<HTML>
<HEAD><TITLE>Welcome to Minivend 2.0</TITLE></HEAD>
<BODY BGCOLOR=WHITE>
<H1>MiniVend</H1>
<I>MiniVend</I> is a full-featured electronic catalog system (commonly
known as a shopping cart) with fast and easy online ordering. It is designed
to provide an interface complete with SSL security and full database
support. It is as powerful as commercial systems costing thousands
of dollars.
<P>
MiniVend is freely-redistributable under the GNU General Public License
-- you can <A HREF="download.html">download</A> it via FTP.
<P>
There is now a
question (FAQ) list</A> for MiniVend.
<P>
If you want to see what can be done with MiniVend, see some of the
<H2>MiniVend 2.0 Features</H2>
<UL>
<LI> Users maintain a "shopping cart" for ordered items
<LI> Multiple independent or shared catalogs allow one server to
run many storefronts or a "mall"
<LI> SSL support means secure and practical credit card ordering
<LI> PGP support for secure off-site mailing of orders
<LI> Catalogs can be of almost unlimited size with <B>excellent</B> performance
<LI> Multi-server mode for very high capacity on systems with sufficient memory
<LI> Forked searches for consistent response time in single-server mode
<LI> Cookie support allows browsers to leave catalog and come back without
losing session state
<LI> Complete addressable database support with virtually unlimited rows and columns
</UL>
<H3>Powerful search capability</H3>
<UL>
<LI> Fast binary search
<LI> One-click scan and search -- build a whole search in
a single HREF
<LI> Complete Glimpse interface
<LI> Range searching, numeric and alphanumeric
<LI> Independent field search selection and return
<LI> Search any file, build results from any database
</UL>
<H3>Complete control of appearance</H3>
<UL>
<LI> Full frames support
<LI> Catalog pages automatically selected -- either built "on the fly" from
the database or pre-made for popular items
<LI> Embedded Perl and conditional HTML allow complex and flexible catalog
pages to be completely built from the database
</UL>
<H3>Flexible Ordering Process</H3>
<LI> Multi-level order screens with configurable field verification
<LI> Shipping calculation, mixed modes, with UPS table lookup
<LI> Sales tax calculation, with fully independent non-taxable item and taxed shipping
<LI> Fully-configurable discounts with coupons or across-the-board
discounts
<LI> Fully-configurable quantity pricing
<LI> Back end order entry capability
<LI> Full client-side imagemap support, including frame targets and form submits
<LI> Fully configurable order reports
<H3>Easy Administration</H3>
<LI> Automated installation and configuration
<LI> Runs under Perl 5 and almost any UNIX
<LI> Designed to be secure, runs with taint checking enabled
<LI> Built-in online help capability
<LI> Works well with <I>all</I> browsers
</UL>
<P>
Andrew Wilcox wrote
the copylefted shopping cart software. MiniVend is based
on Vend V0.2, but enhanced considerably, adding
support for
frames</a>, powerful searching, remote administration, super<I>fast</I> server
mode, conditional HTML, user-customizable help and displays, and much more.
This version of MiniVend includes an automatic configuration and installation
utility, and continues to be free under the GNU copyleft.
<P>
To learn more about <STRONG>MiniVend</STRONG>, see the
HTML documentation</A>,
site</A>, or
<P>
</BODY>