getting started Before installing

[mari]

Hello TB communty,

I tried to find a similar thread but not finding any I'm starting a new one.

I'm scouting for the best e-commerce solution for a new website (still on the making) for a consulting firm that wants to make available some online courses and maybe in a future to sell some coaching sessions. What I've seen so far of TB is that is mostly used to sell products, even checking the demo back office it seems is intended for products, my questions:

1. Can it be used solely to sell virtual products/services? eg.: online courses (which means automated emails sending logins credentials for the course); downloadable material (PDF, PPT...); coaching sessions (60mins - 90mins... 6-months bundles, etc.)
   • Is it possible to not add blocks? eg.: suppliers; manufacturers, etc. I'm thinking of blocks that do not apply to virtual products.
2. Is it possible to have pages not showing the cart and the ecommerce fonctionnalities? From what i've seen on the front-end demo, the header and left-colum are always showing.
3. Shared hosting: the site will be hosted on the Grid Service by MediaTemple. Has anyone has any experience with TB installed on this shared hosting solution? I already contact their support regarding compatibility, this was their answer:

   Quote

   All of the requirements are met with the exception of the following:

   Apache modules: - mod_auth_basic disabled.

   Recommended PHP Extensions - opcache - apcu, redis or memcache(d)

   mod_auth_basic is enabled, although there's not anything enabled for it by default that would restrict access to any customer pages. In order for it to work, you would have to configure directives within the site's .htaccess file. Otherwise, it's as good as disabled and shouldn't affect functionality of any applications.

    

I've tried looking for stores using TB that exclusively sell virtual products with no success on the "Shops using thirty bees" page.

Thanks,

Mari

Edited March 25, 2019 by mari

[danwarrior]

1 hour ago, mari said:

Hello TB communty,

I tried to find a similar thread but not finding any I'm starting a new one.

I'm scouting for the best e-commerce solution for a new website (still on the making) for a consulting firm that wants to make available some online courses and maybe in a future to sell some coaching sessions. What I've seen so far of TB is that is mostly used to sell products, even checking the demo back office it seems is intended for products, my questions:

1. Can it be used solely to sell virtual products/services? eg.: online courses (which means automated emails sending logins credentials for the course); downloadable material (PDF, PPT...); coaching sessions (60mins - 90mins... 6-months bundles, etc.)
   • Is it possible to not add blocks? eg.: suppliers; manufacturers, etc. I'm thinking of blocks that do not apply to virtual products.
2. Is it possible to have pages not showing the cart and the ecommerce fonctionnalities? From what i've seen on the front-end demo, the header and left-colum are always showing.
3. Shared hosting: the site will be hosted on the Grid Service by MediaTemple. Has anyone has any experience with TB installed on this shared hosting solution? I already contact their support regarding compatibility, this was their answer:

    

I've tried looking for stores using TB that exclusively sell virtual products with no success on the "Shops using thirty bees" page.

Thanks,

Mari

Hi, Mary!

You can use TB for this pourpose, but I think you-ll prefer something like Wordpress + Woocommerce. I love TB, but it has many things you won't use and Woocommerce is much better (simple and easier to use and manage) to sell virtual products and services like you're telling.

[devjunckie]

hello Mari,

I agree with danwarrior, we have had a client who wanted to have similar requirements you mentioned above, and it was kind of difficult to do it in TB.. anyway, we ended up doing it in WP and install a plugin that cater to the requirements set.. i love TB for it's simplicity, but WP will be your choice for selling online courses! hope this helps you decide what step to take.

[Traumflug]

20 hours ago, mari said:

Can it be used solely to sell virtual products/services? eg.: online courses (which means automated emails sending logins credentials for the course); downloadable material (PDF, PPT...); coaching sessions (60mins - 90mins... 6-months bundles, etc.)

• Is it possible to not add blocks? eg.: suppliers; manufacturers, etc. I'm thinking of blocks that do not apply to virtual products.

 

Yes. The thirty bees store its self is an example of it: https://store.thirtybees.com. There one can order modules ( = virtual products) and development services.

Blocks get removed by uninstalling the module providing it. Default installation is kind of a showcase, showing whatever is available, so uninstalling most modules is perfectly fine.

Regarding hosting, well, simply try. The installer checks all prerequisites and if these tests succeed, it should work fine.