Does this forum do "site checks"?

Is it accepted good practice to ask folks to look at the start of a Zen Cart shopping cart and comment on whether it's basically sound?

I'm following the lead of my boss in implementing our first ZC cart. He's doing two things that strike me as iffy.

One, he uses the Product Name field for the name of the theme the product is grouped under. He only specifies the product identity under Products Model. Thus the theme pages show a dozen products with the same apparent name. Only if one clicks to get to the product page does one see a model number.

Two, he's apparently set it up so that my entering "15" in the field for Products Shipping Weight will add $15.00 in shipping costs to the total cost. I don't know if that's unusual or not. My only question is will it work?

(I may be violating the one question per thread Tip, though it all seems related to me. If I am, I will try 5X harder next time not to do that.)

Unklchuk
Who saw an interesting theme at Dezina's site but is intent at crawling before he flies.

If you want a site reviewed - use the Reviews section - you will have to post the URL for critiques.

Second, from an SEO stand point that sounds like an odd way to organize products, but maybe the boss has a good reason ...

On the shipping weight that sounds like the Per Weight Unit shipping module and there is nothing wrong with that as long as you are not gouging customers for the freight.

unklchuk:

he uses the Product Name field for the name of the theme the product is grouped under. He only specifies the product identity under Products Model.

Not a good idea. Products are almost always "Themed" by category. And it's possible to change the "Categories" header to "Themes" if you want to (or any other word for that matter).

Problems will occur when customers do a search for a product. It will return a long list, negating the principal objective of a search.

unklchuk:

Two, he's apparently set it up so that my entering "15" in the field for Products Shipping Weight will add $15.00 in shipping costs to the total cost. I don't know if that's unusual or not. My only question is will it work?

This field is for product WEIGHT (as it states). If he has set "per weight" shipping to $15 / weight unit of 1, then shipping will show as $15. It's not the best way of setting shipping, as every product will have a $15 shipping charge. If I buy 10 products from your store, my shipping will be 10 X $15 = $150 !!!

There are much better ways of setting up shipping. This one will probably chase customers away.

If you want a site reviewed - use the Reviews section - you will have to post the URL for critiques.

Perhaps later. Thanks. 

Second, from an SEO stand point that sounds like an odd way to organize products, but maybe the boss has a good reason ...

I've raised the question. Time will tell.

On the shipping weight that sounds like the Per Weight Unit shipping module and there is nothing wrong with that as long as you are not gouging customers for the freight.

We're not. Fifteen bucks to handle and ship an 18" clock.

Noticed the link to the book. We have it. My employer isn't much for using books, but he agrees with me that this one is practical and useful.

So was a little $2 "cheatsheet" that helped him set up the default template.

In case it's helpful, the breakdown is like this:

All products for sale
Clocks
Choice of 12", 14" or 18" Clocks
Choice of 5 design themes

I'm newbie-guessing that would mean:

Shopping cart
Categories ("Clocks")
Sub-categories ("18" Clocks")
Sub-sub-categories (can these be renamed Themes? ("Nature")

If this is stuff we should be learning without forum hand-holding, I'll understand.

Unklchuk

Yes... that's basically what you need to do.

You can then "LINK" products across categories, so you could create additional categories for the various THEMES, then LINK appropriate products to these categories.

You first create CATEGORIES:

12" clocks
18" clocks
Nature Theme Clocks
Outer Space Theme Clocks
Clown Face Theme Clocks
... etc

Then create products in what is known as their master category:-
EG:

18 inch clock with a nature theme

... is created and stored in CATEGORY: 18" Clocks

Then, using the "Copy" feature, LINK (not duplicate) this product to CATEGORY: Nature Theme Clocks.

This will not only help you manage your product sets in admin far more easily, but help your customers too.

fairestcape:

This field is for product WEIGHT (as it states). If he has set "per weight" shipping to $15 / weight unit of 1, then shipping will show as $15. It's not the best way of setting shipping, as every product will have a $15 shipping charge. If I buy 10 products from your store, my shipping will be 10 X $15 = $150 !!!

There are much better ways of setting up shipping. This one will probably chase customers away.

I'm assuming they set it up as $1 per unit of weight, so 15 as the weight would translate into $15 for shipping. As you pointed out, ordering 10 of the same weight items would translate into $150 for shipping which seems pretty steep.