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In this tutorial we will be exploring the VirtueMart configuration
Navigate to Admin >> Configuration
You can turn your shop offline. This works similarly to the main Joomla/Mambo offline switch. You can also set a message to display while the shop is offline
You can turn off the shopping cart features of VirtueMart and just use it as a catalogue
You can also turn off the display of prices. This is often used in conjunction with catalogue mode
You can also set a number of different options for when and how to display the price
You can have VirtueMart automatically create user accounts or you can let the users create an account. Either way users will need an account to shop
These are values taken from the Joomla/Mambo global configuration
There are several controls for tax. If you are unsure of what to set here, you will want to speak with a tax specialist in your area
If you plan to use coupons with your cart, you will want to enable this option
If you want to allow customers to review/rate your items you will want to enable this option. This is useful for creating a community feeling, and can help drive sales
If you want to let your customers enter their bank account data enable this option. This is only recommended if you have a VERY secure system
If you need customers to have the ability to select the state/region they are from enable this option. You can use this for shipping or marketing data
If you have a terms of service you can set it so that users need to agree to them either once or with every order they place
If you have a return policy you can display it during the order process. You can then set the information
If you maintain stock you can set VirtueMart to check stock before finishing the order
If you want to run an affiliate program through VirtueMart you can enable it here
You can set the format of the email that is sent to confirm the order
The encode key is used to encrypt data to store in the database
You can allow users who do not have backend access to administer your shop from the frontend of your site
If you have a secure site you can set the secure URL here. This will be used for the checkout
If you need to change the database prefix you can do that here
You can set the location of your template files. These will be found in the administrator/components/com_virtuemart/html directory
If you are having problems with your cart you can turn on debugging to get details on the errors. It's not recommended to have this turned on for a live shop as hackers can use this information to gain access to your systems
If you want people to be able to view PDFs of your items you can enable it here
You can set the flypage template name here. The flypage is the page that shows the item details. The template will be in the administrator/components/com_virtuemart/html directory
You can set the category template name here
If you have a lot of products you will want to enable pagination
You can set the default field to sort your products by
You can also set the available fields that shoppers can sort by
You can show the number of products in a category in the categories overview page
You can set the number of products to show per row of results
If you don't have an image for a product you can change the image that gets displayed
You can choose to display the VirtueMart footer
You can change the style of "Add to Cart" button that VirtueMart uses
You can set up the thumbnail options. VirtueMart can create a thumbnail for you automatically
You can set the background colors of the search result rows. This helps with readability
If you need to ship products to customers you can select the methods here
If you only sell digital products select this checkbox
You can set the checkout process your shop uses
If you sell downloadable goods you will want to enable this feature
You can set the order status at which the user gets notified about their download
Conversely, you can set the status that disables the download ability
If you have downloadable files you will need to set the location you will be uploading the files to
You can set the maximum number of times a file can be downloaded per purchase. This is useful for curbing fraud
You can also set the amount of time (in seconds) that a user has to download the file
