data base options

[Isadora]

I'm at the beginner stage on using shopping cart programs. One site has under 15 products; the other, over a thousand.

For the 15 products, I'm thinking the easiest method is to use Server Side Include to plug each product's-info.html into a template. I am open to suggestions for a better method.

The 1,000+ products I know will require MySQL to run a full database. Any recommendations for ISP hosts that offer affordable & reliable access to MySQL?

[mairving]

It doesn't matter what you use for the 15 item site. The problem that you will run into on the 1,000 plus site is that most open-source shopping carts have no way to import the data directly into the database. So you would either have to add the items one at a time to the database or figure out a direct import into mysql. What I usually do is figure out the table structure of the database and import the data directly into the database.

For a great host, try Hostmatters.

[Isadora]

waveridersystems.com has a commercial version of PerlShop. As an e-shop set up, it rates well with flexibility, functions, cost, and the most important item, tech support. Dave G on the PerlShop forum is there for all the PerlShop users, the free & the commercial versions.

The data base modules sound like they were designed by a programmer with e-commerce experience. I say this based on zero experience and minimal knowledge. If I knew all the in's and out's, I wouldn't need a program at all. Right?

Thanks for the lead to Hosting Matters. Lots of options for a budget price. My kind of place.

[mairving]

I haven't really used PerlShop before. The two that I have used in the past have been Zelerate's All-Commerce and PHPShop. Both are open-source. All-Commerce is the most robust out there with Inventory Control, Stats, Order Management, Shopping Cart, Site set-up, etc. The major problem is that it appears to be a dead project. I am on their mailing list but never get any emails from them . The parent company Zelerate has closed up and the project had been moved over to SourceForge. Nice program but only for those that are willing to invest a lot of time hacking the program. The other shopping cart program that I used is PHPShop. It is quite fast and fairly secure for a PHP shopping cart.

Hosting Matters also has a support forum like this one. You don't have to have a site hosted with them to post though. Here is the link. Good luck in your ventures.