Squirrelcart is easy to install. It requires a familiarity with FTP. You will also need to install the MySQL DB, which is fairly simple, and is explained in our installation instructions. We also offer installation services should you need them.

The cart stores the orders in the database, and emails them to the merchant. It also emails the customer a confirmation email. Both of these emails can be turned on and off, and you can send the order notification email (for the merchant) to as many email addresses as you like.

Squirrelcart has been designed with customization in mind. Almost every element that the cart controls can be customized via template files. Each template file controls a small aspect of the cart. For example, there is a template file to control the display of a product, one for a category header, category detail, category footer, etc...

The level of difficulty of customization greatly depends on your skill level with HTML. If you are good with HTML, then you should have no problem. If you are not, then it will be more difficult. This is reflected well in the level of customization that has been achieved for the sites on our real stores page. Some sites look very similar to the default Squirrelcart theme, and some look drastically different.

You can read more about customization in the "Customizing" section of our documentation: http://www.squirrelcart.com/help

Our How to Customize Guide is a good place to start.

The shipping in the cart is extremely flexible. Rates can be automatically obtained using RTR (real time rates) for USPS, UPS, FedEx, and Australia Post. You can also create your own shipping rules to specify custom rates, based on a number of different scenarios. Some examples are:

• Free shipping if order amount is > certain amount
• Offer a set of options if order is a certain weight
• Offer a different set of options if order is from a certain country
• Force a shipping method and price based on weight, number of items, country, total price of order

The cart does not store the credit card numbers anywhere for liability reasons. If you have a merchant account, and access to a payment gateway, then you do not need access to the cc numbers under normal circumstances. If you do need the numbers, you can configure the cart to email them transcribed via our offline processing method, but this is not recommended for security reasons.

Each order of Squirrelcart includes 90 days of support, 1 year of updates, and access to our support forums. Squirrelcart PRO includes 120 days of support, 2 year of updates, and access to our support forums. Information on support can be found here.

Squirrelcart uses PHP session management to track information from page to page. This is how it remembers what is in your cart. PHP itself controls sessions. When possible, PHP will use a cookie to send a unique identifier to your web server on each page load. If cookies are not available, then it sends this identifier in the URL.

We do not offer Squirrelcart as a hosted application. When you purchase Squirrelcart you will receive the software which can be installed on any host you like that meets our requirements. Should you need to signup for hosting somewhere, each purchase of Squirrelcart qualifies you for free hosting for 1 year with our partner Jumpline.com. You can read more about that here. We also offer installation services should you need them.

According to PHP.NET, "PHP is a widely-used general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded into HTML.". It is a server side language, similar to Perl, ASP, etc. Its the language that makes the cart work behind the scenes. For more info, see the official site.

According to the official site, "MySQL is the world's most popular Open Source Database, designed for speed, power and precision in mission critical, heavy load use". Squirrelcart uses it for storage.

We offer a 14 day money back refund on Squirrelcart. If you decide its not for you, send us confirmation that you've removed it from your site, and we will refund your money. Installation and customization fees, license renewals, bulk discounted purchases, and support fees are not covered by this policy.

The "squirrel" in Squirrelcart is a word that we use to mean SQL, as in Structured Query Language. The "cart" in Squirrelcart means it's a shopping cart (but I bet you guessed that part!). No squirrels were harmed in the making of this software.

You can use any editor capable of modifying HTML code to customize your pages. Some editors such as FrontPage have a tendency to alter the PHP code on pages when you upload them, or when you make modifications in WYSIWYG or Design view. For this reason, we recommend that you only use FTP to upload your files, and edit them in a view that allows for direct modification of the HTML code itself.

Yes! You can upgrade from Squirrelcart to Squirrelcart PRO within 30 days of your original purchase for the difference in price. When you are ready to do so, email us for instructions.