KB / Account Control Panel / Goodies :: Miva Merchant

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The April 2006 Newsletter announced a transition to Zen Cart.

The following message currently appears in the Miva Section of the Panel:

Decommissioned!

We have decided to decommission our use of Miva. This was for a variety of reasons including their lack of support for MySQL 5, problems with NFS, relatively poor customer service, and the great quality of our new FREE one-click install, Zen Cart!

If you are currently using Miva, you may continue to do so forever of course! For the forseeable future, we will continue doing our best to assist you with any Miva-related issues as well. We will not, however, be offering any future updates to Miva Merchant. Thank you for your understanding!

This wiki article remains here for the purposes of legacy support.

Miva Merchant (a $695 value) is a browser-based system that allows you to set up an online store. It contains numerous wizards for building and maintaining your store, as well as key features including:
  • Real time credit card processing
  • Quickbooks export
  • SSL integration for ordering and reporting
  • Email notification of orders
  • And much more!
For more information, go here:

http://www.miva.com/products/merchant/

Miva Merchant Documentation for all major versions:

http://smallbusiness.miva.com/docs/merchant/


Contents

Parent Article

Setting up your Miva service through the Web Panel

Ok, you've got your Merchant Account. You've got your GeoTrust certificate. You've signed up for the Code Monster or Strictly Business plan. What now?

  1. Log in to the Account Control Panel. Select the Goodies tab, and click on the Miva link. If your hosting plan does not include Miva, this link will not show up on your Account Control Panel!
  2. Click this checkbox to enable the Miva engine. <img src = "./images/illustrations/regservice.gif">
  3. Use the first drop down menu to select the user under whom Miva Merchant will be run: <img src = "./images/illustrations/runmivaas.gif">
  4. Use the second drop down menu to select the directory where Miva Merchant data will be stored: <img src = "./images/illustrations/storemiva.gif">
  5. Click on this link to install Miva Merchant on your directory, and to configure it: <img src = "./images/illustrations/mivasetup.gif">
  6. Click on this link to read Miva's own Merchant documentation: <img src = "./images/illustrations/mivahowto.gif">
  7. Click here to ask our Technical Support team for your license number: <img src = "./images/illustrations/dhsupportlink.gif">
  8. Press the Save button, and you're on your way! <img src = "./images/illustrations/savebutton.gif">

Is credit card acceptance built into Miva Merchant, or do I have to do that separately?

To use Miva Merchant, you need to have a Merchant Account through a Merchant Account Provider (MAP). You can find a list of Merchant Account Providers accepted by Miva, by going here (search for Merchant Account Providers in the Categories section):

http://www.miva.com/partners/index.mvc?list=merchant_account_provider

For a detailed list of Miva Merchant's features, go here:

Miva Merchant: Features

For a complete list of everything you need to run Miva Merchant, as well as a detailed explanation of Merchant Accounts, refer to the articles in the Related Links list to the left of this window.


What's a Merchant Account, and how do I get one?

A Merchant Account is a service offered by a Merchant Account Provider (MAP --- also MSP or ISO), which includes the following:
  • Credit card verification
  • Processing credit card transactions
  • Depositing money from the transaction into your account
You must apply for a merchant account through a Merchant Account Provider. There are a dizzying number of MAPs, and their services are all a little different. Three of the most popular MAPs are:

Miva Merchant Users' Manual

If you have problems using Miva Merchant, please consult their handy online documentation:

http://www.miva.com/docs/merchant/

Can I have more than one store with my Miva Merchant service?

Yes!

We will supply you with the domain license, which allows you to run Miva on your domain --- this includes one store license.

Additional stores cost $159 each, and can be purchased at

http://www.miva.com/purchase/Merchant2/merchant.mv.


What do I need to use Miva Merchant?

To set up Miva Merchant for your account, you must have all of the following:
  1. A unique IP
  2. A secure certificate
  3. A merchant account
  4. A second domain or subdomain, if you wish to run CGI scripts (Miva Merchant disables all CGI scripts residing on the same domain)
#1 comes with the Strictly Business plan. You'll need to purchase it separately from the 'billing'->'services' section of the web panel if you're on a lower plan.
  1. 2 must be obtained through GeoTrust.com or other secure certificate retailer
  2. 3 must be obtained through a Merchant Account Provider (see the related link, "What's a Merchant Account, and how do I get one?" in the Related Links column to the left of this window, for more information.)
  3. 4 you can get from Dreamhost.

Do I need a merchant account if I use Miva Merchant?

Yes.

Miva supports a variety of Merchant Account Providers. Go here for a complete list (search for Merchant Account Providers in the Categories section)

http://smallbusiness.miva.com/partners/index.mvc?list=merchant_account_provider

Some merchants require special modules to be inserted into the Miva configuration file. For this reason, be sure to tell Technical Support which merchant account provider you decide to go with.

For more information about Merchant Accounts and Merchant Account Providers (MAPs), refer to the Related Link in the column to the left of this window.


Do I need a secure certificate to use Miva Merchant?

Yes, usually.

Unless you use a third-party payment solution where the customer is taken off your site to a secure address, you'll need to obtain a secure certificate so that your transactions are secure (i.e. encrypted).

You can request a certificate from GeoTrust:

http://geotrust.com/web_security/

A certificate costs $159 and up. (one comes free on the Strictly Business plan)

Make sure that the domain name for your certificate is the same as the domain name of your store (for example: store.yourdomain.com).

Using Miva Merchant with your CGI scripts

Miva Merchant disables all CGI scripts residing on the same domain.

At this point, the only way to work around this, is to put your CGI scripts on a different domain. We recommend putting Miva Merchant on a subdomain, like store.yourdomain.com, while your CGIs remain on your main domain (yourdomain.com), a different subdomain (cgi.yourdomain.com), or even on a different domain (mycooldomain.com).

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