[ic] templates other than construct

[Jim Balcom]

On Fri, 6 Jul 2001, Nathan Young wrote:

NY>>I think that's great advice and I'll try to follow it.  However, it
NY>>doesn't preclude answering my previous question.  For one thing, the
NY>>construct template is fundamentally different from what I would create
NY>>by modifying an instance of that template, in that it can be used to
NY>>stamp out new store clones.

You are quite right. So you would need to make your own template to
suit your own needs.

NY>>Also, you'd be ill advised to train novice carpenters by throwing a pile
NY>>of raw lumber at them.  Likewise, if you expect them to learn by taking
NY>>apart existing buildings, you might want to give them more than one to
NY>>work on, or fear that they'll end up with an unnecessarily limited view
NY>>of building materials and techniques.

Did I not mention that each item on the supply pile has it's own set of
instructions? Perhaps I didn't. But, it does. In Interchange, with each
item having it's own instructions, there does not need to be
instructions for the whole thing. (According to the current philosophy)

NY>>What about my other questions?  I'm chasing the bigger picture and
NY>>looking for good resources.  Maybe there is no architectural overview or
NY>>comprehensive reference to config files.  It seems important enough that
NY>>I'd be willing to help work on those bits if they don't exist.

There aren't any.

You are like I was about 6 months ago. I wanted a users manual for
'Construct Something'. There isn't one. Construct Something is an
example of what you can do with that supply pile when you put your mind
to it. 

Many/most of the people on this list have gone into the vacant lot and
built their own.

I've gone into the other lot and have renovated the supplied building.

If you will go into the mailing list archives and scan them for about
the past 9 months, you will see where a few people have offered up ways
to make various mods to Construct Something.

Me? I paid a fee to Tech Support at Akopia to hold my hand and to get
my store up and running. Still, it's a steep learning curve and it took
me about 4 months to get my store on line!

It's running pretty much the way that I want it. I've got a bit more
tweaking to do. I;m not sure that this is the way that I would have
gone if I was starting from scratch, but I've got my hands full
handling the incoming orders, and packing and shipping. While I have
done serious programming in past lives, I don't have time for it now.
This meets my current needs and desires.

If you want a turnkey operation, try Rich Carey's commerce.cgi. That's
good stuff. Try Shopsite. That's pretty much turnkey, too. OnLine
Merchant will get you up and running in a hurry, too. I've bought them
all. I've been through them all. They all have good documentation.

If you want the 'GOOD' stuff, then this is it, but you have got to work
for it, and work hard.

Put the demos up on line. Play with them. Change this, change that,
explore what happens when you do this, explore what happens when you do
that. Eventually, you will figure out what all of the parts do, and how
to configure them.

If you are impatient, if you need to get something going in a hurry
with a minimal amount of work, then put an ad up on this list. There
are numerous people that are in the business of
designing/building/hosting stores under Interchange. Pick out the
people that are posting possible solutions quite often to the list and
see if they will put up a store for you. But, expect to have to pay
them a fair price for their expertise!

NY>>I'm not trying to learn it by glancing at a few web pages over a couple
NY>>beers with the TV in the background.  On the other hand, having some
NY>>other templates would help my process, especially with respect to coming
NY>>quickly to profitability (a requirement if I want to keep tinkering).  I
NY>>saw it mentioned in the docs but not on the website.  I couldn't find it
NY>>searching the mailing list archives, so I thought I'd post something.

Previous messages on this list will link you to a page full of
templates (so I have been told). You can also download versions
previous to 'construct' and get 'barry', 'simple' and (I think)
another. Download the version after Construct and you will get
'Foundation'. That's 4 or 5 templates that you can dive into and
explore.

NY>>I don't see any reason to be proud about having a steep learning curve. 
NY>>Many people equate "feature rich" with "steep curve" but it needn't be
NY>>so.  Perl is supposed to make the easy things easy and the hard things
NY>>possible... maybe a big reason perl's been so successful, and a great
NY>>philosophy for any product to aspire to.

I'm sure to get corrected on the fine points of this, but......

Up until not too long ago, Mike Heins was the sole person writing all
of this. Pretty much universally, a person working on writing the code
doesn't have time for the docs, and in most cases, they are terrible
doc writers. RedHat came along, struck a deal with Mike, and Akopia was
formed and Mike wnet to work for Akopia. There is now a support staff,
there are competent doc writers working on the docs, as well as various
engineers poring over the incredibly genius things that Mike has spewed
out and teaching the rest of us how to use them.

Better days are ahead. Better documentation lays ahead. 

In the meantime, it's still incredible software. It's powerful
software. And, best of all: It's FREE software!


-= Jim =-

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Tagline for Friday, July 06, 2001 at 20:40 PM:
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