The Store Front plugin for Movable Type adds the ability for administrators to define for use on their web site a collection of products which can be sold through a selection of payment processors, like PayPal or Google Checkout for the express purpose of allowing users to assemble a digital store front, or put a "pay wall" in front of select pieces of content quickly and easily using Movable Type or Melody.

Features

• Create and manage products for sale on your web site.
• Manage subscriptions and recurring payments to access a service or content.
• Generate "Buy Now" buttons on your web site using simple template tags.
• View a list of subscribers or purchasers from which to generate reports.
• Track payments associated with recurring payments.
• Notify administrators via email when new purchases have been made.

Screenshots

Check out our screenshots of the plugin in action!

Download & Source Code

• Download Store Front Plugin
• Get the Source Luke

Getting Started

• Installation -
• Setup and Configuration - how to setup the plugin and PayPal
• Using the Store Front Plugin - how to create and manage products and subscriptions
• Template Tags - a list of the template tags supported by this plugin.
• Designer's Guide - how to build a web site that sells merchandise and create a pay-wall

Who is this plugin for?

This plugin was created and designed with the following use cases in mind:

• Give administrators the ability to sell physical merchandise, or to manage inventory or availability of an item through their blog. In this scenario, a user of the plugin maintains inventory of a product of some kind. They enter the system, create a product, associate with that product the number of items they have in their inventory, and then publish to their web site a page that contains a "Buy Now" button to purchase that item. Once complete, the plugin will route all purchases through a payment system to purchase the item. Once purchased, the plugin will decrease the inventory accordingly and then send emails to interested parties to confirm and notify them about the transaction.

• Allow bloggers to offer premium access to their blog on a subscription basis, also known as a "pay wall." In this scenario, a user of this plugin would define a product that requires a recurring payment. They would then publish a "Subscribe Now" button on their web site, that when clicked would take a user through a payment processor to purchase the subscription. The user of the plugin would then augment their templates to evaluate whether or not a user has purchased a specific subscription and display content (or not display content) accordingly.

It is important to note that the plugin itself assigns no meaning to any of the products that are created by users of the plugin, nor is the plugin able to enforce access control automatically. In order to setup a successful e-commerce site, users of this plugin must edit their templates to:

1. Surface appropriate payment buttons for products and subscriptions.

2. Enforce access control to premium content.

And of course...

• Package and ship physical merchandise this plugin facilitates the purchase of.

Support

The Store Front plugin is available to the world free of charge under an open source license. Endevver is happy to help and support anyone in the usage and deployment of the Store Front plugin. However, due to the costly nature of developing and supporting this plugin, we strongly encourage users needing help to first donate $200 via PayPal to ensure the continued development and support of this vital resource to the Movable Type community.

After you donate, visit Endevver's dedicated support site to ask your question.

License and Copyright

Copyright (c) 2010, Endevver, LLC. All rights reserved

The Store Front plugin is licensed under the GPLv2.