If you've ever thought about setting up a shopping cart on the internet, you probably know the selection process is a maze of conflicting schemes, software and complexity. Look no further than NetCatalog by Grafix Network, Inc. It has everything you would want to get started in business on the web.
   We are going to write this review as a sort of mini-survey of this new genre of software. Unless you have your own C++/perl programmer on hand, or want to pay huge bucks for a customized program, you should go looking for a shopping cart application. Our survey of this new form of software found programs as diverse as stars in the sky and many were very good. In the end, however, we can recommend NetCatalog without hesitation.
   What are the basics of shopping cart software?
   First, the program must allow you to categorize products. A long, long list of things you have for sale just doesn't do it. Who is going to wade through that long list looking for a product?
   Second, your shopping cart must allow you the opportunity to give more than one type of description of a product. Sort of a "teaser" or summary and then all the facts and other information someone would need to know before they buy.
   Third, the software must have graphic capability. People want to see the thing they are buying.
   Fourth, the program must have a way to allow the purchaser to easily order options. If you're selling tee-shirts, for instance, getting the size is critical. You certainly don't want separate listings for small, medium and large tee shirts that are otherwise the same. That makes your cart difficult to manage and clutters it up for the buyer.
   Fifth, the software needs to be configurable. There may be thousands of people using the same software, but you want your site to look different.
   Sixth, the software must be supported. Getting a shopping cart up and running, especially if you are interfacing it with credit card and check verification, can be a little tricky. You need to know someone is really there to help.
   It goes without saying that such software should also be robust, user-friendly and intuitive. Some of the applications we saw were so complicated it would have been almost as easy to learn C and perl.
   Of all the applications we reviewed, NetCatalog was the only one which met all of this criteria. We saw some pretty fancy stuff, but how you got it to be fancy was difficult at best. So, let's look at how NetCatalog addressed the five big issues in shopping cart software.
   Categorization: There are two (actually three, but we will not address the enterprise-wide edition here) versions of NetCatalog, a "single catalog" and a "professional" version. The main difference between the two is only that the "single user" version allows you to place one catalog on one machine while the "professional" lets you place as many different catalogs as you like on one machine. The latter is ideal for web hosting companies and the like.
   Both versions, however, allow you to categorize your products. Using either a list or a table (set up totally by NetCatalog) you provide a general category of products, such as tee shorts, shorts, pants and tops. You can have as many categories as you would like. Each can have a description.
   You, then, establish sub-categories. You may have different types of tee-shorts, like tank tops, embroidered designs, tie-dyed and the like. Each of these sub-categories can also be set up as tables or lists, each can have its own description, and each can also have a representative graphic or picture (more on this later).
   Finally, there are individual items. Again, there can be descriptions of each and larger graphics or photos. Prices are included, of course. There is no limit to the number of categories, sub-categories or items you can have within a single NetCatalog.
   This is very cool. You can order from the sub-category page as well as the item page, which means the user does not have to drill into the different item pages if they know what they want (or if they have been to several item pages and decide they like the first one best). Using this same setup, it is also possible to have specials. And, as an extra bonus, NetCatalog will place a "new" logo beside any new item or sub-category or category if you ask it to. This can be done automatically.
   Descriptions: NetCatalog's descriptions can be as long or as short as you want them to be. The graphics can be staggered so the first appears on the right and the second on the left. You can also use simple HTML commands (more on this later) to enhance the descriptions. Want something in italics or bold? Want to underline? Want to even stick a graphic in the description? You can do it with NetCatalog.
   You can do this because every description you type or paste in can be offset with an HTML tag. What NetCatalog does is convert your descriptions to HTML automatically, but when it sees a part of that description is typed between two HTML tags, it does not convert, but, instead, writes the HTML like you tell it. This is very, very nifty and you can achieve pretty dramatic results by knowing about five HTML codes.
   Graphics Capability: The way it comes, NetCatalog is set to display small graphics on the sub-category pages and larger ones on the item pages. You can globally designate these sizes. Or not use them if you want.
   What impressed us the most is that NetCatalog has a built-in TWAIN interface. With a scanner or digital camera in hand, this makes adding graphics so easy it is a sin not to do it. You type your description of the product and then click on an empty graphic box and select your TWAIN source. NetCatalog scans or downloads your graphic directly into itself. No muss, no fuss, no scanning a bunch of stuff and then fetching it. This is so easy to use it is scary.
   NetCatalog also sets up default cart, category, sub-category and item graphics. You can substitute the ones which come with the program to use your own. Additionally, you can specify backgrounds, page colors and the like. And by the way, the supplied headings are top-notch. Of course, if everyone uses them the sites would look alike, but if you are graphically challenged, you won't lose anything by using the supplied graphics.
   Order Options: NetCatalog really shines with its order options functions. What options do you want? You decide. Each option category – size, color, you name it – possibility is shown on the item page in a drop-down list. You can have an unlimited number of them. When an option costs more or less than the "basic" item, NetCatalog shows how much that amount is.
   You may ask, how does all of this get communicated to you? Simple, when NetCatalog writes the order it emails to you, it includes each option and what it is. NetCatalog also displays the options a customer has ordered on the shopping cart page, and it includes the amount the option(s) costs in the total. You don't have to figure out what that amount might be.
   This is really snazzy. And, because you determine what the options are, they can be anything you want. You can also have "no cost" options, so if you will include a gift card, say, for free, all you need to do is set up a "yes" and "no" option with a zero cost. This looks good too the customer, too.
   Configurable: We've already mentioned many of the ways NetCatalog can be configured with custom graphics and colors, using simple HTML and the like. While it may not seem like much at first glance, the ability to use regular HTML tags in any place where you can type something offers a number of amazing possibilities. Indeed, it makes the whole of your NetCatalog look like your NetCatalog and no one else's.
   NetCatalog also uses scheme sets for consistency of operation. You can just tell it where to look for its default graphics and other configurable items and it will pick up all of them. Particularly if you opt for the professional edition which lets you have more than one catalog on a single web site, you can set up these configurations in separate directories and have then automatically load when you work on a particular site.
   NetCatalog works by merging the information you place in your catalog with standard HTML templates. The code is lean and mean, by the way, which allows for faster loading. But, in addition, the templates themselves are written in standard HTML, so if you wanted, for instance, your email address at the bottom of each page, you could simply edit the template itself to do this.
   Support: We had three or four questions during the course of this review, and the people at Grafix never failed to answer us within 24 hours. Every answer worked. Due to the structure of the server we use, there was a real quirk in how the program needed to be set up, but it was solved in the wink of an eye.
   Grafix will also let you use its own servers for secure transactions. The way this works is NetCatalog will send information directly to a secure server, which encrypts all the information and then emails it to you. NetCatalog itself has a decrypting function built in so your customers' information is safe on the internet. The program, of course, interfaces with credit card verification software with ease.
   A word should be said for the preview and publishing functions. Outstanding. NetCatalog will quickly generate all the files necessary to view your shopping cart and then display it in your default browser. When it comes time to publish your creation, NetCatalog opens your file server, uploads everything (including the graphics) and puts it all in the proper place. This file transfer is fast, too. It gave our internet connection all it could handle.
   There are, as we said, a large number of shopping cart applications available today. NetCatalog is very simply the best. It takes a very complicated process and makes it easy, presents it extremely well and makes the ordering function work without a hassle for both you and your customers.
   NetCatalog is a Mercedes. It has elegance, power and form. A top-notch program with top-notch support.

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