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| [[thing type::software]]
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| ==About== | | ==About== |
| [[VbzCart]] is [[free/open-source]] software for running an [[online retail]] operation. The author is in the process of documenting it and publishing the source code. | | [[VbzCart]] is {{l/htyp|free/open-source}} software for running an {{l/htyp|online retail}} operation. |
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| | * '''[[/install]]''' has deployment instructions |
| | * '''[[/status]]''' critical pieces still need to be (re)written, though most of it is working well (2017-06-25) |
| ==Purpose== | | ==Purpose== |
| VbzCart [[/history|started life]] as a nameless shopping-cart application written specifically for [[vbz.net]], mostly coded in [[Visual Basic for Applications|VBA]] on [[MS Access 97]]. By 2003 at the latest, I had already decided that it would be better for vbz.net's administration functions to be web-based, but I didn't see any way forward with this that didn't require a massive amount of up-front time investment before being able to gain any actual functionality.
| | The immediate purpose is to handle the more data-intensive aspects of managing a small online retail operation that offers a wide variety of products in a wide variety of choices. This [[/pieces|includes]] tracking orders, tracking packages sent to fill those orders, stock and inventory, which items need to be reordered from suppliers, what is currently expected from suppliers, what suppliers have sent in the past, etc. |
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| I evaluated [[osCommerce]] and [[ZenCart]] as alternatives and found that although they both had many features I would like to have on vbz.net, they also lacked some key features I would need (some of which VbzCart already had, and some of which would be needed to migrate VbzCart's data from Access).
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| Eventually (after a false start in [[Perl]]), around 2007 I came up with the idea of writing VbzCart's admin functions as a [[MediaWiki]] extension, saving the trouble of writing a user management/login system and gaining some additional interface functionality into the bargain.
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| Development and migration has continued since then in fits and starts, with interruptions due largely to family obligations (especially [[htwiki:Josh|this]]), but as of August 2011 I consider the migration essentially complete; there are no order-processing functions that still need to be done in VB (the last "piece" of this, completed in July, was working out a system to produce "[[database/report|report]]s" so I could print packing slips formatted as nicely as the ones in Access), and there are no admin functions that aren't at the stage of being at least written if not yet debugged.
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| * '''Status''' (2011-08-03): working, with lots of developer-level rough edges to work out. We're a long way from having an install script, and I need to post the code on a more appropriate venue such as [[GitHub]].
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| ==Documents==
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| * [[/features]]
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| * '''Data design''':
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| ** [[/tables]]: all tables used by VbzCart
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| ** [[/procs]]: stored procedures
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| ** [[/queries]]
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| * '''Code''':
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| ** [[/code]]
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| * '''Data concepts''':
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| ** [[/cart]]
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| ** [[/order]]
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| ** [[/session]]
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| * '''Subsystems''':
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| ** [[/catalog/building]]: how the catalog is built from stock and supplier catalogs
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| ** [[/checkout]]: notes on the checkout subsystem
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| ** [[/packages]]: how package records work
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| ** [[/security/customer]]: keeping customer data secure
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| ** [[vbzwiki:VbzCart ordering|ordering]]: how ordering works (carts, orders, etc.)
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| * '''Archival notes''':
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| ** [[/obsolete]]: large chunks of documentation which have become obsolete
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| ** [[vbzwiki:VbzCart wikified topics|VbzCart wikified topics]]: using MediaWiki to manage store topics
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| ==Links== | | Once that is up and running, I'll begin work on additional functionality: |
| * [https://github.com/woozalia/VbzCart VbzCart] on [[GitHub]] | | * "marketplace" ability -- 3rd parties can sell their items through the same site, and VbzCart will provide most of the same functionality to them |
| * [http://www.bitboost.com/ref/international-address-formats.html International Address Formats]: reference for how addresses should be formatted for different countries | | * distributed catalog search and other {{l/igov|federated retail}} functionality |
| | ==Pages== |
| | {| |
| | |- |
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| | * [[/ui]]: help pages |
| | * [[/pieces]]: features and concepts |
| | * [[/coding]]: technical documentation |
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| | * [[/history]]: how we got here |
| | * [[/archive]]: obsolete pages |
| | * [[/meta]]: how to document |
| | |} |
About
VbzCart is free/open-source software for running an online retail operation.
- /install has deployment instructions
- /status critical pieces still need to be (re)written, though most of it is working well (2017-06-25)
Purpose
The immediate purpose is to handle the more data-intensive aspects of managing a small online retail operation that offers a wide variety of products in a wide variety of choices. This includes tracking orders, tracking packages sent to fill those orders, stock and inventory, which items need to be reordered from suppliers, what is currently expected from suppliers, what suppliers have sent in the past, etc.
Once that is up and running, I'll begin work on additional functionality:
- "marketplace" ability -- 3rd parties can sell their items through the same site, and VbzCart will provide most of the same functionality to them
- distributed catalog search and other federated retail functionality
Pages