Validation image (captcha) doesn't show up

First, please make sure you've activated "Random Image Validation" option in admin. Please see all places where it could be activated here:
http://www.viart.com/spam_alert_how_to_ptotect_your_shop.html

If you see an empty space instead of captcha it could be a problem with fonts. We recommend to open the script "validation_image.php" and replace this line:

if (function_exists("imagettftext")) {

with this one:
if (function_exists("imagettftext") && false) {

Then only numbers will be used for captcha.

If it doesn't work as well then most likely the validation image is not displayed because GD library is not activated in the php settings on your server. Contact your hosting provider and ask them to install it for you. read more...

Database error: Invalid SQL: INSERT INTO va_tracking_visits

This problem can happen when Site Tracking settings are activated on your site and the tracking data has been gathering for years. Sometimes the tracking data can reach a couple GB and then it starts to burden the database.

We recommend to run the following MySQL queries to clean this data (Tools > DB Management > Run SQL Query):

DELETE FROM va_tracking_visits

and this one:

DELETE FROM va_tracking_pages read more...

Is this possible in Personal payment system to make order receive special status? For example 'Cash on delivery' instead 'Confirmed by User'

By default for Personal payment system on successful payment there will be a 'Confirmed by User' status. To set your own status you need to activate Advanced settings. For this:

1) create a file 'payments/success.php' which should contain the following lines

<?
$transaction_id = 'ok';
?>

2) on Edit Payment System page tick off "Is Advanced " checkbook and set Advanced Library as
./payments/success.php

3) specify something for Advanced URL (it could be any value, for example 'test')

4) select your preferred statuses on Success, Pending and Failure


read more...

How to move from the Free version to the commercial one?

In order to move from ViArt Free Version to the commercial one, you need to choose and purchase the license that best suits your needs. We shall send you a unique license number that you are to activate and put the 'license.php' file in the 'includes' folder of your shop. The purchase of the license will not require re-installing your database or shop.

In case you need to upgrade your license to a higher version later, you will only have to pay the difference in price between the Editions. read more...

Add VAT validation field

To add VAT validation, please implement the following steps:

• 1. Add a field (e.g. "VAT Number") at:
  Settings > Orders > Order Profile Page > Custom Order Fields > Add New
  where set "Field Type" to "Shopping Cart" and "Field Control" to "TextBox". Also specify "Show Field: For All Orders".
  
  

  Note: to enable automatic checking of the VAT number and tax recalculation as soon as the VAT number is entered, you can add the following line in the Custom Order Field properties in "JavaScript Settings" "OnChange Event" field:

  document.order_info.operation.value='refresh';document.order_info.submit();



• 2. Next open your 'var_definition.php' file from the 'includes' folder and uncomment the following string (it will enable the VAT number validation on the remote server):
  
  //$vat_validation = true;

  like:

  $vat_validation = true;

  To specify countries from which users are obligated to pay VAT regardless whether they specify a VAT number or not uncomment the string:

  $vat_obligatory_countries = array("GB");

  And specify in brackets the country codes with a comma: "GB","FR","LT", etc.

  If you don't want to use a third party server validation uncomment the string:

  $vat_remote_exception_countries = array("NL");

  Then VAT number will be validated for specified countries only with the local regular expressions.

read more...

How to get rid of the link: Free Ecommerce Shopping Cart Software by ViArt?

In order to get rid of the of the link 'Free Ecommerce Shopping Cart Software by ViArt' you have to buy a license (Light, Standard or Enterprise) and activate it at https://www.viart.com/activation.

Note, the purchase of the license will not require the re-installation of your database or shop. You just have to choose and buy the license that mostly suits your needs. We will send you the unique license number that you are to activate and put the license.php file in the 'includes' folder of your shop. And that's all.

If you decide to upgrade your license to a higher edition later, you will have to order upgrade version product via this page http://www.viart.com/upgrade_version.html and then regenerate the license file and replace it 'includes' folder. read more...

How to activate the blocks 'Products Related', 'Related Articles', Related Forums'

Please perform the below steps:

1. Add products (articles, forums) that you consider related to the product(s) via
Dashboard > Products & Categories > 'Related' link (located under the title of the product).

2. When this is done, go to CMS > Pages Layouts > Product Details Page where select the related block from the right hand menu and add it to some column.

3. When selecting the block 'Products Related' specify the number of items per page and the number of columns for the related products. This is done in the Settings section (click on 'tools' icon next to the block).

4. In the block ''Products > Related Articles', you can specify the number of articles, columns, image type, description and date.

5. In the block ''Products > Related Forums', you can specify the number of forum threads, columns, description, author information.

When all the settings are done, press the Save button and then 'Update'.
read more...

What are friendly URLs?

Friendly URL is our new feature which allows you creating search engine friendly URLs. You can create them manually or let the system do this for you. First of all please go to Settings > System > Global Settings > Friendly URLs Settings, turn on the feature (Activate Friendly URLs), select how you want these URLs to be generated (Auto-generate Friendly URLs) and extensions ( Friendly Extension). These are general settings for friendly URLs. However, note that you have to set up your apache as well. Please create a .htaccess file in your root folder and write the following string into it

ErrorDocument 404 /friendly_url.php

After that please restart the apache. Your friendly URL option should be active now. You can set up friendly URLs for individual products at Administration > Shopping Cart > Products and Categories > product details > Friendly URL.

To configure fURLs on your IIS, you are to do the following:

1) Open IIS Manage.
2) Right Click on the web site node and choose properties.
3) Click on the Custom Errors Tab.
4) Scroll down until you see the HTTP Error -- 404.
5) Double click on 404 to open the "Error Mapping Properties" dialog.
6) Change the Message Type to URL.
7) For the URL enter in /friendly_url.php
8) Click OK and Then OK again

read more...

How to move an existing ViArt Shop from one host to another?

Should you decide to move your existing shop from one domain to another, please do the below steps:

1. Make a backup of all files
2. Create a full SQL dump of the entire ViArt shop database
3. Edit includes/var_definition.php file and check the following parameters:
>$db_name
>$db_host
>$db_port
>$db_user
>$db_password

Further, go to ViArt Admin -> System > Global Settings and change the Site URL field.

Please, do not forget to contact our support team to activate the new domain name - and re-generate a new license file. read more...

VA_PDF error: Alpha channel not supported: images/SuperSmall.png

Usually, this problem occurs when 'PHP-based' library is activated on: https://www.yoursite.com/admin/admin_order_printable.php

The problem is that the 'PHP-based' PDF generation facility in ViArt Shop supports only JPEG images. 'PDF lib based' generation can use JPEG, GIF and PNG images, but will require an installation of a separate PDF library. Please contact your hosting provider about it.

Or just change invoice logo to JPEG format. read more...

How to activate Friendly URLs

Friendly URL is a feature which allows you creating search engine friendly URLs. You can create them manually or let the system do this for you. First of all please go to Settings > System > Global Settings > Friendly URLs Settings, turn on the feature (Activate Friendly URLs), select how you want these URLs to be generated (Auto-generate Friendly URLs) and extensions (Friendly Extension). These are general settings for friendly URLs. However, note that you have to set up your apache as well. For this create a file called ".htaccess" and put it in your root folder (or the folder where all your ViArt files are located, it could be 'shop' or 'store' for example) and insert the following code in this file:

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /friendly_url.php [L]
</IfModule>

In case this Rewrite Rule does not work, then alternatively we would recommend you to insert the following string in .htaccess file:

ErrorDocument 404 /friendly_url.php

Remember if ViArt Shop is running from some subfolder, e.g. http://www.web-site.com/shop/ then the path to friendly_url.php script should contain "/shop" subfolder too, like:

RewriteRule . /shop/friendly_url.php [L]
or
ErrorDocument 404 /shop/friendly_url.php

After that please restart the apache. Your friendly URL option should be active now. You can set up friendly URLs for individual products at Administration > Products > Products&Categories > your product > 'Edit' link > 'Friendly URL' field. read more...

How to add php code in custom blocks

You can add PHP code to a custom block with the help of PHP tags, and work the contents using $block_body variable. This variable consists of all the HTML text you have in your block.

To activate PHP code functionality for custom blocks, please go to System > Global Settings and select where you want to run PHP code. Also, don't forget to switch from the 'WYSIWYG HTML Editor' to 'Textarea Editor' to view the code in your custom blocks correctly. Then add a new custom block in CMS > Custom Blocks and insert the code in the 'Block Content' area.

The basic code will look like this:

Feel free to add any text here <br> Something <?php echo "1";>
// simple php code

or like this:

Feel free to add any text here <br> Something <?php $block_body = str_replace("Something", "Anything", $block_body); ?>
// php code with a variable replacement

Here is an example of code that can be used in the footer body:

©CopyRight 2004 - {current_year} - All Rights Reserved
<?php
$block_body = str_replace("{current_year}", date("Y"), $block_body);
?>

But please note, executing PHP in admin panel is not very secure that's why from version 4.0 we implemented a new way of adding blocks in CMS - create a PHP script and place it in "blocks_custom" folder then add a new block in CMS > CMS Blocks where specify the name of your script. Then you can select your new block in CMS > Pages Layouts. Also you can specify HTML template for block in CMS > Pages Layouts > new block settings (click on 'tools' icon near block). read more...

Use email as login

You can activate email login in Settings > Site Users > User Types > Customer > Profile Settings > Predefined Fields:

Login Details
Field Type () Alphanumeric Characters (x) Contact Email Address

To change login for old users please run a SQL query:

update va_users set login=email

Otherwise old users (registered before this change) could still use their old login details. It works this way because email field may not be required during registration so these users need to have a way to login.

After these changes, would ViArt now use the field "login" to populate the field "email" in the order profile?

Yes, it would.

Would this mean that I can remove "Email" from the "show" and "required"

Yes, you can remove it. read more...