Setting Up Shopping Cart Software for Your Online Jewelry Store
© 2004 by Heidi Batiste; all rights reserved

Here's how to set up free shopping cart software for your jewelry website. In my previous article, Jewelry Website Building for Dummies, I discussed creating my affordable online jewelry store. Many readers wanted more information about how to actually set it up, so here are the steps for using Mal's shopping cart software.

In my Jewelry Website Building for Dummies article, I told you that I used Yahoo's starter package and site builder to set up my website. I also mentioned that I use Mal's E-commerce free shopping cart software. Well, unfortunately Mal's instructions were way over my head!

If you choose to do what I did, here are easy step-by-step instructions to help you get started with your shopping cart software once you've finished building and publishing your site. You're ready to set up your online store!

Once you have inserted a picture of your jewelry and come up with a price, all you need is a "buy it now" or "add to cart" button. You can use a store button located on the right side of the screen in the Yahoo site builder under "site contents", or you'll have to make your own, since Yahoo's site builder will not allow you to use the store options unless you upgrade your service with them.

I chose to use the blue bag button as my "buy it now". You could also draw a box and type the words "buy it now" in MS Word or a similar program if you want to make your own.

So that's the easy part. You have the buttons, so now the question now is, how do you make them work?

First, register with Mal's E-commerce. You will get a user name and password. You'll also get a website that's the location of your online jewelry store. For the sake of these instructions we will call it your store address. Save them all; you will need them!

Next, go to Mal's Support. Read it thoroughly. You will get some of your questions answered there. At the very bottom of this page there is a "how to" section. There you'll see "create buttons for item(s)".

Click on the "need help making buttons" link. You will get these four choices:

• mButton Creator

• JS Button Creator

• JS Button Creator with Hash Fields

• Online Button Creator

I chose to use the JS Button Creator. This is what it looks like this once you open it:

shopping cart software

You will type in your username; then the product name, (i.e., turquoise pendant); then the price, (i.e., 30.00); then as an option you can fill in the number of units. I sell everything individually, so I just put 1 here.

If you want your customers to return to a certain page in your website after adding this item to their shopping cart, they can press a "continue shopping" button and return to that page. I always return them back to the page where they were when they added the item to their cart. So, next to "Return URL" you will type in the exact page you want them to return to when they continue shopping. Then press "Go".

Your link URL will pop up in this field. It will come up with an "http://" in front. You will need to delete that part, so it begins with www. Then you'll need to change that to ww7. or whatever your store address begins with.

Now, select the URL after you have made your two minor changes. Right click your mouse and select "copy". Now back to your Yahoo site builder. Go to your product (turquoise pendant) and right click on your "buy it now" button next to it whether it s a blue bag or your homemade button.

shopping cart software

Now, you will select "Link to". Then choose to link to another website. And in the space below that, next to destination URL, paste the URL you just got from your JS Button Creator. Press "create", and you have a functional button!

After installing all of your buttons, go to Mal's Admin Area. This is where you will set up your cart. Go through the set-up items one by one and customize your cart.

And that's all there is to setting up your shopping cart software.

Author Heidi Batiste of Mia's Treasure creates handmade jewelry gifts using only the finest semiprecious gemstones, Swarovski crystals, freshwater pearls and sterling silver. She offers free gift wrap with each jewelry item, and welcomes custom orders.