zStore z5 – 23.12 – an amazon Affiliate Store December 31^st 2023
zStore uses the Amazon Product Advertising API PA API 5.0

$\\$

$\\$ Product Page: https://z5.envato.homac.at with demos for german (full API support), italian, british and french marketplace
Admin Page: https://z5.de.envato.homac.at/z-admin.php
$\\$ ★ using Amazon Product Advertising API 5.0
★ can be used with suitable marktplace (de, co.uk, in, fr, it, es, ...)
★ easy to add/modify languages
★ and much more ☺

$\\$ $\\$ $\\$ $\\$ Known PA API 5.0 Issues

suggestions – not part of API 5.0 yet, could be supported in the future – I have built additional search results on brand and, if available, actors meanwhile in z5
editorial reviews – not part of API 5.0 yet, could be supported in the future – but you can still use the editorial reviews section for each item in the backend with z5
ratings – not part of API 5.0 yet, could be supported in the future
customer reviews – not supported

→ more information here: https://webservices.amazon.com/paapi5/....

Simple installation Just update the config file at least with your database credentials, upload files, point browser to installation folder and follow simplest instructions to install your amazon affilate store

Categories are used to handle your products – you can display these categories each as single menue item in the navigation bar. It’s also possible to make just one single dropdown menu item containing all of the product categories OR you can even hide all of the categories while they are still accessible with their links

Requirements - serverside

Apache Webserver (Linux OS is officially supported, on Windows systems could occur some dircetory issues)
- activated mod_rewrite module
PHP 8.2.x (8.2.14)
- mysqli
- curl with the possibility to grab content from amazon webservice servers
- JSON module support
- SimpleXML module support for youtube video embedding
- GD-Library for CMS images media library
- DOMDocument module support for HTML Parsing (API less import)
Mysqli 8.x+ or MariaDB 10.x+

PA-API 5 Requirements for Affiliates
All sites must be HTTPS: so you need an SSL certificate. You really should do this anyway for SEO and conversion purposes. Most hosts now have free SSL even the Let’s Encrypt type ones are fine for this.

    ... but I have to say that it has been worked w/o SSL support too, however I'd recommend using SSL cerificates too

possibility to handle cron jobs on server

Requirements - Data/Information/Knowledge

way to access your server via ftp, ssh, scp..
credentials for a mysql database or the possibility to create a database with needed credentials
some knowledge in HTML/CSS/PHP if you like to make some changes to the layout and adapt/add custom pages

Requirements - Amazon Some of the infromation regarding the API-Key management defer a bit because the Amazon backends not fully updated now!

amazon Account
and signed in to the amazon affiliate program
and having an active Amazon Product Advertising API Key
more details in the help section in the zStore Manual in the Backend
You can test your API key in the backend (of the demo) too

If you are already a member of the amazon affiliate program but still having no Amazon Product Advertising API Key you might find this youtube videos useful:

~~german language pack~~ done with 1.05
~~upgrade possibility for zStore PA API 4.0 users~~ done with 1.05
~~using category of parents – for breadcrumbs and displaying items of category on product pages~~ done with 1.05
caching of amazon suggestions/searches to avoid requests
~~fix “add 2 cart” issue on listings view (layout flone)~~ done with 1.06
~~add “new” and missing language keys for zStore PA API 4.0 upgrade procedure~~ done with 1.06
~~add stars rating~~ unfortunately there’s currently no way to do this w/o violating API terms and risk affiliate partnership
~~fixing cart currency issues~~ done with 1.06
~~importing item data without the need of an active API key~~ done with 1.10
??? adding own comments/rating system
~~multiple ASINs for imports and variations on Amazon communication to reduce requests~~ canceled
import/export for languages
popular items – count clicks
~~save searches~~ done with 1.06
~~enhanced live debugging during Amazon communications~~ canceled
~~cache any json query for later processing~~ canceled

coming with 3 layouts – more information here soon

Features

add items from amazon to your store with the greatest of ease by
- searching amazon items inside backend
- copy/paste html blocks containing links to amazon items (e.g. from amazon deals site)
- single ASIN
- list of ASINs
item/product variations
items can be categorized
items are seamless integrated into the store
items details can be modified and extended
youtube/vimeo video can be added to each item
items can be put into a wishlist/favorites list by your visitors
items can be put into a cart and checkout leads directly to amazon
any amazon search result ~~-or amazon suggestion item~~- is also seamless integrated to your store
items have links that leads to amazon too, where you could get commission from too
3 layouts are integrated
a language manager is integrated to the backend of your store where you are able modify language relevant parts of the frontend and add add another one with one click – language for the frontend can be set in backend config
...

you can read the full manual in the backend

Project Site: https://z5.envato.homac.at/

zStore z5 - an amazon affiliate Store - PA API 5.0