The I-Metrics Layer is an open source project which targets the e-commerce arena from different levels. The package consists of two different parts the one accessible to the site owner or e-shop administrators and the public part accessible by customers and search engines.

I-Metrics layer consists of a set of php classes and methods integrated with one of the best e-commerce engines available today. Utilizing this superior framework a merchant or a developer has flexible and enhanced control of the following items:

1. Template integration
The I-Metrics Layer utilizes common sections of the original framework to ease and speed up web template integration. By having a group of sections that comprise the common elements of a store like the product listings or articles listings, the design work requirements are greatly reduced. One of the noticeable problems of the original MS2.2 framework, is lack of an override system and lack of HTML sections that can be reused. Reusability is a key element when integrating templates, scripts and various features. Taking for instance a module that generates meta-tags for an e-shop, the individual merchant or programmer, had to edit every php file to adapt the tags emission process properly. In contrast, the I-Metrics layer has a different approach without using a template system. It creates various sections for the php files where each can be overridden if necessary to alter the page layout, while its base functionality is common for all prime pages. A developer needs to alter these sections only, along with the stylesheet, in order to integrate the new e-shop layout and to perform the layout integration task. In addition there are configuration options for the administrator, to setup the overall width of the store, the column width, the size of the various images and thumbnails as well as the margins of the main e-shop sections. Custom options to control other aspects of the site's layout are also available.

2. Administrator and Management Controls
The I-Metrics layer comes with a set of new scripts that replace the original MS2.2 ones, to further enhance the administrator options. The email templates that can send professional email for each major store operation like order placing and account creation and they can also be used as a template system for web-page override operations. The multi-level extra fields module completely replaces the original attributes for products as the feature basically can map to every product a different set of hierarchically controlled options, generating complete option/values forms on the catalog end. Group fields is another major advantage for store owners who need to expose a vast number of common product options for a customer to select from. Product filters enhance the store navigation and categorization of products as they can replace the original linked products functionality without getting implicated at the categories level. Abstract zones can group the store entities in many different ways including product groups, text pages groups, product fields controls, sequential/wizard like form pages. Various configuration options for all these features allow the store's administrator full control over the e-shop. Cache HTML speeds up page loading, generates and optimizes thumbnails on the fly. Active Countries allows maximum configuration the e-shop operates in geographical terms. Full orders editor and customer account creator. SEO-G and META-G administration controls can improve the web overall content by providing reports, sitemap and product feeds to search engines. Plus a bunch of other features that can be further enhance and customized including the main admin navigation facility using CSS, multiple administrators support along with any script developed to operate with the I-Metrics layer.

3. Site Navigation
A key element for a merchant to score sales is the navigation of the e-shop. Much like with regular stores where a customer has to perform a search for a product of his choice the navigation functionality in e-commerce must be  of ultimate importance for the site owner. Reaching out to most customers can be challenging and requires careful selection of navigation elements. Cross-browser testing and HTML/CSS validation are two areas one needs to concentrate. Cross-Browser compatibility implies a visitor to enter a store with anyone of the known browsers and be able to navigate, find a product, place an order or request and explore the facilities of the store with a minimum number of clicks. Good HTML/CSS validation reduces the chances a spider or a visitor encounters or interprets the site content incorrectly. Then we have the active content support where the store owner attempts to simplify the navigation and enhance the options he offers to his clients in terms of usability. The problem with active content is that visitors and/or browsers may switch it off in which case the site navigation becomes useless. and a potential customer may leave after a couple of clicks simply because he cannot locate the content he seeks. Spiders have also problem when active content is enforced as they may misinterpret text and/or HTML elements. The I-Metrics Layer has options to provide a static environment for the site navigation where a visitor regardless of browser configuration will be able to locate products and place orders. The I-Metrics layer can be optionally bundled with CSS menus that operate without active contents. The benefit here is that regardless of browser configuration the vital pages of an e-shop are always exposed. How the site navigation is structured is up to the merchant but the frameword deploys the major functionality for such featured to be incorporated at any time.

4. E-Shop Security
A vital element of an e-commerce store is the security that provides for the customer information and integrity of sessions. I-Metrics layer approaches the security area with a number of key modules. The prime one is a validator class that enforces the validity of known incoming parameters in terms of data and type. SEO-G is another module that removes the workload of scripts dealing with parameters and reduces system identification. Due to its functionality SEO-G will attempt to match records in the database in order to decode incoming URLs. This process typically leads to a redirection for data type and data errors without the knowledge of the main script. SEO-G and the validator class represent the greatest part of the security layer deployed with the I-Metrics layer. Forms are carefully structured as these must be processed by the scripts to comply with PCI a critical specification to store sensitive customer information if need be.

5. Products, Text pages and site information exposure
Using the I-Metrics layer products, text pages and in general the content of the e-shop benefit greatly because of the optional integration of 2 key modules for e-commerce developed by Asymmetric Software. SEO-G and META-G. Both these modules are described in detail within our product pages and in a nutshell target exposure of the e-shop with the generated URLs and meta-tags. Moreover the products, categories or other entities can be related with various articles or text pages.

6. Simplification combining the e-shop entities
With the original MS2.2 there was no easy way to produce content for the e-shop from the admin panel. Modules like an articles manager or text page composition, information pages and others were necessary but were leading to complex integration as they would require boxes different identifiers to group such entities together and were using different HTML editors. The I-Metris layer eliminates this complexity, by deploying a single method via the abstract zones framework. Text pages can be combined in groups or operate independently and yet show the intended outcome to expose a parts of the e-commerce store. For instance if a merchant would like to create a set of pages to display a tour of store for newcomers. Using the abstract zones with the page sequencer this can be now achieved as the entire grouping, ordering, configuring and editing pages can be done from the administrator panel. A programmer would only need to deploy few lines of code in the appropriate navigation space to expose such a feature. By default text pages can be associated with specific products where the layout of such interaction is left to the developer to further enhance.

The I-Metrics layer operates with Apache v1.x or v2.x, MySQL 4.x,5.x and PHP 4.x, 5.x. These are the tested environments. Cross browser compatibility tests performed with IE 6,7, FF 2,3, Opera 9, Safari 2.