I have an eCommerce project coming up, and wanted to share what I believe is the best solution for an eCommerce site, bar none, and it’s FREE!

Magento is an opensource shopping cart application from Varien, and it beats all other solutions that I’ve tried, to hell and back!

One thing, though, the skinning is a pretty steep learning curve. If you don’t know html and css well, and at least know your way around a php file, then you’ll probably want to hire a designer - not me though, I’m still learning!

Check it out - I think you’ll agree that it’s worth the struggle! I finally got a little more comfortable with the files and have succeeded in replacing a logo and adjusting some widths.

Out of the box, it validates to XHTML 1.0 Strict - another plus for an obsessive-compulsive like me!

I give Magento 5 flowers, but it deserves 10!

I built an Amazon store and stocked it with the latest WordPress and blogging books - check it out! I didn’t use a plugin, but instead made a modified template file and included my aStore in an iframe. I’ll make a video or screencast tutorial soon on how to do it - it was super easy!

I am also getting VERY CLOSE on completing the Tickled Pink theme - you should expect an announcement in the next few days. I don’t know if I”ll submit it to the Theme Codex or not - or even whether they will accept it, but I’ll have it available for download soon. I have to finish the accompanying Simple:Press theme, Pinkish, as it will be part of the package.

I’ve also got another theme in the works that uses NextGEN Gallery - right now it’s just a bare outline in Photoshop and I’ll have to flesh it out but it won’t be long before it’s a nice theme for a gallery or portfolio site!

And - nothing to do with WordPress or with the Gardens, but: Congratulations to Senator Barack Obama on winning the Democratic nomination!