Operation Manual

Adding Dynamic Content 297
To publish your Web site:
With your merged site currently active, choose Publish Site> on the File
menu and select
Publish to Web (see p. 322).
By default, merging will take place automatically before you
publish; if you don't want to merge each time, uncheck Merge
before publishing in the Publish to Web dialog.
Using database merge with e-commerce
Basic database merges can be used for presenting text, images or a
combination of both as display-only data, e.g. lists, galleries, etc. However,
when used in conjunction with a more interactive feature such as repeating e-
commerce forms, it is possible to create e-commerce solutions that are driven
by e-commerce data sources containing saleable items. The database, which
must be a Serif database file (.SDB), must adopt a field structure specific to
your chosen shopping cart provider (e.g., PayPal) and can store item name,
description, item image, price, quantities, shipping costs, and other buying
options (colour, size, etc).
Typically, a specific type of e-commerce form can be added to the page which
will allow e-commerce transactions to be performed. For single item
purchases, a Repeating Buy Now Form takes the user straight to checkout,
while multi-item purchases use a Repeating Add to Shopping Cart Form. As
both forms are repeating, the form is "regenerated" multiply within a new
merged Web site with data from each item record appearing in turn. See
Inserting an e-commerce object (PAYPAL) on p. 281 for more information.