Phoca Forum

Hello there,

I've been using a different commerce produce for Joomla, but after having a lot of issues with it, and hearing so many good comments for Phoca cart - I'm thinking of switching. So I'm carrying out some initial research on Phoca Cart.

My first use would be to sell, and allow the download of a software product. I'd like to have the ability to include a unique license key with each order. I've searched online and found Phoca Cart has the fields "Registration Key", "External Product Key" - but unfortunately, I couldn't find any documentation on how these are used. Would these fields be what I'm looking for - and if so, can anyone point me in the right direction on how to use them?

Many thanks
Marcus

Hi,

registration key and external product key are keys which are set in product, so they are assigned to product not to order.

For this purposes, you can use e.g. order token:


(with this token, users can see their order information without need to log in)

or each download file have own token (users can access the files through this token and don't need to log in)

So maybe the best way to have license key is the combination of order token and download token. For example, in Phoca Cart users can access the ordered files per combination of order and download token now.

- download token is assigned to product - so each user who will order this file, will get this token (so more users can have the same token)
- order token is assigned to order - but in order, there can be more files to download

So the combination of order token and download token identifies the file within the order.



The registration key or external product key can be even used for this purpose but you need to use combination with the order token, so each user has then unique license key.



Jan

Thanks Jan - nice to meet you. Thanks for the quick response.

The order token / order key - sounds like it would work, as it appears to be unique to the individual purchase. May I just ask:

- is the order token random (I.e. a customer would not be able to "work out" another token, based on their purchase)
- in the order email, could I customize it to include something like: "Your License Key = {ordertoken}

Many thanks
Marcus

Hi,
yes, the order token is a random token.

For now, the order token is a part of variable {orderlink}

But I can add even {ordertoken} variable for the next version (3.5.5Beta2)

Jan

Hi Jan,

The addition of an {ordertoken} would be very helpful - thanks very much. To be honest, however, I probably will not be in a position to make use of the variable for another 3-4 weeks. So there's no need to rush!

One last question: if a customer purchases a software download and they are "entitled" to software updates for a year. What would be the best way to implement this scenario through Phoca cart? Could I replace the original download file, with an updated version? Would it then be possible to send out a notification email through Phoca cart, informing them a new version (using the same download link) is now available?

Or would I create a new download folder through Phoca Cart for the updated Software, and send them an email notification through Phoca Cart that an update is available (with a new download link)?

I understand this is probably outside the scope of a shopping cart, but I'm wondering what the best approach would be?


Thanks again for your help,
Marcus

Hi, yes, for now it is outside the shopping cart but it is in feature request list (a part of subscription solution which is planned). So for now maybe some cooperation with download component like Phoca Download can be made. E.g. that you will add the updates to Phoca Download and user can access them with loggin, etc.

The ordertoken variable was added (this was not a large task), so it will be included in 3.5.5 stable.

Jan

Thanks so much for your help and quick responses.

One of the reasons I initially opted for a paid shopping cart, was the guaranteed support in case I got in trouble (I don't want to let my clients down). However, given your support was so helpful and quick - you've got a convert here - I plan to use Phoca Cart on my next project. Not only that, from what I've read so far, I believe Phoca Cart is very flexible. Win - win !

All the very best,
Marcus

Hi, great to hear it.

Jan