Installing CFWebstore

Installing CFWebstore®

CFWebstore® is not a self-contained software application with an executable setup file. It is essentially just a very large collection of ColdFusion templates. To use CFWebstore®, you must install the files on a server that is running at least ColdFusion MX 6. Installation involves little more than extracting the files into the directory which you will be using to host your store. You don’t need to install any Fusebox files, those are included in the installation file. There are just a couple more things you need to do to get the store up and running.

Step 1: Database Setup

First step is to setup the database. CFWebstore® supports SQL Server and MySQL. We no longer support Access due to its unsuitable as a platform for hosting ecommence.

SQL Server: To use SQL Server or SQL Server Express, use the provided script in /database/version650/mssql_cfwebstore.sql to create a starter store database. The process is very simple, just follow these steps:

• • Create a new database in SQL server on your remote server
  • Open Query Analyzer and select your new database on the toolbar.
  • Open the mssql_webstore.sql script file and run it. This will create the table structure, indexes, defaults, etc. and insert all the default settings, user data, states and countries, etc.
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MySQL: CFWebstore® supports MySQL, version 4.1 or higher. The steps are basically the same as those for SQL Server, just set up a new database and run the /database/version650/mysql_webstore.sql import script to create the starter store schema and data.

Step 2: Coldfusion Administrator

In order for the software to be able to interact with your database, you need to first add a datasource in the ColdFusion Administrator. By default, the datasource name is "CFWebstoreFB6". You will probably prefer to use your store's name or some other more descriptive name. DON'T USE SPACES OR DASHES IN YOUR DATASOURCE NAME! While the Administrator will allow this, it may cause problems with your store, as the Datasource name is used when setting cookies. Also, be sure the first character of the name is a letter (not a number). A note on security settings: you can enter the username and password for your datasource either in the datasource definition or in the settings for your store. If you are unsure which to use, check with your host.

If you are using shared hosting then your hosting company will provide you with the DSN (data source name) of your database in the Coldfusion Administrator.

Step 3: Configuring the Store

• Open the /config.cfm file to configure your settings. These settings tell the store what your datasource name is, what type of database you are using, your store URL, etc. Your store will not work correctly if any of these settings are incorrect! Just follow the comments in the file to configure it for your site. If you make any mistakes, you can just correct the file and reload the site, these settings are not cached in any way and will take effect immediately.

• Pay special attention to the StorePath and CFCMapping settings in config.cfm. These must be set correctly or the software will not be able to find all the core shopping and checkout functions, causing errors in your store. PLEASE NOTE that these are URLs, NOT file paths. Usually setting the StorePath will automatically configure your CFCMapping and no change to it is needed. There are a couple configurations though which may require you to set up a custom mapping in ColdFusion for the CFCs. The first is if your store path has any periods (.) in it. Periods in a cfc mapping are counted as separate directories so this requires a custom mapping. The other situation is if you are using a SSL that has a different path than your main store has. This is typically only found in stores using a shared SSL. Again, just set up a custom mapping (or have your host assist in doing this) that points to the CFC directory and enter the mapping name in the CFCMapping setting.

• Before making your store live, you will want to change the Administrator password. The default login is username "admin" and password "admin". After logging in, go to the My Account page and click on the link to change the current password. This will allow you to change the password for the Administrator. You can also use the admin tools to set up other administrator accounts.

• Make sure if you accept credit card payments on your site, that you have your host install an SSL certificate. Even if you don’t take credit cards, SSL is a good idea for security, as it will add extra protection to your admin area. When installing SSL, the best approach is to purchase your own certificate and have it exactly match the store domain. Be sure if your address includes a “www” on the front, that the SSL address includes it as well, as some browsers will block the cookies if it is not exactly the same. “www.mysite.com” and “secure.mysite.com” are NOT the same and “www.mysite.com” and “mysite.com” are also not the same. These kinds of setups will have problems with cookies in some browsers so be sure to use the exact URL for each. If you want to use shared SSL, pay attention to the additional information elsewhere in this document relating to that kind of setup.

• PLEASE NOTE that CFWebstore is not currently PA-DSS certified. If you take credit card payments, be sure to check if your merchant bank requires PA-DSS software as many do these days in addition to PCI certification. If so, you may need to use any of the payments gateways such as CRE Secure or Shift4’s i4Go that hide the payment page on an external, verified payment site. This will help fulfill your PCI compliance requirement without needing PA-DSS certified software, and reduce any liability issues or concerns you otherwise would have in taking online payments. These gateways do an excellent job of disguising their sites to match yours for a completely seamless customer experience.

• A note for Unix users: Some users have found they need to adjust the read/write settings on some directories for the store to work correctly. Ideally your host will have ColdFusion set up to have write access on your site, but if not, you may have to do a chmod on some directories to allow write access. These directories include files, images, logs, errors and if you use downloads, your download directory and the tempdownloads directory.

• A note for Railo users: CFWebstore supports version 3.x of Railo out-of-the-box. However, one small code edit may be needed. In the main fbx_Settings.cfm page, you will need to comment out the second cferror line (around line 66) as this error type is not supported on Railo as of this time.

• You’re now ready to start setting up your store! Spend some time going over all the various store options and pages and making sure your store is configured properly. You may want to make a diagram of how your site will be structured before beginning to create your categories and store pages. Pay particular attention to the configuration on each of the main settings pages:

• 1. Main Settings
  2. Shopping Cart Settings
  3. Payment Settings
  4. Shipping Settings
  5. User Settings