Ecommerce Templates > General Help > Mini cart set up

Mini cart overview

The mini cart is a plug-in that will show a summary of the contents of your cart on each page that you decide to include it on. From version 4.9.0 it will also display the estimated shipping cost if required. The set up is quite straightforward but follow the instructions carefully all the same. It is available for purchase here if it is not already included in the template design or if you prefer to have a css one line or multi-line version. The help file for the css minicart can be found here.

Mini cart screenshot

• ASP Version
• PHP Version
• CSS classes
• Troubleshooting

ASP Version

Follow the steps below for the mini cart to appear on your pages.

1. Place the file incminicart.asp in your vsadmin/inc/ folder (if not already present)
2. Place the file littlecart1.gif in your main images folder (if not already present)
3. Place this line in HTML / code view where you want the mini cart to appear, do make sure there is space below the box as it will expand as more products are added to the cart.
   
   <!--#include file="vsadmin/inc/incminicart.asp"-->
   
   
4. If you are placing the mini cart on one of the store pages ie affiliate.asp, cart.asp, categories.asp, clientlogin.asp, orderstatus.asp prodetail.asp, products.asp, search.asp, sorry.asp and thanks.asp make sure that the line above comes somewhere in the code after the other include lines, which are:
   
   <!--#include file="vsadmin/db_conn_open.asp"-->
   <!--#include file="vsadmin/inc/languagefile.asp"-->
   <!--#include file="vsadmin/includes.asp"-->
   <!--#include file="vsadmin/inc/incfunctions.asp"-->
   
   If you are placing it on a non-store page like about.asp then you will need to add those above 4 lines and the mini cart include line where it has to appear, like this:
   
   <!--#include file="vsadmin/db_conn_open.asp"-->
   <!--#include file="vsadmin/inc/languagefile.asp"-->
   <!--#include file="vsadmin/includes.asp"-->
   <!--#include file="vsadmin/inc/incfunctions.asp"-->
   <!--#include file="vsadmin/inc/incminicart.asp"-->
   
   
5. Double check your code to make sure you have only one instance of these lines
   
   <!--#include file="vsadmin/db_conn_open.asp"-->
   <!--#include file="vsadmin/inc/languagefile.asp"-->
   <!--#include file="vsadmin/includes.asp"-->
   <!--#include file="vsadmin/inc/incfunctions.asp"-->
   
   on the page.
   
   
6. Open the file vsadmin/inc/languagefile_en.asp and add these lines if they are not already there.

   xxMCCO="Checkout"
   xxMCSC="Shopping cart"
   xxMCIIC="Product(s) in cart"

7. Open your CSS file, typically called style.css and add these lines

   TD.mincart {
   font-size: 10px;
   font-family : Verdana;
   }

   P.mincart {
   font-size: 10px;
   font-family : Verdana;
   }

8. Upload the page(s) to your server and check that it shows correctly. If you receive any kind of error message then please check the troubleshooting guide.

PHP Version

Follow the steps below for the mini cart to appear on your pages.

1. Place the file incminicart.php in your vsadmin/inc/ folder
2. Place the file littlecart1.gif in your main images folder
3. Place this line in HTML / code view where you want the mini cart to appear, do make sure there is space below the box as it will expand as more products are added to the cart.
   
   <?php include "vsadmin/inc/incminicart.php" ?>
   
   
4. If you are placing the mini cart on one of the store pages ie affiliate.php, cart.php, categories.php, clientlogin.php, orderstatus.php prodetail.php, products.php, search.php, sorry.php and thanks.php make sure that the line above comes somewhere in the code after the other include lines, which are:
   
   <?php include "vsadmin/db_conn_open.php" ?>
   <?php include "vsadmin/inc/languagefile.php" ?>
   <?php include "vsadmin/includes.php" ?>
   <?php include "vsadmin/inc/incfunctions.php" ?>
   
   If you are placing it on a non-store page like about.php then you will need to add those above 4 lines and the mini cart include line where it has to appear, like this:
   
   <?php include "vsadmin/db_conn_open.php" ?>
   <?php include "vsadmin/inc/languagefile.php" ?>
   <?php include "vsadmin/includes.php" ?>
   <?php include "vsadmin/inc/incfunctions.php" ?>
   <?php include "vsadmin/inc/incminicart.php" ?>
   
   Make sure that at the top of the page you have this code with absolutely no spaces before it
   
   <?php
   session_cache_limiter('none');
   session_start();
   ob_start(); ?><html>
   
   
5. Double check your code to make sure you have only one instance of these lines
   
   <?php include "vsadmin/db_conn_open.php" ?>
   <?php include "vsadmin/inc/languagefile.php" ?>
   <?php include "vsadmin/includes.php" ?>
   <?php include "vsadmin/inc/incfunctions.php" ?>
   
   on the page.
   
   
6. Open the file vsadmin/inc/languagefile.php and add these lines if they are not already there.

   $xxMCCO="Checkout";
   $xxMCSC="Shopping cart";
   $xxMCIIC="Product(s) in cart";

7. Open your CSS file, typically called style.css and add these lines

   TD.mincart {
   font-size: 10px;
   font-family : Verdana;
   }

   P.mincart {
   font-size: 10px;
   font-family : Verdana;
   }

8. Upload the page(s) to your server and check that it shows correctly. If you receive any kind of error message then please check the troubleshooting guide.

CSS Classes

The formatting of the text for the mini cart is achieved through two classes that will need to be added to style.css:

TD.mincart {
font-size: 10px;
font-family : Verdana;
}

P.mincart {
font-size: 10px;
font-family : Verdana;
}

This will give you a ten pixel Verdana font for all the text within the mini cart box.

If you would like to change the background color of the mini cart then add a line like this:

TD.mincart {
font-size: 10px;
font-family : Verdana;
background-color: #CC0000;
}

If you want different link properties from the rest of your main links, use something like this

a.mincart:link {
color: #006699;
text-decoration: none;
font: 11px Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
}

a.mincart:visited {
color: #006699;
text-decoration: none;
font: 11px Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
}

a.mincart:active {
color: #FFFFFF;
text-decoration: none;
font: 11px Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
}

a.rightlinks:hover {
color: #FFFFFF;
text-decoration: none;
font: 11px Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
}

Troubleshooting

The most common errors regarding the set up of the mini cart are the following:

• The mini cart must go on a page with a .asp or .php extension depending on the version you are working from eg example.asp / example.php and not example.html or example.htm
• The mini cart include line must come after the other 4 ASP or PHP include lines. If placing the mini cart is a problem then the other 4 include lines can be moved up the code.
• The ASP or PHP include lines should not be duplicated on the page, if you receive an error then do check that there is only one instance of each.
• The path to the incminicart include is not correct. For example if you have the added the include line to a Dreamweaver library file (.lbi) or Template file (.dwt) then the path for the ASP version will probably be
  
  <!--#include file="../vsadmin/inc/incminicart.asp"-->
  
  
• If you enter the site using http://yourdomain.com and are then switched to the www domain when clicking on the cart link in the minicart, the main cart may well appear as empty because the cookie hasn't been copied across. To get round this, find this code at the top of your .php pages
  
  <?php
  session_cache_limiter('none');
  session_start();
  ob_start(); ?>
  
  ..and change it to
  
  <?php
  ini_set("session.cookie_domain", ".yourdomain.com");
  session_cache_limiter('none');
  session_start();
  ob_start(); ?>
  
  Remember to change .yourdomain.com to your own domain.