Web Developer Question

[mconridge]

Hello all,

I've got a website through 1&1 (a type of instant e-commerce site) and wanted to make ammendments to it. Does anyone know of any Web Designers who are able to make small ammendments to a site such as adding drop down menus for additional items and individually pricing delivery charges for different products etc?:|

Matthew

[DuaneJackson]

Do you know what the e-commerce system is called? You'd be best to use a developer that already knows their way around it.

[mconridge]

It's just called a 1&1 professional eshop.

You'd be best to use a developer that already knows their way around it.

Yes this is what I thought but I couldn't find anybody.

[DuaneJackson]

What's the URL?

[mconridge]

My site isn't up and running yet but the e-shop company site is www 1&1 co uk. My site is just a standard template but it also allows you to edit it if you have alot of HTML knowledge (which I don't!).

So I wanted to find someone who might be able to make some ammendments.

[DuaneJackson]

It sounds like you need alterations to the actual database/scripts themselves rather than just HTML adjustments.

Not sure how forthcoming 1&1 will be in assisting a developer with this (not at all based on previous experience of them)

You may find that you actually need to host elsewhere with a more open system (or one developed specifically for you) to get what you actually need out of it.

[mconridge]

Thanks for the advice.

I was considering paying a designer/developer to create a website to my own specifications as I need a few bits that don't come as standard with most 'instant site' creators.

I've seen Advansys who seem to be quite good. Anyone have any other recommendations?

[DuaneJackson]

I've not heard of advansys.

If you have the budget then a bespoke system is certainly the way to go. I've heard good things about Gary from creospace, a member here.

If you work out what you need and post in the Tenders section then you'll have more quotes than you could ever hope for.

[mconridge]

Thats what I'll do then.

Thanks for the advice Duane.

Matthew:D

[DuaneJackson]

No problem. Good luck with it.

If things quite down here I may even put in a quote myself : )

[awebapart.com]

I've looked into 1and1 in the past since they are a competitor to my company, in that 1and1 offer supposedly 'easy to customise' online shops, although it sounds like this isn't the case!

Some other companies which are hosting at 1and1 and using the 1and1 eshop feature include:
flexibleliningshop.co.uk, fototech.co.uk, stupidkids.co.uk, colinette.com, bedfordtargetsupplies.co.uk, rubytuesdaycrafts.co.uk, sigma4less.com, jayrewcraft.co.uk, picturetools-shop.de

So you could approach the owners of these sites to see how they managed their customisations.

I wouldn't advise going the bespoke custom route unless you have a lot of money to invest in initial development, and a lot of money to invest in ongoing development, maintenance, upgrades, etc. Ask yourself this, do you really want to be financially responsible for keeping your own advanced e-commerce software up-to-date. Also going this route will not include hosting which is an additional cost too (dont go for the cheapest hosting either).

If you are looking for a fully managed and hosted 1and1 style online shop service solution - where because you rent a service, it is the service provider's responsibility to improve and keep the software up to date - there are other suppliers offering IMO better solutions than 1and1, including: ekmpowershop, easywebstore, and my company's awebapart.com sitebuilder service.

At least with all of these 3 services you can visit the website to see example customer sites, which should then give you an idea if the service can cope with your requirements. Some will allow you to try before you buy too.

I can safely say that the awebapart sitebuilder service, which is based on our own professionally customised (yet still customisable) version of osCommerce, does support the ability to add dropdown options to a product and have those options affect the price, and the system also supports flexible postal calculations, like calculations based on product weight. If you tell me your exact requirements in these areas I can give you a better idea if the system supports your requirements.

It is certainly cheaper working within the feature set of an existing off-the-shelf system rather than having one custom made for you, but that's as long as the off-the-shelf system is flexible enough for what you want.

[creospace]

If you have the budget then a bespoke system is certainly the way to go. I've heard good things about Gary from creospace, a member here.

Thanks Duane - Matthew drop me a pm or email gary [at] creospace.co.uk and i'll see how i can help you.

Cheers

Gary