My Checkout Without Account Mod

But only two things need to be chosen, shipping and payment. The rest are optional unless Conditions checkbox is required.

Hey guys,

I have been following this debate for sometime, and I wanted to let you know how I solved the checkout without account problem. I did not use this mod.

First, i use paypal as my payment processor. I don't take any other payment types. If you do differently, my way won't work for you.

I simply deleted the regular checkout button from my cart. When the customer clicks paypal, they get shipped off to the paypal checkout page, where they will either use their existing account, pay using a credit card without a paypal account (or create a new paypal account, I guess).

When the order is complete, the information automatically gets handed back to zencart and the customer file is created. I have tried to eliminate the whole notion of "accounts" from my site, and for the most part, it works.

The solution is not perfect... and if I do fire up the Google Checkout, I will have to move away from this, but I wanted to offer it up to you as another idea.

Good luck,

even if the checkout is on 1 page, if you present all the forms at once the customers will think they have to fill in too many info and abandon the cart. A better way is to use ajax and render each form 1 by 1, while still keeping them on the same page.

Tosh - and an insult to the customers. Or at least the first sentence is. IMO anyway!! :D

The vast majority of people who want to buy something online are well aware that they have to provide delivery and payment details (assuming they want to receive their goods!), and combining them on one page as numinix has done makes it easy to see at a glance what is required. On the other hand, nice as ajax is, a new section opening up just when you think you've finished is no better than having to move on another page.

Obviously everyone has their own methods. PayPal isn't a perfect solution. Anyone who has been screwed by them knows that. But we all do what we think is best for our business. COWOA is the only mod I've seen where people come in here trying to convince its users not to use it, acting as if they know what we are selling, who we are selling to, etc. and acting like one way is the only way. The great thing about Zen Cart is that is can be customized in so many different ways. COWOA is one of them. If you don't like COWOA, then don't use it. If you use COWOA and have solutions for new users or ways to improve the mod, by all means share. If you have nothing for us but your opinion on why we shouldn't use COWOA, start a freakin' blog.

Well put cz!

All these opinions about whether or not to use COWOA or how customers think or how to design the checkout process are just wasting space and making this thread hard to follow and less useful to those who do want to use COWOA.

Rob

I'm documenting an install of COWOA on a ZC 1.3.7 site, and while I was creating backup copies of the overwritten ZenCart files, I found an anomaly. The overrides-writes.txt file says that the following files are overwritten:

/includes/modules/pages/gv_redeem/header.php
/includes/modules/pages/password_forgotten/header.php
/includes/modules/pages/login/header.php

My 1.3.7 site doesn't have these files. Instead it has:

/includes/modules/pages/gv_redeem/header_php.php
/includes/modules/pages/password_forgotten/header_php.php
/includes/modules/pages/login/header_php.php

Um, what should I do?? Drop the new files in and hope? Rename them to match what's there? Help? Yes, I did download the 1.3.7 version of COWOA.

hedera:

I'm documenting an install of COWOA on a ZC 1.3.7 site, and while I was creating backup copies of the overwritten ZenCart files, I found an anomaly. The overrides-writes.txt file says that the following files are overwritten:

/includes/modules/pages/gv_redeem/header.php
/includes/modules/pages/password_forgotten/header.php
/includes/modules/pages/login/header.php

My 1.3.7 site doesn't have these files. Instead it has:

/includes/modules/pages/gv_redeem/header_php.php
/includes/modules/pages/password_forgotten/header_php.php
/includes/modules/pages/login/header_php.php

Um, what should I do?? Drop the new files in and hope? Rename them to match what's there? Help? Yes, I did download the 1.3.7 version of COWOA.

The actual files that you override are correct, he just forgot to add "_php" to the filenames when he wrote the instructions.

Thanks - that'll teach me to look at the actual files instead of just at the instructions...

I'll confess I'm relieved.

hedera:

Thanks - that'll teach me to look at the actual files instead of just at the instructions...

I'll confess I'm relieved.

Don't worry, I totally would've done the same thing when I was new. If I had access to the 1.3.7 files, I'd change them so others won't be confused.

Since I have the 1.3.7 files, why don't I update the install script and see if I can figure out how to upload the thing to the wiki? I think I have to replace it in the ZIP file and then upload that.

Also, I just finished a Visio drawing that gives me a visual image of what files are both added and changed, and what directory trees they're in (I find pictures easier to follow than words for this), maybe I can figure out how to put those in too. People can download a Visio viewer free from Microsoft if they don't want to spend the bucks for the program. Let me know if you think the pix would be generally useful.

Hedera, so I tried this module out and it didnt work! Boohoo!! :cry:

Is there any other way this can be done? I've done so much work on my cart already but if I cant stop the program from wanting the customer to register it's all for the cat and I'll have to start again with another shopping cart that allows me to do this.

Any work-around?

Also, I renamed the YOUR_TEMPLATE folders, then added the SQL. Then realised I had used the wrong files so uploaded the right files (the overwrite files). Could this be a reason it doesnt work? Is it paramount that the SQL is done last?

If anyone has any suggestions or work-arounds please please let me know.

Thanks

little_nomad:

Hedera, so I tried this module out and it didnt work! Boohoo!! :cry:

Is there any other way this can be done? I've done so much work on my cart already but if I cant stop the program from wanting the customer to register it's all for the cat and I'll have to start again with another shopping cart that allows me to do this.

Any work-around?

Also, I renamed the YOUR_TEMPLATE folders, then added the SQL. Then realised I had used the wrong files so uploaded the right files (the overwrite files). Could this be a reason it doesnt work? Is it paramount that the SQL is done last?

If anyone has any suggestions or work-arounds please please let me know.

Thanks

Can you explain in what way the mod is not working for you? Are you not seeing guest checkout on the login screen at all when there are items in the cart? Do you have split-login turned on? What exactly are your issues??

Good point.

Well, my main issue is that it hasnt changed a thing. Yes, I have split screen turned on and I can see this. But not the logging in without registering bit. So I get the New Customer and the Returning Customer options but not the guest options. :no:
Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? I have the latest version of Zen Cart.

Thanks for taking the time! :hug:

little_nomad:

Good point.

Well, my main issue is that it hasnt changed a thing. Yes, I have split screen turned on and I can see this. But not the logging in without registering bit. So I get the New Customer and the Returning Customer options but not the guest options. :no:
Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? I have the latest version of Zen Cart.

Thanks for taking the time! :hug:

No problem! My only suggestion at this point, without being able to see the files for myself, is to try installing again, making sure that all of the files have uploaded correctly. It sounds dumb, I know, but this has happened to me several times in the past. Sometimes files don't transfer properly or were not transfered into the proper folder for your template, even though you are sure you did everything right. I know I'm not the smartest person, but I am not an idiot either.... so when I see that I uploaded into the wrong folder or something like that, I really kick myself. You are new on these boards, but I am not sure how much experience you have with all of this and if maybe you just overlooked something. If you want to PM me with a link to your shop, I can take a look around.

Well, I did the install yesterday, carefully following the instructions exactly, and it's working for me. (Following the instructions exactly is kind of a fetish of mine.) This means I did the SQL patch last.

OTOH, I'm not running the latest version of ZenCart, I'm running 1.3.7 (because that was the version my hosting company had built the automated install for; I'm lazy), and I used the 1.3.7 version of COWOA. I really can't speak for the 1.3.8 version as I haven't used it.

I even successfully did the mod to remove the HTML and Text-only radio buttons from the billing information screen.

I think I agree with craftzombie - go back to square one, restore from the backup (you DID make a backup before doing this, yes??), and do the whole thing over, carefully doing every step exactly as documented.

Im planning on installing this mod and im just wondering if it's stable enough and compatible with 1.3.8a?

Berserker:

Im planning on installing this mod and im just wondering if it's stable enough and compatible with 1.3.8a?

I am using it on 1.3.8a with no problems that I am aware of. I tested it many times on my own after upgrading. I have had a lot of people checkout using this method and haven't heard a peep about problems. Make sure you download the 1.3.8 version of this mod.

craftzombie:

I am using it on 1.3.8a with no problems that I am aware of. I tested it many times on my own after upgrading. I have had a lot of people checkout using this method and haven't heard a peep about problems. Make sure you download the 1.3.8 version of this mod.

Excellent. Just a couple more questions, people can pay through Protx and other offline payments using this right? Or will it only accept Paypal, Nochex etc?

Berserker:

Excellent. Just a couple more questions, people can pay through Protx and other offline payments using this right? Or will it only accept Paypal, Nochex etc?

I don't know what Protx is, but if it works with Zen normally, then it should work with this mod. When a person uses Guest Checkout, they are still creating an account like normal, except they are not entering a password. All other aspects of checkout are the same. The shipping page and the payment page are the same as if they chose regular checkout. I myself only use PayPal and PayPal's virtual terminal to enter credit cards manually (even though I think PayPal is evil - especially since they are owned by Ebay... but thats a whole other nightmare!). So yes, all of the payment options available through Zen should work with this mod as far as I know. Please, if anyone knows this to be untrue.... speak up!

I just wanted to post and give my thanks for this wonderful mod. I've been waiting for something like this to be created by those here that know what they're doing.
Thank you so very much for this mod, it works great.