OFBiz Tutorial - Verified Agile Introduction

OFBiz tutorial discussing HotWax Media's upcoming innovations for project management for your enterprise eCommerce concern. Any eCommerce website and business has a lot of moving pieces and variables involved. By structuring projects in an effective and economical manner, you will be able to maximize your potential throughout the electronic marketplace.

I will be starting a series of articles that cover project management from start to completion. These posts will describe how HotWax Media structures it's projects in order to deliver efficient and successful results. This process is called Verified Agile, deriving from Agile roots and with the ability to solve two issues common to businesses who wish to use this method. First, the difficulty of proximity or needing to have all those involved in the project at the same physical location. And second, lack of confidence in such a dynamic process.

We will discuss topics covering problems we have solved for our clients and how important it is to have clients integrated into the process. We will cover what tools we have at our disposal that enables us to have the process run smoothly.

Enterprise eCommerce is becoming widely accepted as the future of buying and selling. The companies that offer the most efficient and cost effective methods are those that will lead the economy. Let the professionals at HotWax Media help you to accomplish this!

OFBiz Tutorials - CMS Pages Part 2

OFBiz Tutorials series covering the use of the OFBiz Content Management System (CMS) for front end application static pages. In this post we will cover how to set up CMS driven static pages for a website.

We will go over the following four points:

• Setup for Website Publish Point
• Setup for Decorator Content Data
• Setup for Static Content Data, and
  
• CMS request in Controller
  

In this post we are assuming that you've already set up a "cmsdemo" component following the steps in my previous post about CMS static pages.

Website Publish Point | OFBiz Tutorial

To set up your website publish point in data follow the below example using "CmsDemoData.xml" as the file name.

(to view code for this exercise, go to: http://www.hotwaxmedia.com/apache-ofbiz-blog/category/ofbiz-tutorials/page/3/)

Review the code at the following url to make sure you have the webSiteId entry in web.xml for your application.

(to view code for this exercise, go to: http://www.hotwaxmedia.com/apache-ofbiz-blog/category/ofbiz-tutorials/page/3/)

Ensure that the webSiteId entry in web.xml of your application is using the following.

(to view code for this exercise, go to: http://www.hotwaxmedia.com/apache-ofbiz-blog/category/ofbiz-tutorials/page/3/)

CMS Site Main Decorator | OFBiz Tutorial

The content data setup is referring to the decorator screen for a given static page.

(to view code for this exercise, go to: http://www.hotwaxmedia.com/apache-ofbiz-blog/category/ofbiz-tutorials/page/3/)

The main decorator will be set up as follows. Of course, more resources can be added but for the purpose of this tutorial, very little information is included.

(to view code for this exercise, go to: http://www.hotwaxmedia.com/apache-ofbiz-blog/category/ofbiz-tutorials/page/3/)

For setting up the cms-main-decorator screen you will use the code below. note: the following code includes the main decorator of the site given above.

(to view code for this exercise, go to: http://www.hotwaxmedia.com/apache-ofbiz-blog/category/ofbiz-tutorials/page/3/)

Decorated Content Freemaker Template | OFBiz Tutorials

Now we will need to create the DecoratedContent.ftl included in the cms-main-decorator at a given location by the same name with the code shown below. This code is set up by the cms event and rendered.

${decoratedContent}

Content Data For Static Page | OFBiz Tutorials

Following the code below, set up the content data line. This will use section-sub-content pattern and the decorator content that we've already created. This is an example of a privacy policy page.

(to view code for this exercise, go to: http://www.hotwaxmedia.com/apache-ofbiz-blog/category/ofbiz-tutorials/page/3/)

Controller Entry Creation | OFBiz Tutorial

To handle CMS page requests, we'll create request entries in controller.xml.

(to view code for this exercise, go to: http://www.hotwaxmedia.com/apache-ofbiz-blog/category/ofbiz-tutorials/page/3/)

Links to CMS Pages | OFBiz Tutorial

The following code will link your CMS page with a menu on your web site.

(to view code for this exercise, go to: http://www.hotwaxmedia.com/apache-ofbiz-blog/category/ofbiz-tutorials/page/3/)

That's it! Now load the data file you created in the CMS site data. Go to url: http//localhost:8080/cmsdemo/control/cms/root/privacypage base on the ContentAssoc record we created earlier.

(to view code for this exercise, go to: http://www.hotwaxmedia.com/apache-ofbiz-blog/category/ofbiz-tutorials/page/3/)

Now you will see a privacy policy screen resulting from the above exercise.

Using this tutorial, you can add as many pages as you want that are static and easy to update in the Content Manager without modifying code.

Enterprise eCommerce using Apache OFBiz offers businesses a leg up on the competition. With the ability to reach a broad marketplace, numerous shipping options and ease of purchasing, you can poise your company for expansion in this new and exciting business environment!

OFBiz Tutorial | Intellectual Property vs. Piracy

OFBiz Tutorial reviewing the impact of intellectual property piracy and how it affects the enterprise eCommerce industry. Over the past several years there has been rise to many file sharing and torrent sites where a user can download content for free, basically stealing intellectual property that the owner would normally charge for. The ensuing battle between those who own this media and those who steal it has led to a complicated system of laws that seem largely ineffective.

This war is leading to many advances in methods of digital content transfer. In theory there are legal safety nets that protect the media industry. On the ground though, consumers are offered simple and free ways to download content vs. paying for it. Now paying for it may be the moral alternative, but very often the bureaucracy behind payed content keeps many items from being readily available and again leads individuals back to piracy.

The bottom line is that not every person who illegally downloads content is a black hat hacker who wants to put one over on the man. They simply want their media and they want it in an efficient and available way. If these means were made available by legitimate organizations, chances are that people would pay.

Another instance is that people are unwilling to pay the prices asked for digital content because of the significant savings a digital content provider realizes in production costs. Paying off the shelf prices for digital media doesn't add up to the average consumer.

Below is a quote from Jerry Kirkpatrick, a professor of International Business and Marketing at Cal State Polytechnic.

“Message to the innovative marketer? Either drop the price of the new product or produce a cheaper version — or be the first to exploit a new technology, something the movie and recording industries chose not to do. Many, including these two industries, would rather sue than practice good marketing.”

This quote sums it up perfectly. Take for instance the increased popularity of pirating television programing. Most people simply want to view the content and the only way to get it is by pirating downloads. This could easily be solved by a la carte cable channels, easy to use on demand, etc. The bickering back and forth between networks and companies like iTunes makes programs unavailable and piracy the only alternative.

Of course this is in no way meant to justify piracy, only to illustrate that there are some very real and serious flaws with legitimate media download sites and the companies that copyright the media. From an eCommerce standpoint, pirated downloads are an indicator of media demand. Most individuals would rather buy things legitimately than steal them so there is an indicator that the industries involved are either charging to much, making the content too difficult to obtain, or both.

Enterprise eCommerce businesses, manufacturers and marketers would do well to heed these market signals. By developing new strategies and business models can open the door for a booming and legal digital media industry.

OFBiz Tutorials - Static Pages with CMS

OFBiz tutorials 3 part series that will demonstrate how the OFBiz Content Management System (CMS) can be used for front end application static pages. We will do this using a simple content data setup on a screen. The purpose of this exercise is to give clients the ability to change text on static pages at any time without having to get into code changes. This feature is especially helpful on enterprise eCommerce websites that feature pages like "About Us", "FAQ's", etc.

All of the details in this OFBiz tutorial are supported out-of-the-box (OOTB) with OFBiz CMS implementation.

CMS for Front End Static Pages With CMS | OFBiz Tutorial

Topics:

• Understand basics of DataResource and Content Record.
• Setup of content data for embedding FTL markup.
• Setup of a content driven screen to show the static content setup.

We are assuming that a component is already set-up. In this exercise we are using "cmsdemo"for the component.

DataResource / Content records | OFBiz Tutorials

Our goal in this exercise is to define the following content "This is the text that will appear on screen".

The first step is to define a "DataResource" that will represent the text. Defining in DataResource allows greater flexibility because of the ability to store long texts in the "textdata" field. Prior to rendering, all FTL markups using the "dataTemplateTypeId" attribute need to be made. This allows Freemarker instructions to execute before the screen is rendered.

Setup the following data in a data file

(go to http://www.hotwaxmedia.com/apache-ofbiz-blog/category/ofbiz/page/17/ for code definitions)

Now we'll create a Content Record. This will be associated to the DataReasource. The Content Record is the same regardless of the DataResource that has been chosen.

Using the following directive, we'll include the content inside the section of screen definition.

(go to http://www.hotwaxmedia.com/apache-ofbiz-blog/category/ofbiz/page/17/ for code definitions)

Ensure that there is an ofbiz-component file for the CMS data file that we created earlier.

(go to http://www.hotwaxmedia.com/apache-ofbiz-blog/category/ofbiz/page/17/ for code definitions)

Now we'll ensure we have "Main Request" and "View" defined in the controller file

(go to http://www.hotwaxmedia.com/apache-ofbiz-blog/category/ofbiz/page/17/ for code definitions)

Once the request for [https://localhost:8443/cmsdemo/control/main] is served, a page will be visible that displays the text "CMS Demo, This is the text that will appear on screen".

Over the next few posts we'll expand on the capabilities that we've touched on here.

Enterprise eCommerce is a vast marketplace with unlimited potential for businesses to reach customers. By using Apache Open For Business (OFBiz), you'll have greater control and increased flexibility when it comes to your eCommerce website. This translates to reduced cost for software and support costs and a more streamlined enterprise eCommerce interface.

OFBiz Tutorial - OFBiz Features

OFBiz tutorial to elucidate some of the major features of Apache Open For Business (OFBiz). Apache OFBiz is an open source suite of applications for enterprise eCommerce and ERP. The following is a list of features that explain why OFBiz is the optimum alternative for your eCommerce needs.

Apache Open For Business Features | OFBiz Tutorials

• Accounting Manager: This allows you to set up a chart of accounts, manage agreements, billing, invoices, payments, etc. These tools help to keep your records in order and easily accessible.
• Catalog Manager: This tool helps you to create and populate catalogs by category. You can maintain product features, price rules, promotions, subscriptions, reviews and so on. Using the Catalog Manager, you will be able to keep your products current and your customers informed.
• Content Manager: Using the underlying CMS capability, you can easily manage site content, blogs, surveys, etc. A great marketing and information tool.
• Facility Manager: Tracks inventory through the entire pick, pack and ship process. This tool will help you know what you have and exactly where it is located.
• Manufacturing Manager: This tool offers MRP, job shop, routing, routing task screens and BOM screens.
• Marketing Manager: An incredible marketing advantage that allows you to manage and maintain marketing lists and online marketing campaigns that are fully integrated with enterprise eCommerce.
• Order Manager: This tool handles everything to do with purchases, sales orders, create orders and returns.
• Party Manager: Assists in managing roles by creating individuals and groups.
• WebTools Application: Using metrics, you can track site performance, traffic, etc. This gives you the information you need to have an effective eCommerce web site.
• WorkEffort Manager: With this tool you can create and manage events, calenders, project management, or customize other tools to meet your needs.
  

Enterprise eCommerce is a broad and complex marketplace. Fortunately with Apache OFBiz and professional backing by the OFBiz developers at HotWax Media, you will have everything you need to create a functional enterprise eCommerce interface with all the tools for running your business.