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Ecommerce Template Newsletter December
2008
Don't say we never told you
I just had an email from a customer using an ECT
store based on a release 3 years old who got hit by a fraud that
wouldn't have been possible now. With a user base of thousands
any potential security problems are normally quickly spotted and
sealed up before any bad guys have a chance to exploit them. We
run and our customers are constantly running HackerSafe and other
security scans to preempt and fix any likely issues. But this doesn't
mean a thing unless you keep up with the updaters. I don't know
how many times or in how many different ways we can say this :
if you don't apply updaters to your store you are leaving yourself
open to attack. Think about your PC for
instance: would you leave it months or years without applying security
fixes or service packs?
There are always 2 supported versions. The latest
and greatest with all the new features (now v5.6) and the previous
release which
we continue to support with just security and critical bugfixes
(currently v5.5). Both are available here.
Applying an updater is done in 2 steps. Copy the files and run
the updatestore.asp/php script. That's it. But if you're worried
about doing it yourself then we have an "Apply Updater" service.
To be notified of new releases just subscribe to the updater forums.
For the ASP version
For the PHP
version
If your 6 months updater period is up you can pick up another
6 or 12 months here.
As well as all the security fixes, feature additions and upgrades
right to the present day with one simple upgrade, this will also
entitle you to a further 6 or 12 months of support and updaters.
Top tips
We hope you are using the Ecommerce Templates
cross selling features to upsell your products. Well Andy set
up some tips here a while back for how to "Jazz up" the
cross
selling layout.
This is well worth revising for those already using the cross
selling features. And for those not yet using those features,
here's how you can add them to your store...
ASP
Version
PHP Version
This tip is mainly for PHP stores but I've seen a few stores
recently without currency symbols. Normally the currency symbol
is created automatically based on the country settings in the
admin main settings page.
But in the case that this doesn't happen the currency symbol
can easily be specified using this simple addition to the vsadmin/includes.php
file.
Why not add a shipping estimator? It can be as simple as adding
one parameter to your vsadmin/includes.asp or vsadmin/includes.php
file. This will give your customers more encouragement to proceed
with the checkout process knowing they are not going to pay
a fortune in shipping.
Details are here for the ASP
version.
And here for the PHP
version.
Upcoming features
Although still a few weeks away from release
we thought you might like to know a few of the additions that
have already been finalized for the v5.7 release. We're still
working on new features so this list will grow.
Better stock management control in admin orders. When editing
orders in the admin orders page you will now be warned of out
of stock conditions before proceeding. Before it was assumed
that the order could be fulfilled.
The ability to use the category name as a category identifier
which could be a big boost for search engine positioning.
For instance...
products.asp?cat=Printers
Option to split order name entry into Firstname / Lastname
(rather than just
Fullname) in the cart checkout section.
Additional search parameters. These are keywords that you
can set that when searched for will display the product
but will
not be visible to the customer.
The HTTP referrer and will be visible in the admin orders
page.
The customer login admin section will have ability
to edit addresses, view orders etc.
Complete revision of Alternate Product ID system
(Alt Prod ID's) so that now they pull pricing,
stock and
alternate image information directly from the products
database
based
on the
alternate product id.
Previous and Next buttons on the admin orders page.
Complete rewrite of affiliate program admin to
make it faster and give more control.
Integration of the payment processor Amazon
Simple Pay.
Rewrite of Extra Order and Checkout fields
to allow for validation of non-text controls,
easier
setup
and ability
to remember
previous values for non-text controls.
Better admin section HTML validation.
Protx integration offer
Protx are one of the UK's top payment processing
companies and we have worked closely with them for a number
of years. Due to this relationship we are thrilled to announce
free Protx processing until January 2009 for
new customers signing up through Ecommerce Templates. The offer
is available
from https://support.protx.com/apply/default.aspx?PartnerID={7B0AD331-0388-44EA-BE3A-D05D3FB9FE28}
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