The Joomla! Forum ™

Hi there,

We are building a series of extensions for Joomla! so customers can purchase products, events, services or subscriptions (from a Freeway store installation) directly from within a Joomla! installation. This will provide substantially more eCommerce power than currently available.

You might not know about Freeway yet. It's more than a store for selling products. With Freeway, you can sell event tickets, services bookings like rentals and appointments, and a very wide range of subscriptions types. Best of all, it is GPL licensed.

For Stage 1, we will start by be building separate extensions for each of product, event, service and subscriptions sales which allow the user to choose from a category or individual item and complete the sale back in the Freeways store.

Stage 2 extensions will allow the customer to complete a full Freeway transaction within Joomla.

Our timetable will be to complete Stage 1 by the end of Jan and Stage 2 bye the end of Feb.

If you would like to make suggestions or offer support by way of architectural advice or testing, please do let us know.

Cheers,

Damian Hickey
http://www.openfreeway.org

_________________
Damian Hickey
www.jentla.com
+61 (0) 415 981 852
email damian.hickey@zac-ware.com

Hi Damian,
you bring great news indeed.
(P.S.: we know each other from your previous solution based on osCommres. I was trying to localize it to our language but your development cycle was too fast for me. Now I am keeping touch with Freeway and I do thing is really stands for reasoning. Mainly selling services via webs is generally very empty area. Joomla has some extensions like reservation etc. But they are as a commercial ones. As I said: good news!)

_________________
MarHaj

Hi,

Good to see you again.

We have slowed down to quarterly releases now. 6 weeks of coding and 6 weeks of fixes and tidying. The next release is 1st March. These Joomla extensions will be created as part of the development cycle but because they are simple compared to what we normally do with appointments etc., it is very likely that at least the simple Freeway extensions for Joomla extensions will be well end truly stable by that release.

What would be really handy to me would be for you to explain in Joomla speak what Freeway does and what we are going to be doing with these new extensions. (Every project has it's subtly different language and when I say service, people might not understand it at all.)

Cheers,

Damo

_________________
Damian Hickey
www.jentla.com
+61 (0) 415 981 852
email damian.hickey@zac-ware.com

I just quickly cruised through Freeway in the admin area, it certainly looks fully featured from what I can see.  For some reason Magento, at least to me, right off the bat felt more intuitive but Freeway felt like it would be just as easy as soon as I got used to it.  I'm going to take my time and go through the demo some more but it looks great and I'm excited about both Magento (if it becomes usable with Joomla) and now Freeway too 

_________________
http://www.campaignforliberty.com - Official website of Ron Paul's Campaign For Liberty

Damian -

Did some looking around - very exciting! I believe this is licensed under GPL v 2, correct? (She asked hopefully!)

If so, I have an idea. Right now, the Google Highly Open Participation is underway (half-way done). Are there tasks you think Joomla!'s contestants might be able to work on to help start this integration? We have some very bright participants.

Do you use OpenID authentication? If so, even a task to integrate templates for a common look and feel would be a great step forward for these two projects.

I see you even have a hotel extension! 

If this is GPL v 2, I certainly want to see this be integrated with Joomla!.  So appreciate you posting here!
Amy

_________________
http://Twitter.com/AmyStephen
http://www.alltogetherasawhole.org/

Hi,

Glad to make your acquaintance. Yep, we are GPL v2. One way someone or a group of people could help out would be to build a Single Sign On Extension for Joomla to link to Freeway. We can do this but do not really know Joomla yet.

It would help so a logged in user could click on a Freeway "My Account" button in Joomla and not ahve to log in externally, making it a much more user friendly process.

If you have anyone in mind who might like to participate in this, we are happy to help them. We have already done some quite complex SSO work with other CMS systems and have a Webservice available at the Freeway end.

It sounds like a powerful eCommerce integration is overdue. It will be fun to supply one.

Cheers,

Damian

_________________
Damian Hickey
www.jentla.com
+61 (0) 415 981 852
email damian.hickey@zac-ware.com

We have had some people ask a bit about what Freeway is, so here is a brief description.

Freeway was started four years to help my wife's pregnancy yoga business to take bookings and payments online. We forked from osCommerce and at that time did not really have a plan to build a software project. The bookings worked so well we decided to work hard to fix osCommerce so it was a suitable eCommerce platform. There has been a huge amount of code rewriting and standardisation as well as feature expansion.

You will find Freeway to be quite different from other Open Source eCommerce projects in that our goal is to become an enterprise class platform. What you will find right now is an eCommerce system which can sell a very broad range of products and services. We know that PHP based and particularly osCommerce based software does not have a good reputation due to poor architecture and haphazard development processes.

We are committed to making Freeway rock solid. There are a number of major tasks which we will complete this year including a complete rebuild of the front end templating, localisation, definintions of APIs for extensions and biggest of all, a review and rebuild of the database structure.

I suppose the best way to understand what we are doing would be to set up a test install for yourself so you are ready to add in the linking Joomla extensions when they arrive.

Cheers,

Damian

_________________
Damian Hickey
www.jentla.com
+61 (0) 415 981 852
email damian.hickey@zac-ware.com

Yes, bridging.

Damian,
what you may not know Joomla is undergoing a great leap just know. New version with totally new API and code (end everything else). The dev team spent a great deal of time on it. Now it is RC4 and is expected to be released in several months.
Standard Joomla community (including me) has not absorbed all these changes yet. So I think AmyStephen's idea is far the best. She knows how and where find people who knows new platform. And developing bridge (one logging into two platforms) requires some good knowledge. Simple Joomla modules (like top 5 products, etc.) is a childish play. Again AmyStephen's idea is far the best.

I really wish both platforms work together (selling reservations, cources, etc., etc.)

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MarHaj

Seeing as how the vast majority of commercial businesses will not make the change to 1.5 for a while, I think that Freeway should be made to integrate with 1.0 first and 1.5 later on (if it's not possible to do both at the same time)  I'm not a developer so I don't know.  But just from a business point of view...

_________________
http://www.campaignforliberty.com - Official website of Ron Paul's Campaign For Liberty

Hi,

Don't worry, we will build for 1.5 and 1.0 at the same time.

Cheers,

Damian

_________________
Damian Hickey
www.jentla.com
+61 (0) 415 981 852
email damian.hickey@zac-ware.com

HI !! Damian

Thank you for your Hard work !!. I looking forward to see your product soon. I am a new in joomla! so I so sad that I can't help you

once again Thank you 

Absolutely you can help by making sure we do a good job of our extensions when you test. We like all sorts of feedback.

Cheers,

Damo

_________________
Damian Hickey
www.jentla.com
+61 (0) 415 981 852
email damian.hickey@zac-ware.com

Hi,

We have been successful in system testing the following:

• A Single Sign On mechanism between Joomla and Freeway. New users created in either system are replicated to the other and in the case where a Freeway installation is added to an existing Joomla one, the existing Joomla users will be replicated enmasse.
  
• A way to display Freeway menu items on the Joomla menu. This is essential for serious eCommerce because there are special menu items in a store.
  
• A way of replacing the Freeway header and footer with a Joomla header and footer.

We are proceeding with some guerilla testing and should be able to release a Beta of these contributions early next week.

The full Freeway transaction inside Joomla will be started early next week.

Cheers,

Damian

_________________
Damian Hickey
www.jentla.com
+61 (0) 415 981 852
email damian.hickey@zac-ware.com

Hi,

Can I get some idea if there would be interest in a contribution which allowed display of Joomla pages to users who have paid for a Freeway subscription? This would allow Joomla to be used as an commercial online magazine etc. or for a whole range of high value services.

There is a huge amount of flexibility about subscription types available so that won't be a problem and we have already successfully done this before in a linkage with another CMS, typo3. It increased sales of the online magazine dramatically because certain articles could be made available for free and others to certain types of subscribers. So getting it done won't be complex.

We are getting through the Freeway/Joomla integration quite quickly so it would be good to think about where next.

Cheers,

Damian

_________________
Damian Hickey
www.jentla.com
+61 (0) 415 981 852
email damian.hickey@zac-ware.com

Hi Damian,
Is what you're asking the same as the type of subscription I described in your Subscriptions forum? What would truly be great would be able to offer streaming/progressive download of those audio lessons as opposed to having to send out CDs each time.  But the main thing with the lesson subscription is being able to track it as I described on your forum..

_________________
http://www.campaignforliberty.com - Official website of Ron Paul's Campaign For Liberty

I tested with Freeway this evening. It is very good.

Hope you can integrate Freeway with Joomla! soon.

Thanks.

_________________
JoomlaGate - Chinese Joomla Users' Portal

http://www.joomlagate.com

Hi there,

Apologies for the delay. We are a bit behind with the bridge between Freeway and Joomla. I hurt my back last week, which hasn't stopped our development just slowed me down and as I am handling the release flow, you getting to see what we are doing. I am able to sit for longer now and will be releasing the code tomorrow. A working version will be on our site http://www.openfreeway.org tonight. Will update this forum with links.

Cheers,

Damian

_________________
Damian Hickey
www.jentla.com
+61 (0) 415 981 852
email damian.hickey@zac-ware.com

The extension is completed in Alpha. It is pretty advanced. Take a look at the post: http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/topic,259248.0.html

Cheers,

Damian

_________________
Damian Hickey
www.jentla.com
+61 (0) 415 981 852
email damian.hickey@zac-ware.com

Hi there,

We have just added a Beta of the extension to the Freeway site. http://www.openfreeway.com/extensions.html Please give it a test and let us know if there are any issues still. I am adding the Joomla sections to the Joomla Extensions area now. Thanks to all who pointed out issues in the Alpha.

Cheers,

Damo

_________________
Damian Hickey
www.jentla.com
+61 (0) 415 981 852
email damian.hickey@zac-ware.com

Hi all,

The single Component and five modules are now listed in the Joomla extension directory. We look forward to you trying out the integration and seeing how you can now do some really powerful eCommerce.

Cheers,

Damian

_________________
Damian Hickey
www.jentla.com
+61 (0) 415 981 852
email damian.hickey@zac-ware.com

Hi,

this sounds nice and I'll definitely give it a try *), just one thing I'm not sure about:
I need to download "Freeway" first from Sourceforge (current appears to be freeway_v1_3_1_147) to have the core shop, right?
Then install the "bridge", freeway13_joomla15_integration_2.zip ?
There are several files listed in the Extension Manager at http://www.openfreeway.com and I'm not sure which one to take. I used the version provided by the "download button", but below that box are more files listed -- I presume the button points to version 2.1 ?

Have fun,
CirTap

*) I'll be offline for the next 10 days or so.

_________________
You can have programs written fast, well, and cheap, but you only get to pick 2 ...

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." Douglas Adams

The full doc for installing the extension is on the Freeway extension page here:

http://www.openfreeway.org/extensions.html

Cheers,

Damian

_________________
Damian Hickey
www.jentla.com
+61 (0) 415 981 852
email damian.hickey@zac-ware.com

The Freeway ecommerce system looks great. I installed the Joomla extension package. I first installed the entire .zip file. Joomla reported success while the component and modules did not appear in their respective Joomla menus.

I then re-read the documentation and figured out that I needed to unzip the download package. Perhaps the documentation could be clearer on this. After installing the individual module and components they then appeared in their menus but did nothing. The instructions to run the sql command on the database and modify the freeway package while clear are confusing as to under what conditions and why they need to be done.

I then discovered that this installation provides only a bridge to a separate (though in the root directory) freeway installation.

I am looking forward to a true integration with Joomla and will begin using Freeway the day it becomes available.

_________________
I may not be very good, but at least I'm not too fast.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://fellowship12.com

The Freeway changes to integrate with Joomla will be part of the Freeway core in the next major release (9 weeks). So it will just be a matter of adding the Joomla modules, and component, placing Freeway in the Joomla dir and adding the link file in the Joomla directory as well.

We would recommend you don't wait for a full integration as you call it. At present you can display Freeeway content in Joomla and Freeway menu items natively in Joomla. We are not going to add further integration, just some more items like viewing the My Account pages etc. Freeway is a very large and powerful eCommerce system. This is more than enough of a foundation for a much more powerful eCommerce integration than previously available for Joomla.

Also, you don't profit while you wait.

Dive in, we think you are going to love it!

Damian Hickey

_________________
Damian Hickey
www.jentla.com
+61 (0) 415 981 852
email damian.hickey@zac-ware.com

I have read the posts here and on Freeway which describes the process of installing Freeway on Joomla1.5 and the supporting Freeway Joomla integration manual and the freeway installation manual.

There are so many vague reference to installing "freeway" using joomla1.5 that I want to be certain that there is an itemized list of instructions for joomla1.5 specifically.

Based on the compilation of instructions here is the setup instructions that appears most recent but still vague - Please review and reply with any suggestions, thanks -

Using Install/Uninstall upload the Bridge and Freeway admin link:
Freeway Link (The Bridge) - com_freeway.zip
Freeway Admin Link - mod_freeway_admin.zip

Then using Install/Uninstall upload the module(s) I desire to use... etc
Products Events Services Subscriptions

THEN IT MENTIONS...
"You also need the Freeway side of the extension which is listed in the doco."

****** Questions *********
1. Can you direct me to this "Freeway side" of the extension that is mentioned and provide instructions on installing this using Joomla1.5?
2. I read that it is not mandatory to create a separate sql_database but is it recommended? or will Joomla1.5 create its own database when freeway is uploaded?

Thank you in advance - Todd

I think Freeway offers an awesome opportunity for e-commerce and users but based on the posts in both this forum as well as on Freeway there is significant misunderstanding when it comes to these questions when used on Joomla1.5

Hi there,

1) Create a new database called freeway on your server.

2) Download the "Freeway install package" from openfreeway.org/download, unzip and upload to a folder called freeway under your joomla site root and run the install by browsing to http://yourdomain.com/freeway

3) Download the Freeway Joomla 1.5 integration package from openfreeway.org/extensions (It is the Freeway 1.5 extension) and unzip locally.

4) Upload the link_index.php file from the unzipped Joomla1.5 extension folder into the Joomla site root.

5) Install the main Freeway Joomla Component (joomla1.5\com_freeway.zip)

7) Install the main Freeway Admin Module (joomla1.5\mod_freeway_admin.zip).

8.) Install any other required modules. For example, mod_freeway_products.zip for products.

9) Go to the Joomla Admin and select Extensions | Module Manager and click the 'Administrator' tab under module manager. Click the Freeway Admin module, enable it and choose the 'cpanel' position.

12) Go to the Joomla admin Control Panel (Site | Control Panel) and click the freeaway admin option in the dropdown list on the right.

13) The administration page will appear, create your site, products, events services etc.

14) Publish the relevant freeway modules to their required positions.

15.) There is a bug fix requiring one file to have a line changed. It will be fixed by May 7th. In the meantime, please read here: https://www.openfreeway.org/forums/view ... ongglobals

16.) Read the Freeway documentation to understand how to configure your Freeway installation. https://www.openfreeway.org/documentati ... ofContents

I hope this helps,

Damo

_________________
Damian Hickey
www.jentla.com
+61 (0) 415 981 852
email damian.hickey@zac-ware.com

I am confused...I am using GoDaddy and it will not let me name the database FREEWAY. That I will talk to them about. Also, I followed all of the directions and the only thing that I really do not understand is where it tells you to select the c postion...I do not see how or where to do that. Please explain.

I have installed everything and Freeway does not appear in my Control Panel. HELP!!!!!!

ok...the reason it is not showing up is because the admin file is not showing up on the module manager...it is loaded and listed as a module but it is not on the list to activate it...HELP!

Sorry....I figured it out!

Now when I click on it in the ADMIN area it leads me to a page that says this....

The page you tried to access does not exist on this server. This page may not exist due to the following reasons:

1. You are the owner of this web site and you have not uploaded (or incorrectly uploaded) your web site. For information on uploading your web site using FTP client software or web design software, click here for FTP Upload Information.

2. The URL that you have entered in your browser is incorrect. Please re-enter the URL and try again.

3. The Link that you clicked on incorrectly points to this page. Please contact the owner of this web site to inform them of this situation.

I am not sure what I am doing wrong...

Hi,

We are releasing new versions of the Freeway/Joomla extensions in conjunction with Freeway 1.4 in seven days. This version will resolve the outstanding issues with SSL and SEF integration.

For the full information about what we are doing, please see here: https://www.openfreeway.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1075

You can see the first Joomla Day using Freeway for ticketing here: http://www.joomlabyronbay.com

Cheers,

Damian Hickey

_________________
Damian Hickey
www.jentla.com
+61 (0) 415 981 852
email damian.hickey@zac-ware.com