domain.com/blog - a blog that will be updated/added to regularly
domain.com/chat - a micro blog using something like BuddyPress
domain.com/store - online store selling products (mostly physical products that ship, need the use of coupon codes, and some downloadable digital files)
I’m wondering what the experts in SitePoint recommend for site software/architecture … I know WordPress needs to be in the “blog” directory and BuddyPress in the “chat” directory, but wondering if I should just do the rest on an individual basis (such as via updating through Dreamweaver, etc.) or if you recommend a CMS for this.
Also, any idea what the best cart would be for both physical products and downloading digital files?
The Drupal part isn’t finished/in use yet, that’s going to power the “members only” area as well as offer those members discounts in the main Ubercart store. I needed the members/roles tightly integrated with the store, since some of the perks for being a member would be discounts in there.
eShop for Wordpress 3.0 has new features regarding users being able to sign up and access their order history (in WP 2.9.2 only the admin sees this). All versions handle downloads via e-mailing the buyer a use-limited code (eg expires after 3 uses or multiple connections on a use, you can grant a code more uses if need be). I’m still using Wordpress 2.9.2 so I haven’t seen the new user features yet.
You can use some Website Payments Pro features, like being able to accept credit cards without a Paypal account (something you setup at Paypal itself), but other features like the user staying at your site/not getting redirected to Paypal aren’t supported.
The site is adultish/Not Safe For Work, so I’ll PM it to you if you want to see.
Sabretooth - that’s a huge help! For your members area, is this the customer’s backoffice area for downloads, order history, etc.? Is that what you are saying you use Drupal for?
eShop for WordPress. I will look into this. When you say, no Website Payments Pro, are you saying a PayPal business account can’t be configured/integrated into the eShop software/cart?
Would you mind sharing your store/website example in the forum? If not, I understand.
I’m currently using Wordpress for my front end (an index of the videos we sell, which are both DVDs and downloads) and developing Drupal/Ubercart for a backend members area and more robust store. Drupal will handle all the users, as the final goal is a paysite. I moved away from solely using Drupal since I had endless problems getting things like image galleries to work properly with the private download method enabled (you’ll need this if you’re selling downloads), and Imagecache had a mind of it’s own.
The current shop I’m using is eShop for Wordpress, which has a few payment gateways supported but no Website Payments Pro for Paypal (just standard). It’s getting us by, but I feel we’re outgrowing it. The developer is also very active on his forums and with releasing fixes/updates. If your needs are simple, then I’d recommend this one. Also free.
One of the things I don’t like about Ubercart are some problems that have lingered for months that no one has officially patched (paypal double email bug). Seems like lots of questions and problems end up unanswered over there.
don’t make it too complicated - you and your users need two logins. Stick with one.
Ubercart is the ecommerce module of choice at the moment for Drupal, there’s also a module called ecommerce but I think that has lost an edge to ubercart. I’m certain you find some good examples there.
Wordpress is fully capable of managing your static pages, i.e. the content type page. Wordpress has actually progressed from a blogging application to a basic CMS given the flexibility it allows and the plugins that are available, so definitely check out how far you can go with just Wordpress.
if you need something more flexible, I would look into Drupal, though this might need more development work than a Wordpress solution, you could get everything done with just Drupal in use rather than three different applications - I can go into more detail as to what you definitely need, if you want to give Drupal a go.
Sorry, when you said handling static pages with Dreamweaver, it didn’t sound as you know that Wordpress is fully capable of that and should actually be preferred.
I’ve no experience with Wordpress shopping carts, I just know that they exist.
Drupal is what you make out of it, it is that flexible. It does have a “blog” module, though that’s strictly speaking a community blog module. For one-author “blogging” the story content type is fully adequate, though Drupal isn’t quite ready to use out-of-the-box like Wordpress. It needs quite a bit of development work done (choosing the right modules, putting it all together and themeing it - but it does have a huge amount of modules).
I personally prefer the flexibility of Drupal over the simplicity of Wordpress.
Thanks, c2uk! I’m very knowledgeable about WordPress and the majority of my experience has been with WordPress and developing small/medium size site (mostly informational / some commerce) editing with Dreamweaver over the last 5+ years.
The site will have 15-25 physical shipping products and a few digital downloads. For ecommerce, what is the best way to tackle this in terms of WordPress? Is there a plugin recommended over another?
Then, I would say 80-90% of the content will be blog posts so that’s why I think WordPress is the best way to go at the blog for ease of use (does Drupal do blogging?)
Again - thanks for caring, I appreciate it. Cheers!
It needs quite a bit of development work done (choosing the right modules, putting it all together and themeing it - but it does have a huge amount of modules).
Yep, handy if you think you might want to add new features to your site in the future, like a news module or a calendar. Also, if you have (or will have) people working with you who are not very technical, the Drupal interface is very easy to use.