Miva Merchant 5.5’s missing link, Toolkit unlocks powerful functionality and customization capability. From adding forms to creating a mini basket, the possibilities are endless. Additionally, new features are added often. This one module could save you hundreds of dollars in other modules, plus it provides coding capability found nowhere else.

These two modules are so closely related that we decided to group them together.  Category Manager allows complete control over the category page layouts, including the ability to have different layouts for different categories. It’s especially useful to have one layout for parent categories and one for subcategories. Check out the product sorting/filtering functions and the extremely popular attributes-on-category-pages. Product Template Manager is the same concept for product screens - different layouts for different products, plus attribute templates and Available Product Quantities. Both modules have Breadcrumbs and some advanced functionality.

Order notification emails are key in portraying a quality image to your customers. Mail Manager allows you to create completely configurable HTML order notification emails. There are many additional functions, such as a welcome email to customers who create accounts, and integration with Emporium Plus' coupon module to send coupon codes to customers to use on their next order.

These crucial plug-ins provide additional information at checkout. Most merchants would like to collect more information from their customers than just Bill To and Ship To information. Signing up for newsletters, gift messages, adding an insurance option with a fee ... these are just some of the options available.  Addendum from Emporium Plus is the most popular and integrates with Mail Manager (see #3). Sebenza has a high quality module, too, named Additional Checkout Data Collection Pro. They each have their own qualities, so check them both out and determine which has what you need most.

The default PayPal module has one weakness -- If a customer does not click the final Continue button on the PayPal screen to return to your store, the order does not get recorded in Miva admin, but the charge is processed in PayPal. This leads to unhappy customers! With the Emporium Plus PayPal Payment Module, this problem is solved. If you're going to accept PayPal, this is an essential $25 investment.

Studies show that online customers like to be able to search a store for quick navigation. The Miva Merchant default search is non-configurable and pretty limited. For a better search experience, Power Search allows configuration and searching additional fields that default search does not include.

If your site could benefit from a much more powerful search function, consider SearchSpring (http://www.searchspring.net/). It's a monthly charge instead of a simple module, but ridiculously powerful. Here are a few examples:

• http://www.harpcenter.com
• http://search.architecturaldepot.com/
• http://www.shopwildplanet.com/

Keep your customers in the loop by sending them order status updates, letting them track their order shipments, giving them order history for quick re-order and more. Customer communications are essential, so this tool helps you look like a huge site, not a mom-and-pop store.

Discounts are a great way to get new customers and reward existing customers. Check out these two most popular coupon modules.

Emporium Plus EZ Batch Report - Once an order is completed, your work begins. This module makes life easier by letting you set up how orders are displayed in admin for you.

Look at abandoned shopping carts and get a feel for what might be keeping customers from completing orders. This module helps analyze your store with real data.