Beginners Advice Needed

[rassy]

Hi guys,

 

I have little PHP and HTML skills and I am planning to create an online download store for digital products.

 

In the current situation I am checking out various php-shop solutions and I am very happy that I have found prestashop. Now it would be really cool if you guys could give me some little tricks before getting started

 

CAN PRESTA DO THE FOLLOWING?

This is what I want my store needs

1) Instand-Download support. Ability to sell digital download products. The downloads need to be delivered right after successfull payment.

2) Internal download area for customers which have successfully paid. In this area they can download their bought products. In Detail this means: The system has to automatically generate a user account for the new customer.

3) "Tagging-Attributes and Ajax-Search function": I would love to tag my products in order to enhance the search function of the shop.

3b) Tag-Cloud. How easy is it to generate a tag cloud?

4) SEO support product: Each product should have it's own seperate seo-optimized site.

5) SEO support tags: Each tag should have its own seperate seo-optimised listing page. (Like in wordpress)

6) SEO support (nice URLS): mod-rewrite

7) Localization: The prices need to be shown in $ and Euros.

8) Translations: It would be cool if i could translate the site to several languages.

9) PDF Bills: Can the shop generate PDF billings for each customer and send it automatically by email?

10) SPEED: Do you think I can run a shop with around 500 products on a v-server setup? Or do I need to go on a real server with this project? Let's say the server needs to handle 500 visitors per day and 50 download customers.

 

PLUGINS

What plugins might I need to achieve the above?

 

HOW MUCH TIME?

How long do you think will I need to set this up? I have no clue about presta yet. I have some PHP experience. What do you think? Where shall I start?

 

I would be really thankfull about hearing your oppinion on these requirements.

 

Is presta the right choice?

 

Thank you so much for your support :-)

Rassy

[PrestaDesigner.com]

To be short, yes, prestashop can handle most of this features with no additional modules. Regarding the speed, Prestashop can handle 500 products without any problems, even on a shared hosting account (on a reliable hosting provider). Time required to create such a site may vary. Since you are newbie, it can take from few days to a week (working full time on this project)

[pmfjoe]

I agree with PrestaDesigner, what you want is pretty basic and can be handled out of the box as far as I can tell. The only place you might need plugins would be for the payment processor if your preferred merchant processor is not supported out of the box.

[rassy]

Hi guys,

 

thanks for your support :-)

 

After doing my first test run I got 2 more questions:

1) INTERNAL DOWNLOAD AREA

Do you have any tipp how to set up an "internal download" area? Right now I can only manage to send download links to the customer. But there seems to be nothing like a "download area" for the logged in user.

 

Is there an option I am missing? Is there a plugin which could handle this?

 

2) REGISTRATION MAIL FOR GUEST CLIENTS

Can the system automatically generate an user account for new clients? I find the option "Guest-Order" BUT this does not really generate a user account where the new "guest client" becomes a "member".

Is there a setting? Is there a plugin?

 

Thanks a lot for your tips!! :-)

Rassy

[damian5000]

Hi guys,

 

thanks for your support :-)

 

After doing my first test run I got 2 more questions:

1) INTERNAL DOWNLOAD AREA

Do you have any tipp how to set up an "internal download" area? Right now I can only manage to send download links to the customer. But there seems to be nothing like a "download area" for the logged in user.

 

Is there an option I am missing? Is there a plugin which could handle this?

 

2) REGISTRATION MAIL FOR GUEST CLIENTS

Can the system automatically generate an user account for new clients? I find the option "Guest-Order" BUT this does not really generate a user account where the new "guest client" becomes a "member".

Is there a setting? Is there a plugin?

 

Thanks a lot for your tips!! :-)

Rassy

#1 There are membership modules that could allow exclusive content to members. From what I understand, a very versatile module. Not sure if this would meet your needs or not.

 

http://addons-modules.com/prestashop-membership-modules/18-agile-membership-10-for-prestashop-membership.html

 

#2, The guest account has no data about the user ..not sure what you mean by automatically turning a guest into a member.... They would have to register and fill out the info. You can turn guest account off and they will then be forced to fill out the registeration to purchase from the site...Might solve the issue?