e-Commerce begins, covering:
- Planning your store - ranging from the legalities of doing business online, to preparing your product information
- Creating your product catalogue
- Taking fantastic product photographs, with a contribution from award winning photographer Martin Baker
- Handling Payment, Taxes and Shipping
- Improving customers' experience
- Managing Customers (and staff)
- Processing orders
- Marketing your business online
The book is available on the publishers website http://www.packtpub.com/drupal-ecommerce/book , in electronic form and in physical form, and is also available on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Selling-Online-e-Commerce-Michael-Peacock/dp/18471...
The sample chapter, creating a better selling experience, can be downloaded from Packt: http://www.packtpub.com/files/Selling-Online-with-Drupal-e-Commerce-Samp...
Comments
Anyone wishing to set up an
Anyone wishing to set up an online store with Drupal should also consider the Ubercart project. I recently started building an online store for a client, and though we tried using e-Commerce at first, we eventually got frustrated with it -- it's been long enough that I can't recall the exact reasons why -- and gave Ubercart a try instead. We found it to be a superior system, at least for our needs.
Ubercart
One of the many great things about Ubercart is that you don't have to read a book to set it up.
--Zivtech--
right
Probably you are right, but it could be really nice to see similar book about Ubercart.
---
Drupal Theme Garden
New to Drupal
Hi all I've just recently got involved with the Drupal community and haven't actually asked to many questions yet, but on this topic, awhile ago I saw a post on this topic by the Magento ecommerce company, asking to co-op or such with ,and was just wondering if any of you have checked it out? It looks good to me, as I am trying to get something set up soon... I have used Zen-Cart in the past, and liked it, but, found it a little daunting, but maybe it all is to me, as i struggle to even get totally orientated in Drupal... any way that's my post for now, thanks, hal
Drupal ecommerce is a
Drupal ecommerce is a frustrating beast to tame. Although with enough determination it can be done, but I feel like its a lot of wasted hours which could have been spent elsewhere.
I'd definitely give Ubercart a try in future, just to save any more hair being removed from my head!
Drupal ecommerce has the power, but finding out about the power is a job in itself. An undocumented job.
--
Ixis (UK) providing Drupal consultancy and Drupal theme design. Check the portfolio.
--
Ixis (UK): Drupal support, Drupal hosting.
I agree completely. I have
I agree completely. I have used the eCommerce modules from time to time and the single biggest problem that I have found is that it is intrinsically unstable, both from a usage as well as code base perspective.
There is no doubt that eCommerce has some real advantages such as the ability to turn just about anything into a product on the spot! That's a GREAT feature. eCommerce also supports auctions too. However, in the past 3 times I have tried to use eCommerce I have found several errors such as database fields not being written to (important ones too such as transaction Id numbers!?)...
Another feature that eCommerce "almost" has is the coupon. Unfortunately the coupon module, though nice in concept, can only be counted on to force interested web developers to: yell countless expletives, bang ones head upon the wall, swear many long winded oaths against the creators of the coupon module, and generally cause extreme discombobulation. Other than that, the coupon module is top notch.
Perhaps I am being unfair though. The eCommerce module can be used but to do so, one needs to check, double check, and then triple check the database entries to make sure that everything is as it should be. The eCommerce module has caused me much pain and suffering in a few cases, and so perhaps I am biased.
The UberCart module is, by comparison, easy to work with and alot more stable. It is documented almost to a fault! It does not have auction capability though and you cannot just go around making any node a product willy-nilly. Some may see that as a problem however when one steps back and realizes that a good site will have a well defined structure then one can easily make do by cleaning up one's practices a bit.
Recently I have had a problem getting UberCart's UPS shipping quotes working however I believe that it is a result of my server configuration and not a problem with the module...
At any rate, UberCart doesn't need a book to use, but it would help! Both eCommerce and UberCart have their strengths and weaknesses, yet UberCart's weaknesses seem pretty small (in most cases) compared to eCommerce. One thing to note: I have not used eCommerce for over four or five months, and I haven't even looked at the coupon crap since I first tried it out and realized that it is NOT A COUPON AT ALL, so perhaps changes have been made and if so I might think about using eCommerce in later projects
Derek
http://CollectiveColors.com a full spectrum of possibilities!
=-=
A bit unfair to be flooding a news annoucement about a book on the market for ecommerce with ubercart comments.
If you prefer ubercart, great. Though there are some who prefer ecommerce.
_____________________________________________________________________
My posts & comments are usually dripping with sarcasm.
If you ask nicely I'll give you a towel : )
Warning
Consider the comments as warnings about the peril that could lie within....
--
Ixis (UK): Drupal support, Drupal hosting.
Agree with
Agree with VeryMisunderstood.
For comparison, i'd like to refer to posts like:
- http://drupal.org/node/188814
- http://drupal.org/node/206872
- http://drupal.org/node/232176
- http://drupal.org/node/232190
Just do a search and you'll find out:
- http://drupal.org/search/node/ecommerce+ubercart
- http://drupal.org/search/node/ecommerce+ubercart+zencart
Have fun (:
___________________
discover new oceans
lose sight of the shore
VeryMisunderstood is right.
I haven’t tried either solution personally, but when a client (or myself) needs ecommerce, I’ll need to evaluate both ubercart and e-Commerce:
And to do the latter, this book will be invaluable.
In fact, the very existence of this book should swing your opinion towards e-Commerce.
___________________
It’s in the detaιls…
demonstration portfolio
Glad to see the E-commerce
Glad to see the E-commerce modules get some exposure.
Marcel
Drupal Themes
This book sounds useful and
This book sounds useful and not too techy (imho that's a good thing) and by the contents listed not all of it is directly related to the eCommerce module - so it might be a good read even if you do decide to use ubercart. I use eCommerce, it has some quirks but I've used it on several sites now and they're all working fine, the business owners are happy and that's what matters.
Also, as a note, I don't think this can be tagged 'Drupal 6.x' as to my knowledge eCommerce module currently only works with 5.x - even the lauded eCommerce 4 is being developed against 5.x and will only be ported to 6 once that's complete.
| websites | drupal | marketing || chocchip.com.au |
Drupal 5, not 6.
I have the book and it's definitely for Drupal 5, yes.
(I am not commenting on the book since I haven't read it yet.)
Caroline
11 heavens.com
digital downloads
Hi,
Does this book cover the configuration of a digital downloads store, ebook, mp3, games, etc.? Or is it only about shipable goods?
I know how to set it up for shipable items, but i could use some help to make a secure config for digital downloads.
PG
Drupal 5 holds 74% of the market
Based on some recent statistics, Drupal 5 still dominates the list of established sites.
So, it's not surprising that book companies are still targeting Drupal 5.
--
John Forsythe
Drupal Modules - Find the module you need for your project!
...
The statistics from self reporting entities is not surprising. Your conclusions to support your views are however. Your conclusion is the same as standing on your front porch and looking at the paint color of the houses on your street and declaring that because no one on your street painted their house purple, no one anywhere ever paints their house purple. Note I am not disputing your math, I dispute your conclusions you have drawn.
-Steven Peck
---------
Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide -|- Black Mountain
-Steven Peck
---------
Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide
Please be more specific.
Do you think Drupal 6 users have some reason not to promote their sites?
I'd like to hear your conclusions, I'm certainly open to other interpretations of the data.
I would especially like to hear your insight as to why 96% of sites surveyed haven't upgraded to 6.x yet. I really doubt there is any coloration between having your site listed on DrupalSites.net and not wanting to upgrade. I don't see how "self reporting" would affect that statistic in any way. Please, explain your position in detail.
--
John Forsythe
Need reliable Drupal hosting?
This is a thread about an ecommerce book.
I'd have commented on your site but you don't seem to allow that.
Your own data shows 56 sites. 56 is not 'nobody'. I never report mine and between current and friends that would be 6 more. I have 3 more that I just haven't had time to update but there's no overwhelming hurry (we're just hobbyists though so perhaps wouldn't count anyway). The very strong and deterministic language you have used is fascinating. I am interested to see what new conclusions you draw next. Anytime someone makes declarative statements like that pretty much gets my attention.
A brief reply is, Drupal 6 is four months old. Drupal 6 added a significant new set of capabilities that will take some time to learn to leverage. Frankly I wouldn't expect to see Drupal 6 sites in any numbers start appearing for another 2-4 months from previous release experience.
As to
Where did this come from? Frankly I don't expect to see a lot of advanced Drupal 6 sites out there yet. Developing advanced Drupal sites takes time for the tools to get there and the knowledge in the community to get shared before people really hit critical mass.
-Steven Peck
---------
Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide
Well, my original comment was on topic ;)
I think we agree on some of the reasons behind the numbers. Anyway, you're right, "nobody" was the wrong way to phrase it, I've changed it to something less "deterministic".
--
John Forsythe
I'd just like to point out
I'd just like to point out that the underlying reason why not many people upgraded to D6 yet is because the Drupal site itself hasn't been moved to D6 as is traditionally the case.
So it's fair to say, once the leader upgrades, the rest will follow. This could also be down to the fact some key modules are not yet D6 ready ;)
---
Dee
iScene Interactive :: iScene.eu
drupal 6
Hi
You are right about a lot of things, but there is another big and simply reason why do not upgrade to drupal 6, and why there are so small number of drupal 6 upgrades.
in fact, it is because drupal 6 is absolutely UNUSUABLE for a lot of users.
If you have a little bit complicated site as some simple fancy or hobby site, you can't use drupal 6, because there are no finished modules as CCK and VIEWS (and many many others what are dependendent on views or CCK)
IMHO is drupal 6 in currently state something is not very good for Drupal promotion. How can new users to understand that what they want to do is possible to do in Drupal 5 but not in the new OFFICIAL drupal 6? I would prefer it it was noticed as released candidate (or almost finished) until views and cck will be completed. (There are a lot of discssions about integrate views and cck into drupal core installation in the future versions)
Currently state when Drupal 6 is an official release is IMHO very missunderstood. although it is great and with a lot of great new things and I really appreciated all developers))
This post is about that the current state of drupal 6 is weird (for me). if there will be drupal 7 in early 2009, maybe there will be no reason to upgrade to drupal 6 (or only right before upgrade to drupal 7)
Igorik
www.somvprahe.sk
Igorik
www.somvprahe.sk
This argument is at least half over
Views is utterly usable: http://www.angrydonuts.com/views-2-beta-3-released
CCK is in pretty good shape, too. Soon the people saying "Drupal 6 isn't released until Views and CCK are ready" will better spend their time learning how to use the new tools they have.
- Robert Douglass
-----
my Drupal book
Drupal 5
Looks like this book is for Drupal 5 only. Not sure how much of a blow this is since D6 is doing the rounds at the moment and D7 is creeping up slowly.
In any case, it's great to finally have documentation available for one of the most complicated pile of mess that is e-Commerce modules. I hope that Michael together with Ryan and others can bring this book up to speed with D6 and include the Ubercart documentation. Choice is good, and the book should focus more on "e-Commerce in Drupal" rather than the e-commerce group of modules.
---
Dee
iScene Interactive :: iScene.eu
I wouldn't let the Drupal 5
I wouldn't let the Drupal 5 factor bother you much. When you consider that ecommerce has always been one of the last modules to migrate to a new version of Drupal, combined with the fact that at this time we still don't have Views and CCK released on Drupal 6, the information and techniques in this book will not be out of date for at least 12 months.
-zach
--
harkey design
: z
Drupal 6
The new php5 is, of-course one of the main things complicating the advancement of the modules. That has to be tough, to relearn the basic underpinnings of the substrate that the systems are built on.
I'm not known for being patient but I do understand.
Open source is responsible for a considerable amount of the good being done in the world today.
Drupal 6
Both E-commerce and Ubercart are D5, which seriously hurts D6. Now we see D7 on the horizon, which begs the question -- Is D6 the Windows ME of the Drupal world? D6 has no e-commerce. D6 is a great CMS but the lack of e-commerce is a huge negative at the moment.
Ubercart and E-Commerce on Drupal 6
I can't speak with absolute certainty about E-commerce, but I think it is in the same boat as Ubercart. The main reason Ubercart and E-commerce have not been ported to Drupal 6 is the lack of supporting modules. Required Drupal modules like CCK and Views are just now being released in final version for Drupal 6. Without these modules Ubercart and E-Commerce won't work on Drupal 6 and we didn't want to write Ubercart to work with the alpha/beta versions of these modules and then have to turn around and rewrite it again.
There is already work in progress for porting Ubercart to Drupal 6. This should be complete very soon (1-2 months). I have heard similar stories from the E-Commerce developers. I am certain that Drupal 6 will not be "the Windows ME of the Drupal world." In the past large modules for a specific release of Drupal have rolled out 1-6 months after the Drupal release. the problem here is not that E-Commerce and Ubercart developers are slow at releasing modules for new versions of Drupal, but that the Drupal community is so darned fast/good at releasing new versions of Drupal. Speaking of which, I want to say thanks to all the core Drupal developers and other module developers out there in the Drupal community. You guys do a kick-arse job!! We Ubercart developers "stand on the shoulders of giants."
Peace,
-Andy
Ubercart
Thanks for the info. It's a
Thanks for the info. It's a pitty CCK and Views are not core features of Drupal so they could be higher up on the development ladder since they add a great deal of power to the Drupal package and so many modules use them. I am sure a bunch of folks are anxiously looking forward to Ubercart for D6, like me. Thanks again and best of success with Ubercart!
D7 is still years away.
D7 is still years away. Give D6 a chance to get going. D5 took a while for modules to be ported, and the same will be true of any new version.
I'll wait until there's a stable API
A couple of years ago, I tried converting my ecommerce site to Drupal/E-commerce. As several here have mentioned, there is little documentation, and as a result, I couldn't get simple things to work right. A call for help resulted in someone asking for a ridiculous amount of money just to get the basic module set up correctly. I've purchased 3 commercial shopping carts for that amount! (and am happy enough with what I have now)
Since that time, I've seen the core Drupal code change so much that I literally fear the prospect of basing a live ecommerce site on such unstable code. My content sites do just fine with Drupal (although I've given up on using many contributed modules), and I do look forward to the day when it's stable enough to handle ecommerce.
In the end, there's no way I'm going to lock my business into a system that prevents me from upgrading simply because someone who used to maintain a specific module gave up on it, or because the developers feel a 'coupon' is something other than the standard merchant-defined use of the word. And there's no way I'll hire someone to create a custom module for a system that changes the API every 6 months.
- Alan Tutt
http://www.PowerKeysPub.com
- Alan Tutt
Exceptional Personal Development for Exceptional People
http://www.PowerKeysPub.com
Has anyone actually reviewed this book yet?
Having recently wasted good money on Packt Publishing's "Object Oriented Programming with PHP5", I am not getting too excited about this new book of theirs. Their Object-Oriented book seems to have been frantically rushed to beat a deadline with plenty of typo's and horrendous errors, both grammatical and within coding listings. As for the content, in places it is a rehash of the free, downloadable PHP Manual with some of the important bits left out (nothing about magic methods or autoloading for example).
So I will wait until some independent reviews are available before I head for the nearest bookshop. Incidentally, it occurs to me that the success of PHP, on which Drupal utterly depends, is due in no small measure to the quality of its documentation, which is readable, comprehensive and free to download (from www.php.net). Is there a lesson here for Drupal module builders?
I just added you to the docs team
Feel free to help out where you see errors or omissions in the docs.
Helping with Documentation
Hi Webchick
Thank you. I will do whatever I can. ;)
I bought the book last week
I bought the book last week and it arrived yesterday. Browsing the book, it is exactly as I thought, a step by step walk thru for the Drupal newbie. That is exactly what I wanted and it delivers so far. I'm an experienced php/mysql developer but a druapl newbie and this book delivers.
I have not looked at Ubercart but I understand it is a good tool as well. If it's easier to use, I wouldn't know because I like to read something besides online documentation to help me out - I'm a bit old-fashioned that way, seriously.
Anyway, I am going to try D5 with E-commerce as a test site site using this book.
It even gets a little into theming.
I'd be interested to know
I'd be interested to know what you think of it once you have read it, please let me know your thoughts :-)
I am going through the book
I am going through the book and it is proving to be everything I wanted and more, both in terms of learning about drupal ecommerce and the walk thru style of the book.
digital downloads
Hi,
Does this book cover the configuration of a digital downloads store, ebook, mp3, games, etc.? Or is it only about shipable goods?
I know how to set it up for shipable items, but i could use some help to make a secure config for digital downloads.
PG
i m a big fan of drupal. but
i m a big fan of drupal. but to build an ecommerce web site, i still think oscommerce and magento commerce are better choice. unless u build an community driven ecommerce web site.
While many stand alone
While many stand alone products are fantastic pieces of software, I personally think they are most useful when the website -is- the store, e.g. websites such as play.com, amazon etc. Many SME's with their own seperate websites look to have e-commerce functionality incorporated into their site, and the main problem with using a standalone product is integration and streamlined look. Further development is needed to integrate the website and store (assuming that is required...but I find it annoying when I go to a website and need to sign up for several different sections of the site) and also work needs to be done in ensuring a consistent look across the site and store. This is where the combination of Drupal and its e-commerce modules is really effective, not only do you have a powerful framework powering your website, but you also have an integrated, fully featured store, without the need for further development just to get the two playing nicely. I know I've had countless projects where I have been asked to integrate X, Y and Z products into a website.
My example isn't always the case, obviously there are situations where it may be preferable to use a standalone system. I think it just depends on the situation.
osC can rot.
osCommerce is garbage. My company used it whenever a client wanted a store before I convinced them to consider a Drupal-based solution. No modularity, no theming system; changing the appearance or functionality of the store requires hacking the core PHP files, which all seem to be coded by someone who read an intro to web programming book which only covered PHP 3. There's no defending it. Absolute trash.
From the little I've played with Magento, it's a bit better (though the theming system, while separate from the code base, is unnecessarily complex and abstract), but, as mdev says above, the strength of Drupal is that you can have the store fully integrated with the rest of the site; it's not behind its own little walls with a separate database, code base and theming system as it is with stand-alone store solutions.
osCommerce has no place here
The very reason I'm working in Drupal was because we didn't want to work with osCommerce anymore. It is next to impossible to figure out where the code is, how things got where they are or where they came from. Most of the "modules" that are available involve hacking core PHP files as well as the database. Absolutely ridiculous.
Also, I'd like to point out that one of the best resources for an e-commerce site is SEO. Drupal lets you add content to your catalog, which gets you ranking on search engines. Can't do that with osCommerce, and I haven't heard how well Magento does that.
this is terrific timing for
this is terrific timing for me as I consider many options for ecommerce!
Totally agreed...
I only used OSCommerce to the point where I looked in the documentation about how to change the site logo, and it said "Open up file blahdeeblah.php and change line 73..."
No thanks.
I was seriously considering
I was seriously considering oSCommerce. glad I didn't go any further with it
lol spirit!!
lol spirit!!
Thank you for the
Thank you for the information, I anxiously await information on Ubercart for D6.
La Jolla Homes
http://www.lajollabeachproperty.com
me to, I am having to start
me to, I am having to start with D5 because nothing is available for D6, I hate to start and then in two months, feel a need to upgrade - yuk.
I bet you can gain all that
I bet you can gain all that know-how through support groups here and elsewhere online free of charge!
Thank you
This is what I am looking for, thank you for the posting.
................
Find Your Softwares
http://vipsoftwares.info
This book will come in handy
I have tried both ecommerce and ubercart (have yet to get ubercart running with out causing memory errors on my sites). But have not fully been able to get ecomerce set exactly how I want.
I to am having to stick with drupal 5 until some modules get ported to version 6. However a new support site type module "Storm" which is being developed for drupal 6 may get me to upgrade sooner than I expected.
My Drupal sites:
http://tutorialmasters.com
http://webservermasters.com
Memory errors should be
Memory errors should be pretty easily gotten rid of with changes to your php.ini or .htaccess file.
I've setup several website
I've setup several website using ECommerce and never had an issue. I thoroughly recommend it.
I tried Ubercart and found it annoying... so there you go. Horses for courses.
Care to elaborate... ?
"I tried Ubercart and found it annoying..."
I'm very interested in knowing about these annoyances, also interested in knowing about eCommerce annoyances (if any), and if they're "covered/addressed" in this book?
Rgds
Excellent discussions!
Great discourse on the pros and cons of the various e-commerce solutions!
Thanks to all & please keep posting the good and the bad on your experiences.
Walt Esquivel, MBA; MA; President, Wellness Corps; Captain, USMC (Veteran)
$50 Hosting Discount Helps Projects Needing Financing
Just ordered the book!
Perfect timing,
I just had a client asking me to build an e-commerce website. The timing of the book couldn't be better!
Concerning OsCommerce vs Drupal: besides that the code is a total mess (from OsCommerce of course), it's no point having a store unless you can promote it online. Making it easily to find by search engines means you should load the site with good indexable content. That means adding some blogs or forums or very detailed product descriptions. This is were OsCommerce really fails and Drupal definitely delivers.
I can't wait for this book to arrive!
- embracing things that liberate you -
Find out more about me on my blog, powered by Drupal
Just wondering what you
Just wondering what you think of the book so far?
Very effective book and
Very effective book and happy for you!
I bought two books too - for
I bought two books too - for me and my friend some days ago.Now we do nothing more but only discuss the book. Thank you for your book!
You're welcome!
You're welcome!
Thank you Derek. Your words
Thank you Derek. Your words are very clear and right.
taxes in 5.x
Hi Michael,
Thanks for the book. I really enjoyed it. I'm curious how you got the Tax module to work. There have been ongoing issues getting the tax to appear in the checkout window (especially in the US)...but the book implies (from the screenshots) that there's no problem with getting tax to appear in the checkout window. I found some patches for 4.3(?) - but the book is for 5.x. I've followed the directions step by step, but am still having issues. I've even started this forum topic to continue the conversation. Thanks!
kwg
Hi, Thanks! I'm glad you
Hi, Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I've made a detailed reply to your post in the forum topic about it.
Michael
Hi, I have
just tried to buy the electronic version of the book. It is a no go. That site is not very clear to begin with (what a mess) but I am sure I followed the right track and I just do not understand why they need a shipping address for an electronic book. I stopped there.
Thought you might like to know. I am a rather unhappy E-commerce user. If I buy the real book it will arrive too late. So pity.
wow this book has answers to
wow this book has answers to a lot of my questions i will definately purchase it
http://www.webstigma.com
What is the cost of setting
What is the cost of setting up an ecommerce site?
La Jolla Homes
Depends on what you want
Depends on what you want :-)
- Victor
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