Custom Vantage Web™ How to Change Settings in your Website (Part I)

 

by Becky Skelley

 

Did you know, as a Stamp Shop Web customer you are given full control over your site? The Settings Tab contains a vast collection of settings that give you complete control over your Stamp Shop Web site. For instance, would you like your customers to be charged for gift wrapping items? There’s a setting for that. Would you like to setup a link to give to your wholesale customers so they sell your merchandise under a disguise of their website? There’s a setting, it’s called Affiliates and it’s built right into your Stamp Shop Web site. We’re about to walk through the Settings Tab and all it has to offer, and believe me, there’s a lot.

 

Steps to Follow
In order to view the Settings Tab you must first be signed into the admin area of your Stamp Shop Web site. Once you are logged in, click the Settings Tab where you will see the General Options (Picture 1), a grand list of miscellaneous items.

 

 

 

Home Country: select the country in which your store resides in the drop down menu. As with all changes made within the admin section of your site, be sure to click the Save Changes/Ok button before you move off the page you are working on.

 

Default Home Page: type in the address of your homepage (if you want something than the default).

 

Server Time Offset: if you reside in a different time zone than EST you may adjust the time in which your orders are placed on your site. Follow what the Current Server Time is and adjust by + or - the number of hours you are different.

 

Show Product Image in Cart: check this box if you would like to display a small image of the product in the shopping cart before the customer checks out.

 

Show Sign Image in Cart: check this box if you would like to display the sign preview image in the shopping cart. Please note Sign preview images are often wide. 

 

Small Product Image Size: set the dimension of the small image here. The small image is displayed when the product is assigned to a category that is displaying in a list/grid format.

 

Medium Product Image Size: set the dimension of the medium image here. The medium image is displayed on the product detail page.

 

Tiny Product Image Size: the size of the image that displays in the shopping cart.

 

Force Image Product Sizes: If you place different size images for various products, the system will automatically display them all at the same size for a more uniform look.

 

Show Powered By icon in Footer: when this box is checked the powered by Stamp Shop Web logo will appear at the bottom of your site. Uncheck this box to remove it.

 

Show Cart Totals in Header: click this box if you would like to display the shopping cart totals in the top area of your site.

 

Site Cookie Name: a behind the scenes computer transaction which helps your site track what users place in their shopping

carts. There is no need to change this but if you do, you cannot use any spaces in your new cookie name.

 

Allow Personalized Themes: check this box to allow personalized themes for customers. When checked, customers will have the option of viewing a different theme (look & feel) for your site once they have signed-in to your site with their username. Customers can choose these themes under their Account Settings. The theme choices are the same theme choices as in the admin of your website.

 

Allow Affiliate Themes: check this box to allow affiliates of your store to have their own theme (look & feel).

 

Show Wish List on Cart Page: check this box if you would like to display the customer's wish list items on the shopping cart page.

 

Allow Gift Wrapping in Cart: check this box if you would like to allow the option for a customer to choose gift wrapping per product within their cart.

 

Gift Wrap Charge Per item: enter the dollar amount you would like to charge the customer for gift wrapping. Next you must edit each product you would like to allow to be gift wrapped; to do so head over to the Products Tab and edit the product. Once inside the General Info area expand the Advanced section and check the box next to Gift Wrap Allowed and click Save Changes.

 

Charge Tax on Non-Shipping Items: check this box if you would like to charge tax on products that you have set as "non-shipping" items. To set a product as a “non-shipping” item you must edit the product within the Products Tab, and click to expand the Shipping section to check the Non-Shipping Item box. An example of a non-shipping item would be a downloadable product.

 

Remember Carts for Anonymous Users: check this box if you would like your store to remember the carts for anonymous users who have shopped on your site and have items in their shopping cart but have not signed in to your store yet or proceeded to the checkout.

 

Disable Product Caching: Forces a re-read from the database for product display. (Not recommended)

 

Force Upper-Case for Addresses: check this box if you would like to force addresses typed in to your site to always be uppercase.

 

Force Login: check this box if you would like your site to force customers to sign in first before they can view your site. This is ideal for Stamp Shop Web website owners who have dealer sites or specific sites for organizations that give their customers discounts. Users (site customers) do not see their discounts unless they sign-in before placing items into their shopping cart.

 

Allow New Customers: check this box if you would like to accept new customers to your site.

 

Use Metric: check this box if you would like to change measurements on your site to the metric system.

 

Use Voucher System: check this box if you would like to allow vouchers to be accepted on your site for checkout.

Pre-assigned codes are linked with stamp mount products (sold without a die plate) to be then made customizable on your site. Since the mount would have already been purchased elsewhere, the voucher system allows customization and checkout without additional payment. By allowing vouchers all other forms of payment (i.e. credit cards, PayPal, phone, fax, etc.) will not be accepted. This is an all or nothing setting.

 

Allow user to change tax exemption status: when this box is checked a new customer may check a box "I am tax exempt" when creating a new user account on your site.

 

Allow Remote Login: check this box only if you were advised by Connectweb Technologies, Inc. When this box is checked customers who are using an intranet to connect to your site may pass over the sign in process, making it transparent.

 

The Addresses link provides you with control over the requirements for your customers’ billing and shipping addresses (Picture 2).

 

 

Billing Address:  this box indicates the requirements for your customers’ billing address, which is collected during the checkout process. The middle column within the Billing Address box allows you to decide if the option will be shown to your customer. If you would like the option shown click the box in the "show?" column. The last column within the Billing Address box allows you to choose if the option will be required. To make it required click the required column checkbox. To change an option from required to not required uncheck the box.

 

Shipping Address: this box indicates the requirements for the shipping address. The middle column within the Shipping Address box allows you to decide if the option will be shown to the customer. If you would like the option shown click the box in the "show?" column. The last column within the Shipping Address box allows you to choose if the option will be required. To make it required click the required column checkbox. To change an option from required to not required uncheck the box.

When you are finished deciding which options will show and be required click the Ok button to save changes.

 

 Affiliates

The Affiliate program is a free tool we’ve setup for you to use. It is a way for you to offer a link to your resellers to be placed on their website that will link them to your website. We’ve setup a way for you to even allow a different theme to appear when they enter your site through that particular link. This way, when their customers shop from the original site they don’t believe they’ve ever left the original site. Below are some details of the affiliate settings that will help allow you to control how the affiliate program works on your site (Picture 3).

 

 

Enable Sign-Up Form: check the box here if you would like to make the sign-up form available to all of your customers. By checking this box you are allowing the form to appear within the Customer Service/Contact Us link on your site. This allows one to become an affiliate.

 

Affiliate Commission Type: within this drop down menu you are able to decide which type of commission will be assigned

to affiliates of your site.

 

Percentage of Sale: by selecting this option from the drop down menu you are setting the commission of all the affiliates on your site to be a percentage type.

 

Flat Rate Commission: by selecting this option from the drop down menu you are setting the commission of all the affiliates on your site to be a flat rate (or fixed dollar amount) commission type.

 

Your Affiliate Commission: this field sets the commission amount, based on the field above (either a percentage or a dollar amount). 

 

Affiliate Referral Days: set the amount of days you would like the referral to be for your affiliates here. This is the number of days your site will remember that an end-user belongs to an affiliate even if the user returns directly to your site.

 

Affiliate Conflict Resolution: If an end user comes to your site first from one affiliate and then later another, which affiliate does the customer belong to; the original (old) or the later (new).

 

Affiliate ID Query String Name: The element that is included in the special link generated for the affiliate to place on his site. 

 

Affiliate Introduction Text: If you choose to allow affiliates to sign themselves up, then this text will be displayed on the page that tells them why they should become your affiliate.

 

Affiliate Terms: The terms (rules or conditions) of your affiliate program.

 

Send Order to Affiliate only: check this box if you would like the orders sent directly to the affiliate, instead of going to you first.

 

Stick around; we’ve only just grazed the surface of the Settings tab and all it has to offer. Next month we’ll discuss further options within the Settings tab, so stay tuned!