CornerStore

Your Store on Your Website.  No Monthly/Annual Fees.

Your Store on Your Website.  Quick and easy setup.  No monthly/annual fees.  Start selling now!
Live Demo Download Buy Now
Do you know how rare it is to have a "canned" shopping cart that can easily do complex pricing options on a single item?  Basically, they don't exist!  I have looked.  Everywhere!  And the few that might even come close to CornerStore's functionality cost a fortune!
– Tashina P.

About

CornerStore is a store & shopping-cart app for your website.  It features product categories, support for as many products as you like, multiple product images per product, and customizable per-item options such as color, size, etc.  It'll run on just about any website/server, and you can install it pretty easily yourself, or let us install it for you.

Contents

Live Demo
Screenshots
Features
Download
Instructions: Apache on Mac/Linux/BSD
Instructions: Apache on Windows
Instructions: IIS on Windows
FAQ
Support
ChangeLog

Live Demo

CornerStore powers the shopping cart here on encodable.com, so you can see a live demo at encodable.com/cart/.  Of course, there's more to CornerStore than just the shopping cart; you can see more in the screenshots and in the trial version.

Screenshots

Here are screenshots of some of CornerStore's pages:

Features

  • Simple installation: just upload the "cgi-bin" and "store" folders to your website, edit a few settings in the prefs file, and you're ready to go.
  • Simple configuration: all configuration is done within a single plain text file, your cornerstore_prefs.cgi file.  Day-to-day operations like creating and editing items to sell, and creating/editing product categories, are done through the web browser.
  • Appearance is fully customizable via standard CSS styling.
  • Supports an unlimited number of items for sale, and unlimited product categories.
  • Unlimited custom per-item options (such as size, color, etc), which can optionally include price adjustments (for example if certain colors for a given item should be more expensive)
  • Supports both Stripe and PayPal for payment processing, so you can maximize your sales.  Accept credit card payments on your own site with Stripe, and accept PayPal payments as well, for customers who prefer to pay that way.
  • Supports product images, including multiple images per item.
  • Supports promo codes, including both percentage discounts and dollar-amount discounts.
  • Can integrate with FileChucker for easy selling of any files in your FileChucker folders.
  • Built-in password protection, with optional support for UserBase user accounts.
  • Supports both HTTP and HTTPS, for sites that have SSL encryption certificates.
  • Works on virtually any server (known to work on Apache, IIS, Windows, Linux, and OS X Server) and any client (tested in Mozilla/Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer, Safari, and Chrome).
  • For more, see the FAQ and the cornerstore_prefs.cgi file in the trial version.

Download

You can download the trial version of CornerStore to try it out on your website.  The trial version is meant for testing on your server, and as such, it has several features disabled, including checkout, password protection, and email notification, and the item catalog is limited to 7 items.

Quick Instructions for Most Servers (Apache on Linux, Mac OS X, BSD)

Most servers already have MySQL installed, but if yours doesn't, then download and install the free MySQL Community Server, and then create a database and a MySQL user account.

Unzip your cornerstore.zip file, then upload the contents of the www.example.com folder onto your website.  Then visit the following address, replacing example.com with your own domain name:

www.example.com/cgi-bin/cornerstore.cgi

If you see a message about adjusting your database prefs, then CornerStore is working properly.  You should now read the FAQ.

If nothing works, read the full instructions.

Quick Instructions for Apache-on-Windows Servers

If your server doesn't already have Perl installed, download and install the free ActivePerl.  You may need to reboot after installing it.  Open a command prompt and type   perl -v   and if you get some output about Perl and its version info, you should be all set.

If you had to install Perl, you'll also need to install the DBD::MySQL Perl module (and probably the MIME::Lite module) by opening the Run dialog or a command prompt and then typing ppm install DBD-mysql (and then ppm install MIME-Lite).  Or you can run just the ppm command by itself to use the graphical installer.

Now follow the regular Apache instructions.

Quick Instructions for IIS-on-Windows Servers

If your server doesn't already have Perl installed, download and install the free ActivePerl.  You may need to reboot after installing it.  Open a command prompt and type   perl -v   and if you get some output about Perl and its version info, you should be all set.

If you had to install Perl, you'll also need to install the DBD::MySQL Perl module (and probably the MIME::Lite module) by opening the Run dialog or a command prompt and then typing ppm install DBD-mysql (and then ppm install MIME-Lite).  Or you can run just the ppm command by itself to use the graphical installer.

If your server doesn't already have MySQL installed, download and install the free MySQL Community Server.  Once it's installed, create a database and a MySQL user account.

Unzip your cornerstore.zip file, then open the www.example.com folder and move the contents of the cgi-bin folder into the store folder.  Then delete the cgi-bin folder.  Upload the "store" folder onto your website, then visit the following address, replacing example.com with your own domain name:

www.example.com/store/cornerstore.cgi

If you see a message about adjusting your database prefs, then CornerStore is working properly.  You should now read the FAQ.

If nothing works, read the full instructions.

Full Instructions for Most Servers (Apache on Linux, Mac OS X, BSD)

Want us to install it for you?  Just purchase the CornerStore Installation Package.  We also provide customization and integration services -- just ask!

Note I: Do not edit the cornerstore.cgi file unless absolutely necessary; instead, edit cornerstore_prefs.cgi for all your customizations.

Note II: if you are using Windows on your desktop, and when you open the *.cgi file, the lines all appear to be crunched together, try opening it in Wordpad (not Word) instead.  In Wordpad, save the file; this should fix the line-endings so the file's contents appear correctly in other editors like Notepad.

On your website:

  1. First, complete the quick instructions.
  2. Set the permissions on /cgi-bin/cornerstore.cgi (aka, chmod it) to world-readable and world-executable, that is, a+rx or mode 0755.  Do NOT use 0777.
  3. Set the permissions on the /cgi-bin/encdata/ directory to world-readable, -writable, and -executable, that is, a+rwx or mode 0777.
  4. In your browser, go to yoursite.com/cgi-bin/cornerstore.cgi and follow the brief instructions that it gives you.  (It will instruct you to set the database options in cornerstore_prefs.cgi.)
  5. If you get an Internal Server Error, it's most likely a permissions problem.  See this page for more details.
  6. (Optional) For maximum security, consider purchasing and installing an SSL certificate on your server.  This allows you to use https:// URLs instead of http:// URLs, which encrypts all communications between your website and its visitors.
  7. Read the FAQ.

CornerStore is now ready to use, and you can access it by visiting yoursite.com/cgi-bin/cornerstore.cgi (or yoursite.com/store/ if your server supports it).

Full Instructions for Apache-on-Windows Servers

Want us to install it for you?  Just purchase the CornerStore Installation Package.  We also provide customization and integration services -- just ask!

Note I: Do not edit the cornerstore.cgi file unless absolutely necessary; instead, edit cornerstore_prefs.cgi for all your customizations.

Note II: if you are using Windows on your desktop, and when you open the *.cgi file, the lines all appear to be crunched together, try opening it in Wordpad (not Word) instead.  In Wordpad, save the file; this should fix the line-endings so the file's contents appear correctly in other editors like Notepad.

On your website:

  1. First, complete the quick instructions.
  2. In your browser, go to yoursite.com/cgi-bin/cornerstore.cgi and follow the brief instructions that it gives you.  (It will instruct you to set the database options in cornerstore_prefs.cgi.)
  3. If it doesn't execute or you get errors, you may need to change the first line of the cornerstore.cgi file from #!/usr/bin/perl to either #!perl or #!c:\path\to\perl.exe
  4. If it doesn't execute or you get errors, you may need to rename the script and its prefs file from a .cgi extension to a .pl extension.
  5. If you get errors about CornerStore being unable to delete something from the encdata folder, you may need to set a "Delete" bit on the folder's properties.
  6. (Optional) For maximum security, consider purchasing and installing an SSL certificate on your server.  This allows you to use https:// URLs instead of http:// URLs, which encrypts all communications between your website and its visitors.
  7. Read the FAQ.

CornerStore is now ready to use, and you can access it by visiting yoursite.com/cgi-bin/cornerstore.cgi (or yoursite.com/store/ if your server supports it).

Full Instructions for IIS-on-Windows Servers

Want us to install it for you?  Just purchase the CornerStore Installation Package.  We also provide customization and integration services -- just ask!

Note I: Do not edit the cornerstore.cgi file unless absolutely necessary; instead, edit cornerstore_prefs.cgi for all your customizations.

Note II: if you are using Windows on your desktop, and when you open the *.cgi file, the lines all appear to be crunched together, try opening it in Wordpad (not Word) instead.  In Wordpad, save the file; this should fix the line-endings so the file's contents appear correctly in other editors like Notepad.

On your website:

  1. First, complete the quick instructions.
  2. In your browser, go to yoursite.com/store/cornerstore.cgi and follow the brief instructions that it gives you.  (It will instruct you to set the database options in cornerstore_prefs.cgi.)
  3. If it doesn't execute or you get errors, you may need to complete one or more of these steps (most are not necessary on most IIS servers, so try one at a time):

    Rename the script and its prefs file from a .cgi extension to a .pl extension.

    Change the first line of the cornerstore.cgi file from #!/usr/bin/perl to either #!perl or #!c:\path\to\perl.exe

    For the /store/encdata folder, do the following: right-click on the folder, choose Properties, and go to the Security tab.  Find or add the IUSR_computername account, and give it "Full Control".  This account is sometimes called the Internet Guest Account.

    Run the inetmgr command and change the CGI web service extension from "prohibited" to "allowed".

    Run the inetmgr command and right-click on the website and choose Properties.  Go to the "Home Directory" tab, then to "Application Settings", and set "Execute permissions" to "Scripts and Executables".

    Run the inetmgr command and go to "Application Settings" then "Configuration", and add an application extension for .cgi (and .pl) with the executable set to: C:\Perl\bin\perl.exe "%s" %s

    If you get errors about CornerStore being unable to delete something from the encdata folder, you may need to set a "Delete" bit on the folder's properties.
  4. (Optional) For maximum security, consider purchasing and installing an SSL certificate on your server.  This allows you to use https:// URLs instead of http:// URLs, which encrypts all communications between your website and its visitors.
  5. Read the FAQ.

CornerStore is now ready to use, and you can access it by visiting yoursite.com/store/cornerstore.cgi (or yoursite.com/store/ if your server supports it).

Support

For many issues, the best place to get support is in the FAQ.

If you are getting an Internal Server Error message when you try to access CornerStore on your server, please try the solutions on our Internal Server Error page.

If you're getting errors about missing Perl modules, please see our instructions on how to install Perl modules.

If you still need help, you can contact us.

ChangeLog

v2.00 (20120311):

  • First public release, after several years of usage on our own sites and on a few select client sites.

Shopping Cart

Client Quotes

Do you know how rare it is to have a "canned" shopping cart that can easily do complex pricing options on a single item?  Basically, they don't exist!  I have looked.  Everywhere!  And the few that might even come close to CornerStore's functionality cost a fortune!
– Tashina P.
FileChucker is helping drive the backend of several high profile entertainment sites for people like Shania Twain and Dolly Parton.  We're also using it to drive backend file uploads for a multi-billion dollar banking institution.  It's a great product.  We've tried other "chucking" upload solutions with progress bars using flash and php, but nothing works as reliably as FileChucker.
– Michael W.
You've done a wonderful job with FileChucker and UserBase, and they have made a big difference to how our website runs.
– Nicholas H.
Thank you VERY much for all of your help.  You've really impressed me.  We have support agreements for other software that costs thousands of dollars / year (just for the support), and most of them aren't as helpful as you have been.
– Keith Y.
The amount of customization in the program is incredible.  I was able to integrate it into my existing page layout relatively simply.  I was also able to easily customize the look/feel to match the current site.
– Jason M.
I looked all over trying to find a simple cgi script.  I found that FileChucker was by far the best.  If you have issues with your hosting service's php.ini max upload size then this is the way to go.  Looking forward to future enhancements.
– Bob C.
FileChucker is a great drop-in solution for file uploads, and worth every penny of its very reasonable cost.  Encodable's support is excellent to boot.
– Loren A.
I want to thank you for your efforts on Userbase. It has become an integral part of our business and has allowed us to branch out and begin using automation on a lot of our processes. Userbase has become the gateway to advancement for our company's processes for our clients and employees.
– Guy Smith, Critical Signal Technologies
The work, the thought and the organization you put into this app is incredible.
– Bruce C.
I just want to say you guys really stand alone in that you have a quality product and you provide genuine customer service.  It's sad but those qualities are seldom found separately, much less together.  Thanks again for your time and help.
– Alex S.
I just wanted to say that yours is the first product that I've tested so far that hasn't failed on handling uploads.  This is going to work for a print company, so they are handling nothing but large files and all the other solutions I've tried so far have not been reliable.  So far yours has been 100% successful in my tests.
– Kevin H.
I just installed the demo of your product and got it up and running in no time.  I searched high and low for a decent login script and thank God I found yours.
– Adrian F.
Thanks again for a great product and great support - beyond expectations.
– Greg S.
Our members think your software is fantastic...  I would recommend your software and your company to anyone.  Thanks for all your help.  It has been a pleasure dealing with you.
– Tommy A.
FileChucker is working great...  Clients love it.  Vendors love it.  We love it.
– Gerry W.
Just one word: Fantastic.  10-minute job to plug FileChucker into my app, and it now works a treat.  It's through the hard work by people like yourselves that make my job so much easier.  Congratulations on an outstanding product... Many many thanks.
– Sean F.
Why didn't I just do this from the get-go?  So much easier.  Thanks for your work.  FileChucker makes my work easier.
– Dominic M.
Nice script, it's saving the day on our project.
– Aaron W.