54405 Shopping Cart initialtion

=Shopping Cart | Store - Research and Initiation= The PROJECT is a Zencart based website that specializes in selling products, services and support services ["Products"]for home networks . The products will be generally high end networking related item and range from full systems (e.g. Windows XP Media Center, MythTV, Kaleidoscope, Special, Other) to peripheral components. (much more detail to winning bidder) The project has 4 phases and payment will be made at the end of each phase. Phases 1 - research 2 - rough design 3 - final construction and population of graphics / text 4 -- Polish, Refine, Correct Time spent estimate = 30 - 50 hours Time Frame required: Phases 1 and 2 are discretionary. Phase 2 and 3 are one week each Note Estimated time spend is considerably less and not related to time spent. A project requirement is that the third and fourth phases give project leaders time to analyze results and request changes. Total initial product offering will be between 30 and 60 discrete products in 4 to 6 general categories. You will be supplied a login and password to a group-ware application to supplement the wiki. You will be supplied login and password to Pre-installed Zen Cart (latest) along with FTP access and phpmyadmin access. Payout will be made in 4 equal installment at the end of each phase of the project. Payout schedule not negotiable. Deliverables evaluation period: Webmaster may request refinements to the deliverables before payment however refinements should not take more than 2 hours to complete. Webmaster reserves the right to cancel within 24 [not counting weekends] hours after reciept of a deleiverable. Payment will not be withheld on the deliverable however should the project be cancelled no further payment will be made. In other words webmaster may not cancel in between deliverables. The purpose of this is to provide a fair way for webmaster to find a contractor more suitable should the delivered product not be up to standards. ===Skills - required and desired=== Required *Understand and can use basic HTML *understand what MySql and PhP are and how they work *familiarity with Zen Cart or Os-commerce *general understanding of home networking and networking issues **examples include the difference between broadband and dial up and basic setup procedures for a wireless router **ability to write in clear simple English to describe products in shopping cart *Knowledge of Forums and how to use a forum for project communication Understanding and Familiarity with Mediawiki and the general concept of using wikis for collaborative work. Desirable Skills or Willing to learn them * Familiarity with Zen Cart shopping cart system based on OS Commerce * Understand how to create and modify ZenCart Template* **Clear understanding of how to follow additions and subtractions in a Wikis * understand using web based collaboration software ====Tools You Must Have==== *PC or Mac built in last 3 years with Pentium 4 , Athlon XP or G3 or better processor *broadband connection *basic desktop publishing tools -- word processing, spreadsheet HTML editor ====Tools You Will Be Given==== *Preinstalled Basic Zencart You will be given the ftp and shell login for a basic Zen Cart already installed. *Wiki Mediawiki based Wiki for project communication or for linking products from within the cart for fuller explanations. More details to be provided. *Project Management Forum or Similar A project management tool such as a forum or PhpCollab ====Some tools that will be useful to have but not required==== * Skype or similar Voip for free PC to PC calls * Access to a Mac if you use PC and access to PC if you use Mac ===What is Expected=== * You must communicate with your project leader every week day with at least a brief email recounting your progress * weekly (every friday)with a full status report in wiki format ** to make writing the status report fast use bullet points only. ***Use Summary Points * Do not hesitate to call Project leader's Skype phone at any time - number: +1 (615)866 1322 * Read and Follow the contents of this wiki. If you don't understand something ask a question in writing. =====Use of Wiki for Questions and Answers===== You will be expected to use and therefore know how to use a wiki such as this one (Media Wiki 1.3 or greater) for a variety of purposes. One purpose is to keep a running dialog on Site Design and other issues that require some visual communication. The wiki is used where design and ===Time frame and required hours=== The preliminary research phase is an initial period in which you will gather product information and research [[similarly purposed ]]websites. --* Time (5 to 8 hours). During the remaining portion of the project research will be ongoing to refine and add on the in ital findings which should be seen as preliminary. A full explanation an breakdown of the various phases is given in section 2. ===Duties:=== *You will be working with a project leader with whom you must communicate often. Daily (week days Monday - Friday) communication is a must even it is brief status reports. Any questions or direction you feel you need you will get from the project leader. Do not hesitate to ask. * Research and Recommend You will have to do some basic research on product selection and site design. ** give brief overviews of your findings, **organize and publish the details to a web based project management site and forum ** make recommendations based on findings. * Image manipulation and basic web design **basic image and graphic skills and use of Fireworks, Photo shop or similar program. ***image resize and touch up * copy writing for ** product explanations ** Some (but not all) of your specific tasks included *daily email communication and weekly status reports posted to company wiki and emailed * gathering product information including **photographs and artwork for including in website **Writing product blurbs and general connective text for site. Outlining the basic purpose of the product line and special nature of the sites collected product line. (much more detail on this is provided to winning bid) = Four Phases and Deliverables= General description of the 4 phases. Each will take various amounts of time with phase one, Research and information collection , spanning the entire time frame after an initial session. * '''TIME FRAME vs TIME SPENT''': Time Frame refers to the minimum span of time to complete the project. The goal is not to break the worlds record or work 24 straight hours at a time. This is particularly the case with phases 3 and 4. Time Spent refers to the actually work it takes to accomplish the task. For instance if the Time Frame is 1 Week and the estimated Time Spent is 10 hours then you could reasonably spend 2 hours a day for a week not counting weekends. === Phase 1 >> Research and collect info=== ==== Initial Research==== * two parts * Estimated Total Time Spent: 5 to 8 hours on each part * Time Frame: 1 Day * Estimated time spent on part 1: 3 to 5 Gather and categorize some initial products for the Cart * You will be expected to research items specifically outlined in the [[item type discussions]] and add to the discussion where appropriate. * Included in the deliverables **Photos ** Links ** applications ** distributors '''Part 2 : Similar Site Examples''' [[linkedDiscussionSiteExamples]] Estimated Time Spend - 2 to 3 hours * Research other sites that sell similar products or specialize in a similar fashion * compile as list of links and make a brief overview written in bullet points along with general recommendations. ====Deliverable==== The deliverables for this phase must be presented in this wiki in an organized fashion. You must learn basic wiki use on your own time. Its simple. ===Phase 2 >>Design, Plan and Rough Mock up Site === ==== Phase 2 >> Design==== You will create a basic design from the rough guidelines provided by PL. Note: The rough site guideline will be found at the following location soon after a bid is accepted. [[SiteDesignGuidelines]] * Design a rough mock site expressed using a combination of mediawiki, HTML and the actual Zen Cart ** this is to give visual rough overview only but should have some product categorization conveying the general feel as outlined by PL ** work closely from the detailed specs provided by the PL ** PL will be working with you so adhere to sound project collaboration practices so as to not duplicate or destroy team members work. ** use actual photos gathered from phase one and include any artwork and photos *'''Artwork will be supplied and PL will gladly accept any suggestions in this area. You will be given a wide degree of discretion in this area. a''' =====Deliverable===== Linked discussion on [[deliverableMockupSite]] === Phase 3 Populate, enable, test=== === Phase 4 Refine, Revise, Polish === =Elaboration and clarifications for winning bidder=