Chapter 23. Implementing e-Commerce with VirtueMart

THIS CHAPTER

  • Introducing VirtueMart

  • Obtaining and installing VirtueMart

  • Reviewing the VirtueMart control panel

  • Administering the store

  • Configuring VirtueMart

If you want to create an online catalog or sell products on your Joomla! site, you can do so easily by installing the VirtueMart system. VirtueMart turns your Joomla! site into a powerful and full-featured e-commerce system.

VirtueMart can either be added to an existing site, or you can obtain an all-in-one installer that provides Joomla! plus VirtueMart and a selection of additional extensions. Once installed, you can configure the extension to handle multiple products and categories and support a wide range of shipping and payment options.

This chapter examines how to obtain and install VirtueMart, together with the basics of setting up a store and populating it with products.

Introducing VirtueMart

VirtueMart is an open source ecommerce plugin for the Joomla! Content Management system. VirtueMart can be used either as a simple catalog management system, or as a catalog with a shopping cart that enables online transaction capability. The system interfaces with all the most common shipping programs and payment gateways to give a turnkey ecommerce solution for Joomla! users. Figure 23.1 shows the default interface.

The VirtueMart project has been around for a number of years, indeed longer than Joomla!, and is the most popular ecommerce plugin for Joomla! The VirtueMart team has created ...

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