Merchant Tips

Open User Interface (OUI)

Miva Merchant is probably the most customizable Store Front software available. What cannot be accomplished via the point and click administration program can easily be achieved with simple code modifications. This extensibility does not come without a price, however.

Site owners and developers must document every modification that they make to Merchant in preparation for the inevitable: new releases of the software. Even with extensive documentation, it is time consuming, and sometimes difficult, to incorporate modifications into new versions. This is especially true when Miva adds new functionality or when they delete or move code.

The Open User Interface (OUI) solves the modification issue (at least as far as the User Interface is concerned), by isolating you from the actual Merchant source code. The OUI breaks the Miva Merchant User Interface (MMUI) into separate components and provides "hooks" that enable site owners and developers to add new functionality to Merchant without having to modify the Merchant source code.

OUI Installation

The OUI is available at the OpenUI Consortium. Download the Standard and Alternate Installation files, and if you are a developer looking to write OUI modules, also download the Sample Extensions. The latest Alternate Install version of the OUI is also available from Merchant Software:

OUI for Merchant 2.x
OUI for Merchant 3.x
OUI for Merchant 4.x

The Standard OUI package is distributed with 3 main files:

oui.mv
uiexport.mv
uiimport.mv

These files must be uploaded to your Web Site and this can be accomplished using the Add Module/Upload feature of Merchant. However, it is recommended that you not use the standard installation procedure because the single oui.mv file actually contains the many other modules that comprise the OUI and during the installation step, your server may time out while OUI is installing itself.

Instead, it is recommended that the Alternate Installation method be used and that will be the method described here.

After downloading the Alternate Installation archive, unzip it to a temporary directory (on your local computer).

You should end up with the following files and directories:

FTP the oui directory and its contents, as well as the oui.mv file to your Merchant Web Site. These files need to be uploaded to the Merchant2/modules/ui directory:

Note that you do not upload the OUI Export and Import files. That will be done within the Merchant Administration. The resultant directory structure after the OUI files have been uploaded should look like this:

After the supporting files are in place on your Web Site, log into your Merchant Administration page where you will now install the OUI as a User Interface Module.

On the left hand side of the Admin Screen, expand the Modules section by clicking on the arrow next to the word "Modules". Click on the "Add Module" link. On the next screen, in the Module field, type in the path to the oui.mv file. This path is relative to your Merchant2 directory. Remembering that the OUI files were uploaded to the Merchant modules/ui directory, you should type in:

modules/ui/oui.mv

Click the Add Button and the OUI will be installed.

The User Interface Export and Import modules are not required to run the OUI, but you should install them if you already have a live Store and wish to preserve your UI settings.

While logged into your Merchant Administration page, click the Add Module link and on the next screen, click the Upload graphic button. Browse to the temporary directory where you unzipped the OUI files on your local hard drive and select the uiexport.mv file. Check the Overwrite box and then click the Upload Button.

After the file has been uploaded and the Module field has been filled in by Merchant, click the Add Button.

To add the User Interface Import module, click the Add Module link on the left hand side of the screen and on the next screen, click the Upload graphic button. Browse to the temporary directory where you unzipped the OUI files on your local hard drive and select the uiimport.mv file. Check the Overwrite box and then click the Upload Button.

After the file has been uploaded and the Module field has been filled in by Merchant, click the Add Button.

The above Installation steps added the OUI as a User Interface module that is now available for all Stores to use. To actually use the OUI, it needs to be selected as the User Interface module for a Store.

OUI Store Configuration

To use the OUI in a Store, the OUI Module needs to be selected as the User Interface.

Before doing this, however, you should Export your current UI settings or they will be lost when switching the User Interface over to OUI.

Expand the Stores section and click on the Store you will be installing the OUI to. Expand the Utilities section and then expand the Export Data section. Click on the MMUI/OpenUI Settings Export link. The default settings should be fine so click on the Export Button. This will save your current User Interface settings to a data file.

It would be wise to have hard copies of all of your settings so that you may manually re-enter them if necessary.

Install the OUI as the User Interface by clicking on the Store Name and then click on the Layout tab. Select the Open Look & Feel radio button and then click the Update Button.

If you Exported your previous UI settings, you now need to Import those settings into the OUI. Expand the Stores section and click on the Store you just installed the OUI to. Expand the Utilities section and then expand the Import Data section. Click on the MMUI/OpenUI Settings Import link. Enter uisettings.dat in the Data File field (this was the default Export file name), then click the Import Button.

At this point, the OUI is installed and you may begin using it and if you have Merchant extensions that require the OUI, you may now add them.

Notes

1. The OUI installs two Order Fulfillment modules using non-standard methods. These modules take the place of your standard Merchant Email Merchant Notification and Customer Order Confirmation Email fulfillment modules. To disable the OUI versions of these modules, go into the Store's Order Fulfillment Configuration section, click on the OpenUI Email Merchant Notification tab, uncheck the Enable? box and click the Update Button. Do the same for the OpenUI Customer Order Confirmation Email. It is especially important that you disable the OUI versions of the E-Mail Notifications if you are using 3rd party E-Mail Notification modules or if you have modified the fulfillment modules.
   
   
2. Even if you only have one Store, OUI will claim that there are two stores using it because of the way it installs the Fulfillment (notification) modules.
   
   
3. OUI needs to be uploaded and installed as a Site Module one time. However, each store that utilizes the OUI (if there are multiple stores), needs to specify OUI as the Look & Feel for the store.
   
   
4. Merchant 3 allows you configure Image Buttons for each HTML Form Button, as well as Alternate text for these buttons. The OUI Import/Export Modules do not correctly save and restore these settings. It is suggested that you have a printout of these settings so that you may restore them after converting to the OUI.
   
   
5. The Store Selection Layout is also a part of the User Interface and you need to make sure it is set to the OUI if you intend to use any OUI modules that modify the Store Layout.

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