MultiSite Module Support Thread

now my question!

what i would like to do is have 2 stores and 1 informational domain with no products but handles the checkout for site1 and site2. due to a licensing issue site1 cant sell items from site2 and vice versa.

site1.com Widgets
site2.com Thingeys
site3.com Information about Thingys and Widgets and the checkout process.

the way it works now, there are 2 complete stores (not currently zen cart but they will be) and they use an online shopping cart similar to PayPal

both stores checkout from this shopping cart so the scenario is fine with both licensors. but as you can guess its not a friendly experience for the shopper.

im looking for some insight on how to make sure when they register, access their account information and check out its all done from site3.com the main thing is the check out.

i imagine i will use a .htaccess rule but i would think defining a global would take care of it.

Thanks for any suggestions.
Sean

seancon1:

now my question!

what i would like to do is have 2 stores and 1 informational domain with no products but handles the checkout for site1 and site2. due to a licensing issue site1 cant sell items from site2 and vice versa.

site1.com Widgets
site2.com Thingeys
site3.com Information about Thingys and Widgets and the checkout process.

im looking for some insight on how to make sure when they register, access their account information and check out its all done from site3.com the main thing is the check out.

I don't think you can do this. If site3 is in showcase mode (only information, can't buy), then you can't have checkout on it. If you go with cross-carts, you'll be able to checkout from which-ever store you want.

You could have this: use cross-cart. site1 and site2 adds to cart, but has no checkout (manually remove all checkout buttons). practically force customers to go to site3 for checkout. BUT, now you need site3 to be a regular store and someone can simply come to site3 and buy stuff from both Widgets and Thingeys directly from site3. So, what happens now with the licensing?

I really hope you understand what i'm saying cause after re-reading my own words, i got lost...

if i'm mistaking about these possibilities, someone please correct me.

thanks for the idea but this does present a licensing problem the rule is the products can't be mixed on the same site but the sites can link to each other... site3 will have links to site1 and site2. very weird i know but i did not make the rules for this game! :frusty:

i will post live links once i have things on public servers and it will make more sense. i am confident i can get this to work... the question is what is the best way.

i wouldn't say site3.com was in showcase mode, site3.com has no categories or products assigned to it and i have the categories sidebox turned off for this template right now i can checkout on any one of the 3 domains.

i am thinking i may be able to add

define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'https://site3.com');

to each sites config file but i would rather just the checkout button and any shopping cart links go to https://site3.com as i dont care if they update their account info on either site.

i am looking at using htaccess to rewrite any for the cart or checkout and login to links to site3.com or even a case if else in the index templates for site1 and site2 to go to site 3 if its for the pages i want on site3

Sean

hi,

is it possible to use this multi site on folders within the same domain?

ie have https://www.site.com/site1, https://www.site.com/site2, https://www.site.com/site3
that way i could have a shared header file with all the sites with them broken down into say electrical goods, dvds, music and have each folder run as a store so i can market them diferently?

evilonion:

hi,

is it possible to use this multi site on folders within the same domain?

ie have https://www.site.com/site1, https://www.site.com/site2, https://www.site.com/site3
that way i could have a shared header file with all the sites with them broken down into say electrical goods, dvds, music and have each folder run as a store so i can market them diferently?

I remember there was a post about this recently, someone found a way. Read this topic a few pages back and you'll find it. But, as far as i know, the answer is NO.

But, why complicate it, why not use it normally with subdomains if you actually want different stores? You can even use the same template for all your stores, i don't see why you can't use the same header file...

oh i dont mind using subdomains at all... i just didnt want to have to use completely seperate domains for all the stores...
im planning to exapnd my vinyl graphics company and push into offering printed tshirts and clothing, and then another section doing printed posters and stretched canvases etc.... i thought it would be good to use this mod if its possible.

Ive really been wanting a mod that would enable me to have a catagory section for each site but it doesnt seem possible, so multi site could be the solution :)

evilonion:

oh i dont mind using subdomains at all... i just didnt want to have to use completely seperate domains for all the stores...
im planning to exapnd my vinyl graphics company and push into offering printed tshirts and clothing, and then another section doing printed posters and stretched canvases etc.... i thought it would be good to use this mod if its possible.

Ive really been wanting a mod that would enable me to have a catagory section for each site but it doesnt seem possible, so multi site could be the solution :)

If I may ask - WHY? Why seperate sites for alike services? I think it's ok if you have one computer shop and one with clothes, but in your case, these are all "connected" services. If i want to buy a custom printed t-shirt and a poster to match my shirt, why do i have to go to different stores? Look at vistaprint.co.uk for example...
Plus, you can get more sales and better google results from one large shop, than a dozen small shops...

yeah i understand that, all the sites would share the same template and would be interconnected, and i read that multisite lets you combine carts etc...

ideally i wanted a contribution which allowed you to have one site with several catagory/navigation menus but zen cart doesnt seem to have one of those, it all has to be in one catagory/navigation sidebox.

Multisite EZ-Pages Module

I've written an enhancement to Multisite to allow user to choose with EZ-Pages are shown on which sites.

You can see it at work here:
http://www.exclusivebeautybrands.com and
http://www.exclusivebeautybrands.co.uk

It's only 158k, and is easy to implement, I've documented it too!

So where would you like me to post it / where should I post it?

Regards
Gordon
http://www.gjbenterprises.com

Multisite EZ-Pages Module

I've posted it as a link on my site, you can download it from here:

http://www.gjbenterprises.com/13/multisite-module-ez-pages-add-on/

Regards,
Gordon

"It seems you do not understand the working of this module." Please give me a break.

Orders from a consecutive site come from emails that I set so I consider absence of sending emails from your second store is a missing option (if it is not there).

Louis:

It seems you do not understand the working of this module.
This module only creates the illusion that there are multiple stores. In fact the data in the background is all kept and managed on a single database and managed using a single interface. Unless you do some custom coding you will not be able to send e-mails to customers from a specific store-front. The back office system views them as customers for the "Company" and not "per store".

I am going to be installing a clean install and want to upload this mod. I do have a question. I will have a lot of "sub" stores and I would like them all to have their own dedicated IP address and SSL certificate. Is that possible?

Hi,

I've just moved my site to another server but I'm not sure if my problem is caused by this module or if it's something else.

My online store front layout is back to the basic install layout you get after install. I went to layout box controller and reset the boxes but that didn't help. It's still the same.

Any suggestions what this could be?

Thanks a million guys!

leilanddale:

Hi,

I've just moved my site to another server but I'm not sure if my problem is caused by this module or if it's something else.

My online store front layout is back to the basic install layout you get after install. I went to layout box controller and reset the boxes but that didn't help. It's still the same.

Any suggestions what this could be?

Thanks a million guys!

Nevermind! Found the problem. Forgot the include line in the config file. Hehehehe

Hi!

I'm making the switch from CREloaded to Zen Cart, yipee!

This multi-site mod is the most exciting change for me, it should make my life so much easier.

SETTING UP THE QUESTION
I have a flagship store on it's own domain, then some baby stores on their own domains. All domains are hosted on the same server, but each domain has it's own unique IP.

I anticipate the following structure:
https://www.MainStoreWithEverything.com
https://www.SpecificCategory1.com
https://www.SpecificCategory2.com
https://www.SpecificCategory3.com

THE DILEMMA
I need these specialty stores to maintain their own unique IP. I am not concerned with SSL certs or anything. But the unique IP is required.

THE QUESTION
Can I use this multi-site mod as is? If my sites are all the same server, does it matter that each domain has a unique IP?

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this! And thanks in advance for any thoughts you might have on the matter.

~Mike

I don't seem to be able to get Multisite to work. I can not access any of the subdomain stores. I also don't want anyone to be able to access the main store. Below is the layout of the domain and subdomains. Can some one please help?

Beau91324:

tld: dajavugallery.com
Zencart is in dejavugallery.com/galleryStore
1st sub domain is at dejavugallery.com/autographs.dejavuallery.com
2nd sub domain is at dejavugallery.com/moviemem.dejavuallery.com

First, Beau91324.
In your config_sites folder, name your individual config files autographs.dejavuallery.com_config.php and moviemem.dejavuallery.com_config.php. For the master, use dejavugallery.com_config.php and in it add the line (among your other custom added lines):

define('DIR_WS_CATALOG', '/gallery/');

Also be sure to rename the templates you'll be using for each site to something common (accross each site), while updating the template_info.php files in each template with those correct names.

I'm using subdomains too so I've been through this. Also ensure each subdomain is pointing at the same /gallery/ folder where the zen-cart lives. To prevent people from seeing the main site, write a few lines in your .htaccess file that prevents anyone from accessing it, giving them an error or redirecting them somewhere.

MY question is this: I have the multisite almost 100% working. I've seen this question asked twice in the forum with no answers or re-posted/updated results. My sites show no products or categories. I just set this up yesterday and today, twice. One local, one on a dev server. I have the sample products and categories installed. I can access the categories via direct URL, however they all say they have no products in them though I know they do and can see them in the admin. I have ensured the category descriptions contain HTML comments to indicate what sites they belong to.

I'm trying to help Beau91324 in return for karma. Any takers??
HTTP Server: Apache/2.2.9 (Win32)
PHP Version: 5.2.6 (Zend: 2.2.0)
Database: MySQL 5.0.67-community-nt

Thanks for the help, I just have one question, why

define('DIR_WS_CATALOG', '/gallery/');

not:

define('DIR_WS_CATALOG', '/galleryStore/');

or

define('DIR_WS_CATALOG', '/dejavugallery/');

sorry, mis-looked. /galleryStore/ . Whatever the folder(s) are named where the Zen Cart lives.

It was in fact the HTML commenting. And only on my local machine where sites are named something.local. Fixed. Any luck Beau91324?