I need some help installing BitShop
Read the install.txt file inside the install folder and also take a look at the BitShop installation tutorial video if you haven't already. Keep in mind that new versions of BitShop are released regularly and the tutorial may be slightly out of date by the time you watch it. However I will try to keep the tutorial updated as much as possible. If you require further assistance create a thread in the technical support forum.
What dependencies does BitShop have?
The BitShop script requires PHP 5 or greater with BCMATH installed and if you want the captcha functions to work you'll also need the GD image library. The BitShop database requires MySQL 5 or greater and support for custom triggers (if you don't know what that means don't worry about it). It also requires the ability to set up cron jobs so that the ticker price can be periodically updated. Cron jobs can usually be set up with the cPanel interface or via a linux shell with crontab.
What permissions does BitShop need?
All the folders should be set to 755 and all the files should be set to 644 or 744. In some cases you might also need to make sure that the files which need to be written to are owned by apache, the easiest way to do that is to allow PHP to create those files. The files which need to be written to include /sci/config.php, /inc/config.inc.php, /inc/rss.inc, /inc/email_body.inc, /inc/feat_ids.inc, and some log files in the inc and sci folders, as well as all the config files for every gateway inside the /sci/gateways/ folder.
What is the default payment gateway?
The default gateway is the built-in gateway that uses public block explorer API's to confirm a payment without using any 3rd party payment gateway. It can also be configured to use a coin daemon if you want to accept an altcoin or you want to avoid using the explorer API's. The BitShop wallet is used to handle the payment addresses used by the default gateway. Unlike other gateway options, you wont have to pay fees when people use the default payment gateway because you're processing the payment yourself.
What types of currencies can I accept?
The currencies that your shop can accept depends on which payment gateways you have enabled. Each gateway can accept one or more currencies and multiple gateways can be enabled simultaneously. For example GoCoin can accept BTC, LTC, and DOGE but Coinbase only accepts BTC. The default gateway can accept BTC and one altcoin but if you want to use the default payment gateway to accept an altcoin the only way is to set up a daemon for that altcoin. Each gateway has it's own wallet but the default gateway will use the wallet built into BitShop.
I need help setting up other gateways
Take a look at the coinbase.txt and gocoin.txt files inside the install folder for help with setting up the Coinbase or GoCoin payment gateways. One thing to keep in mind is that the GoCoin website wont ask you for a callback URL like Coinbase will. So the "GoCoin Callback Secret" setting within BitShop can be anything you want as long as it's not predictable.
This gateway just wont work for me!
If you are having trouble with the Coinbase or GoCoin gateway it's very likely to be a problem with your settings. A common problem encountered when setting up the Coinbase gateway is forgetting to fill out the merchant profile properly. You can also enable debugging to get more information about the problem and run tests using the sandbox mode available from Coinbase. The problem may also be that your account has been blocked or disabled, in which case you'll have to contact their support.
How does the BitShop wallet work?
When using the default gateway there are two main methods you can use to receive payments. The first is the automatic key generation method, which will generate a completely new Bitcoin address for every order. The private keys will be held on your server but they will be encrypted using RSA encryption. To spend your earnings you will need to import the keys into what ever wallet you use. The second method is a user defined list of addresses which will be used one at a time. The benefit of this method is that you don't need to store the private keys on your server but you will need to re-enable or add new addresses to the list once the existing addresses get used up.
Why do I need this RSA encryption stuff?
Well it can be a bit confusing but it does help keep your bitcoins secure and ensure they cannot be stolen by anyone, not even your web host. The encrypted Bitcoin keys are also decrypted inside of the browser using javascript when you want to export them. Just remember that the RSA keypair has nothing to do with your Bitcoin keys or addresses. If you're using an address list instead of auto-gen addresses you wont even need an RSA keypair anyway.
My private keys wont decrypt!
If you get an *** Invalid Ciphertext *** error this probably means you didn't copy one or both of the RSA keys properly. Some web browsers have a weird quirk when double clicking a text box to highlight the text, in which they fail to select the whole line of text or they stop at the colon character. This can make the user think they highlighted the full RSA key when in fact they haven't. Run some tests to ensure you can decrypt the Bitcoin keys properly before you go live otherwise you could end up losing bitcoins.
How are shipping charges calculated?
The shipping cost for a product is the product weight multiplied by the weight multiplier in the SCI settings. So if you're product has a weight of 2 and your weight multiplier is set to 4 and you're using USD as your fiat currency, then the shipping cost for that product will be $8 (2x4). Then that fiat amount will be used to calculate the BTC amount. The weight multiplier essentially specifies how much each weight unit is worth in fiat value. If you want an item to have free shipping then set its weight to 0.
What does the default gateway progress bar show?
The progress bar in the default payment gateway is an indication of how far the transaction is from being verified. If 2 confirmations are required and the transaction has 1 confirmation it will show 50% or higher. Obviously the progress bar is not very meaningful when you are using 1 or less confirmations. It will basically just load based on the average time it takes to confirm a transaction. If the transaction is still not received when it reaches 99% it will go back to 50%.