++ Last updated 3 March 11
The intention of this topic is to provide some information & screencasts on the use of nopCommerce. It will cover several elements from the setup of the store software through to basic code development.
The information in this post relates to v1.9
While some of the features may only be available in v1.9, many of the principles also relate to earlier versions.
You can find the official nopCommerce documentation here:
https://www.nopcommerce.com/userguide.aspx
Please take a little time to participate in the community - helping others on this forum is a great form of support for this excellent project, and need not take much of your time.
You can also help guide the future development of the project by providing input through Codeplex :
http://nopcommerce.codeplex.com/workitem/list/basic
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You don't need to be a developer to install nopCommerce, it is very simple to get up and running.
It is possible to install nopCommerce directly via the web platfrom installer found in the control panel of many hosting companies, but in my opinion, it is as easy and more beneficial to download it from this site and deploy it to your hosting company yourself - importantly, it is NOT a complicated process to do so and there is a great deal of help to be found here on the forum. I believe one of the main benefits of this approach for the newcomer is in discovering the ease of making minor modifications such as replacing the default logo with your company logo. The simplicity of performing such a task and the availablity of the code will boost your confidence in developing your store further and making it more unique.
The nopCommerce sourcecode can be downloaded from here:
https://www.nopcommerce.com/downloads.aspx
Watch this video to see how you can deploy a site to the internet in less than ten minutes:
video : installing nopcommerce
The following video shows how to install nopCommerce directly onto your hosted server using the websitepanel control panel - many other control panels exist, and different ones will be used by different hosting companies. We can't make different screencasts for them all, but I believe the principles will be similar.
video : setting up nopcommerce using websitepanel and WPI
Recommended hosting company which uses websitepanel as seen in the above video.
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Some of my own recommendations if you are downloading and developing on your own computer prior to deploying on the internet :
filezilla - FTP tool for uploading your files to your hosting provider ( FREE ):
http://filezilla-project.org/
peazip - useful utility for unzipping the downloaded nopCommerce package ( FREE ):
http://peazip.sourceforge.net/
If you are editing the style of your store ( the .css files ) I also recommend you download the firefox browser and instal the firebug plugin - firebug is an invaluable tool for identifying the css elements which control the style of your store. Firefox and firebug can be downloaded ( FREE ) from:
http://www.mozilla.com
If you plan to develop nopCommerce you will need to download either
-Visual Studio 2010 ( necessary for advanced development if you intend to edit the full source version of nopCommerce, making changes to the c# code - it's available for FREE under certain circumstances through the webspark program ) or
-Visual Studio 2010 Express ( useful and available for FREE - though you are limited in that you are only able to edit the NoSource version of nopCommerce and cannot effect changes in the c# )
You should also install sql server express and server management studio ( FREE ).
Both versions of Visual Studio also allow you to access the database, view and edit data tables and stored procedures, copy/backup the database, run sql scripts/queries etc
Find and instal them for FREE using the web platform installer at the microsoft website :
http://www.microsoft.com/express/Web/
nopCommerce is built on the ASP.NET platform and much information on this can be found at
http://www.asp.net/web-forms/fundamentals
Hosting :
You need to find a hosting company who supports the necessary requirements for nopCommerce e.g. softsys hosting
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Screencasts
As I said at the start of this topic, it's a work in progress so the screencasts will be added to over time
hint : Holding the shift key when you click the links below will open the video in a separate browser window
Running the store on your local computer :
Once you've downloaded the nopCommerce code ( either full source or no source, you should open it using )
using Visual Studio Express or Visual Studio ( full version )
video : getting started with Visual Studio/VWDE pt1
video : getting started with Visual Studio/VWDE pt2
Setting up the Store
video : creating and editing a category
video : creating a product
video : editing a product
video : adding attributes
video : editing a resource string
video : adding a topic via admin ( older )
video : adding attributes (older)
video : nopCommerce language pack extension installation ( older )
Developing the store
video : UPGRADING from earlier versions of nopCommerce
related posts : click here
video : adding a new topic page (using Visual Studio) (older)
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If you are stuck with an issue, you may find your questions have been already answered on the forum - try using the forum search function - it may help you get to the bottom of your issue without having to wait for a reply to a new post.
search all nopcommerce videos on youtube.com
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nopcommerce&aq=f
Please post or PM requests for other screencasts and I'll do my best to acomodate them.
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