Introduction > X-Cart Key Features > 

Setup and Support

Setup

One does not need PHP programming knowledge to be able to use a store based on X-Cart. X-Cart provides so many features and configuration settings that in most cases you can achieve the functionality you require without changing a single line of code. For example, you can turn certain blocks of X-Cart's functionality off and on by enabling and disabling X-Cart's built-in modules. You can also purchase some advanced add-on modules for your store to enable more complex functi onality.

X-Cart's architecture allows you to easily change the look and feel of your store without editing the PHP code. X-Cart pages are based on HTML/Smarty templates, which are pretty easy to edit as long as you know at least some HTML and have a notion of Smarty. For those of our clients who will work with templates, we equipped X-Cart with a debugging console (a tool for viewing the template structure of a page) and a built-in template editor (an environment for viewing and editing the store templates).

In addition to these tools, we provided X-Cart with Webmaster mode - a mode that allows you to edit the text of your store interface in WYSIWYG mode directly on the store website.

X-Cart software comes with an installation wizard that allows you to get your X-Cart store up and running in just a few minutes. The wizard guides you through the entire process of X-Cart installation, so you can simply follow the wizard's step-by-step instructions without fearing that you might overlook something important. X-Cart's installation wizard is web-based, which means that it runs in a web-browser window and can be used practically on any computer with In ternet access irrespective of the operating system being used.

X-Cart features several pre-designed color schemes and page layouts that can be used in different combinations. You can experiment combining different color schemes and page layouts and find a solution that suits you best.

Support

Each full price license for X-Cart software comes with a limited amount of free technical support. The amount of technical support that you can get for free is expressed in the amount of support points that you get with your license. Support points are units that we use to measure the amount of work done by our support engineers to resolve a certain issue. Resolving different types of issues costs different amounts of support points. When our engineers solve a problem for you, an amount of support points corresponding to the type of issue resolved is taken away from your account. The remaining support points are stored on your account for future use. They do not expire through time. The amount of support points provided with an X-Cart license approximately corresponds to the amount of technical assistance needed by an average X-Cart client to successfully install and launch an X-Cart-based store. After the initial amount of support points that you get with your license is used up, you can purchase additional amounts of support points and, thus, continue using our technical support as a paid service. In any case, our highly qualified technical support team is at your disposal. Support is provided mainly through our web-based system called "the Help Desk". A phone line for emergency technical support is also available.

After you purchase an X-Cart license, you get access to a section in the Help Desk File area from which you can download a distribution of the latest version of X-Cart software available at the moment. As the development of X-Cart software continues, this section will provide download links to the new releases of X-Cart software as soon as they become available. As an existing X-Cart client, you will be able to download the latest available version of X-Cart at a ny moment and, if you wish, to install it instead of your current X-Cart store.

X-Cart has a built-in upgrade engine - a utility that allows you to upgrade your store to newer versions by applying upgrade packs to your existing X-Cart installation. Upgrade packs are developed by X-Cart team and supplied through the Help Desk. Each upgrade pack represents a set of patches describing the changes between the older and the newer X-Cart versions. Upgrading based on applying upgrade packs allows you to get a better and more functional store without ha ving to re-install X-Cart from scratch. You keep your existing data and, possibly, even your store design and customizations. (Please note that the success of applying an upgrade pack by X-Cart's upgrade engine depends on how much your X-Cart has been customized).

X-Cart's installation wizard allows you to apply some pre-configured settings to your store. This includes some pre-configured taxes (GST/PST for Canada or VAT for Europe), destination zones, default company and customer addresses and phone numbers, and culture-specific values for some language variables (like "zip code"/"postal code"). Importing such pre-configured settings at the time of X-Cart installation can help you configure your store faster.