Can Actinic do this ?

[newshopbloke]

Hi all,

Im really struggling to find a way of offering what I want with my new shop.

Apart from selling packaged items that are ready to ship I also need to sell a service which involves the customer sending or uploading a file which is then approved by me for production, followed by customer making payment and then finalised by me actually doing the job.

I have big plans for my website which will involve an online design feature where the customer will actually create their design online, probably on a template, see the result in front of them and then click buy now. I will then retrieve the order along with the file for production.

At the moment its all done by email, back and forth back and forth, its time consuming and im sure many new customers are being put off by the fact that we do not have an automated online facility.

Would the developers be thinking "hmmmm, wrong software mate" on the basis that I would need an online db shop ?

There is no point in me continuing with this software if I cannot do the above.

Thanks

[jont]

I did see a few years back an Actinic site (from the much lost Gary Hay) integrating the use of Flash to create something similar - the user would input the details - the browser would display the updated design live and then pass the info through to the cart.

[gabrielcrowe]

I think: £

Would be required for that degree of complexity.

[NormanRouxel]

I did one that allows a real-time picture frame design - see e.g. http://www.fastframes.co.uk/acatalog...old_80mm_.html - and yes, it did cost ££££.

[jont]

Not sure if you are maintaining the site Norman but the links to home and intro are returning a 404 in trying to find http://www.fastframes.co.uk/acatalog...o_Measure.html

Fantastic use of Actinic

[newshopbloke]

Thanks for the replies.

Ok, fair enough its expensive and probably out of my reach.
Maybe I should try and just cross the first and most important bridge, which is accepting payments for a service as well as items.

I have hsbc epayments and also paypal and I need a fast way for my customers to pay an outstanding invoice by credit card. Its been months since I used the hsbc epayments and at the moment I cannot login to the dam thing to remind myself how it works.

I need to email an invoice to a customer and then have them go somewhere to pay by credit card but if memory serves me correct I can only use my merchant accounts for 'shop bought' basket items ?

I really like the idea of having a section on the actinic shop called 'customer jobs' etc and they can go and find their invoice and pay for it, but unfortunately my business partner is 100% against the idea. I just wish I could create a password entry section for each customer and then I could show it to him and he might change his mind !

The idea is that they login to pay their invoice and cant resist adding some shop items to the basket at the same time

Surely someone has a nifty bit of code that will allow this ?

Clever stuff on that picture frame site.

Mick

[RuralWeb]

I just wish I could create a password entry section for each customer and then I could show it to him and he might change his mind

If you have another PC that does not have Actinic on it then download the trial and use the Actinic server to set up a dummy Business store you then have 30 days to play with accounts.

[newshopbloke]

Thanks for the advice.
I have had a play around with the business package and trial upload server but the £599 upgrade price tag has put me off.

This may sound a bit tight but I cannot justify this cost just to allow some sort of login feature. Pretty much the same as why I will not buy a 1and1 business upgrade just for a bit of perl scripting when I can have a cheaper deal with a company that owns their own machines in a large datacenter and offer all these bells and whistles as standard.

Sorry to moan, but im fed up with the current trend of 'upgrade, upgrade, upgrade'.

Mick

[doug selby]

Sorry to moan, but im fed up with the current trend of 'upgrade, upgrade, upgrade'.

Mick

Too right. I'm struggling to justify upgrading both Actinic and Dreamweaver this year.