Soholaunch or OS Commerce

[babubabu_520]

I've about 100 products to sell, so which one is better?
Soholaunch or OS.

Moreover, If I download the free OS template, can I edit it by using BV?

Thanks

[Vasili]

Re: Soholaunch or OS Commerce

Soholaunch is a website builder that has an eCommerce shopping cart as an integral function, allowing you a greater deal of simple "customization" than osCommerce (an eCommerce workhorse shopping cart system).

Either Soho or OSC allow an unlimited number of products, categories, and sub-categories. Both, however, rely on Templates and a templated format throughout the site. You can download and "customize" the templates that are provided free from VodaHost, or choose to have one truly customized for you at a very modest cost from within a much larger selection, also made available. Complete customization yourself will require advanced skills and additional software.

It IS possible for you to use BV to design and create a "front-end" to your commerce solution (e.g. Soholaunch), and linking it to your cart to perform that function: this is not the easiest nor the stablest enviornment for many businesses, so consider the entire scope of your website and any future applications.

The look and feel between Soho and OSC are obviously different, and there are also obvious features that distinguish each from the other in the manner they handle merchandise, present pages, utilize contextual logistics, etc.

> For the most part, if you have fewer items to transact, then you might be just fine designing your site with BV and setting up a "PayPal" function to act as a traditional cart. In this way, you can indeed, do business, and retain all the wonderful design freedoms BV affords.
> For a more traditional cart presentation with more power and richer features that allowed via BV, Soholaunch is the 'website builder with eCommerce' that you should carefully consider.
> When you need an industrial-power eCommerce solution that truly is "open-ended" OSC will be your choice.

Soholaunch is easy to use, and has been the means for many VodaHost clients to achieve the website of their dreams and has opend the door to online business success time and time again.

[juls]

Re: Soholaunch or BV

as far as appearance do you think soholaunch is better than bv?

if my site has been built and published through bv and i want to create pages in soholaunch can I download those pages into bv?

one more question, if i want to switch my whole site and create in soholaunch, and publish through soho (i don't think pages from bv can be used in soho) what steps do i need to take?

I hope i am not in the wrong section.
Thanks

[Karen Mac]

Re: Soholaunch or OS Commerce

You cannot mix and match Soho pages and BV pages up or down either way. Two different programs, two different scripts running.

Thats like trying to make Word Perfect operate your Solitaire Game. They both live on your computer but you cant do word processing in the solitaire game.

Soho would have to be installed in a CLEAN directory/domain. You cant simply install it over the top of something else. Youd need to have account reset most likely to install it to a main domain, or delete and recreate an addon domain for it to operate properly

Karen

[juls]

Re: Soholaunch or OS Commerce

Thank you so much for responding.

i only have one page so far, published so i friend could view for advice it is not finished.

could i delete the index page in bv, go to soho start over and create new index. Then create the whole thing from start to finish in soho?

It sounds like soho launch has more to offer. i am running into problems here and there with vb, i have not web building exp.

i started out in soho and didn't like the prefab templates. when i went to piblish bv site i couldn't it was coming up to that blank template in soho. so i just went back to bv set my bv 1st page index pg. and it switched. Will this work again? i am afraid to do anything because with little experience it takes so much time to figure out and fix my errors.
Thanx, Juls

[navaldesign]

Re: Soholaunch or OS Commerce

Since the BV page has beem published as jtml, you need to delete it. Then you can install Soho in your main domain.

[juls]

Re: Soholaunch or OS Commerce

thank you,
can i save the page i havve done in bv, just in case? if yes, should i save in bv same format?

could you explain how to delete the page.

i already am in soholaunch, so how do i put into my domain name, do i just start building the sight and then publish?

[Karen Mac]

Re: Soholaunch or OS Commerce

You can save the bv page on your harddrive. If you are already in soholaunch then you installed it already into a domain? Soon as you build and save its live, no publishing to it.. its on the server.

Please clarify what you mean.

Karen

[juls]

Re: Soholaunch or OS Commerce

ok I have soho and customer service set me up into soholaunch with my admin, however, i just wasn't sure about soho, so i went back to BV and finished the page there. I tried to publish and found out I had inadvertantly published the soho page i was fooling around with. i looked on this blog and found if i had titled my page in BV index, it would have been the page to go online. I deleted the page on Soho, went back to BV and published

do i download file into soho, and will it recognize bv page?
do i still have to delete in bv?

Then how do i start the site in soho? download bv page and it becomes the index page there?

Honestly, which site do you think is nicer, asthetically with what they offer? Do you prefer one over the other?

Thank you for your help, I really am not familiar with all of this, it is very helpful to hear/read your advice.
Please speak slowly... lol

I checked out your sites, I love country french style decor, you site very nice.
Juls

[navaldesign]

Re: Soholaunch or OS Commerce

Please understand that there are differences between BV and Soho.

1. You can not import pages built with BV into Soho. And viceversa. Though, you can build separately pages with both, and link them together. However this is NOT advisable, as there will be a clear style difference between the two.
2. BV works on your computer. It stores the files in your computer. During this stage, the files that it creates are in a special format, which can not be used for the web. Then, when you publish, it converts this code to usefull html code which it uploads (transfers) in your site and it becomes a html page accessible by the visitors.
3. Soho instead, uses Templates. You select the template, you choose what pages you need, and then you add the content in each page. Soho is NOT in your computer, but in your site. The details (content) you enter during page creation, are stored in it's own database. It will create the necessary html code for the pages to diplay.

It is NOT a wise thing to mix the two programs.

BV will allo for a LOT more freedom in page layout. Soho, however, has a LOT of additional features available with just some mouse clicks, that can not easily be embedded in BV unless you have experience and know where to find the necessary scripts (some of them are not even free, you need to pay for them).

So, you should decide what excactly better suits your needs and go for it.

[juls]

Re: Soholaunch or OS Commerce

thank you for your response it is very clear.

So you have to use a templet? can you be creative with the templet?

also I can't seem to get into soho... don't know how to logon, this has changed because I deleted the page
thank you, most appreciated
Juli

[Karen Mac]

Re: Soholaunch or OS Commerce

Soho is template driven yes. Yes you can MODIFY the templates, download tons of freebie ones, and use a basic color creator template onsite.

If you deleted the index page you most likely will have to have soho UNINSTALLED and then RE INSTALLED via customer service.

Karen