Preface
PrestaShop is a hidden gem. There are many, much more widely known online shopping cart solutions but none of them have anything like the number of features, the potential, and the ease-of-use that this OSL-licensed, completely free-to-use system has. PrestaShop is definitely a very big part of the future of e-commerce!
This book is called a 'beginner's guide' only because that is where it starts! Using both realistic and unusual case studies throughout, PrestaShop 1.3 Beginner's Guide will take you on a click-by-click, yet whirlwind journey to the realization of a fully featured, highly professional e-commerce business.
And then a bit further!
To make sure you are ready to sprint off the starting blocks let's talk about:
Why PrestaShop?
Open source and OSL licenses
The order of events
Which hosting environment?
What if I get stuck?
So let's get on with it...
Why PrestaShop?
I have already enthusiastically introduced PrestaShop. But there is so much to PrestaShop that the only way to really grasp its innovation is to open a shop and make money with it, which we will do really soon! First, here are some of the ways that PrestaShop stands out from the crowd.
Simplicity and function
There are dozens of shopping cart solutions to choose from. But with my hand on my heart I can say that NONE are so damn easy to use! Every feature has a clearly labeled button or tab. And some of the previously most frustrating tasks like product attributes, customization, and statistics, are now, thanks to PrestaShop, a breeze. And PrestaShop achieves this simplicity without cutting back on options. To get anywhere near the advanced options available (as standard in PrestaShop when using other carts) you will need to install add-ons, upgrades, and even mess with the PHP code that makes the software. Yuck!
Stability and progress
PrestaShop is stable as a table! It is highly unlikely to crash on you or your customers. It doesn't lose their shopping cart or fail to find searched-for products.
And it is getting better all the time. The development team at PrestaShop is working on new features and bug fixes, probably even as you read these words. So often when a shopping cart reaches a certain stage of development, the team sits back and reaps the fruits, leaving a community of tens of thousands of users wondering, "What's next?" Not so with PrestaShop. During the writing of this book, PrestaShop went through many improvements, including the jump from version 1.2 to 1.3. So this guide is suitable for both.
It's cool!
I am serious. It's important! If your customer thinks it's cool, they are much more likely to shop with you. Check out the live shops. Go to www.prestashop.com. Click on SHOWCASE and then on Live shops.
Look how fresh, modern, and functional they are. The only differences between these shops and the default PrestaShop are some nice images, well-presented products, and a bit of customization. All of this and more is covered in this book.
Open source and OSL are the best!
PrestaShop is free because of the open development model chosen by its creators. This means you can download it, use it, modify it, and even distribute it! No charge.
Open source and OSL (the PrestaShop license) work by offering a reward model for developers/contributors outside of the traditional pay per item used for just about everything else on our planet. This means typical users like you and I get tons of great software for nothing. You don't even have to say thank you!
Availability
There's an instant download of just about anything you might need. This book uses only open source software to achieve everything.
Cost
It costs nothing! This is hard to elaborate on!
Updates
It is because distribution costs the developers nothing that open source (and OSL) teams can concentrate more on offering improvements, bug-fixes, and new versions at a much faster rate than the conventional software companies with their unwieldy software-in-a-box distribution methods.
As previously mentioned, PrestaShop improved from version 1.2 to 1.3 in the months it took to write this book. And it is probably a safe bet they will be working on 1.4 by the time you read this. This book deals with the fundamental and critical issues of starting and running a real business with PrestaShop. So no matter what the current version, this book should serve you well. Visit www.prestashop-book.com for regular updates and amendments.
Support
Now we know the software is free and the availability is high. This makes the really good stuff very popular. So there is often a whole community of enthusiastic users associated with an open source software title. The quality and responsiveness of any given community does vary. But you can usually solve almost any e-commerce problem within a few hours with a simple forum post or a well-directed e-mail.
If that doesn't sound impressive, try ringing Microsoft next time Windows crashes. Try even finding their phone number!
My golden rule of e-commerce
Keep your wallet shut! Don't buy any software until you have checked out www.sourceforge.net. This is the largest repository of high quality, free software. I will point out free software titles as and when they might be needed throughout this book.
What this book covers
Now I am really impatient. Whenever I get an idea for a business I always want to do it straight away. Waiting around for "professionals" to finish a website for me or a supplier to get back to me about a new product drives me mad. The good news is we are not going to hang around before getting your PrestaShop up and running.
I am going to try and be thorough and I will cover some of the less talked about topics that you might need, but I am NOT going to delay the day when you get that glorious e-mail saying that you have your first customer.
What follows is a really quick introduction to the topics covered in this book. They are approached in precisely the order that might be used when setting up a real business. So there is no study or theorizing, unless you choose to.
The only assumption I make is that you have already chosen a range of products to sell from your new e-commerce store. If you haven't—don't panic! Get on over to www.prestashop-book.com and download my PDF on choosing a business model and a product range. It's free.
John's 7-day challenge
When somebody first pointed out PrestaShop to me, I just had to have one yesterday. I stayed up half the night installing it, putting in great product descriptions, connecting the checkout, and customizing the look. In the morning, I started organically (free, not paid-for) promoting my new site. My first order came in seven days after the installation.
Can you beat seven days to your first sale? I really want you to and if you dive in and really go for it, you will. Please contact me and let me know if you do, or if you come close. Or even if you just want to share your joy at your first order, no matter how long it takes.
Here is how you can achieve my 7-day challenge.
Installing, configuring, and stocking-up
The first four chapters are a lightning (but thorough) guide to get your shop online—stocked up looking smart and unique, including some really cool and really simple product features to quickly show off your wares in style.
Customers, search engines, and customization
Chapters 5, 6, and 7 are quite diverse and cover some exciting stuff: newsletters, loyalty schemes, alternative revenue streams, statistics, analytics, and... breathe! Also, we cover security, disaster recovery, payment handling, currencies, taxes, shipping, and a bit more.
Now and the future
The last two chapters cover the final preparations before going live, handling orders in PrestaShop, and how to promote your store and get customers queuing up to spend their money with you. Once the money is starting to flow, we look at the future of e-commerce and your PrestaShop business. Then we discuss how to get on top of your niche and stay there. Not to forget "the big secret". Don't skip ahead!
Here are the chapter contents in more detail:
Chapter 1, Building Your PrestaShop, covers how to download and prepare the PrestaShop files, make a database, install PrestaShop, and implement post-install security. We will have a look at your shop from a customer's viewpoint and also have a look around your new admin control panel.
Chapter 2, Shop Fitting and Layout, sets the shape of your store including the logo. We will make your home page, make some more key pages such as "Contact us" and "Conditions of use", and also configure and enter manufacturer and supplier information, change and customize themes, and add a few more touches to your shop's configuration.
Chapter 3, Merchandising for Success, discusses and implements an efficient category structure. We will add high quality product descriptions that sell and take a look at all the different ways you can use PrestaShop to highlight products. We will also take a look at product features, attributes, accessories, and customization.
Chapter 4, Giving Customers More and Getting More Customers, provides information on how to choose the best keywords and provide food for the search engines. We will refine PrestaShop search. We will also cover Tag clouds, using the PrestaShop CMS, URLs in PrestaShop, robots and site maps, and using PrestaShop language features.
Chapter 5, Tools, Newsletters, Extra Income, and Statistics, looks at all of the most useful things on the Preferences tab. We will also explore the best stuff on the Tools tab. We will set up a newsletter and notifications system, talk about running an e-mail marketing campaign, set up PrestaShop statistics, and also set up Google Analytics.
Chapter 6, Security and Disaster Recovery, looks at the ways your shop can be damaged. We will add users, profiles, and permissions to increase security. We will talk about and optionally implement SSL to protect your customers' private information. We will learn how to back up and restore your shop in case everything else fails. We will also talk about upgrading PrestaShop and how this helps keep your business secure.
Chapter 7, Checkouts and Shipping, helps us choose and set up a payment provider. We will look at alternative payment methods, take a look at sales taxes, discuss and implement gift vouchers, and learn how to accept foreign currencies. We will look at the multitude ways to set up shipping options for your customers to choose from and make sure they get charged correctly.
Chapter 8, Get Set..., will show us how to create a customer account and place an order. We will look at the PrestaShop customer loyalty scheme and at how to get some feedback on your products using the PrestaShop comments module. We will tell the search engines about your cool new shop. We will also look at a multi-pronged marketing campaign including vouchers, forums, social media, and Google AdWords. The last thing we will do is cover some functionality on the Customers and Orders tabs that we haven't covered already.
In Chapter 9, Go... To the Future, we will cover analyzing, optimizing, and adding in PrestaShop. We will see "the big secret" and also the future of e-commerce and PrestaShop.
Appendix A, Control Panel Quick Reference, lists a reference to find everything in your PrestaShop control panel.
Appendix B, Web Resources, lists all the most useful websites for e-commerce entrepreneurs.
Who this book is for
This book is for anybody who wants a fully functional, real e-commerce store using PrestaShop. You do not have to have any previous knowledge of PrestaShop or any aspect of e-commerce or business in general. If you do, then you will probably find this guide really valuable as well. The book covers all you need to know but you must just bring the desire to have your own e-commerce business.
Which hosting environment?
Before you get down to building your PrestaShop, you need to choose how you are going to host your new business.
Option 1: Developing on your own PC
There is a generally accepted principle that you should develop a website privately, test it, and then transfer it to a "live" server.
If you want to go that route, then that's ok. But I am not recommending that here. PrestaShop is so smooth, so problem free that I don't see the point of the extra step. You really can buy a domain name, transfer the necessary files to your hosting account, and be up and running in not much more time than it takes to read this book.
Here is a suggestion. If you are planning on having thousands of products, why not get your shop up and running as described in this book and then add your range steadily to your store when it is already open and earning you money?
Obviously, if you are just checking out PrestaShop or you are working for a company who insists on a private environment to develop your shop, then fine, do it that way.
If you opt for developing PrestaShop on a private PC, have a look at WAMP (www.wampserver.com). This is a quick, easily configured environment that will allow you to develop PrestaShop on your PC.
Alternatively, go and download my guide on running a web server from home. It will talk you, click by click, through setting up the perfect environment for running a PrestaShop on your home PC. It's free and you can find it on www.prestashop-book.com.
It is my goal, however, to give you the chance to realize a trading, profitable, e-commerce business in a hurry. And the specific guides and tutorials will describe live development on a hosting account. It should be very easy to adapt these guides should you choose to do things on your own PC.
Option 2: Live hosting accounts
This is definitely my preferred way. Get it up, get it open, and get the money coming in.
If you go for this option, here are a couple of things to help you choose. A quick survey of web hosts showed that most would do the job nicely. One of the big names that's fine is www.godaddy.com. Their economy plan is more than sufficient. Don't book it on their website! Ring them up. Pretend you are not sure if Go Daddy is right for you and they will give you a discount. Nice, isn't it? This is true with most web hosts.
One big name you can't use is 1&1. They are still using a dodgy version of PHP that PrestaShop doesn't like. No talking or pleading with 1&1 seems to do any good.
If you already have a web host, here are the system requirements for PrestaShop. Give your host a call if you are unsure, change if they can't accommodate you. Most good hosts will be fine, as the requirements are very "normal":
Linux, Unix, or Windows
Apache web server
PHP 5.0 or later
MySQL 4.1.14 or later
PrestaShop is working from MySQL 4.1.14 to 5.0 too, but some features do not work (for example, product duplication) or have strange behaviors.
Some PHP 5 versions are bugged (like 1&1) and prevent PrestaShop from working correctly:
PHP 5.2.1 (authentication is impossible)
PHP 5.2.6 (authentication is impossible under 64-bit servers)
PHP 5.2.9 (image management/upload broken)
PHP < 5.2 (invalid date time zone)
PrestaShop turn-key hosting
If you want to save yourself a few hours setting up your PC or 10 minutes uploading the files, you can use PrestaShop-recommended turn-key hosting. That is, you can pay a monthly fee and use a ready-installed PrestaShop. The advantage is the hosting environment is specifically designed for PrestaShop and you will save a bit of time.
If money is no object, great, do it, but it really is not hard to get PrestaShop up and running without the turn-key option. And of course they charge much more than a regular web host as well as a commission on all your sales. Ugh! If you want to use the turn-key option, then visit www.prestabox.com.
Get your hosting ready to go
Considering all that we have just discussed, it is time to decide what is right for you and put your plan into action:
1. Choose your hosting environment.
2. Buy a domain name.
3. Set up home hosting or buy pro-hosting.
Your hosting environment is ready!
Now let's look at the help and support available to you.
What happens if I get stuck?
PrestaShop really is as intuitive and user-friendly as they come. But there are loads, and I mean loads, of options in the PrestaShop control panel. And it is likely that the large array of different hosting providers as well as the varying objectives of different readers will mean that different issues and problems arise for everybody.
That's OK. Help is at hand.
www.prestashop-book.com
This is the official website of PrestaShop 1.3 Beginner's Guide. There will be a regularly updated F.A.Q. and an errors and omissions section (hopefully, quite small) as well. You can visit as the need arises or register free for e-mailed updates.
www.prestashop.com
This is the official PrestaShop website. Here you can view the PrestaShop wiki and other official documents. You can log into their trial admin area and experiment with the features discussed in this book without fear of the effect.
Best of all though is the PrestaShop forum. You can ask anything about PrestaShop. And I can say from experience the community is responsive, knowledgeable, and most of all, very friendly. So many times in the forums of other shopping carts newcomers have been slated for minor breaches of somewhat draconian rules. This is not so in the PrestaShop forum.
www.businessdreams.net
Here you can ask anything you want about online business. Click on Forums and select the most appropriate category for your question. You can talk about marketing, affiliate programs, finance, open source software, and much more. There is even a PrestaShop category. And you can sign up for a hints and tips newsletter for great advice and up-to-the-minute e-commerce news.
Help others to help you
Now it's time to introduce yourself to e-commerce and PrestaShop entrepreneurs who are more than happy to help you. And maybe you can help them too.
1. Go and register on www.prestashop-book.com for free updates, extra tutorials, and (OK, I admit it) the occasional correction.
2. Register and introduce yourself in the official PrestaShop forums for all things PrestaShop.
3. Register and introduce yourself on the Business Dreams forums for all manner of support and advice.
You are now ready to set up your first PrestaShop.
Remember
My first rule of e-commerce: keep your wallet shut (assuming you have already bought this book—it's too big to put up your jumper). Hold onto your entrepreneurial hat. You will be in business before you know it.
Conventions
In this book, you will find several headings appearing frequently.
To give clear instructions of how to complete a procedure or task, we use:
Time for action - heading
1. Action 1
2. Action 2
3. Action 3
Instructions often need some extra explanation so that they make sense, so they are followed with:
What just happened?
This heading explains the working of tasks or instructions that you have just completed.
You will also find some other learning aids in the book, including:
Pop quiz - heading
These are short multiple choice questions intended to help you test your own understanding.
Have a go hero - heading
These set practical challenges and give you ideas for experimenting with what you have learned.
You will also find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an explanation of their meaning.
New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, in menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in the text like this: "Click on the Modules tab and then click on Configure next to the Product Comments module."
Note
Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.
Note
Tips and tricks appear like this.
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