In this tutorial, we cover configuration and branding in Loaded Commerce.
Further reading:
Loaded commerce content management tutorial
How to install Loaded Commerce
How to locate Loaded 7 configuration file
We will review the main configuration file of Loaded Commerce and how to locate it. Even if you are not planning to touch the actual file, it contains valuable information that you can use for different tasks.
Access File
There are two ways of accessing or editing the configuration file of your website - using an FTP client, following our FTP tutorial, or reviewing it directly through your cPanel account ? File Manager, following our cPanel tutorial.
To locate the main configuration file of your website, you first need to access the directory, where you have installed Loaded Commerce. If you are accessing your website directly via the primary domain of your account, this will indicate that your website is hosted directory in the public_html directory of your account.
When you locate your website's directory, simply navigate to includes/config.php . This is the main configuration file of your installation and it contains a lot of information for your actual website.
The first two sections of the configuration file are for the setup of your website on the server. This includes the URL of your online store and the system paths for it's different features.
define('HTTP_SERVER', 'http://loaded.fcomet.com');
define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'https://loaded.fcomet.com');
define('ENABLE_SSL', false);
define('HTTP_COOKIE_DOMAIN', 'loaded.fcomet.com');
define('HTTPS_COOKIE_DOMAIN', 'loaded.fcomet.com');
define('HTTP_COOKIE_PATH', '/');
define('HTTPS_COOKIE_PATH', '/');
define('DIR_WS_HTTP_CATALOG', '/');
define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG', '/');
define('DIR_WS_ADMIN', 'admin/');
define('DIR_WS_IMAGES', 'images/');
define('DIR_WS_DOWNLOAD_PUBLIC', 'pub/');
define('DIR_FS_CATALOG', '/home/loaded/public_html/');
define('DIR_FS_ADMIN', '/home/loaded/public_html/admin/');
define('DIR_FS_WORK', '/home/loaded/public_html/includes/work/');
define('DIR_FS_DOWNLOAD', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'download/');
define('DIR_FS_DOWNLOAD_PUBLIC', DIR_FS_CATALOG . 'pub/');
define('DIR_FS_BACKUP', '/home/loaded/public_html/admin/backups/');
You may need to edit this information if you are changing the location of your store, it's URL or even the server you are using to host your Loaded Commerce website. The third section in the configuration file is regarding the database you are using on your website.
define('DB_SERVER', 'localhost');
define('DB_SERVER_USERNAME', 'loaded_lco');
define('DB_SERVER_PASSWORD', 'p4ssw0rd');
define('DB_DATABASE', 'loaded_lco');
define('DB_DATABASE_CLASS', 'mysqli_innodb');
define('DB_TABLE_PREFIX', 'lc_');
define('USE_PCONNECT', 'false');
define('STORE_SESSIONS', 'database');
This information may be required when you are making a backup of your website, or restoring such on the server.
Further reading:
Loaded commerce content management tutorial
How to install Loaded Commerce
How to use the Branding Manager in Loaded 7
This tutorial will review the process of setting up the basic details of your Loaded Commerce website. This includes the editing of the homepage text, the store details, such as a name, address and much more. This configuration includes 7 different steps that we suggest for a proper base configuration of your new online store.
All of the basic information options are available via the administrative area of your website. You simply need to click on the Marketing button on the left-side menu in order to access the Branding Manager in Loaded Commerce.
The basic information setup in Loaded Commerce includes:
- 1. Home Page
- 2. Header
- 3. Company Info
- 4. SEO
- 5. Social Links
- 6. Footer Text
- 7. Custom CSS
Home Page
The home page option allows you to change the text that will be displayed when someone is accessing your website's homepage. This feature allows you to display a welcome message to your clients or inform them about promotions, currently available on your website. To edit that, access the Branding Manager, following the instructions above and then click on the Home Page tab. Enter the text that you wish to display within the editor.
Click on the Save button to keep the changes. After that, simply access your home page and you will be able to see your message.
Header
The Header tab will allow you to edit the following options:
- Catalog Logo - You can upload a logo of your choise on your website. This is a good option that allows you to customize your website precisely for your business, displaying a custom logo for your customers.
- Site Name - Enter the name of your online store.
- Site Slogan - Enter a slogan for your website.
- Live Chat Code - If you would like to use a chat service for your website, you can simply enter the code for it here.
Company Info
The Company Info feature allows you to enter the following details for your online store:
- Address - Enter the physical address of your store or company;
- Support Phone - Enter a phone number customers can use to reach you;
- Support Email - Enter an email account customers can use to reach you;
- Sales Phone - Enter phone number for sales department;
- Sales Email - Enter email account for sales department.
SEO
The SEO tab on the Branding Manager will allow you to:
- Open Graph Site Thumbnail - Upload a thumbnail that will be displayed on social network postings, such as on Facebook.
- Meta details - You can enter the meta details for your website in order to improve the SEO of your website.
Social Links
You can enter direct links for Facebook and other social networks. This feature is useful as you will link your website to the accounts you have created for it into the major social networks.
Footer Text
Enter a footer text on your website, such as copyright information or else. When you are ready, simply hit the Save button.
Custom CSS
You can add custom changes on the CSS for your website. Important feature if you are familiar with CSS.
Simply enter the CSS class changes you wish to perform on your website and click on the Save button to accept them.
Further reading:
Loaded commerce content management tutorial
How to install Loaded Commerce
About Loaded Commerce
Loaded Commerce is an open source application, which allows you to quickly build up an online store and sell your products worldwide. It comes from the same team that developed CRE Loaded previously, which sold out at the price of $5 Million in 2012. Since then, almost the entire CRE Loaded team got back together due to their passion for e-commerce, and the Loaded Commerce project was born.
Loaded Commerce is free, although it provides Professional licensing as well. One of the significant advantages of the application is that it is using the Bootstrap 3 template framework. That makes the product fully optimized for mobile devices and at no extra cost. Users can purchase products from your website on the go, and it is an easy and intuitive process as well.
With a large number of additional templates and modules, you will always be able to find extra functionality for your website. That is important as you may never need to use development services while creating your website.
System Requirements
The system requirements of Loaded Commerce are standard and our servers are fully optimized for best performance of the application.
- Web Server: Apache 1.3 or greater
- Database: MySQL version 4.1.13+ or 5.0.7+
- Software: PHP version 5.3+
- Additional: MySQLi, GD, cURL, OpenSSL, Phar
