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[triplefour]

there seem to be a lot of issues.
account creation is the very first step in an online shopping cart application and they seemed to have screwed it all up.
it should be SIMPLE.
every single web store should operate like this:

1. a new user should be able click add to cart, then they should be taken to thier cart and there should be a button `continue shopping` if they click checkout they should be able to simply enter thier email address and billing info without creating an account.  this should all go down in like 3 clicks.
currently, the first time a user comes to my site at
http://testing.fuckthehelicopters.com, they add something to cart...
then they arent really sure what to do. you have to go click on your cart on the left...  most people could figure that out but it would be nice if it just took you there automatically. 


2. after entering billing info they should be sent to paypal and after they pay the shopping cart software should know that they have paid and send them an email confirming thier payment.  an email from paypal telling you you just paid is nice but doesnt really tell the customer anything they didnt already know.  they want to hear that the STORE recieved the payment and that thier item will be shipped soon.  then there should be something in virtuemart in the orders that tells you they have paid, otherwise you have to go check your paypal account and see if you recieved the payment and then manually change the status on each order???   and i havent even touched shipping yet. for now i will be happy to deal with shipping on my own, i just want to make sure the account creation/non-creation process goes smoothly and the user can order stuff. if we cant even get that far who cares about shipping modules??


3. the next time that same user comes back they should be able to use that same email address and still not create an account (basically none of thier info should be saved beyond what is necessary to complete that one order, then it should be deleted)

4. ONLY if they want to create an account there is a checkbox that adds the password field.  the username is redundant and should just be the email address.

so the key issues where virtuemart seems to fail (at least out of the box without some kind of magic configuration that i havent found yet)
are:
accounts are created even though you tell it you didnt want it and then the next time that user comes back with the same email address it thinks thats an account but since they didnt set a password, there is no password or way for them to login and they dont want to login anyway. they just want to buy another item without the hassle of creating an account!

you can solve this manually by sitting on your site waiting for new users to register and if they dont actually create an account then you can delete them after they are done.  that will fake the users into thinking your site works. but really it doesnt.  and also im not sure its easy to tell in the user section which users have actually registered with a password and which havent...yeah im pretty sure theres no way to tell.  someone help me there, please?? at least that..

are any of these problems going to be solved soon? i really need to get some of these web stores out there....

i dont want to give up on virtuemart cause i like it. for some reason.

 

[willowtree]

1. a new user should be able click add to cart, then they should be taken to their cart and there should be a button `continue shopping

Pretty sure this is a config setting in 1.1, either move the user to the cart or stay on the page. Personally it irratates me if i am always redirected to the cart and have to click to get back to where i was, particularly if i'm ordering more than 1 thing on the page.

they want to hear that the STORE recieved the payment and that thier item will be shipped soon.  then there should be something in virtuemart in the orders that tells you they have paid, otherwise you have to go check your paypal account and see if you recieved the payment and then manually change the status on each order???

I'm not sure about 1.1, but in 1.0 this happens. It's in the payment method configuration. You select which order status should be set upon receipt of payment from paypal.

3. the next time that same user comes back they should be able to use that same email address and still not create an account (basically none of thier info should be saved beyond what is necessary to complete that one order, then it should be deleted)

4. ONLY if they want to create an account there is a checkbox that adds the password field.  the username is redundant and should just be the email address.

At what point are you suggesting deletion? Personally I like to keep all orders so we have a reference if there are any problems. If all the user data etc is deleted once shipped what happens if it never arrives or arrives damaged etc. A workaround would be to disable the need for a unique email address in your joomla site config.

NOT every web store is the same and needs the same config. Most of your issues are connected to settings ALREADY available, at least in 1.0.

[aravot]

Read the VirtueMart 1.1 User Manual

[triplefour]

thank you for your replies. if these things can be configured properly then great! for me and others with patience to `read the man`..but i was more trying to make the point for how it should be set default out of the box.  i know not all web stores are the same, but i think the way i laid it out is the most basic easiest way and it should be set that way to begin with.   if you want to do something more fancy then go read the manual..just a thought.   but i guess ill be sitting here for a few hours hacking away at different settings trying to find the `magic configuration` for something that to me seems like it should be so simple.

[triplefour]

oh and i had the paypal payment method configured to change it to `confirmed` on a successful paypal payment but that never happened for some reason.

[triplefour]

oh yeah i am using joomla 1.5.2 and vm 1.1.0RC2

[triplefour]

i have no idea where the setting to take the user to the cart after they add something to it is...  when a user adds an item to a cart, a little popup window comes up but the colors on it are off and i cant read what it says (i dunno where the CSS for this thing is) and it only stays up for a second.  how do i mess with that thing? i cant find it anywhere in the settings...

[aravot]

VM works as intended you have the option to change settings to your needs, there has been 115 bug fixes between RC2 and Stable release one of those fixes is the PayPal, upgrade to Stable release and PayPal should work as expected.

[triplefour]

ahhhhh thank you im going to do that

[triplefour]

ok so i did that... started over.
site is at http://store.fuckthehelicopters.com
joomla 1.5.2 and vm 1.1.0 stable
set it up just how the other one was...
seems ok until the point where you say `confirm order` it should take the customer to pay-pal to pay but it doesnt
it just says order was recieved successfuly and check your email for confirmation.
go check the email no link to pay in there either..
so order is left pending..
paypal is enabled as a payment method, i dont understand why this is happening!!! !arhghghhghghggg
and when i actually register, it takes me to pay-pal but then paypal says page not found!
noooooooo

[aravot]

You must be using 'No Account Creation' method, see known issues.

[triplefour]

im using `optional account creation`

[triplefour]

AGHHHG ive checked everything...what am i doing wrong?

[triplefour]

my god i am losing my mind can some one please help please...pleaseeeee
no matter how i have it set, after i click confirm this is what i get:

Thank you for your order.
 Your order has been successfully placed!

A confirmation email has been sent to: -email address-@yahoo.com




Fatal error: Call to undefined function mosRedirect()
in /home/.glasnost/computerakamai/wtf.fuckthehelicopters.com/components/com_virtuemart/themes/default/templates/pages/checkout.thankyou.tpl.php(61) : eval()'d code on line 31


i dont get it because i go and check that line of code (line 31) and there doesnt seem to be any call to mosredirect...
the code on line 31 looks like this:

      <?php echo $VM_LANG->_('PHPSHOP_THANKYOU_SUCCESS')?>

so whats this error talking about??
nooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[triplefour]

hello?? anyone???