Suitability for multiple sites

[Joff01]

I'm relatively new to Actinic development and have taken over a project that's currently using v6.

The project consists of a number of standalone sites for the same client, each selling the same base product lines shared across all sites but also some site-specific product lines.

I'd like to upgrade to v8 but wondered if it was possible to merge all products into one Actinic site, but then drive different template for each site accordingly.

Currently, updating a product price is a right pain, going through half a dozen or more sites, finding the part number, updating the site, etc. If there was just the one data source it would make things a lot easier.

If a central data source is possible, is it also possible to filter some products based on the site requesting them? Eg, products specific to site A shouldn't be visible on sites B or C.

Upgrading from v6 to v8 would be nice, but if all the catalogue has to be re-entered then so be it.

[NormanRouxel]

Regarding the central data source. This is possible. You could keep your product details in an external database and have each Actinic store use that for prices, details, etc. Have a look in the Actinic Help for "Linking". This even works in V6, as long as you have at least the Business version.

[Joff01]

Thanks Norman - we've got the Developer version, so should all be good.

Before I head into the Help... is it possible to link to a MySQL db source?


Edit: Ok I've found the section on Linking and yes it can be done with MySQL!

[Joff01]

I understand the mapping of DB fields to Actinic fields, but can these still be maintained through the Actinic backend interface?

Our product catalogues are currently maintained by the sales team so keeping it as they've become accustomed would save a lot of time on retraining.

Going back to basics now and maybe I've missed the point but currently all catalogue changes are performed locally, then when the site is updated within Actinic, these changes become live.

By having an external data source, am I essentially doing away with the Catalog interface?

[wjcampbe]

No - you still need to download orders and re-upload to populate your website with updated pages.

Jan at Mole End has a product that will automate the download/update sequence at whatever frequency you choose, I also have one that [at the moment] would require you to click two buttons to do this - an automated timed option will be added in the next release.