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Customizing osCommerce Shopping Cart
Although I have chosen
OSCommerce as an example, the alterations suggested below apply to
almost all freely available shopping carts such as Agora, Zen-Cart,
X-Cart and so forth. Most of these alterations can be made by modifying
colors and images via the template management section of the
Administrator page.
First thing to look at when you’re confronted by the default
installation is the site name. Although you generally have the chance to
put in your own site name during installation, you’re still liable to be
greeted by ugly text and an even uglier default image. Investing a
little time and money in having a customized header can make the world
of difference to an online shop. A professional header image can
encompass your site name, logo and images related to the product you are
looking to sell giving a much better first impression than a bland block
of text.
Next up is that awful color scheme. There are plenty of default skins
and color schemes for most of the well-known shopping carts, though
there is always scope for creating your own palette to suit the feel of
your site. Neutral colors tend to work well, and pastels can make a
site much more appealing. However, it really does depend on the site in
question – after all, if you have a successful site that is vibrant then
you will want to carry that theme on into your shopping cart for a much
smoother transition. Fluorescent colors are best avoided, and contrast
is important – although yellow or white text on a black background looks
effective, it can become hard on the eyes, so bear users in mind when
picking a color scheme.
Fonts are also important, and again you want to be consistent throughout
your site, so if you have a font on the front end of your site, you
should carry it on through to your shopping cart. However, if you are
starting from scratch, make sure you pick an easily legible font, and
also make sure it is a system font. That is, a font which comes as
standard on every PC. This will ensure that what you see is what your
visitors will see. Arial, Verdana, Times New Roman and Tahoma are all
popular fonts, though don’t be afraid to experiment – just don’t get
carried away.
A subtle use of font sizing and emphasis can create an effective site
that draws users attention to the products. Highlighting categories and
product titles can aid guidance throughout the site and towards your
more popular products, so be sure to make headings a little larger than
standard text and bold if appropriate.
The general layout can also be altered, though this is much more
difficult than simply changing fonts and colors, and will require some
HTML knowledge or the attention of an expert. There are many great
examples of heavily customized, free shopping carts out there, where the
template has had a complete overhaul and is barely recognizable. This is
attractive, but also will set you back a couple of hundred dollars plus.
These are only the bare basics, and I will be looking at customization
in more depth in future articles, including altering language options
and adjusting the layout without extensive HTML knowledge.
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