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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    7
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    0

    Default digital product that is a directory

    Hi There,

    I've run into a bit of a snag. I created a product called WebsitesInAnHour.com
    The product consists a directory with an index.htm file along with about a dozen other support files including 8 or so flash media files.

    I've created a zip file of the directory and currently that works as a download just fine.

    The problem is that the people who need/want this product are really not computer savvy. To dowload a zip file, figure out how to open it, expand it into a directory, upgrade their flash player if necessary, all of these steps makes this a non-starter product.

    Ideally I would like people to order the program and the digital link would go to directory with the index.htm file and they would be able to to watch the flash movie. No fuss. I've seen other shopping carts do this.

    Is there ANY way I can make this work this way.

    One option I toyed with was to put the files in a password protected directory and then create a pdf (not zipped) with the link and the password in the pdf. This does not prevent people however from passing along the link or the pdf.

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Posts
    66,364
    Blog Entries
    7
    Plugin Contributions
    274

    Default Re: digital product that is a directory

    Other ideas:
    - make a self-extracting EXE from the zip, and have that auto-launch the flash tutorial when done unzipping.
    - maybe post the tutorials directly on your own site, and point them there for installation instructions.
    .

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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    7
    Plugin Contributions
    0

    Idea or Suggestion Re: digital product that is a directory

    I think I found a work around.

    All the documentation and forum articles talk about setting up "ZIP" files as if it is the only kind of file you can download. Apparently that isn't true because I saw a pdf that could be downloaded and not zipped.

    Solution?
    I created a new attribute
    name: online program (button)
    option: webinar

    After a little experimenting found out that I can "download" an html file. Apparently I can download any type of file. The catch with html files however it will only display images and use java script if they are links to outside resources because the system only grants access to that one file. However through html I can link to other files.

    OK.

    So I created two new directories.
    matthewrochte.com/store/files/
    matthewrochte.com/store/files/sk4xpi3kd/

    note:
    1)the second directory is just a random assortment of numbers/letters that look kind of like a coded directory
    2) this isn't the actual folder name I used

    I copied the "index.hml" file from the documents directory to both of these directories to keep out the looky loos.

    I placed all of the support files for the program (css, js, swf, jpg, xml, etc) in this odd second directory.

    I then updated the main html of my product.
    1) inserted the full link to the url and src requests for all of the support files "http://www.matthewrochte.com/store/files/sk4xpi3kd/"
    2) renamed the html file to the name of the product wiahol.html
    3) uploaded the wiahol.html to the download directory.

    (Note: I also had to update the internal links in the xml and js)

    Result:
    I now have a straight to webinar link after the sale is processed. No additional steps of downloading zips, unzipping, and futzing. When the sale is processed the client click download and it takes them the updated html file I just created and it plays like a charm. I may add a feature to people to be able to download a zip file of it, but for now it works the way I originally wanted it to. (to do this all I'll need to do is update the wiahol.html file and add a link to the zip file.

    Philosophy:
    So the philosophy is this. The initial file wiahol.html is already redirected via a coded directory. If someone bothers to look at the code (bear in mind my program is designed for the html inept) what they will see is what appears to be links to other files in other coded directories. Because people can't view the directory of /files or /files/sk4xpi3kd/ they won't see all the files. Heck if they can - all power to them. The software really is of no use to people with that level of skill. A waste of time and energy.

    END NOTE:
    Another variation, if I were to do it again say for a series of mp3 files.
    I'd try to mimic the redirect pattern
    in this case
    matthewrochte.com/store/pub/.rloejjhmnmkqzrfhv/wiahol.html
    create a directory
    like
    matthewrochte.com/store/pvb/rloejjhmnmkqzrfhv/
    or
    matthewrochte.com/store/pvb/rloe3khmn4kqzr1hv/
    instead of
    matthewrochte.com/store/files/sk4xpi3kd/
    so that on first glance of the code it looks the same

    Hope this helps others.

    Matthew Rochte
    http://www.WebsitesInAnHour.com or less

 

 

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