StoreSense Migration
Moving the look, function and content of an existing online store
is an individual process based on your existing setup and what
changes you want to make. There are generally three broad aspects
to consider when migrating an
existing
online
store
to
a StoreSense
store.
- Your database: This is your order,
product, customer information and a variety of other dynamic
information.
If you do not have
an existing
database, then you would add in your products as if you were
starting a new store.
- Your static pages: These are
pages that are outside your store and will usually have the
file extension
of .htm or .html. In most cases
they
can roll over unchanged and only the links to the store, shopping
cart or checkout will need to be altered.
- Your actual store look and behavior: This
can vary according to the functions of your existing store.
In some store construction, snippets
of "add to cart" code are added to html pages and
the cart software
is only called into use when an item is ordered and a customer
checks out. In other cases, the display of the product is all
done by the store software. Converting each kind of store construction
has its own "to do" list.
How important is it to roll the existing look and functions exactly
to the new StoreSense store? Keeping things the same may seem the
most economical approach on
the surface, but consider these situations:
- Sometimes an easily implemented feature
may not be so easy to implement in StoreSense. Each
software has its strong points and not-so-strong points.
If this
feature is not critical to your site, you may want to rethink
its use.
It is possible that the same ultimate goal can be achieved
in a slightly different way.
- Sometimes StoreSense offers easily implemented
or automatic features not found in other software. In some cases,
to disable
their activity
would be more costly than implementing them.
- Some Web sites are designed with visual editors
where the designer has no concept of the code being created.
It is not uncommon
for us to see web page layouts composed over over 100 table columns
and rows, all merged and split in a chaotic way -- adding a
huge
weight to the file size and rendering it inconsistently in
many browsers. In moving a site to StoreSense, it is often easiest
to
completely rebuild the web design when this kind of code is
present, making it more browser compatible and file efficient
at the same
time.
We can help you approach your store migration in an organized
and efficient manner and we can coordinate tasks with your staff
to streamline the entire process. Contact
us to find out how we
can help.
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