X-Cart:X-HotProducts

X-Cart 4.4or above

Overview

X-HotProducts is a software package that includes three independent modules: New Arrivals, On Sale and Previously Ordered Products.

New Arrivals module

The New Arrivals module allows you to showcase the latest additions to your product catalog.

Depending on the module settings, the list of recently added products can be displayed in the New Arrivals menu in the Customer area sidebar (menu column):

in the product list section (main column):

and on the Home page:

The "Simple" view of the new arrivals list can be set:

If you wish, a link to the 'New Arrivals' page can be added to the "Special" section (menu column):

On Sale module

The On Sale module adds the "On Sale" label to the thumbnail and main image of any product.

On Sale products can be visible on the Home page (main column):

A link to the page listing your "On Sale" products can be added to the "Special" section (menu column):

Previously Ordered Products module

The Previously Ordered Products module allows your customers to quickly find, add to cart and re-order the products they have already ordered at your store.

Link to the Previously Ordered Products page can be visible in the header of the page:

Previously Ordered Products page:

Roles in Hot Products module management

If you are an X-Cart GOLD administrator/provider or an X-Cart PRO administrator:

• You can enable/disable and configure the modules included into the Hot Products;
• You can set the "on sale" check-box on the product modify page for every product in your store:

System requirements for installing the X-HotProducts package

To be able to successfully install and use the modules of the X-HotProducts package, you must have a working copy of X-Cart Gold or X-Cart Pro v4.4.0 or later already installed on your server. Make sure that the version of the X-HotProducts package you are installing is the same as the version of X-Cart on which your store is based.

Note: If you do not remember the version of X-Cart on which your store is based, you can look it up in the Environment info section of the Summary page in X-Cart Admin area (Tools menu -> Summary).

Important: If using PHP4, iconv extension must be enabled.

Installing the X-HotProducts package

X-HotProducts installation process is the same for both X-Cart Gold and X-Cart Pro.

To install X-HotProducts:

1. Obtain the X-HotProducts distribution package by downloading it from the File Area section of your X-Cart Account. The distribution package you need is contained in the archive file X-HotProducts-x.y.z-with-installer.tgz where x, y and z stand for X-Cart version (These need match the version of X-Cart on which your store is based).
2. Put the distribution package to the X-Cart root directory on your server or hosting account.
   • If you use a Windows-based server, or a UNIX-based server without terminal access:

   a) Decompress the archive with the X-HotProducts distribution package to a directory on your system using your favorite compression program (WinZIP or any other archiver with support for TAR files).

   b) Use an FTP client to upload all the files contained in the archive (retaining the directory structure) to the X-Cart root directory on your server or your hosting account.

   • If you use a UNIX-based server with terminal access:

   a) Use an FTP client to upload the archive with the distribution package to the X-Cart root directory on your server or your hosting account.

   b) Decompress the package using the following command:

   tar -xzvf X-HotProducts-x.y.z-with-installer.tgz

   Important: Make sure you keep the directory structure while unpacking and uploading the distribution package, otherwise some necessary files can be overwritten!

3. In a web browser, run the installation script httр://<YOUR_XCART_DOMAIN>/install-hot-products.php, replacing <YOUR_XCART_DOMAIN> with the actual domain name of your X-Cart based store.
4. Enter the Auth code, accept the License Agreement and click the Next button.
   
   Note: The Auth code is a random code that was generated after you installed your copy of X-Cart. If you do not remember the Auth code, find it in the Summary section of the X-Cart Admin area (Administration menu -> Summary) before the License info subsection. Another way to obtain the code is to retrieve the value of the variable $installation_auth_code from the file <xcart_dir>include/install.php
5. The installation script copies the files and activates the modules. Click the Next button to continue the installation.
6. The installation script generates a new system fingerprint. Click the Next button to complete the installation.
7. Use the ADMINISTRATOR AREA link to access the Admin area.
   
   

Enabling the modules of the X-HotProducts package

After the X-HotProducts installation has been completed, the modules you have installed (New Arrivals, On Sale and Previously Ordered Products) need to be enabled in your store:

1. In Admin area, go to the Modules section (Settings menu->Modules).
2. Choose the module(s) you wish to enable by selecting the respective check box(es) on the left.
3. Click the Apply changes button. This activates the selected module(s).

Configuring the modules of the X-HotProducts package

Two modules of the X-HotProducts package - New Arrivals and On Sale - provide configuration settings which you can adjust according to your preference. After these modules have been enabled in your store, it is a good idea to check and adjust their configuration:

1. In the Modules section of Admin area (Settings menu->Modules), click the Configure link opposite the name of the module that needs to be configured ('New Arrivals' or 'On Sale').
   The module configuration page (titled by the name of the module) opens.
   

   New Arrivals module configuration page:

   
   

   On Sale module configuration page:

   
   

2. Adjust the settings on the module configuration page as needed. Detailed information regarding the New Arrivals module configuration settings and On Sale module configuration settings is available below.
3. Click the Apply changes button to save the changes.
   
   

New Arrivals module configuration settings

• Number of products in the new arrivals list: Specify the number of products that should be shown in the new arrivals list; this setting affects the new arrivals lists displayed on the store's home page, category pages and in the menu column.
• Number of products on the New Arrivals page: Specify the number of products that should be shown on your store's 'New Arrivals' page. Note that the products list on the 'New Arrivals' page will be paginated according to your store's 'Pagination options' settings (Settings->General settings/Appearance).
• Show products added in the last N days: Only products added to the database in the last N days will be displayed as new arrivals.
• Show the new arrivals list on the Home page: Select the checkbox to show new arrivals on the Home page.
• Show the new arrivals list in the menu column: Select the checkbox to show new arrivals in the Customer area sidebar.
• Show the new arrivals list in the main column: Select the checkbox to show new arrivals section in the main column of category pages.
• Show link to the New Arrivals page in the "Special" section: Select the checkbox to provide a link to the 'New Arrivals' page in the 'Special' section of your store's Customer area.
• View of the new arrivals list: Choose the display mode for the new arrivals list; Full corresponds to displaying your store's new arrivals like ordinary products on any of your store's product list pages; Simple display mode provides a more compact view, where information about each product in the 'New Arrivals' list includes only the product name, product thumbnail image, date of addition to the store's database and price. This setting affects the new arrivals lists displayed on the store's home page and category pages.
• Show products on category page including sub-categories: Select the checkbox if you want new arrivals lists displayed on category pages to include products not only from the current category, but also from its subcategories.

On Sale module configuration settings

• Show on sale products first in the product list: Select the checkbox if you want the products put on sale to be displayed first in the products list for the 'Default' sorting method.
• Show link to the On Sale page in the "Special" section: Select the checkbox to provide a link to the 'On Sale' page in the 'Special' section of your store's Customer area.
• Show on sale products on the Home page: Select the checkbox to show on sale products on the Home page.