[ic] Different demo type...

Mike Heins interchange-users@icdevgroup.org
Wed May 14 18:24:00 2003


Dear All,

I am going to be gone for a long period and you will not see me here
for quite a while. It doesn't mean I have left Interchange -- I will
just not be touching a computer keyboard for over a month.

I have been working on a modest improvement of some aspects of the
foundation demo and have put up this humble beginning at:

    http://ftp.icdevgroup.org/interchange/demos/mike-0.02.tar.gz

Some excerpts from its readme:

    * Virtually all buttons and menus are text-based so that you can
      add menu entries, buttons, and translations for same without
      making images.

    * All look/feel configuration is done by CSS. It should be quite
      possible to completely change the look simply by editing
      variables/THEME_CSS and include/layout/*.

    * There is only one color scheme (blueyellow) and no THEME/STYLE
      variable. Therefore the regions/ directory is directly in 
      templates.

    * The default for left-hand side is a product tree, for the top
      bar is a flydown/out menu. Each are editable from within the UI.
      Each menu is a timed-build, so performance should be good even
      for busy catalogs.

    * The template layout is contained in include/layout/*, and
      by [set display_class]leftonly[/set] you can change the type
      within the page.

    * There is an alternative multi-page checkout which has received
      quite a bit of testing.

    * UPS lookup for Canada and the US is supported out of the
      box. All shipping files relocated to products/ship.

In addition, US Postal Surface and Air Parcel are now supported for
most countries (US origin only), and there are examples of a new
custom shipping module method with Vend::Ship::QueryUPS and
Vend::Ship::Postal modules.

I hope that when I return, there will be some test reports of the demo
and suggested improvements. Perhaps, wonder of wonders, even some
documentation and HOWTOs! In any case, the intent is to slowly document
each of the areas of this template with online help to provide a
constantly-improving catalog application for use by Interchange users
not wishing to greatly change the foundation.

Best,
Mike
-- 
Mike Heins
Perusion -- Expert Interchange Consulting    http://www.perusion.com/
phone +1.513.523.7621      <mike@perusion.com>

Friends don't let friends use Outlook. -- Bob Blaylock