ENABLE DOWNLOADS
First we need to do some configuration. Log in to your store admin, click to the “Configuration” box and then click “Download.”
Explanation of these settings:
- Enable download – do you want to offer downloadable products
- Download by redirect – leave this to true for now, you may need to change it later based on your server’s setup
- Expiry delay (days) – this many days after purchase, the customer can no longer download the product. This is a default setting that can be changed on a per-product basis.
- Maximum number of downloads – after this many tries, the customer can no longer download the product. This can also be set per product.
UPLOAD YOUR PRODUCTS
If you have Blue Note’s “upload your downloads” package installed, you may be able to skip this step.
Your downloadable files must be put into the “downloads” directory inside of your catalog directory. Upload them using the FTP client of your choice. If you have Blue Note’s “upload your downloads” package, you can upload your products through the admin screen in the same way that you upload images. It is recommended that you keep the filenames to only letters, numbers and underscores. For example:
This is a good song!.mp3 – that filename will cause problems. It has spaces and a special character.
This_is_a_good_song.mp3 – much better. Spaces are replaced with underscores and the exclamation point removed.
ASSIGN DOWNLOADS TO PRODUCTS
If you have Blue Note’s “upload your downloads” package, this is already done for you – when you upload your file through the admin screen all of the attributes are automatically created. If your file is too big to upload through admin, you can upload the file via FTP and it will automatically be loaded into the dropdown menu.
Without that feature, you have to set up product attributes. Click to the “catalog” box, then click “Products Attributes.”
The first step, if you have not done so already, is to create options. Options are general categories such as “size” or “color.” For this purpose, we will create an option for “delivery” – the name is not important, call it what you want. Fill in the name you choose (in each language, if necessary) and click the “insert” button.
Once you have an option, you can have an option value. An option value is a specific selection like “blue” or “large.” Here we will use two options, “ship this product” and “download this product.” You are not required to use both option values for all products. If you have products that can only be downloaded, you will not use the “ship this product” option on that product. Again, the name does not matter – call it what you want.
Now you’re ready to assign options to products.
From the “product name” dropdown, select the product you’re dealing with. Choose the option for “delivery” and the option value for “download.” If you want to adjust the price of the product up or down, enter a + or a – and an amount in the next two boxes. In the “filename” box, enter the name of the downloadable file. This name must match EXACTLY – including capitalization and punctuation. Note – with Blue Note’s “download dropdown” package, you will see a dropdown of all available files in the download directory – ensuring that the filename will be correct. The expiry days and download count are filled in based on the options you set earlier, you can change them here and it will affect only this product. When everything is set, click “insert.”
If you want to also offer this product as a physical shipped item, you can add another attribute to the product. Choose “delivery” and “ship this product.” You can also adjust the price here (ie, add $2 for the cost of the CD).
WHAT DOES ALL THIS DO?
You’ve just finished assigning options to products. Now when your customers view your product they will see a dropdown where they can choose how they want the product delivered.
IMPORTANT!
osCommerce only knows that a product is a download if you assign a filename. It does not matter if your option value is called “download,” “delivery” or “moocow.” If there is a filename, the product will be treated as a download. If there is NOT filename, the product will NOT be treated as a download.
WHAT ABOUT SHIPPING?
osCommerce is pretty smart about shipping. If everything is set correctly, a customer who only orders downloads will not be charged shipping. A customer who orders a mix of downloads and physical products will be charged shipping only on the physical products.
PLEASE NOTE, HOWEVER – if a product has a weight of 0, osCommerce will assume that the product is a virtual product and will not charge shipping (or allow the customer to provide a shipping address). Please ensure that ALL of your physical products have at least SOME weight – even .01 is enough.
QUESTIONS?
If you need further help or information, please contact Blue Note Web Services.