The X-Cart Forum is a great place to learn about X-Cart , talk to developers and other users, as well as find out what steps to take to get your shop ready for launch. Here are a few tips - important because the default X-Cart settings are not always the best and by the time you realise it is often too late.

• Make sure your images are in the File System not the Database
• Put your shop in the root folder, not /store, or /shop and definitely not /xcart
• At the very least use some form of search engine friendly URLs mod
• Don't leave any folders with 777
• Change your admin username and password

If you have plenty of time and enjoy learning and seeing the fruits of your own labours and/or no budget, then you will want to take on the shop development yourself. If you need any help or advice just ask us or search or post a message in the forum.

Quick to Market
It is widely agreed that the X-Cart learning curve is steep and while developing your own store can be fun and rewarding on a personal level - business wise it may not be so good. Every day you are not trading is another lost order to your competitor.

The quickest way to market is to have your store built for you - thus ensuring that you are creating the best shopping experience for your customers so that they feel secure in spending money with you. Also your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is correct - mistakes here may mean more than a few lost clients, you could be blacklisted for months. Having your site professionally set-up means you are reducing the threat of fraud and hacking attempts. X-Cart is popular with criminals as well as clients as you will see from the X-Cart Forum.