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By Paul - Mon 28 Apr 2014
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Now that v2.6 is almost ready to go, we're working hard on getting plans for v3.0 finalized. As a starting point, we expect we will need to move some values from the general config system into a per-site system. This may be done with a new table, or it might be achieved with modifications to the existing config table.- general.webshopurl
- Site skin (currently set in languages)
- Site name (friendly name for back end use)
- frontend.display.showtax
- frontend.users.acces
- general.security.ssl
- general.storestatus
- frontend.cataloguemode
- general.googleanalytics.webpropertyid
- frontend.languages.default
Pricesinctax must apply system-wide because the prices entered in the back end must be either inctax or extax.
We would also want to be able to specify which languages and currencies should feature on each site, as well as which payment systems should be available.
We would want to tag orders as to which site they'd come through, and allow filtering/viewing by this.
Customers would be shared across all systems, so customers would not need to re-register on sub-sites. We may allow site-admins to set a site to 'deny' access at default, so only specific users would be allowed to view it.
Mapping products
One of the biggest tasks is how to approach mapping categories and products to the various sub-sites. We feel the best way to so this is to use the existing category system where products and categories can be mapped to multiple parents. To create a subset of products or categories to display on a sub-site, you'd create a new top level category, or designate an existing one. This would form the root of the product catalogue used on the site.
We'd alter the treeview in the back end so such categories were highlighted or in some other way marked up to differentiate them from normal top level categories. This system will allow any products or categories existing in the site to be mapped to any sub-site, even if new categories must be created for this purpose. But it also minimizes the amount of change needed for the back and front end pages and queries that already handle products and categories, which should help ensure performance is not affected, and that we minimize the possibility of introducing new bugs into code.
Viewing sub sites as admin
In normal operation, which site a visitor sees is down to the URL they use. Each sub site could have a sub domain or its own entirely new domain, or possibly even appear in a sub folder. But during development, it would be useful for an admin to be able to switch between which 'site' is being viewed (both during our development, but also for developers using Kartris to build web sites). We'd have some kind of menu system for logged-in admins to make it easier to view the sites regardless of domain, all using whatever domain the admin is using for the back end. This would allow the admin to see the front end of sub-sites which are closed to the public, or to view a sub-site even if the domain it will run under is not mapped to the server yet.
Payment systems
We will have a way to choose which payment systems apply to each site, but these will be shared. So it won't be possible to have each site use its own Paypal account, for example. This functionality may come later. It would however be possible to have one site use Paypal for payments and another use SagePay, as these are two separate payment systems and could be mapped to the appropriate site.
Shipping, tax rates and store location
At present, we're working on the basis that the site operator is one company or organization operating from one location. Therefore the shipping methods, prices, tax rates and store location will be assumed to be the same across all sites.
Custom pages
We will most likely have some way to map custom pages to particular sites, or all sites.
These outline our plans for the v3.0 multi-site functionality. We'd appreciate any input; we know it's a feature that is requested for various scenarios, but only with Kartris user input can be ensure we end up with a robust system that can deal with the widest possible range of requirements.
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By holtcomp - Mon 19 May 2014
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I haven't got anything to add as you seem to have covered exactly the requirements we need, I for one can't wait.
Thanks,
mark
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By TheCalicoTree - Tue 10 Jun 2014
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This all sounds great and exactly like what we need.
The big question is - when can we expect release of 3.0?
We have a fairly urgent requirement for multi site support.
Thanks
Helen
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By Paul - Thu 12 Jun 2014
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We're aiming for later in the summer as realistic. But it's rather a big structural change and affects a whole range of features, so it's possible we'll get snagged for a bit longer on some aspects of it.
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By TheCalicoTree - Tue 19 Aug 2014
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Hi Paul,
Hope the development of 3.0 is coming along nicely. Are you able to provide any further update on likely release date?
Many thanks
Helen
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By Paul - Tue 19 Aug 2014
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We're still working on a 2.7 release at the moment. This turned into quite a major development for performance improvements. In particular, we've created a new view for versions that does not include language element, but is otherwise the same as the main view which can be used in places that need to find versions SKUs, price, tax, stock, etc. but don't need the language specific data. This view is far simpler with a lot fewer joins and so runs much faster. THere are some other optimizations we're working on too that will improve performance on large/busy sites too.
We're still working on the multi-site side of things, but it's taking time as we have to fit these big developments in when we can.
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By ln73 - Thu 9 Oct 2014
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Hi
I am also very interested in having multi-store functionality in Kartris. If possible could you please provide any update on when of a version supporting multi-stores will be available?
Many thanks in advance for you reply
Lee
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By holtcomp - Tue 21 Oct 2014
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Can we have an update on progress, I have a very impatient customer desperate to go multi-site.
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By metalmania - Tue 21 Oct 2014
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I can see a couple of issues with running multiple sites from the same database.
Firstly, if you wanted to run 2 different domains (not sub-domains) and you wanted SSL
then you would need two distinct sites defined on your webserver as you can't have 2 different certificates for the same IP address. Essentially this would be 2 completely separate sites but running from the same database. Perhaps not an issue as such, but something to be aware of.
From the description, it sounds like if the same product was to be available on multiple sites then there would only be 1 product defined but the category hierarchy would determine which site(s) it was displayed on. This may cause an issue when you want to put hyperlinks into the product descriptions to point to a specific page/item on a site (e.g. click here request sample) - you would have to ensure that either the linked page(s) existed on both sites or you are happy to re-direct the user from one site to the other to reach that page.
As there is only 1 product, then I am assuming the images will be the same for multiple sites too. If the multiple sites are "distinct" in terms of branding then any watermarks on the image(s) may cause confusion if viewed across multiple sites e.g. "Cool Shoes" watermark seen on "Cool Shoes" site and also "SubZero Shoes" site.
The branding issue also applies to the payment gateway, if both sites want to use the same one i.e. it sounds like (at least initially) you couldn't define different payment gateway templates for each site if they are using the same gateway.
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By marek - Wed 7 Aug 2024
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Hi,
please is there a guide to setup 16th Multi-Site Functionality or does anyone know how to setup kartris for multiple domains? Do you have any more information on this?
Marek
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