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Shopping basket empties after items are added
Question
I just installed the cart with no modification. When I add items to the basket, I get:
Shopping Basket
The item(s) were added to your basket.
Please wait…
The price shows in the basket to the left, refreshes back to the product page and then the cart on the left shows empty.
Why is this?
Answer
Both the lite and full versions rely on cookies. Cookies are small files that store information on your computer.
The session-based cart of the lite version stores basket info at the server, but it ties this information to the web user with a unique coded cookie placed on their computer. If cookies are disabled, this information can't be tied to the user and so the server cannot find any items in the user's cart, hence the basket appears to clear.
Default settings on most browsers should accept per-session cookies (cookies that are not set to persist beyond the visit to the site). CactuShop should work fine with these default settings.
An issue that has occasionally caused similarly erratic performance is caching. Browsers, servers and proxy servers can all be set to store copies of pages which are then served back to the end user when they visit the same page again. This is done to save bandwidth and server resources. However, dynamic pages like ASPs should *not* be cached unless the page specifically sets this to happen. Check your browser settings to ensure that you do not have it set to cache everything including dynamic content. Again, most browsers will not cache ASPs as default.
Finally, one other thing to consider. If you are trying to run your store in a frame that is located on another site, the cookies will be rejected (by some browsers) because it will consider them 'third party' cookies. This will also prevent items being added to the basket.