Web Parts Overview
A SharePoint-based ecommerce site is a collection of Web Parts and controls, each with a specific purpose, that you can combine on a SharePoint site to provide e-commerce based functionality for your Web site. In most cases, you will have several Web Parts on a page.
The available Web Parts fall into these categories:
Catalog
Images Viewer Web Part – Display different product, catalog, or other images.
Product Details Web Part – Displays the different products and product details on a product pages.
Product Query Web Part – Displays the products and variants, usually based on a catalog, that a shopper is looking for.
Site Map – Displays the map of your site.
Management
Channel Configuration* – This feature is a SharePoint list that provides the ability to assign a "channel name" to the site that has been created. A channel is any Web site that is targeted to a specific segment or device. The channel name is used throughout Commerce Server 2009 so that business and presentation logic can be tailored to address the specific needs of that channel.
Inline Product Editor Web Part - Provides marketers and merchandisers with the ability to update specific product information on the site directly, so that they can see the changes instantaneously, in a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) experience. This allows for quick edits in descriptions and titles, or any other attribute information. These changes are reflected back to the master catalog within Commerce Server 2009.
Product Provider Web Part - This is a utility Web Part, meaning that users will use it indirectly as part of other Web Parts, and is used by various other Web Parts to marshal data calls to Commerce Server and return product information.
Simple Property List Web Part – This is a utility Web Part, meaning that users will use it indirectly as part of other Web Parts, and it is used to enable the selection of various properties from the Commerce Server Core Systems.
Marketing
Discount Ad Web Part – Displays advertisements and discounts that are relevant to both the current shopper and current site context. This Web Part works in conjunction with Marketing Manager and the various campaigns that are set up.
Reviews and Ratings - List Web Part and Reviews and Rating - Average Rating Web Part – Displays the reviews and ratings for individual products. These Web Parts also let shoppers submit their own review and rating, with administrative workflow for management discretion.
Store Locator – Integrates with Microsoft Live Virtual Earth so that the shopping site has detailed maps of store locations, enabling shoppers to find the store quickly.
Orders
Add to Cart Web Part – Enables shoppers to add products to their cart.
Checkout Web Part – Manages the checkout process. It is responsible for the flow of checkout operations, providing a uniform navigation model. This checkout process may include address and credit card management actions.
MiniCart Web Part– Displays a summary, usually in the upper-right corner of the page, of the total items and amount in a shopper’s basket.
My Wish Lists Web Part – Provides shoppers with a way to manage all of their lists.
Order Details Web Part – Displays a read-only version of the shopping cart and checkout information.
Order History Web Part – Displays previous completed orders, including order status.
Shopping Cart Web Part – Displays all of the merchandise that the shoppers want to purchase.
Wish List Detail Web Part – Displays the details of a shopper’s list
Profile Administration
Address Book Web Part – Provides the interface to view and start address administrative tasks.
Address Detail Web Part – Provides the management functionality, such as adding and editing addresses.
Change Password Web Part and Forgot Password Web Part – Provides functionality for shoppers to reset or change their account password.
Credit Card Details Web Part – Provides the management functionality, such as adding a credit card and credit card information.
Credit Cards Web Part – Provides the interface to view and start credit card administrative tasks.
Live ID* – Provides functionality to associate shopper accounts with their Microsoft Live ID account, so that the shopper can associate their Live ID account to a particular shopping site.
My Profile Web Part – Provides the management functionality for account profile information.
Registration Web Part – Provides the functionality to let shoppers register on an e-commerce site.
Search
Search Box Web Part – Displays a search box that can be configured to search both the e-commerce site and any static content.
Search Paging Web Part and Search Results Web Part – Displays the results of the search in a two-column pane, allowing shoppers to easily see what’s on your site, and easily page through a large number of results.
* These two items are technically not Web Parts, but they use SharePoint controls and are available in the Default site or can be integrated into other sites.
Each category contains separate Web Parts for specific functions. For example, the Orders category has Web Parts for creating a shopping cart, adding new items to the shopping cart, retrieving shipping information, and so on. By interconnecting the Web Parts, you can create a logic work flow for many different scenarios. Because you are using Web Parts, site creation with Commerce Server 2009 is faster and simpler than ever before.
You can create and maintain an e-commerce site in SharePoint by using the appropriate Web Parts on the site's different pages. You can create pages for displaying customer profile information, showing catalog items, summarizing orders, and many other purposes, all composed of Web Parts interconnected together and communicating through Microsoft Multi-Channel Commerce Foundation to Commerce Server 2009.
Note
Most Web Parts are based on XSLT and provide business users and site designers the ability to quickly change the look and feel of the Web Part’s display. In most cases, this is through the ability to choose a template from a template library drop-down list. These libraries are implemented as SharePoint document lists. In select cases, direct editing of the XSLT is required.
Some Web Parts are built by using ACSX. These Web Parts are primarily for developers, and not intended for use by business users and site designers. Modification of these Web Parts requires Visual Studio 2008 to make changes at the code level.
Note
Some of the Default site functionality that requires a shopper log in will not function correctly when logging in under NTLM. This includes functions such as registration, profile management, login and logout, to name a few. This occurs because of a synchronization limitation of profile information between the Windows account, Commerce Server 2009, and SharePoint. Primary browsing, shopping, and checkout functions are not affected.