There are three approaches that are commonly taken when doing order processing:
· Processing orders in Actinic
· Printing orders
· Exporting orders
Actinic has an order processing system built into it that will allow you to view and edit the details of the orders, and print out any packing lists or invoices that you require.
Actinic will keep track of which orders you have shipped, and which ones you are awaiting payment for. It will also allow you to colour-code orders to see quickly what the status of the order is.
A description of Actinic's in-built order processing system starts in Order Processing Overview.
It is also possible to enter new orders directly into Actinic. This is discussed in Adding A New Order Into Actinic.
It is possible to configure Actinic to upload the store from one machine, and retrieve orders onto another.
To do this, build the site on one machine and when you are ready, export a snapshot of the site (as described in Exporting A Snapshot). Then, install Actinic onto a second machine, and import the snapshot onto the new machine (as described in Importing A Snapshot).
Note: In order for this to work correctly, both machines must have identical versions of Actinic installed on them.
Then go to 'Business Settings | Options' on both machines. On the machine that is uploading, de-select 'Order Processing' and on the machine that is downloading, de-select 'Catalog Maintenance'. See The 'Options' tab for more details.
It is also possible to simply print out all the details about the order, and then just use Actinic as an archive for the order details. The details are printed out on what is called a 'Data-Entry Report', which can be-used to re-key order information into your own systems.
This is discussed in Printing Out Orders.
It is possible to export the orders as a set of spreadsheet (csv) files. These can then be imported electronically and used by another application.
Note: If you are choosing to process orders this way, then you need to ensure that 'Bypass Catalog Order Processing' is selected in 'Business Settings | Order Processing'.
More details about exporting orders can be found in Exporting Orders.