The owner of an already existing Joomla-VM-webshop with sportswear would like to see his webshop extended with subshops for several sportsclubs. The link to such a sportsclubpage would become something like: www.sportswearbrandname.com/sportsclubname (where the main site is at: www.sportswearbrandname.com)
In such a subshop there will be only products concerning this sportsclub, like sportsclubwear and accessories, besides some more common products like socks or underwear. Every subshop wil get its own homepage, although the template will be more or less the same with every sportsclub or subshop. Probably there will be only some differences in the images used.
I'd think this should be possible, but how to achieve this? I'm thinking of adding new menus everytime a new subshop will be added, and categories that aren't visible in the main webshop. But new homepages with every subshop?
And do I need an extension for this, or is there something else I'm not thinking of right now? All advise is welcome!
I've found 2 extensions yet, but I'm not sure whether I'll need them or not to achieve what is wanted. I found JMS Multisite (http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/core-enhancements/multiple-sites/5550), and Virtual Domains (http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/core-enhancements/multiple-sites/7557).
(J! 2.5.20 - VM 2.6.6)
If there is separate stock for each shop I would just clone a new install and stick it in a subfolder each time he needs a new one .
config and finished
That's probably a good solution...
I was thinking of using seperate menus for each subshop, where you can choose which VM-categories to link to that menu, and choose on what pages you want to show what menu (and template and modules). But perhaps I'm thinking to difficult with this?
I like the simple life - if it is a separate installs all menus take care of themselves - they will be automatically www.sportswearbrandname.com/sportsclubname etc
no getting lost in an admin tangle of linked and unlinked cats and prods etc - sell it as the client will always be able to see exactly where his sales come from etc etc .. bit of BS always helps convince clients
Only down side is if he wants stock control globally of the socks....
And what about the database: can I use the same (with/without a different prefix for the new tables) or is it better to use a new, clean one?
no reason to - unless your host limits you?
if so then then go down the different prefix route - but makes for messy management if you have to do any DB fiddling
obviously don't drop the other tables when installing! My preference would always be for separate DB's
Yes, I'll probably will go with that solution. Clone the site, put it in a subfolder with new database attached to it, clean out all products that aren't needed (or just deactivate them in backend) and adjust the template.
Only thing is that my client has to deal with a double/extra backend, which could be confusing perhaps...