Multistore/Create a New Store- how does it work?

hello,

i am sorry if this has been posted but i tried searching around before i posted.

now how does this multi store work..

is it like this

i have URL 1 http://www.mywebsite1.co.uk
this holds the main store and installation

i have URL2 http://www.mywebsite2.co.uk
this is going to be the additional store

how do i configure this? what files need to be on the 2nd URL so it works?

many thanks

ok good, its what i am looking for but i just dont know how to set it up.. does this all work off 1 admin panel? i have 2 urls i want to setup but its just not clicking.. sorry

Honestly, I've never tried it. In thinking about it, I don't really get the concept of how it should work.

You have your main site:
http://www.site1.com as default
and you have
http://www.site2.com as the second site

So you have:
2 registered dns names (site1.com and site2.com)

For the second site, you either need to change the nameserver to point to your site1.com host details. But at the host level, if you didn't create a hosting account with site2.com, then I think it will just never resolve the dns. So you will just get "404"

Or if you create the hosting account and use htaccess to redirect, then it is just going to point to site1.com so it will load the normal site.

So it seems like it would work on paper, but I think the layer that determines dns routing is going to prevent it from ever working. But I may be wrong.
So I really don't get the concept. Has anyone got this working?

Maybe it is only meant to work as the subfolder/subdomain level to get around the dns issues

Hi All,
I have searched the forums and documentation but have been unable to find out how to use this function. I have another domain name and I'm wanting to setup a second store but don't know how it works with my current store. It appears that they share the products? What are the steps in doing this?

Specifically:
- Do I need to create a new folder/install of OC on my host to accomodate this store?
I'm not sure how to do my domain pointing of the new store if it shares the first store directory.

What exactly does is share with the first store? Products/Checkout methods/Payments mods?

Any info appreciated!

nobody knows

You don't need a separate folder. It all shares the same codebase

Your main store is your "default" store and where the files are all located
Then you create a new store and enter the url info.

Now create a new domain name with that same url
set the name servers for that new domain to the same nameservers used for your main site

But now I'm not sure what should happen. The webhost will obviously return 404 when it tries to find a site that doesn't match an account it has on file. Since you technically only have one site, it doesn't sound like it will work unless you have a reseller account, where you can create multiple accounts, I don't get it. Even if you have a reseller account, Im not sure how you are supposed to link site2.com to site1.com because if you use a redirect it will change the url so it will just load the main site.

My only working theory was that it could only work for subdomains
shop1.domain.com
shop2.domain.com
Because in this case, the webhost will allow that to come through, and you can set a subdomain to point to the shop1 folder.

All of this is theoretical. I haven't tried it because i have no need and no time. But this was Daniel's brain child so maybe he can answer when he gets time.

I haven't heard from anyone who has it working, but I'd imagine it only applies to like 10% of store owners.

Thanks, Q. I guess I'll just install another copy of OC to get the other store going. THought I'd be able to save some steps but this doesn't sound like what I thought it was.

I think I've done it like this awhile back:

Installed 1 store on domain1.
Copied all files over to domain2 and adjusted the config files to point for only the images to domain1.
Added the shop on domain2 into the BO and added the url for domain2.

@ Jeff, no need to put you name and domain-name in every post, you already added it to you signature. Thanks!

Maybe that is the way to do it. I guess its just meant to have a single admin. Seems extremely useless to me

i2Paq wrote:I think I've done it like this awhile back:

Installed 1 store on domain1.
Copied all files over to domain2 and adjusted the config files to point for only the images to domain1.
Added the shop on domain2 into the BO and added the url for domain2.

@ Jeff, no need to put you name and domain-name in every post, you already added it to you signature. Thanks!

Did you use the same database? or another database for the another store?

Well of course its the same database.. otherwise it would be completely useless

You can point as many domains as you want to your single IP address. Apache can serve different directories depending what the URL was. Presumably you could then just set apache to serve the same directory for each URL, or symlink the different directories to the same common opencart install directory. Search apache virtual host

Multistore is exactly what I've been waiting for, but don't yet know if it will meet my requirements.

The main problem I have is payment gateways such as Paypal, Sagepay etc. generally only allow you to set one callback URL - If I want to run several shops, I don't want to sign up for multiple payment gateway accounts. I just want one master account that calls back to my "top level" store, this can then mark the item as paid no matter which "sub-shop" it was ordered in. I hope it can do this... I'll download the latest opencart and try it as soon as I have time.

extensions aren't divided by store at this time so yes it will work. Callback is simply the query

$storeurl + /payment/xxx/callback

so it doesn't matter what the main store is except in the case where the payment provider is overly stupid and requires you to enter a sender url that it only accepts from. Then you need to make a redirect script that handles it locally.

So how do you stop

Store 1 with User 1
Store 2 with User 2

So how do I stop user 2 updating Store 1's products?

You can't at this time. Access control is at the "page" level not the individual function level.

rph wrote:http://wiki.opencart.com/index.php?title=Multi-store

Sir, this address is not working.

I am a novice & need a walk-through tutorial, which can guide me how to setup multiple stores in OpenCart. If someone has any link or help. I shall be very thankful to him/her.

flickaclip wrote:....If I want to run several shops, I don't want to sign up for multiple payment gateway accounts.

That is an interesting point which we are about to start testing.

Most Merchant Account providers we have dealt with previously consider that if you run a shop on a different domain to another shop you HAVE to have a different Merchant Account for that domain, as they are viewed as separate store - just like open another real shop in a different city...

Plus there are issues around how you identify yourself as the merchant on the customers bank statements. Unless you like dealing with a whole lot of chargebacks, I'd suggest you make your Merhcant name on statements as close to your online shop (domain) as possible!!