Look Mac, I'm just gonna tell you once - you have to back up to the web with XDrive Try it free
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Miss your computer while away from home? Cheer up, GoToMyPC lets you access it from anywhere.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Software Review
Created: June, 2000
ecBuilder Pro v. 4.5
by Multiactive Software
If you need an e-commerce Web site, ecBuilder Pro can help
you build it quickly and painlessly.
This program is easy to use and can set you up with a basic
Web site that takes and processes orders and inquiries in less
than an hour. You can host it on your own server or with a third-party
hosting service.
The site-building process is simple: ecBuilder Pro wizards ask
you questions and use your answers to build a set of HTML (hypertext
markup language) pages for your Web site. For example, one wizard
builds a catalog of items and services. This catalog can be
based on one of several templates, although more templates could
have been provided.
Documentation and help is extensive. An Acrobat version of the
user's guide is included. To help you learn how to use the program,
ecBuilder Pro comes with seven sample companies that cover a
variety of industries and situations, including sites that have
both items and services to offer.
Data can be imported from CSV (comma-separated value) files.
CSV files store values in a table in lines of ASCII text in
which each column's value is separated from the next column's
value by a comma and each row starts a new line. No other formats
are supported, but most programs support the CSV format.
The catalog can have as many as 50 sections, each based on a
business type, with as many as 100 items in each, potentially
allowing up to 5,000 items. The combination of types should
cover most business needs. Description of items is extensive
and quite customizable -- items can even be excluded from being
ordered on line.
Each item can also have keywords associated with it, for use
with search engines so they can deliver hits for products offered
on your site. The program can be used to submit the keywords
to any or all of eight search sites: AltaVista, Excite, HotBot,
Infoseek, Lycos, Magellan, WebCrawler and WhatUSeek.
Graphics can also be attached to each item, with 29 image formats
supported. Notably, Photoshop's psd file format is supported,
while CorelDraw's cdr file format isn't. As many as six tax
types and six shipping methods can be defined and assigned to
each item.
For site design, ecBuilder Pro includes 30 templates, covering
a broad range of looks. Further customization can be done by
changing the color of specific page elements and by adding a
background image. While choosing look and feel, an option to
preview the site is offered. This generates a nearly fully functional
set of pages, making it easy to decide what look to use.
To get a shopper's order, part of the generated code includes
provision for a shopping basket. This allows shoppers to add
or delete items and calculates totals, shipping and taxes. Credit
card authorizations by third parties such as banks are integrated
into the program in a secure manner and use of third-party gateway
services and digital certificates to verify and process transactions
is not just supported but highly recommended. Verified orders
and inquiries are sent back to your company via e-mail.
To track orders and inquiries received by e-mail, ecOrderDesk
is installed with the main application. With this simple applet,
you can view orders listed by reference number, order type,
date, customer name, dollar amount, payment status or shipping
status. It also allows orders to be updated, printed and archived.
If you forego paying experts at third-party gateways to deal
with the transactions and credit-card checks, ecBuilder Pro
can be set up to use Ecplace (http://www.ecplace.com) to provide
back-end services needed to host and calculate amounts. Credit
card numbers can be sent to you in encrypted e-mail so that
you can decrypt them and deal with them in the same way as an
in-store credit card payment.
A word of caution is required here. Setting up an e-commerce
site with ecBuilder Pro is easy and won't require much technical
know-how. But there is a reason ecBuilder Pro emphasizes the
wisdom of using third-party verification for transactions and
credit cards.
Professional gateway services are not cheap but the work, effort
and money required to handle this stuff on your own can be mind-boggling.
Security is easy to screw up and is best handled by professionals.
Two third-party transaction services, E-xact and InternetSecure,
are approved for ecBuilder Pro's use with banks in Canada and
the United States. Credit card clearance can be handled by the
third-party verification service or your bank.
You can use a pull-down menu in ecBuilder Pro to choose which
of the two approved third-party gateways you want to handle
the transactions but arrangements to activate accounts with
the third party gateway and your bank must be handled off line.
Note: if you don't already have a bank doing credit card verification
for a brick and mortar business, your bank will probably ask
for a security deposit to do this. The size of deposit will
vary from bank to bank and will, to some extent, depend on your
credit record -- but it will require thousands, not hundreds,
of dollars.
At $375 US, ($450 Canadian), ecBuilder Pro is an inexpensive,
quick and almost painless way for a small business to build
an e-commerce site, if you leave the transaction and credit
verification to the pros. Novice users will appreciate the guidance
provided and it will be tough to find a similar program at a
comparable price. A trial version of the product can be downloaded.
Reviewer's rating: 4.25 / 5
Comments: Multiactive Software 's ecBuilder Pro v. 4.5
provides an easy, inexpensive way for a small or medium-sized
business to set up an e-commerce Web site, while recommending
that you leave transaction and credit-card verification to the
pros.
System requirements: Windows 95/98/NT 4.0, Pentium 90
or better; 16 MB RAM (32 for NT); 25 MB hard drive space, CD-ROM
drive, VGA monitor, mouse or compatible pointing device, e-mail
client that supports MIME. Internet Explorer 4.0 or later required
to support advanced security features. Netscape or another browser
may be set as the default browser but Internet Explorer 4.0
or later must be installed to provide the necessary supporting
libraries for ecBuilder Pro's security features.
More info: http://www.ecbuilder.com
Price: $375 US, $450 Canadian
|
Adding RAM is easy, 