Product Description
Build a proficient online store to sell products and services Earn huge profits by transforming WordPress into an intuitive and capable platform for e-Commerce Build and control a vast product catalog to sell physical items and digital downloads Configure and integrate various payment gateways into your store for your customers’ convenience Promote and market your store online for increased profits Follow a practical, step-by-step guide packed with screensh… More >>
There are lots of people who just assume that WordPress is all about blogs. That can’t be further from the truth. It can actually be used to start a powerful e-commerce store. This book is a proof for that. It’s a very well written and easy to follow book that gets you familiar with the basics of WordPress e-commerce. Best of all, you do not have to be a PHP or WordPress guru to get started with this book.
What I like about this book is the fact that it’s very practical. It walks you through all the steps you need to take to bring your online store to life. It can also save you a lot of time with your research as the author has done the work for you and has included a list of top e-commerce and third-party plugins you can take advantage of to manage your store more effectively. Practical instructions are provided to enable you to set up your store and start implementing those plugins fast.
This book does not aim to make you a WordPress or PHP expert. It’s all about creating a fully functional e-commerce store by taking advantage of solutions that are available for WordPress. It covers all aspects of your e-commerce business, so you can always use it as a reference to add new features to your store. Pretty easy to get started with.
Rating: 5 / 5
WordPress 2.9 e-Commerce is an excellent overview of how to step up an online store using WordPress. It covers all the basics from creating and managing a product catalog, to managing users, setting up checkout and payment, and dealing with shipping. The book provides instruction on how to install and configure the WP e-commerce plugin, critical to performing e-commerce within WordPress. It compares and contrasts online payment gateways such as PayPal, Google Checkout and Chronopay to help users understand the similarities and differences between the systems and choose which one is right for them.
The book also discusses alternatives to the WP E-commerce plugin. Particular coverage is given to YAK, eShop, Shopp, WordPress Simple PayPal Shopping Cart and MarketTheme. The book also includes a chapter on tools for marketing your e-commerce site using advertising, emails, newsletters, blogs and coupons.
What I find most helpful about this book and most Packt books in general is that it is grounded in the hands on practical. Using this book one could easily setup an e-commerce site. Each chapter builds on the previous one, taking the users through the setup steps
The book even includes an Appendix that provides information on how to install WordPress within WAMP. For novice users who haven’t installed WordPress before this Appendix is extremely userful.
Thrilled to have had the chance to read the book. I now understand the possible ways WordPress can be used for e-commerce in a much better way than I did before.
Rating: 4 / 5
I bought this book thinking it would ease the process of adapting WordPress to build a simple e-commerce site. It didn’t. When I followed its directions early on for selecting and modifying a free e-commerce theme, I found discrepancies. The theme wasn’t available through the WordPress site as indicated. I had to import it from another site. Nonetheless, even though I didn’t care for the theme (it’s too juvenile-looking for my business), I did import it just to follow along.
Next, as instructed, I tried to eliminate the theme’s blog aspects by removing a specified string of code located in a specified place. The code wasn’t there. I searched every other place within the theme where the specified code might have appeared, but nothing. I’m not a programmer–perhaps the code has changed since the book was published and I just can’t recognize the bits that need removing–but the whole point of the book is to assist the non-expert.
Unable to move forward, I wrote to the publisher and asked for help, spelling out exactly the obstacle I was up against. Several days later, I received this e-mail from the publisher:
Thank you for contacting [...]
I have forwarded your query to the support editor who will be able to help you.
Please let me know if you need anything else, I’ll be glad to help.
With warm regards
For Packt Publishing
Notice that Warm Regards did not provide his or her name or the name of the “support editor.” I wrote again asking how to connect with the support editor. No reply.
$35 and a lot of frustration later, the book is sitting in its shipping box in my office. I’ve gone back to Dreamweaver.
Rating: 1 / 5