I've signed up for a developer account on BigCommerce and would like to be able to set up my own sandbox style store where I can use the data from my actual store without actually changing anything in production, like how other sandbox developer environments work. Is this possible?
I know of the big open sandbox for you to play with (store-bwvr466.mybigcommerce.com) but this is open to all developer accounts, so I shouldn't work with real data there because other developers could get to it and/or change the same things that I'm working on.
Also I'm having the same issue as this BigCommerce Developer as well. Would adding an API key to the Dashboard have something to do with possibly having a sandbox, since the only API key on the dashboard right now is for the sandbox?
sign up for a trial store and we should be able to convert it into a sandbox for you. Just contact us with your trial store url. Thanks!
Related
I'm trying to write a simple clientside script that used the venmo api to automate some aspects of my account. The first step is getting an access token by going to the developer tab on the settings page. However, whenever I click, "Get Token", the page just redirects me to my profile settings tab with no further information. Going back to the developer tab, nothing has changed, and I still don't have an access token. I've already filled in every aspect of my profile; my name, phone number, profile image, everything. I can't find anyone else with a similar problem. What am I doing wrong?
Unfortunately, the Venmo API is no longer available to new developers. I was having the same problem and reached out to them directly to confirm. The message I received from one of their support staff yesterday:
Thanks so much for your interest in Venmo! Unfortunately at this time we have discontinued accepting new users of our Developer API. We want to support all of our friends in the development community as much as we can, but at this time we are focusing our efforts towards expanding on our recent launch of the ability to use Venmo to purchase items in select merchant apps. Going forward this will allow us to provide many of the same capabilities previously powered by our Developer API in a more streamlined experience for users and developers alike. I apologize for the inconvenience.
It's too bad.
I want to write an app for BigCommerce.
On the BigCommerce developer website, it says
"Before you begin, you’ll need a sandbox store. BigCommerce offers app developers free sandbox stores through its Technology Partner Program. To get your sandbox store, apply to become a BigCommerce Technology Partner. To be approved as a partner, you will need:
A website.
The ability to support users of your app."
I have written code to modify themes using trial stores in the past without being a partner. (That is not what I am trying to do here, I did that in the past. I am trying to write an app, ANY app. I made the statement about modifying themes with a trial store to emphasize the fact that I know that I can do that and I am assuming that the sandbox store has other capabilities like the ability to access the control panel code.) As far as I can see, an app will need to integrate with the control panel code that I cannot see from just having a store. So, I am assuming that the sandbox store issued when approved as a partner will have this capability.
I sent an email to BigCommerce asking about the approval requirements and their reply was this.
“you must prove that you are an application developer. This consists of a website where you showcase the functionality and current companies that are possibly using your app.
If you have issue with the requirement to be approved as a partner you will need to speak with the team that does the approvals. Partnersupport#bigcommerce.com”
This reply came from appstore#bigcommerce.com. Why wasn't my email forwarded to Partnersupport#bigcommerce.com to begin with so I could get a more comprehensive answer? I did forward it to them and I am still waiting for an answer.
I am confused about this requirement.
I want to write a BigCommerce app. Are they saying that I cannot write a BigCommerce app unless I have written a BigCommerce app before? Are they saying that I have to have written other apps in general? If I write a great app, why would it matter if it is my first?
After I write the app, I can set up a webpage for it and submit it for approval.
How can I "showcase the functionality and current companies that are possibly using your(my) app" when it is an app specifically written for BigCommerce?
I cannot write the app unless I understand how to integrate it with BigCommerce.
As far as I can see, I cannot understand how to integrate it with BigCommerce unless I am a partner.
Am I missing something here?
Is there some other way to approach this?
Sr Marketplace Mgr for BigCommerce here. I think there are a few items of clarification I can offer:
You do not have to have an existing BigCommerce app to be approved for a partnership. You do however need some evidence of your existing work. If you don't have a portfolio, website, or other examples of your development work, it's difficult for our Partners team to determine if you're a qualified developer.
Partner apps will not have access to modify the BC control panel or core code. Apps must use our public APIs to work with a BC user's data or settings. Any settings that are in the CP but not in our APIs can't be modified directly via an app.
Any storefront changes - such as an edit to a BC theme to display weight in two different units - would have to be done using HTML/CSS/JS in the theme itself. We don't have an API for programmatically changing a storefront theme at this time.
If any of your questions for BigCommerce involve your app or app development, you'll need to direct them to my team at appstore#bigcommerce.com. Directing questions regarding your app to partnersupport#bigcommerce.com will be forwarded to my team. That channel is primarily for questions around the Partners program in general, and won't be able to provide detailed support on the app developer program.
Hopefully this clears up some of your confusion, please reach out to me at appstore#bigcommerce.com and I'll be happy to respond myself if you need more info.
Cheers - John
Is this possible?
The reason for asking is that the 2016 update with the Instagram API creates a sandbox and live environment. The sandbox is of limited value since you only get to use data of those users within the sandbox. If you get denied for the live upgrade, your existing application was wasted in effort.
I would like to identify a second possibility (such as HTTP?). Anything exists?
Looks like a valid use case for brands/businesses, complete the app make it look professional and get reviewed for public_content permission, submit a video of app.
No other way to get around, just follow the guidelines and get app approved.
Yes, this is possible with Selenium and Proxies
I was redirected here by Shopify support. I have three main questions for a project I'll be working on and wanted to see how possible some of the things would be.
We are looking to develop a plugin for use with Shopify to track purchases through the use of a link shortener (to see which link referred what purchases, etc.). I have a few questions that I'm not 100% sure on even after reading through the documentation.
The first problem that I seem to have is tracking the query string that the link shortener appends to the URL once it redirects. For this service, they use "?visit_id={hash}" and I need to be able to access this--at the very least on the "Thank You" page after an order. I saw in the docs that there is "landing_page_ref" (http://wiki.shopify.com/Order#landing_site_ref) but considering our query string is "visit_id" instead of one of the acceptable parameters, how would I be able to use that query string?
Lastly, I just have a question about how webhooks work with plugins that are on the app store. I know I can just call webhooks to wherever I want, like my personal server, but if this app gets onto the app store, I obviously don't want to hook everything to my own server. Is there a way to make it run on the store itself, and which URL should I use?
Lastly, what is the preferred method for handling configuration options for the plugin? Is there a way to hook into the admin backend or would all configuration have to be in a file within the plugin?
Thanks,
Andrew
I'll do my best to answer these for you. It sounds like you're used to building plugins for something like Wordpress - Shopify apps are a bit different.
You can't access anything on the thank you page for the order.
The thank you page/checkout process goes through a secured Shopify page that you don't have access to - so if you want information about what your URL shortener attached to the store pages, you'll need to retrieve it while they're on the page (using something like a ScriptTag + Javascript to track the query string), or hope that it's inside the Order when you retrieve it later (using the API or a webhook).
Webhooks need to talk to a server you run.
They send the information to you, and then you process it and deal with it. If you want to use webhooks, you will need to run a server with your app on it for the webhooks to talk to.
You manage your own config.
Because you're running your own server to handle those webhooks, you handle configuration for your plugin there. The apps I've worked on typically have their own database for managing configuration options, as well as an admin panel to manage them (it's what the user accesses when they click 'Log Into [Your App]' on the "Manage Apps" screen).
You'll need to run your own server to host your Shopify app.
I've seen different documentation on various forums and site on different ways of using Paypal api, here is a pretty useful link: https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=developer/e_howto_api_ECOnMobileDevices&bn_r=o/, My question is a little different i do not want to use any of the Paypal libraries offered to us in my app, this is the link to libraries:https://www.x.com/developers/paypal/documentation-tools/sdk , I also do not want to gather any personal information, I want Paypal to take care of everything. So in other words I want to be able to open up a UIWebview to the Paypal's mobile site if possible (or if not the regular site will work) have to user log in with his credential or he can use the express checkout option and get back the transaction ID, or receipt what ever is available. I'm a little new to iOS and any help is appreciated.
If you don't want to use any libraries or API's, Express Checkout won't work for you.
Which does make it somewhat easier, as you can just use PayPal Website Payments Standard in a UIWebView instead.
For example; just open https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_xclick&business=your#email.tld&amount=1.99¤cy_code=GBP
This will start a 1.99 GBP payment to email#here.tld via PayPal, and automatically use a mobile layout.
If you subsequently want to receive transaction information; set up PayPal IPN on your account and use that to receive transaction-related events. This can be handled outside your app, and thus take away precious processing power to the server.
For an overview on getting started with PayPal IPN, have a look at https://www.paypal.com/ipn/
I would strongly suggest against trying to do transactions through paypal. If you look at the App Store Review Guidelines it states that
11.2 Apps utilizing a system other than the In App Purchase API (IAP) to purchase content, functionality, or services in an app will be rejected