Subdomains - how to set up shop(s)?

[CultureClick]

Suppose I had a domain called, oh, mydomain.com . And I sold, umm... golf clubs and shoes and daylilies.

So then I make golfclub.mydomain.com and shoes.mydomain.com and daylily.mydomain.com .

Do I have to install ZenCart separately on each of those subdomains? How does that work?

Puzzzling...

CultureClick the toddler Zenner

[afo]

Yes you could do that. Each store would act independently of the others, so if someone's shopping on golfclub.mydomain.com, he/she will only see the golfclubs you offer, but not the shoes or daylilies.

Alternately, you could install Zen Cart on mydomain.com and have 3 categories: golfclubs, shoes and daylilies.

[EricRas]

Ok, so I'm wondering about those separate zen cart installations on subdomains. Does each need a separate payment gateway account? How is this handled?

[DrByte]

Ok, so I'm wondering about those separate zen cart installations on subdomains. Does each need a separate payment gateway account? How is this handled?

That's entirely up to you and the gateway to decide. If they will allow you to use the same gateway account on multiple stores, be mindful that the gateway is registered to a specific company's name, and so the customer's credit card statement will show that registered company's name on it, regardless of which subdomain or URL the customer shopped at. If that's undesirable, you'll most likely need a separate gateway account for that (and of course that brings corresponding additional fees).

For all the information you need, contact your gateway provider, as they'll be the ones who can give you the personalized information you require.

[data_digger]

Managing numerous Zen Cart instances is MAJOR pain in the uhm.... it's a headache. Consider for example updating Zen Cart version, but take into account that each of Your Zen Cart installations will probably have different plugins installed, different core files changed etc. It's very easy to get lost.

Have You considered running just one Zen Cart site and linking subdomains to specific categories in that shop (through .htaccess and mod rewrite or custom modifications in zen_href_link and some - not that complicated - hacks using auto loaders).