Brandon Atkinson - Getting Started with nopCommerce

Brandon Atkinson is an architect and developer for CapTech Consulting in Richmond, VA. He specializes in Microsoft technologies including ASP.NET and SharePoint, regularly contributing to the SharePoint forums on TechNet. Brandon has owned and operated several online stores over the years, and he has also helped many others with their e-commerce efforts. When he is not writing code, Brandon enjoys playing music, reading, and spending time with his wife.

This book is dedicated to my dad, Mike Atkinson. I'm sure he would be proud to see how far I've come and I miss him every day.

I thank my wife, Jennie Cook, who has always supported me in everything I do and has never told me any idea was too crazy to try; I love you.

Thanks to my brother, Brian Atkinson, who was my Sherpa guide for writing a book.

And thanks to my mom, Brenda Michaels, who taught me to have a firm hand shake, be polite, look people in the eye, and always hold doors for strangers. These skills have proven more valuable in my career than any bit of technical knowledge I can fit into my head.

Nicholas Cipollina is a Senior Software Engineer with expertise in .NET development and iOS development. He has over 12 years of software development experience including developing large-scale n-tier web applications and iOS mobile applications. Nicholas received his Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Systems from Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. He currently lives in Mechanicsville, VA, with his beautiful wife, Dawn, and his two little girls, Isabella and Hannah.

Jennie Cook received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Fashion Merchandising from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2004. She is a business consultant specializing in merchandising and marketing of e-commerce retail businesses and enjoys working with start-up businesses in particular.

With over 10 years of experience, Jennie amassed a wealth of knowledge that she now shares with her students as an adjunct professor in the Fashion Merchandising department at her alma mater.

Currently, Jennie is working on her own online venture using nopCommcerce. Revelry Row, a website specializing in women's jewelry and accessories, was launched in 2012.

Chris Stout is a manager at CapTech Consulting, and has spent over 15 years working on a variety of web-related technologies. He is currently working in mobile security with a financial services client, and has interest in Windows Phone development and cloud computing. When not at work, Chris enjoys woodworking, scuba diving, and hanging with his wife and daughter.

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Preface

You're reading this book because you've decided to open an online store and you've chosen nopCommerce as your e-commerce engine. Congratulations! Opening an e-commerce storefront is an exciting adventure and nopCommerce is a top-shelf product that will serve you well. nopCommerce is an open source e-commerce engine built with Microsoft's ASP.NET MVC framework and which uses Microsoft's SQL Server database. This engine is a complete solution that includes everything you need.

nopCommerce consists of two major areas:

• Public-facing storefront : This is where customers will browse your site, look at products, and place orders. It consists of product, category, and topic pages, as well as the shopping cart and checkout pages.
• Administration site : This is where you will manage all aspects of your storefront. This includes creating categories, adding/managing products, and creating/editing topic pages. You will also manage shipping options, tax settings, payment providers, and so on.

There are other areas in nopCommerce, including a blog and forums. However, these areas are outside the scope of this book, but you should be aware there is more to nopCommerce than just the e-commerce engine.

Note

Real world

In most installations, you may not use the built-in blog and forums provided. There are many products on the market that are solely built for these purposes, such as WordPress for blogging. Sometimes, it makes sense to use nopCommerce solely as your e-commerce engine and use other products for blogging and forums.