Multiple stores, single database ?

[Autocrat]

Firstly, hi folks.

Secondly, I'm a complete newbie to Actinic.

Thirdly, just for a complete giggle, my client has asked for me to use Actinic to create a "set" of E-Commerce sites.

When I say set, I mean that he wants to have a single database, yet have multiple sites / front-ends connect to the single database.

To clarify, he does not want to have a copy of the DB attached to the various sites.
He wants just 1 DB linking to 3+ web addresses, each with a different template, logo etc.

I beleive that he will be acting as a wholesaler, and letting others sell his products as their own.

So, if any/all of that made sense, could someone(s) please tell me....

1) is it possible to link various "Store" fronts to a single remote DB.
2) if so, then how is the the best way to do it.... ODBC?
3) and how to tell the "front ends" where to connect, (I assume that I just direct them to a different URL/IP?)?

hoping anyone can help.

[jont]

This is probably not going to be possible due to primarily the license issue (1 license = 1 web site) and the referrer script on each page.

The database is used to create static pages and is not used online as such once the pages are compiled and uploaded via Actinic. You are probably looking more towards a SQL implementation.

[richardh9999]

I've been looking at a similar requirement and I don't think there is any easy solution.

I wish there were !

[Nadeem]

Hi there

I'm afraid currently the only solution for you would be to purchase Developer, which will allow you to licence unlimited sites. If you purchase Catalog or Business then you are only licence for 1 web site, like Jont has written.

Kind Regards

[jasper2002]

You can link multiple sites to one external database for the purposes of stock control and product visibility.

We have 2 websites, www.wonderlandparty.co.uk and www.bestpricefancydress.com, both of these connect to the same stock system database to provide ordering shortfall information based on the orders received. We also have a local site connected for taking telephone orders.

The whole thing works perfectly although you cannot have live stock on the website. You can however set up different messages based on criteria brought from your stock system as can be seen at our trade site www.wholesalefancydress.com. We will mark a product out of stock automatically each time we update the site, or bring it back into stock. This is explained in the advanced user guide.

[richardh9999]

Sounds great Jasper. But how do you link the two sites to a single external stock database?

Is it an Actinic database or an Access database or what ?

[cdicken]

Actinic Business and Actinic Developer have the ability to create an external link to a database or spreadsheet (i.e. excel) that is somewhere on your PC.

Any change made in the external file will instantly update the Actinic application, and likewise any stock changes etc. in Actinic will update the external data source.

You can then have two Actinic sites linked to the same external datafile.

You can read about it in the help in the chapter called 'Linking to External Data'