Using the Main Component¶
Creating a New Store Page¶
The best way to use Moola : Amazon Edition is to create a new store page in one of your menus. You can either create a new menu or add an entry to an existing one. Menus can be access by clicking on Menu->Menu Manager (or by clicking on one of the individual menus). From the Menu Manager you will need to click on the link 'Edit Menu Item(s)' next to the menu you would like to edit.
At this point you should click on the 'New' button to start creating a new menu entry. To create a store page, look for the link 'Moola : Amazon Edition' which can be found under 'Internal Link'. Once you click on this you will see three different options: Cart, Item, and Store. Since we're creating a store page, click on the 'Default Layout' underneath Store.
Now you can set the menu item's title, ordering, and other numerous things. Additionally, you can set and override various parameters for the actual component. On the right-hand side of the page, there are three categories of parameters: Basic, Component, and System.
Basic¶
There is only one parameter within Basic: Item Sort. This tells the component how you would like to sort the products that it finds. Please note that not all sorting methods work with all types of products. This is a limitation of Amazon, as not all types of products contain the information needed to sort them in every possible way. For example, kitchen accessories do not have publication dates.
Component¶
The Component section contains all of the same fields that were on the component's admin page. You can change any of these settings for each individual page you create, or you can leave them blank to use the settings that you entered on the admin page.
A common usage would be to create multiple store pages using different keywords to create 'category' pages on your site. Additionally, you can have different sort orders for your pages, such as bestselling, or lowest priced. If you need to have different pages attached to different Amazon Associates accounts, you can put in different IDs here as well.
System¶
The fields found in the System section are part of Joomla's internal component system and are not specific to the Moola : Amazon Edition component.
The Store Page Is Now Ready¶
Product Listings Page¶
Once you have entered in your settings, you can save the new menu entry and it will now appear on your site in the menu that you updated.
With the new menu link in place you can now reach the store listings page. The store listings page will show an array of products that meet the keywords filter you specified when building the menu. The filter is based on both the keyword specified as well as the category you selected on the menu parameters. This is a sample store page for the keyword "Joomla!" in the books section:
Product Details Page¶
The Moola! Amazon Edition plugin will also build your details pages for you. The details page will display the summary information and product description based on what information is provided by the Amazon programming interface. Some products will have more details than others, this is completely controlled by the data that Amazon makes public via their data connectors. Below is a sample product details page.
Creating a New Cart Page¶
If you don't plan on using the shopping cart module (discussed later), or if you simply want a permanent link to the cart page in one of your menus, you can create a menu entry for the cart page.
This process is exactly the same as creating a new store page, except you should choose the 'Default Layout' under Cart instead of Store. You will not need to change any of the default settings for this page (though you still can if you want). Save your new menu item and you will now be able to see your shopping cart at any time.
Attempting to view the cart page when a user does not have one will redirect them to the default store page.
Next Step(optional): Using The Modules
