View Full Version : Drupal shopwindow integration
jonnyplatt
27-06-07, 07:13
Hiya,
In the process of integrating shopwindow into my existing charity shopping site (rectifi (http://www.rectifi.org.uk)) I've been attempting to integrate Shopwindow into drupal - something I think will make it much easier for people to create niche websites quickly, theme them easily and add useful content to pick up those important links and long tail searches.
The modules not ready for public consumption yet - theres a fair bit of hard coding so not everything is configurable and there are a few key bugs - but here's a couple of quick sites I knocked out for the sake of an example in less than two hours:
http://www.coffeemakers.org.uk
http://www.tastybreadmakers.co.uk
http://www.tastytoasters.co.uk
Obviously I haven't done a great deal to change the theming yet but it could be as simple as downloading one from drupal.org and uploading a new logo.
Is this something folk will be interested in?
Hi Johnny
I think that this is a great idea and could open up a lot of doors for people.
If you could pm / email me your contact details, it would be great to have a chat about it :)
Cheers
Amo
Amarath Singh Sokhi
Head of ShopWindow
Digital Window Ltd
amarath.sokhi@digitalwindow.com
Tel: 020 8269 4853
www.digitalwindow.com
Confuscius
27-06-07, 12:14
I like this idea as I use a CMS as the basis for a holidays site - albeit it is quite a bit of work to set things up - mainly in the area of building rigid menu structures.
It would be really nice if you could outline the steps that you have taken to get to where you are at the moment, as I am sure that there are others who would like to have a go at doing say a Joomla or Mambo version, etc. No need to re-invent the wheel, is there?
Congratulations on what you have achieved so far.
Paul
jonnyplatt
27-06-07, 13:47
I think that this is a great idea and could open up a lot of doors for people.
If you could pm / email me your contact details, it would be great to have a chat about it
Best to try skype : jonnyplatt - I am in Vietnam so GMT+7 until next friday when i'll be partying as i haven't seen friends for two years :) My computers often left on tho so keep trying if u don't get through.
It would be really nice if you could outline the steps that you have taken to get to where you are at the moment, as I am sure that there are others who would like to have a go at doing say a Joomla or Mambo version, etc. No need to re-invent the wheel, is there?
So far the bulk of the work has been making the site configurable through the settings pages, fixing conflicts and funny variables, multiple instances of Smarty etc, deciphering element php that were only developed for the client software and not standalone (eg category suggestions etc) and trying to get the pagination etc to use semi-search engine friendly urls without editing every single example template file - which is only half done.
Ideally though it would be better to use drupal's theming functions and get rid of smarty altogether, giving site developers more freedom and the potential to work with the templating system they're more familiar with.
Plus I added a few extra nice functions - while the category trees work (see http://www.kitchen-whizz.co.uk) on the niche sites I just use an array of brands or types to automatically build the menu I want, but ideally i'd like this to done through a gui or similar.
It's a little patchy at the moment but the benefits are great - set up time is minimal, and it would be very easy to use drupal's existing cms system for adding content for linkbait etc. I also want to add a filter tag system - eg where you slot in [search:canon s60:5:price] at the bottom of your review node to list the top 5 results for a camera sorted by price, or a related products block that could add a bit of content to teh products pages or suggest products based on the title of your content. It'd also be very nice to be able to attach some of drupal's reviews/voting api system to the products, as then you could use thigns like the Content Recommendation module (CRE) to do Amazon Recommends pages etc.
Looking good, I'm working (and winning) on some Joomla! models, problem seems to be the same for all of us, SPEED! Once ALL merchants are added to the feed i.e. the ones that need Membership, the speed degrades significantly.
Even with our accounts on the SW friendly 1&1 Hosting with .htaccess set to run PHP5 only AND the code snippets updated the speed is questionable, usually around 20 seconds to run a search or navigate - This compares to some Forum comments of 60 seconds but still...
Another problem seems to be back now:
soaperror Object ( [sCode] => ns1:Server.DB_1 [sString] => Server error occured! [sDetails] => getCategoryTree: Please contact admin and quote this: [http://api.productserve.com/][2007-06-30 21:49:57] )
1
soaperror Object ( [sCode] => ns1:Server.DB_1 [sString] => Server error occured! [sDetails] => getCategoryTree: Please contact admin and quote this: [http://api.productserve.com/][2007-06-30 21:50:00] )
Nevermind, back to the development, keep up the good work!
Sorry, can't put URL of our site up at present due to Brand issues... but ASAP
how are you outputting just one select category at the moment? you using the api or the client? (assuming api)
I'd love to see how this runs.
wrapping it into a CMS is a good idea too, are you able to content manage each individual categories page there or is it just purely a cosmetic thing and you are only able to manage the homepage? (assuming this isn't using the api)
Did something previously simular but not using the api, could only take it so far, but if i could work out how you done what you have done I could do some pretty nifty stuff with it
Hi All,
Hopefully now the speed is not an issue that is holding back developments of shopwindow with cms'.
I for one am very interested to see any further developments you make with the likes of drupal and joomla, so please do update this thread and share with us all!
loving your work guys :)
Amo
jonnyplatt
13-09-07, 14:35
it wasn't just the speed but also the small issue of moving home from Vietnam, finding a new house in brighton etc.. :)
as well as actually finishing the implementation on rectifi..
still i reckon i could have it out by the start of next week for people to play with - ill let u know
Cheers,
Jonny
Bluesplayer
11-10-07, 16:19
Really liked the look of a Drupal shop. After a few hours messing about I have this:
Drupal Shop (http://bluesplayer-shopping.co.uk/home)
I haven't decorated the front page yet but you can still see the shop working by just clicking on the links.
I managed to do this by using ajax in a few cases and customizing the shop template. The home return to drupal is created by using a silent redirect code. Seems to work a treat and I can still use all that Drupal has to offer - Forum etc. Should have this running well in a short space of time.
Regards
Bluesplayer
Edit: Sorry dropped this idea for now!