PrestaShop 1 5 beginners guide

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PrestaShop 1.5 Beginner's Guide

Build your own attractive online store with this fast and
flexible e-commerce solution

Jose A. Tizon
John Horton

BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI

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PrestaShop 1.5 Beginner's Guide
Copyright © 2013 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the
publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.
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Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

First published: June 2010
Second Edition: April 2013

Production Reference: 1120413

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.
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Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.
ISBN 978-1-78216-106-6
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Cover Image by Asher Wishkerman ()

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Credits
Authors
Jose A. Tizon

Project Coordinator
Anugya Khurana

John Horton
Proofreader
Reviewers

Samantha Lyon

Bart Sallé
Bryan Shaw

Indexer
Tejal R. Soni

Acquisition Editor
Andrew Duckworth

Production Coordinator
Pooja Chiplunkar

Lead Technical Editor
Susmita Panda

Cover Work
Pooja Chiplunkar

Technical Editors
Saumya Kunder
Ishita Malhi

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About the Authors
Jose A. Tizon studied computer engineering at the University of Huelva and Czech
Technical University in Prague.
He started developing websites as a hobby in the year 2000. It then became a profession, as
he is now a Software Development Engineer at Amazon.

In this way, he has developed e-commerce websites for small and big companies in Spain,
Czech Republic, and the UK, finding a new experience in every single one.
Jose spends his spare time with his love, Yolanda, and in developing new ideas.
Yolanda, for standing me every day and not getting angry when I spend so
much time developing some of my ideas. I love you! Mua.
My parents Antonio and Paqui; brother, Francisco; and my dog, Simba who
give me all the support in the world and inspire me.
Ivan (Kaly), for being himself, and friends from Huelva and Prague, who
were with me in every significant moment of my life.
Cesar Mariel, for pushing me in the startup world.
The open source community, because without them, this world would be
completely different.
And of course, you, for reading this!

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John Horton is a fan of most things digital and particularly enjoys the growing mobile
industry. He has published books, apps, and websites.
He spends his working hours helping people make a success out of their web/ e-commerce
enterprises through his design business, www.HadronWebDesign.com.
He is encouraging the pursuit of mathematics through the free Android app, MathLegends.
www.MathLegends.com.
In his spare time, he likes shooting Zombies with his two sons.
To the other author, who must take the credit for this book!

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About the Reviewers

Bart Sallé is a web developer from the Netherlands specializing in HTML5, CSS3, PHP,
MySQL, JavaScript, and jQuery.
He loves open source software and works with TYPO3, WordPress, Joomla!, PrestaShop,
WooCommerce, osCommerce, and VirtueMart.
Bart Sallé was one of the first people in the Netherlands who started building his webshops
using PrestaShop as a base.
He is still as excited about PrestaShop now as he was back when the first stable version of
PrestaShop was released.
His company website can be found at www.os-evolution.com.
His personal website can be found at www.bartsalle.nl.
I would like to acknowledge Jolanda, my wife, and my beautiful kids, Noa
and Fenne.
I would also like to acknowledge my mother Lies, and my father Theo, who
passed away in January this year.

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Table of Contents
Preface1
Chapter 1: Getting Started
7

Know your business
Downloading PrestaShop
Technical requirements
Time for action – transferring files to your web host
Making a database
Time for action – creating a database
How to install PrestaShop
Time for action – the PrestaShop auto-installer
Post-install security
Deleting the install folder
Time for action – how to delete the install folder
Renaming the admin folder
Time for action – renaming the admin folder
Your shop front explained
Your shop-back explained
Time for action – logging in to your PrestaShop control panel
Control panel guided tour
Before we continue
Summary

Chapter 2: Back Office

7
8
8
9
10
10
12
12

18
18
18
19
19
20
22
23
24
25
27

29

Dashboard
Catalog
Orders
Customers
Price rules
Shipping and localization

30
30
31
31
31
31

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Modules
Arranging key modules
Cart block
Time for action – installing the shopping cart module
What goes on your home page?
Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Time for action – how to add your content to your home page
Secure payment
Time for action – using the content management system
Moving modules around
Time for action – moving modules
Preferences
Time for action – changing the default image size
PrestaShop themes
Finding themes
Choosing a great theme
Installing the themes
Time for action – installing a PrestaShop theme
Customizing your template
Important preliminary point
Time for action – creating a new template
Editing your CSS file
Background color
Font size

31
31

33
33
34
34
35
38
38
39
39
40
41
41
42
42
43
43
44
44
45
45
47
47

Themes summary
Time for action – uploading your company/store logo
Advanced parameters and administration
Time for action – making a customer account
Permanent links block
Stats
Creating the “must have” pages

Delivery
Legal notice
Terms and conditions
About us
Contacting your store
Contacts
Time for action – creating departments to contact
Multistore feature
Downloadable products
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48
49
50
51
51
51
52
52
52
52
52
53
53
53
54

Table of Contents

Are you an existing user of osCommerce? Let’s import it to PrestaShop
Summary

Chapter 3: Merchandising for Success

54
54

55

Shop categories
Planning your category structure
Creating your categories
Time for action – how to create product categories
Creating content for your categories and subcategories
Time for action – adding category descriptions
Adding products
Product descriptions that sell
Actually selling the product
Ask for the sale

55
56
57
57
60
60

61
61
62
63

Create some images with GIMP
Time for action – how to add a product to PrestaShop
Highlighting products
New products
Time for action – how to highlight your newest products
Specials
Time for action – creating a special offer
Recently viewed
Best sellers
Accessories
Time for action – creating an accessory
Features
Time for action – using PrestaShop's features
Attributes
Time for action – an attributes example
Customizing
Time for action – allowing your customers to customize
Product mania!
Summary

63
63
66
67
67

67
67
69
69
69
70
71
72
73
74
76
77
77
78

Chapter 4: Getting More Customers

79

SEO: Search Engine Optimization
Which keywords should we use?

80
80

Discovering the value of keywords

81

Meta tags

Types of meta tags
Time for action – PrestaShop meta tags
Tag clouds

81
81
82
83
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Time for action – creating a tag cloud
Friendly URLs
Time for action – how to get search-friendly URLs
Canonical URLs
Time for action – choosing your canonical URL
Writing and displaying articles
Good ideas when writing articles
Make your articles easy to read
Think about your audience
Sell, but sell subtly

84
84
84
85

86
86
86
86
87
87

Page formatting and keyword density

87

How many times should the keywords/phrases be used?

88

Quick tips
Writing the summary
Using the CMS
Time for action – creating the article
robots.txt
Time for action – creating robots.txt
Helping Google with sitemaps
Time for action – Google sitemaps tutorial
PrestaShop search weightings
Switching languages
Time for action – enabling a second language
Creating translations
Time for action – translating product descriptions
Time for action – translating your whole website
Languages conclusion

Summary

89
89
89
90
91
92
93
93
93
96
96
97
98
99
99
100

Chapter 5: Tools, Newsletters, Extra Income, and Statistics
Exploring the Preferences tab
Useful preferences

101
102
102

General
Orders
Cart redisplay at login

Store contacts
E-mail
Image
Localization
Maintenance

102
102
102
102
103
103
103
103

Administration

103

Menus

104

Time for action – customizing your tabs

104

Quick access

105

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Time for action – creating a Quick access
E-mail marketing with newsletters
Most people don't buy!
Why?
The stages of e-mail marketing

106
107
108
108
109

Setting up the newsletter module
Time for action – the newsletter module
Switching on product notifications
Time for action – product notifications
Powerful newsletter modules
Building a big list of subscribers
Understanding what a newsletter is
Incentives
Offering more via e-mail

109

109
110
110
111
111
111
111
112

Creating newsletters

112

Product information
Genuine news
Designing your newsletters

112
112
112

Sending newsletters

113

A quick word about spam
Using a PrestaShop module to send newsletters
Using your web host to send newsletters
A dedicated e-mail service provider to send newsletters
A free e-mail system to send newsletters

Getting your subscriber list

Time for action – accessing your e-mail list
Setting up Google AdSense in PrestaShop
Time for action – installing Google AdSense
Setting up PrestaShop statistics
Graph and grid engines
Statistics modules
Time for action – setting up statistics engines and modules
Exploring the statistics options
Installing Google Analytics
Getting a Google Analytics account
Time for action – installing Google Analytics
Using Google Analytics
Summary

Chapter 6: Security and Disaster Recovery
Types of attacks
Common sense issues
Brute force
SQL injection attack

113
113
114
114
114
114

115

116
116
117
118
118
118
119
120
120
120
121
122

123
124
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124

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Cross-site scripting
User error
Employees and user security
Time for action – creating users

Profiles
Time for action – creating profiles
Permissions
Permissions and their levels
Time for action – configuring permissions to profiles
SSL – Secure Sockets Layer
Shared SSL, dedicated SSL, or no SSL
Setting up SSL in PrestaShop
Time for action – setting up SSL in PrestaShop
Making a copy of your store
Introducing the backup process
Frequency

124
124
125
126
127
127
128
128
128
130
131
132
132
132
133
133

Backing up your database
Time for action – backing up your database
Backing up your files
Time for action – backing up your files
Using your copy
Restoring the database
Time for action – how to restore the database
Restoring the files
Time for action – restoring your files
Assessing what went wrong
Upgrading PrestaShop
Time for action – how to upgrade PrestaShop
This chapter in a nutshell
Summary

Chapter 7: Checkouts and Shipping

133
133
134
134
135
135
135
136
136
137
138
138
140

140

141

Handling payments
Which payment provider should I use?
Merchant accounts

141
142
142

PayPal, Google Checkout, bank wire, or cash on delivery?
SSL requirements
Cost
Getting your money
Flexibility
Chargebacks
Friendliness
Conclusion

142
143
143
143
143
144
144
144

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Using PayPal
PayPal account
Setting up your PayPal checkout
Time for action – installing the PayPal module
Using Google Checkout
Installing the checkout
Time for action – how to set up Google Checkout payments
Cheque
Cash on delivery
Bank wire
Sales taxes
Time for action – setting up PrestaShop to handle sales tax
One page checkout
Guest checkout
Currencies
Adding a currency
Time for action – adding a currency
Setting currency rates
Time for action – setting a currency rate
Auto exchange rate updates
Vouchers
Creating a voucher
Time for action – creating a voucher

Giving the vouchers to your customer
Shipping options
Super-simple shipping configuration options
Common shipping scenarios
Shipping calculated by sale value

145
145
145
146
147
147
147
149
149
150
150
150
151
152
152
152
152
154
154
155
155
155
156
157

158
159
159
160

Time for action – configuring shipping by sale value
Configuring shipping by weight

160
161

Time for action – how to configure shipping by weight
Shipping configuration in depth

161
162

Gift wrapping and recycled packaging
Time for action – setting up gift wrapping and recycled packaging options
Your PrestaShop so far
Summary

Chapter 8: Ready to Sell

164
164
165
166

167

Creating an account and placing an order
Time for action – creating an account and placing an order
Repeat business with a customer loyalty scheme
Time for action – setting up your loyalty scheme
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168
170
170


Table of Contents

Getting some product comments
All about comments
How to get some product comments
Time for action – getting some feedback for your products
Putting up a discount voucher on the front page
Creating the voucher (reminder)
Showcasing the voucher
Time for action – putting your voucher on the home page
Registering with the search engines
Registering
Time for action – registering with the search engines
Marketing your site
How to write good posts

Write at your skill level
Social share buttons
Criticism
Don't shamelessly promote yourself

172
172
172
173
175
175
176
176
177
177
177
177
178
178
178
178
178

Promoting your store using social media
Twitter
Branding your profile
Following others
A lightning guide to tweeting
Twitter summary

179
179
179
180
180
182

Facebook

183

Avoid spamming
Start a group
Start an event
Start a page

183
183
184
184

Social media conclusion
Handling orders and checking payments
Creating order messages
Time for action – creating messages
Statuses

184
184
184

185
186

Time for action – statuses
Checking payments
Processing an order
Time for action – how to process an order
More about the Customers and Orders tabs
Groups
Time for action – creating and using groups
Customers
Carts
Invoices
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187
188
188
189
189
190
190
190
191


Table of Contents

Time for action – Invoices
Merchandise returns
Summary

191
191
192

Chapter 9: Go… to the Future

193

Why are we here?
The power of e-commerce and a passive income
The busy billionaire
Learning from competitors
Perpetual analysis, improvement, and marketing
Analyzing statistics
PrestaShop statistics
Google Analytics

193
194
194
195
195
195
196
201

Improvement

204

Optimizing your articles, product descriptions, and category descriptions
Adding new articles

204
204

Marketing
Devising a routine and sticking to it
Time for action – making a plan
The big secret
High street retail
Duplication

204
205
205
206
206
207

Look at it like this
An analogy to explain
What about all these corner shops?

208

208
209

Technical duplication tips

210

Varying your payment provider
Varying your web host
Varying your content
Varying your cart software
Try something totally new

210
210
210
211
211

The future of e-commerce and PrestaShop
Picture this
Summary

Appendix A: Control Panel Quick Reference
Catalog
Products
Categories
Monitoring
Attributes and Values
Features

Suppliers
Image Mapping

212
213
214

215
215
215
215
215
215
216
216
216

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Tags
Attachments
Orders
Customers
Price Rules
Cart Rules
Catalog Price Rules
Shipping

Localization
Modules
Modules & Themes Catalog
Positions
Payment
Preferences
Advanced Parameters
Administration
Stats

216
216
216
217
218
218
218
218
218
219
219
219
219
219
220
221
221

Appendix B: Web Resources

223

PrestaShop related resources
Sales and marketing
Technical
Resources
Other shopping carts and content management systems
Other

Pop Quiz Answers
Index

223
223
224
224
225
225

227
231

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Preface
If you want to start your e-commerce business but are not so much of a technical person,
then PrestaShop could be your solution because it is an easy, open source, and free-for-use
software that helps sell your products over the Internet.
PrestaShop is a live software, due for an open source license; there is a big community

developing new features and fixing bugs very fast.
This book is called a "beginner's guide" only because that is where it starts! Using both
realistic and unusual case studies throughout, PrestaShop 1.5 Beginner's Guide will take
you on a click-by-click, yet whirlwind journey to the realization of a fully featured, highly
professional e-commerce business.

What this book covers
Chapter 1, Getting Started, covers how to download and prepare the PrestaShop files, make
a database, install PrestaShop, and implement post-installation security.
Chapter 2, Back Office, helps you with setting the shape of your store, including the logo.
We will set up your home page, make some more key pages such as "Contact us" and
"Conditions of use", and change and customize themes.
Chapter 3, Merchandising for Success, discusses and implements an efficient category
structure. We will add high quality product descriptions that sell and take a look at all the
different ways in which you can use PrestaShop to highlight products. We will also take a look
at product features, attributes, accessories, and customization.
Chapter 4, Getting More Customers, provides information on how to choose the best
keywords and provide food for the search engines. We will refine PrestaShop search. We will
also cover tag clouds, how to use the PrestaShop CMS, URLs in PrestaShop, robots and site
maps, and how to use PrestaShop language features.

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Preface

Chapter 5, Tools, Newsletters, Extra Income, and Statistics, looks at all of the most useful
things on the Preferences tab. We will set up a newsletter and notifications system, talk
about running an e-mail marketing campaign, set up PrestaShop statistics, and also set up
Google Analytics.

Chapter 6, Security and Disaster Recovery, looks at the ways in which your shop can be
damaged. We will add users, profiles, and permissions to increase security. We will talk
about and optionally implement SSL to protect your customers' private information. We will
learn how to back up and restore your shop in case everything else fails. We will also talk
about upgrading PrestaShop and how this helps keep your business secure.
Chapter 7, Checkouts and Shipping, helps us choose and set up a payment provider. We
will take a look at alternative payment methods, sales taxes, discuss and implement gift
vouchers, and learn how to accept foreign currencies. We will look at the multitude of ways
in which to set up shipping options for your customers to choose from, and make sure that
they get charged correctly.
Chapter 8, Ready to Sell, shows us how to create a customer account and place an order.
We will look at the PrestaShop customer loyalty scheme and at how to get some feedback
on your products using the PrestaShop Product Comments module. We will tell the search
engines about your cool new shop. We will also look at a multi-pronged marketing campaign
that includes vouchers and social media. The last thing we will do is cover some functionality
of the Customers and Orders tabs that we haven't covered already.
Chapter 9, Go... to the Future, we will cover analyzing, optimizing, and adding to your
PrestaShop site. We will see "the big secret" and also the future of e-commerce and
PrestaShop.
Appendix A, Control Panel Quick Reference, briefs you about the tabs and subtabs available in
PrestaShop.
Appendix B, Web Resources, lists down the web resources to help you build your
e-commerce business.

What you need for this book
Before you get down to building your PrestaShop store, you will need a localhost or a hosting
provider to install your own PrestaShop site.

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Preface

If you already have a web host, here are the system requirements for installing and using
PrestaShop. Give your host a call if you are unsure; change if they can't accommodate you.
Most good hosts will be fine, as the requirements are very "normal":
‹‹

Linux, Unix, or Windows operating system

‹‹

Apache web server

‹‹

PHP 5.1 or later versions

‹‹

MySQL 5.0 or later versions

Some PHP 5 versions are bugged (like 1&1) and prevent PrestaShop from working correctly.
The following is a list of PHP versions that you should avoid installing for PrestaShop:
‹‹

PHP 5.2.1 (authentication is impossible)

‹‹

PHP 5.2.6 (authentication is impossible under 64-bit servers)

‹‹

PHP 5.2.9 (image management/upload broken)

‹‹

PHP < 5.2 (invalid date-time zone)

Who this book is for
This book is for anybody who wants to build a fully functional, real e-commerce store using
PrestaShop. You do not have to have any previous knowledge of PrestaShop or any aspect
of e-commerce or business in general. If you do, then you will probably find this guide really
valuable as well. The book covers all you need to know, but you must just bring the desire to
have your own e-commerce business.

Conventions
In this book, you will find several headings appearing frequently.
To give clear instructions of how to complete a procedure or task, we use:

Time for action – heading
1.
2.
3.

Action 1
Action 2

Action 3

Instructions often need some extra explanation so that they make sense, so they are
followed with:
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What just happened?
This heading explains the working of tasks or instructions that you have just completed.
You will also find some other learning aids in the book, including:

Pop quiz – heading
These are short multiple-choice questions intended to help you test your own
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Have a go hero – heading
These are practical challenges that give you ideas for experimenting with what you
have learned.
You will also find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of
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Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions,
pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: "The file
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template folder."
New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, in
menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in the text like this: "On the Select Destination

Location screen, click on Next to accept the default destination.".
Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.

Tips and tricks appear like this.

Reader feedback
Feedback from our readers is always welcome. Let us know what you think about this
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