To add my 2 cents on categories:

Ideally I'd like a category to have a master page that will allow the shopper to choose to either show all [everything in the categories that are a sub of this one] or to be able to choose from a list of all the sub-categories. Once a choice is made everything under that level is shown.

For example:

Clothes [Main Category] Shows everything in this category
Pants [sub-category] Shows all pants
Slacks [ sub-sub-category] Shows only slacks
Jeans [ sub-sub-category] Shows only jeans
Shorts [ sub-sub-category] Shows only shorts
Shirts [sub-category] Shows all shirts
Long sleeve [ sub-sub-category] Shows only long sleeve shirts
Short sleeve [ sub-sub-category] Shows only short sleeve shirts
Pull over [ sub-sub-category] Shows only pull over shirts

This could be taken even further to drill down to sizes and/or colors

Personally I would LOVE the ability to create sub-sub-sub categories. I'd only use probably 3 levels down but I can see where some people might want to go more than that.

I want my visitors to be able to either shop and browse if they want or to be able to home right in on a specific item. I want to be friendly to the person who just stopped by to see what I have and to the person that is in a hurry and wants to find a particular item and be on his way.

Maybe this is just me but I'd like to hear from others what they think.

Sub categories serve two distinct purposes.

1. To minimise the number of categories on the primary pages, ideally to fit all the mainstream categories within the visible screen size

2. To drive the customer to specific areas of interest.

Interestingly enough, if you look at some of the big online businesses that have turnovers running into millions per year, they all present categories and sub categories in different ways. It would be fair to assume that due to the large amounts of money passing through those sites, they would have a dedicated team of systems analysts and programmers to refine and adapt the site, as well as a team of retail and marketing specialists that review the best way to present those products. Whilst some of those differences in presentation represent the diversity of the sites, it does establish that there are several routes to optimal product categorisation and presentation.

The sub categories and other new features are all going to be brand new elements for both Coffeecup and its customers. Obviously the first release of the pro version is essentially going to be a working beta and the product will quickly get refined and adapted based on the initial feedback the Coffeecup team receive back from the new users.

I was thinking about something today that would be a nice feature of the category situation for the pro version. Now I don't know how hard this would be to setup so don't bite me if'n it's not a viable thing, it's only a suggestion *puts a muzzle on Will* LMAO

Anyways what I was thinking is how nice it would be to be allowed to add some sort of text area on the Category setups where we can put a paragraph or 2 or 3 at the top of each of our category pages so it would be like so:

1. you hit the Category button of the main menu and it shows you the list of categories.
2. you hit a specific Category (we'll say African since that's my main one right now lol)
3. It takes you to the African Category list which will have a structure like this:

Category Name (same as it does now)
Paragraph explaining what this page of items is all about.
Another paragraph explaining more of what this page is about.
And another.... if needed paragraph....
List of Subcategories in this Category (with or without photos depending on your settings)


I ask this because my particular situation could really use a way to explain some of the heritage, situations of the people, locations in the world, and any other pertinent information for the types of products I'm selling. My categories will basically be areas of the world that I'm purchasing items from or about and an intro section for the categories would really help a lot here I think.

I don't know how viable this is, but it's just something I was thinking about since we really don't have any way to input things to specific category pages other than our products. What ya think? *thinks about taking the muzzle off of Will and decides it looks good there* HAHAHAHA just kidding Will you know I luv ya !

I already have that facility within my other cart software Jo Ann, plus the ability to put images into the category header, so the category also has a small image that appears alongside it. I can also set up detailed meta tags for the categories themselves, as well as for the individual products within those categories.The essential difference is that other software uses a powerful database to power all these advanced feature sets.

The easy way to visualise the potential of Cart Creator is to see the current version as a minivan and the big powerful ecommerce solutions as a huge 18 wheel semi rig truck. The minivan is a handy utility but limited in its application, whereas the big 18 wheeler can handle most things. The future pro version will be like a large mid range van, infinitely more usable than the minivan, a lot more practical and suitable for serious business use. It will never have the power or carrying capacity of the big 18 wheeler, but there again not everyone wants the hassles of driving a huge truck everyday

LOL Will, well said indeed!

A registration form inside SCC, in that way we can send back a
personalised email to the buyer with full transaction details and others info.