3 domains share products users etc 3 different stores

[dgent]

Bear in mind that as they all share the same database, every database setting will be STANDARD across all sites, so (for example) if you choose to HIDE the right column globally using the database setting, then ALL sites will have the right column hidden. There are scores (perhaps hundreds) of database settings that influence structure and layout - not a problem in itself, but remember that whatever is set in the database will apply to ALL sites connected to it.

Not an issue, I get round that by turning off elements with CSS so they are not visible to the user.

[ray-the-otter]

thinking aloud, would this not cause an issue with payments?

for example, with 1 database to rule them all, how would paypal express know what site to redirect the buyer too?
wouldn't all three sites show the same sales data too?

[dgent]

Well it wouldnt cause issues, yes all the sales would be logged on all sites. Paypal always redirects to the correct site, thats nothing to do with the database.

Ive done this exact thing. I have three dress sites running off the same database, one is focussed around body con dresses, the other designer dresses, and the other clubbing dresses. The three sites have different looks, and ive done some clever coding with php so the two other sites modify the keywords on the product names and their descriptions, so they all show different content. Ie 'Black Body Con Skirt' will show up as 'Black Designer Skirt' and 'Black Clubbing Skirt' on the other sites, like wise substituted words in the descriptions, metatags, everywhere, and google indexes each site independently with no duplicate content.

Allows me to have different content on the net, selling the same product, and without diluting my keyword content level on each site. Great thing is all the updates on one site affect the others, so simple to maintain.

[RodG]

The three sites have different looks, and ive done some clever coding with php so the two other sites modify the keywords on the product names and their descriptions, so they all show different content.

With respect, only a small portion of ZenCart merchants will have the skills that match yours, and I dread to think of the possible problems that the less experienced people will find themselves in by attempting to do what you have done.

I really don't think this is a task that should be trivialized.

Cheers
Rod

[dgent]

With respect, only a small portion of ZenCart merchants will have the skills that match yours, and I dread to think of the possible problems that the less experienced people will find themselves in by attempting to do what you have done.

I really don't think this is a task that should be trivialized.

Cheers
Rod

To be honest, it was surprisingly simple and only involved modifying around 10 files, with a few extra lines of code

For instance, this is the original code for the product name in your product description (tpl_product_info_display.php)

<!--bof Product Name-->
<h1 id="productName" class="productGeneral"><?php echo $products_name; ?></h1>
<!--eof Product Name-->





And this is the new code




<!--bof Modified Product Name Constructor-->

<?php

// The text string
$newprodname = $products_name;

// The word we want to replace
$oldWord = "Clubbing";

// The new word we want in place of the old one
$newWord = "Designer";

// Run through the text and replaces all occurrences of $oldText
$newprodname = str_replace($oldWord , $newWord , $newprodname);

?>

<!--eof Modified Product Name Constructor-->

<!--bof Product Name-->
<h1 id="productName" class="productGeneral"><?php echo $newprodname; ?></h1>
<!--eof Product Name-->