Do I need a database or static items?

Hello,

I've just purchased eCart and about to start building my first ecommerce site using Dreamweaver. We'll be using WorldPay and redirecting customers to their site for payment.

So far I've only built a few static sites in Dreamweaver but have now got the hang of that.

I've watched so many tutorials but I still have some really basic questions on how to actually bring eCart into my site which I can't seem to find the answers to. I think I'm making this harder than it should be!

1. Do I just build the site as usual in HTML but this time saving my pages as PHP? Then when ready just add eCart objects to the relevant page?

2. We only have around 10 products which won't need updating often so do I need to use a database?

3. So, should I 'add static item to cart' or 'look up item from recordset'?

4. And would I manually create my own database or upload one and edit it?

Any pointers just to get me going would be very welcome.

Thank you

1) Yes, create the site as ussual, but save the pages using the .php extension.

You will create one eCart object for the site, and add the eCart add to cart behavior to the product catalog pages.

2) I ussually set the limit at 20 products. Under 20 products a static cart will work fine, but over 20 products a database should be used.

Where you only have 10 products, you should be ok using a static catalog.

3) When using a static catalog, use the Add Static Item to cart option. Only if you use a database for the product catalog should you select the Lookup Item from recordset option.

4) If you use a database for your catalog, you can create your own, or use the sample eCommerce database we offer as a starting point:
http://www.webassist.com/community/tutorials/view_tutorial.php?tid=101