a couple questons

[Jerry]

Hi, there,

I have a couple questions:

1. If we want to add more parameters on the tables in the database, do we need to change the source code or can we just use the tool to config the tables?

2. For the shopping cart, how do we get technical support after one year? Do we pay annually for the cart or pay hourly fee for support?

3. After we buy the cart, do we have a copy of source code and can customize to fit our need? Or do we have to contract it to your company?

4. How will the cart interface with the front end of the site if we want to design our own look of the site without using your template or theme?

Thank you very much!

Jerry

[Jamie]

Hi Jerry,

Thanks for checking us out!

1. If we want to add more parameters on the tables in the database, do we need to change the source code or can we just use the tool to config the tables?

This could only be done by modifying the tables in MySQL. The cart is configured so that if you were to add a field to the Products or Categories table, that field would be available for use in the templates that display them. This would not be supported under normal support, however, and may make upgrading tricky. We will be adding a feature to allow for custom fields in the future.

2. For the shopping cart, how do we get technical support after one year? Do we pay annually for the cart or pay hourly fee for support?

We are in the process of reworking our support structure, and should have something available in the next few days. The way it will work is after the initial support period is up, we will be going to a per incident charge, which will cover up to the first hour of support for that incident. Most issues should be able to be resolved within the alloted per incident time, but if you have something particulary challenging or in depth, we would then provide you with a quote for the remaining time.

3. After we buy the cart, do we have a copy of source code and can customize to fit our need? Or do we have to contract it to your company?

The source code is included with purchase. You can customize the look and feel all you like.

4. How will the cart interface with the front end of the site if we want to design our own look of the site without using your template or theme?

I am not sure If I understand you exactly. By default, the cart will control the displaying of your products, purchasing, etc...If you want to completely design all your product pages without using the cart, it is possible but not recommended. There is a tutorial on how to do that here:
http://www.ldev.com/forums/showthread.php?t=233

You can modify the look of the cart significantly, using the templates. Your main cart page defaults to "demo.php" but most people change it to "index.php" or "store.php". You can design your own page for that if you like, and then place the squirrelcart code on it. You can see how to do that by checking out our support docs:
http://admindemo.squirrelcart.com/squirrelcart/docs

What I recommend to most people is that they start by customizing their cart page, then the window.php template, which controls the nav boxes. Then, for fonts and colors, change the properties in the stylesheet template "store.css". Changing those 3 files can make the cart look very different from the default theme. Then, if you want to fine tune things, you can modify any of the other 50+ template files, each of which control a different piece of content in the cart.

Thanks,
Jamie