CommerceBuddy 3.0 Configuration
Setting your options for CommerceBuddy
Net Connection Settings
Main menu -> Options -> Net Connection Settings
The Net Connection Settings are a vital part of the CommerceBuddy/CartIt communication process. This information must be correct for CartIt to function properly.
The HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) or HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) URL must point to the direct location of commercebuddy.cgi.
A Common Mistake
If you use an HTTPS (SSL) connection, your web site must be compatible with SSL and should have a valid certificate.
If the certificate is not valid (this is the case with many sites that are sharing the ISP's certificate) or if the certificate has expired, you should check the "Ignore my invalid certificate" checkbox.
SMTP Server
The SMTP server is the same server you use for sending mail in your regular e-mail software. This may be mail.yourisp.com or smtp.yourisp.com. Contact your ISP for further setting information.
SMTP Port
This setting is almost always going to be 25. Again, contact your ISP for additional information. On most consumer Internet connections, you will find port 25 access blocked. You may find your hosting provider has the server listening on an alternate port in addition to 25 (contact them to see) and addtionally you may need to authenticate with the server using a mail program before you may relay mail through your hosting account. CommerceBuddy can send email to your clients but it does not receive email. You will still need an email application.
Company Information
Main menu -> Options -> Company Information
The Company Information dialog box is where you set your preferences for e-mail order notification and general text that appears in the shopping cart such as company name, company phone number, and so on.
Company Name
This is the name of your company, as you would like it displayed by CartIt.
Address Information
The address information should reflect the address where you want checks mailed to if the customer pays by check. This address must be entered as it is displayed in the final invoice to your shopper.
Phone
This is typically a non-toll-free phone number that can be accessed worldwide.
Toll Free
This is your 1-800 number. If you do not have an 800 (or other toll free) number, enter your sales phone number.
Order Notification
CartIt will send a short notice to the e-mail address here, informing you to start CommerceBuddy to retrieve your orders. This address can be a standard e-mail account or a text/alpha massaging cellular phone or pager equipped with an e-mail address (provided by your communications professional).
Information
This is the e-mail address for sales, typically info@yoursite.com or sales@yoursite.com.
Webmaster
This is the e-mail address of the Webmaster or technical person in charge of your site design. Enter your CartIt Commerce Developer's address here.
Billing
If you have a special e-mail address for billing inquiries, enter it here.
Payment Types and Credit Cards
Main menu -> Options -> Payment Types and Credit Cards
General Tab
The payment types your company will accept are set in this dialog box.
If you accept credit cards, check the "I will accept credit cards" checkbox.
For each credit card type you will accept:
1) Enter the card type next to the Add button (See: Card Number Verification below).
2) Click Add.
3) The credit card type will be added to the list.
To delete a credit card type, double click on the card type's name.
Card Number Verification
CartIt has several card types that should be entered exactly as they appear below:
Visa
MasterCard
American Express
Discover
Diners Club
enRoute
JCB
If typed as shown, when a customer uses any of these cards, CartIt should verify that the card number entered is valid. Most often, this number verification system catches customer typos, but can also help avoid fraudulent orders.
IMPORTANT NOTE
You do not need to enter all of these cards, nor must you enter them as shown above. If you enter "AMEX" instead of "American Express" it will not cause any harm. However, the card number verification system will not recognize "AMEX" and will not function for this card type. You can turn off the card number verification "check digit" algorithm in the CartIt configuration file cartitcf.cgi if desired.
Other Payment Types
By phone
If this option is checked, your shopper can complete the order process without entering a credit card number online. It is recommended that you keep this feature enabled, since many shoppers are still afraid to purchase online.
This gives your shopper the option pay by check, money order or certified check.
Purchase Order
If you select this option, your shopper will be required to enter a purchase order number during the checkout process.
C.O.D.
To allow C.O.D. payments, select this option and enter the C.O.D. Fee you will charge for this option.
Card Processing Methods Tab
Directly from my Web site to be processed later manually
If this option is selected, CartIt will provide the necessary form elements for your shopper to enter their card information online.
Directly on my web site using real-time background credit card processing
With this option, you must have an account with a remote processing center such as Authorize.net. You must also configure the cc_connection_hash.txt and cc_connection_array_logic.txt ImpactObject Templates for this feature to function properly.
For additional information please see Real-time processing
At a remote Web site using an HTML Forms method
With this option, you must have an account with a remote processing center such as Authorize.net. You must also configure the cartit_invoice.html ImpactObject Template for this feature to function properly.
For additional information please see Remote Transaction Processing
Ask for and require CVV Input
This option is only available for real-time credit card processing, as a CVV number should NEVER be captured or stored. If your processing service offers CVV validation, selecting this option will enable the CVV input.
This number is ONLY passed to the processing center. The concept of the CVV is to prevent the unauthorized use of a credit card number and CartIt does not store the CVV anywhere. Developers should not modify templates or other CartIt code in order to store this information, as this would altogether negate the purpose of the CVV and violates PCI complaince standards.
Colors and Appearance
The Colors and Appearance dialog box is very important to the way CartIt appears to your shopper. The <BODY Attributes> section is self-explanatory for anyone developing or maintaining web sites.
Background Image
This is the path to a background image, if used. The path can be a fully qualified URL such as http://www.yoursite.com/images/background.gif or it can be a virtual path from the CGI-bin such as /images/background.gif.
It is strongly recommended that you use a white background and no background image in a commerce web site.
Regional Taxes
Main menu -> Options -> Regional Taxes
The Regional Taxes dialog box allows you to edit the Regional Taxes database. The database editing is done live so you do not need to save the changes during your work.
The fields in the database are:
Tax Code
The Tax Code has nothing to do with government regulations; it is a unique identifier that CartIt will use to identify this tax field. The Smart Tax feature relies on this field for information.
In CartIt 5.0 we added the ability to enter ##XX where XX is your STATE Code. For example, if your company is based in Florida, you may enter ##FL. If this is done, when the shopper checks out online, CartIt will charge the shopper tax if they live in Florida (of course, this would not apply to non-taxable items). CartIt will not display any tax options to the shopper, it is calculated automatically. You may enter as many state codes as necessary.
In CartIt 8.0 we have added the ability to enter #!XX where XX is your COUNTRY code. For example, if your company is based in Canada, you may enter #!CA. If this is done, when the shopper checks out online, CartIt will automatically charge the shopper tax if they live in Canada (of course, this would not apply to non-taxable items). You may enter as many country codes as necessary.
NEW! In CartIt 8.0 we have added the ability to enter #!XXXXXX where XXXXXX is your ZIP/POSTAL Code. For example, if your company is based in Canada, you may enter #!XXXXXX. If this is done, when the shopper checks out online, CartIt will automatically charge the shopper tax if they live in that zip code (of course, this would not apply to non-taxable items). Keep in mind you can enter unlimited zip codes and could cover an entire county, province or region! In theory, you could enter every zip code in a state to cover an entire state. This is not necessary, of course, as the State recognition system can be used as described above. However, it could also be used to collect tax based on zip codes for a particular county or regional authority.
Display Text
This is the text displayed to your shopper during the checkout process. This should be in the form of a command such as "Check this box if you live in Florida."
Tax Is For
This text is displayed with the tax amount in the next step of the checkout process. It should describe what the tax is for, such as "Florida Sales Tax."
Percent
The tax percent should be entered as a decimal. The best way to calculate this is to take your desired percentage and divide it by 100. For example, 6 / 100 = 0.06.
Thus, 6% must be entered as 0.06.
Tax Shipping
Some states require that you tax the shipping fees, while others do not.
Order......:100.00
Shipping...: 25.00
Total......:125.00
If shipping is to be taxed, CartIt will tax 125.00. If it is not to be taxed, CartIt will tax 100.00.
By default, products are taxable
This feature allows you to specify whether or not items are taxable by default. In your CartIt page or database design, you have the option of overriding this default value. If you do not specify a taxable method in your page design, CartIt will use the default you specify here.
You can override the default method with these values:
Value of 1 = taxable
Value of 0 = not taxable
no value = use default
Display taxes as select list
If you check this box, CartIt will display a select list for your shopper to select from, allowing your shopper to select only one possible tax. If the checkbox is not checked, CartIt will display the taxes in a list of checkboxes, allowing your shopper to select more than one possible tax.
Smart Taxes
Main menu -> Options -> Smart Taxes
Smart Taxes are for merchants who have specialized tax needs. Typical Smart Tax usage would be a tobacco store that needs to tax their cigars at 15%, while their humidors will not have any special tax (other than regional/state taxes). Furthermore, this merchant may need to apply this 15% tax only if the shopper lives in a certain region.
Smart Tax handles these special conditions.
Smart Tax Code
This is a code for internal use only. You should have unique tax codes and they should always be uppercase.
Display Text
This is the text displayed to your shopper. A typical entry would be "Tobacco Tax."
Tax Taxed Amount
This allows you to specify whether or not the item can also be taxed by the regional taxes.
For example:
Cigars........:4.00
Tobacco Tax...:1.25
Total.........:5.25
Florida Tax...:?.??
If the Tax Taxed option is set as True, the regional tax will apply to the item and the Smart Tax on that item ($5.25). Otherwise, the regional tax will only apply to the item's cost ($4.00).
To add a little more confusion (or flexibility)… the regional tax will not apply if you have the product page set up for a non-taxable item. Keep in mind that a non-taxable item is still taxable by a Smart Tax.
Condition
This allows you to specify the condition that must be met for the Smart Tax to apply. If no condition is given, this tax will always apply.
The condition is directly related to the main Regional Taxes screen. Each taxable item in the database has a Tax Code. Now, let's say the Smart Tax should only apply to Florida residents. In the main Regional Taxes database, you have a regional tax for Florida with a Tax Code of "FLTX." If you enter "FLTX" as the condition of the Smart Tax, it should ONLY be applied if the shopper's address is in Florida.
Please continue to Shipping Methods from here.