Hi, I have a few general questions.
On the shopping cart, can you sell downloads?
Can you make a members area using the password protected feature?
Thanks, Kimberly
Downloads are best handled by a 3rd party provider like paylodz
https://www.payloadz.com/
You can use the component to make a secure area for members but it is not very robust. You should use a database and dynamic language if you want something that works smoothly with a lot of members.
Here are a few php user authentication scripts you can look at
http://www.hotscripts.com/category/scripts/php/scripts-programs/user-authentication/