Miva Merchant
Miva Merchant is a browser-based Storefront and Catalog
development tool that integrates cataloging, product maintenance, category
management, shopping basket, order and credit card processing.
Miva Merchant allows a single central administrator to maintain
multiple stores, or to delegate specific store functions to sub-administrators.
The software is organized as a series of modules that can be customized
without changing the core system. Developers can use the browser-based
interface to build stores or get "under the hood" with complete
access to the underlying source codes written in XML based Miva Script.
Merchants manage their stores with a user friendly browser-based interface.
The following is a partial list of some of Miva Merchant’s features:
- Cross
Platform. All application and database files used by Miva Merchant
are 100% cross platform and need no conversion to work with over seven
different Unix platforms and Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT. Developers and
merchants can protect their investment in catalog development if they
have to switch to a different architecture. Also, Miva Merchant can be
used with Miva Mia, the free personal version of the Miva Engine, providing
a complete offline development environment.
- Modular
Architecture. Miva Merchant’s architecture is specifically designed so that developers
and resellers can implement their own customized modules around a common
API. Once a module is developed, pushbutton registration automatically
integrates it into the main Miva Merchant system. Modules can also be
registered with Miva Corp. for automatic promotion to all Miva Merchant
licensees and prospects—a great free service for developers, resellers,
and merchants. Advanced users and third party vendors can build modules
in Miva Script to add functionality to the system.
- Existing
Site Integration. Developers who have already built sites in HTML
can simply hyperlink directly into the Miva Merchant system. All of the
Storefront functionality such as product lookup, category presentation,
shopping basket, and order forms can be accessed as components of existing
HTML based Web sites.
- Security.
All sensitive data can be encrypted with SSL prior to transmission
including order information both during the customer ordering process
and subsequently during order processing. Multiple layers of login permissions
allow a centralized manager the ability to grant store level permissions
to different developers and merchants.
- Upselling.
The Upsale system in Miva Merchant allows you to make a special offer,
for a single product, to a shopper at the time of checkout. You can maintain
a list of products, each of which will be offered for sale to the customer
at a special price under a certain set of conditions. The upsell products
are offered in sequence to each successive shopper when certain thresholds
are met.
- Modules.
Miva Merchant can be extended by installing snap-in enhancement modules.
Once installed by the Mall Administrator, the modules are available to
Store Managers as part of the menu hierarchy.
Installing Miva Merchant
Note: For Miva Merchant to run on your VServer, you must
first install version 2.0 of the Miva engine.
If you have not yet installed the Miva engine, Telnet or
SSH to your VServer and type vinstall miva at the command prompt.
Additional information on the Miva engine itself is found in the HTML
Pre-Processing Engines chapter.
Setting Up Miva Merchant
Run the installer from the appropriate URL shown below (Be
sure to replace yourdomain.ext with your actual domain name):
For Miva Merchant 2.0 and
later:
http://yourdomain.ext/Merchant2/setup.mv
For Miva Merchant 1.x:
http://yourdomain.ext/Merchant/setup.mv
You will be led through a series of Web pages. There are
several screens you must page through during the setup process. After
you have entered or verified the information on a screen, click Next to
go to the next screen.
Page 1: Miva Merchant Setup
– The install program asks you for licensing information. Enter the pertinent
information and click Next.
Page 2: License Agreement
– Read the agreement. If you agree, check the Accept box and click
Next.
Page 3: Customer Information
– Fill out the information and click Next.
Page 4: URL Setup – You
can go through each URL line-by-line and accept the default location that
is set up for you, or enter a different URL.
Page 5: Create Administration
User – Enter a user name and password. You must enter the same password
twice, in the Password and Verify Password boxes, for verification.
Page 6: Setup Progress –
If all goes well, the following message appears:
Miva Merchant Setup Complete.
If you get an error message, you will have to go back and
check the information you entered.
At the end of the installation process, you are given the
URLs to the administration interface and the shopping (merchant) interface.
Go to the administration interface to add products to your store(s). The
shopping interface is what the customer sees when visiting your online
catalog.
Additional information on getting started with Miva Merchant
can be found at the following URL:
http://www.miva.com/products/merchant/