I want to create a simple (hopefully) website to act like a database/catalog. Basically I want two pages; an index/search page and an item page. Each object will have a picture, some text and a few fields (say location, colour, material). From the search page you will be able to list all objects using a search for keywords or by fields (say all objects in the same location), when you select from the list you go to the item page where the full information is nicely laid out. Finally I want the data to show up in google searches.

Firstly does that make sense? Is that possible/easy with silverstripe? As a newbie would I be better off with something else, I do HTML and CSS stuff but CMS is new to me? Is there a similar theme out there that I could borrow from?

If that is all possible then any pointers to get me going or shall I just have a stab then come back with some specific questions?

Cheers
Nick

Hi,

Welcome to Silverstipe!

You're looking for an ecommerce solution?, there are two...

eCommerce Module or SilverCart

http://code.google.com/p/silverstripe-ecommerce/ - the original (silverstripe?) module was unmaintained for awhile, but is now under a new direction from a new enthusiastic group
http://www.silvercart.org/ - the folks behind it are German and it is for their locale (but works in others) very helpful so I am sure they will answer any questions on their forum about it

It'll be laid out in a similar manner to an ecommerce site but there won't be any commerce, just information. This site will link back to my main website (and other people's). The only user interaction at the moment is searching and reading. I might add comments and facebook likes but that'll be later.

Hello nickjb,

with the basics in SilverStripe knowledge you can easily remove the cart and any price info from SilverCart and use it for catalogue/details presentation. It would be a great practice in SilverStripe coding to build your solution from scratch without any module. If you have completed the tutorial and maybe the SilverStripe book you will have anything you need.

@swaiba: Thanks for mentioning SilverCart. It was nice talking to you on the SilverStripe meetup at London on thursday.

Hi baba-papa, And thank you for coming all the way from Germany to present it!

Unfortunately I'd have to point out that with the eCommerce module...

*you can also just remove the add to cart button
*the sitetree pages are the products - I wouldn't normally see this as great (silvercart can manage a much more impressive number of products fast) but in this case a page can be set to allow comments with a single line of code/ or checking a box
*again because it's a cms page... these widgets can be easily used...
http://silverstripe.org/facebook-like-box-widget/
http://silverstripe.org/social-media-widget/

I'm not sure how comments or widgets could be added to the pages presenting the products in silvercart - but I am sure I know someone who can answer - over to you baba-papa

Hello Barry,

the ecommerce module might be the better alternative in this case.
Implementing product comments in SilverCart is a small effort for an experienced SilverStripe developer. Calling social media integration a feature is simply a marketing lie because it is only some template code and a little bit of programming work.
Do you think that the ecommerce module is easy to understand for a SilverStripe beginner?

Do you think that the ecommerce module is easy to understand for a SilverStripe beginner?

I don't know, in terms of setup I was suggesting it might be faster due to less code to get the extra wishes done.

What do you think Nick? Have you looked at these two options?

I'd quite like to do some of the work from scratch to try and learn a bit more as I go along. I had a quick run through the Silverstripe tutorials and failed at the first step as I'm not sure if it has installed correctly from the Microsoft Web Platform installer. Not a great start. I'm looking at a couple of other options, too, as I suspect I'm going to have to commit more time than I planned on the learning curve so I want to be sure I'm heading in the right direction. I'm sure everyone here is pro Silverstripe but is it a good option for a newbie for what I want to do?