My wife would like me to get her set up for selling jewelry on the internet. I've worked throughout the software development lifecycle, so programming isn't foreign to me (although to tell you the languages I've used, you might think so -- anybody remember FORTRAN?). I have dabbled in web sites, having set up a few static sites for the family, neighborhood, and other side projects.

At this point I'm trying to determine the best set of tools to use for this ecommerce project. Current thoughts are to go with a host that provides the Miva merchant shopping cart since I'm not really interested in reinventing the wheel.

With that direction, how "industrial strength" does my HTML editor have to be? I have an older version of Frontpage, but am planning on abandoning it for the best tool for the job. Dreamwever seems to get the nod, but I'm not sure I need that much power (or to incur that much expense).

As far as functions/objectives, I'd like to do some nice graphics, roll-overs, menus, etc. I think I'll need to use a server side database, although I'm not sure how that would fit in with the Miva shopping cart.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

i have done a couple of FORTRAN projects too:sickface:

make sure your host is running OUI (http://www.openui.org) and will allow modules to be installed. a boatload of modules exist that will allow you customize your store, many are free. the better modules use the OUI.

as far as an editor, very little coding is needed for merchant. the admin screens handle the input to design your store. Merchant uses Miva Script (http://www.miva.com/docs/api/) for programming and an xbase3 database. you may want to stick with your old FP editor to generate any html that you want to add, upgrade to another editor if you find it too limiting. i use Notepad or type it directly in the storefront admin.

good luck!

may i suggest www.comersus.com ?

Atheist, have you used comersus?

i was very impressed with this app. i have been looking to replace miva and comersus is on my short list along with IBS (http://www.ibuyspystore.com/)

my concern is the integration with payment gateways, which comersus seems to have many more available than miva:cool:

Yes, a site for which i am the webmaster has a comersus e-store. You do have to purchase power pack basic to enable offline payment or do a bit of scrpting yourself. But yes id recomend it highly!

I reccommend oscommerce
http://www.oscommerce.com
They have good support, they're free and they support several different gateways for payment.

I'd second OSCommerce. Great package.