Visser Labs

Visser Labs Blog

Emerging technology news and featured online achievements within the marketing, development and creative community.

WP e-Commerce turns 3.7.6.9

August 31, 2010

WP e-Commerce 3.7.6.9 made its appearance earlier today including a raft of fixes aligning WP e-Commerce closer with WordPress best practices and stability improvements.

If the version number (3.7.6.9) is any indication this release also marks the end of an era as the 3.8 series prepares to kick off including standards-based integration with WordPress for custom Post types, the WordPress image gallery system as well as Post Categories and Terms taxonomy.

Highlight of changes in 3.7.6.9

I’ll be using this format for future WP e-Commerce Plugin updates as well as a wrap-up of changes in my own Plugin releases. Without a doubt the crown of highlights in 3.7.6.9 goes to stability fixes within the Checkout process, e-Commerce Tracking comes close behind in my own priorities.

  • Unclaimed Checkout cart item quantities reset hourly
  • e-Commerce Tracking works with Google Analytics for WordPress
  • Sale search and delete log works within Store > Sales
  • More fixes to Checkout options
  • You can now toggle visibility of the WP e-Commerce Product List RSS from Store > Settings > Presentation
  • Updated support for the latest release of DropShop

Fixes in 3.7.6.9

Fixes that have gone into 3.7.6.9 are also being applied to WP e-Commerce 3.8.

  • Unclaimed Checkout cart item quantities reset hourly
  • Sale search and delete log works within Store > Sales
  • Fixed presentation of Current Month widget on Store > Sales page
  • More fixes to Checkout options
  • Fix to force variation price to update on product page load
  • Deleted categories are no longer visible within the tinyMCE Display Products panel
  • Renamed “Last 30 Days” to “This Month” reflecting the behavior of the e-Commerce dashboard widget
  • Fixed implode issue on products tags

New features in 3.7.6.9

A modest list of additions in this release as development priorities are obviously flowing into 3.8 and stemming off its use of custom Post types; get ready to say goodbye to wp_wpsc_products.

  • You can now toggle visibility of the WP e-Commerce Product List RSS from Store > Settings > Presentation
  • Updated support for the latest release of DropShop
  • Added stripslashes() to the output of custom Product meta on the front-end and within Sales > Products
  • Added new POT file for translations

Original changelog for 3.7.6.9

  • Fixed e-Commerce Tracking integration with Google Analytics for WordPress
  • Use of site_url() within the Purchase Receipt/Admin Report for correct site URL
  • Fixed presentation of Current Month widget on Store > Sales page
  • Added stripslashes() to the output of custom Product meta on the front-end and within Sales > Products
  • Added Show Product List RSS option within Store > Settings > Presentation to toggle visibility of the Product List RSS
  • Fixed hourly reset of claimed stock
  • Fixed Sales search, can now seek orders based on Checkout field details as well as Transaction ID
  • Fixed implode issue on products tags
  • More fixes to Checkout options
  • Renamed “Last 30 Days” to “This Month” reflecting the behavior of the e-Commerce dashboard widget
  • Fixed Delete purchases within Sales for single and bulk purchases
  • Deleted categories are no longer visible within the tinyMCE Display Products panel
  • Updated support for the latest release of DropShop
  • Fix to force variation price to update on product page load
  • Added new POT file for translations

Download 3.7.6.9 from GetShopped.org

Facebook Like Button bumps up to 1.4

August 30, 2010

Minor update for Facebook Like Button with the ‘definitive’ way to correctly detect the Product details page, also in this release is support for positioning within the template through the Store > Upgrades > Facebook Like Button admin page and a template tag for manual placement.

Time to get my head around variations for Product Importer Deluxe and custom payment gateways for Offline Credit Card Processing. Check out the updated Gold Cart, Presentation and Payment Gateway pages on the GetShopped.org website.

Related Products gets minor update to 1.6.1

August 29, 2010

This minor update to Related Products renames ‘Disregard Related Products for this product’ to ‘Use automatic selection of Related Products’ and adds per-product basis for ‘Disregard Related Products for this product’.

As discussed on the Support Forum I’ve renamed ‘Disregard Related Products for this product’ to ‘Use automatic selection of Related Products’. In doing this I’ve added ‘Disregard Related Products for this product’ which works as intended, disabling all Related Products functionality for that Product.

I’ve finally cracked the ‘best’ way to detect the Product details page, this support will move forward in WP e-Commerce 3.8.

Product Importer Deluxe jumps to 2.4

August 29, 2010

Full recursive category support (that means Fruit>Apple>Red Delicious>Premium) as well as product tags (Tag A|Tag B|Tag C) are among the updates that have made it into the 2.4 release of Product Importer Deluxe.

Below is an overview of changes from the last update post (2.2) for Product Importer Deluxe.

  • Added update of download file when ‘merging’ Products
  • Added automatic linking to matching column at import time; this means if you name your columns correctly Product Importer Deluxe will match the columns up automatically
  • Improved sub-category support to include recursive depth (denoted by ‘>’); this means filling the category column with Fruit>Apple>Red Delicious>Premium will associate a Product with the category and sub-categories
  • Added Second Row column at import time to indicate contents of the second row of the CSV
  • Removed Brand in preparation for WP e-Commerce 3.8; ‘Group’ support is removed in WP e-Commerce 3.8, I’m setting Product Importer Deluxe to keep up with advances

Just so you know, 2.3 was a silent update including changes to Product Categories Importer; I’m looking to integrate this into Product Importer Deluxe removing the need for a separate WordPress Plugin.

With the critical features for Product Importer Deluxe cooked in I’m now focusing on variation support and the migration to support WP e-Commerce 3.8.

Android Froyo APN details for mobile internet on Telecom NZ

August 24, 2010

Thanks to tremere from XDA for making the Sony Ericsson X1 a ‘usable’ phone for the first time in it’s life! The latest builds have included support for mobile internet access but without APN details you’re high and dry.

Below are working APN details for Telecom XT in New Zealand. I gleaned these working details off a soon to be released Motorola build running Eclair (2.1).

  • APN: wap.telecom.co.nz
  • Proxy: Not Set
  • Port: Not Set
  • Username: Not Set
  • Password: Not Set
  • Server: Not Set
  • MMSC: http://lsmmsc.xtra.co.nz
  • MMS Proxy: 210.55.11.73
  • Auth: Not Set
  • APN Type: Not Set
  • MCC: 530
  • MNC: 05

Monster WP e-Commerce Plugins Update!

August 17, 2010

Instead of making individual posts for each Plugin that’s been updated today I’m collating it here; some very cool features detailed for Add to Wishlist.

Plugins that have been updated today include:

Related Products, Add to Wishlist, Facebook Like Button and Facebook Share all got a dose for better detection of the Product details page within WP e-Commerce when Permalinks are turned off.

Add to Wishlist

Add to Wishlist got a major overhaul with a fresh Admin page to manage Plugin options including the e-mail subject and template for sending your personalised wishlist to others.

You can now control the position of the ‘Add to wishlist’ button within the Product details page through standard WP e-Commerce hooks as well as manually through a template tag; just be careful not to nest a form within a form, before I forgot, you can also send a unique wishlist URL to others to view your wislist as guests and set the quantity of each wishlist item; may be removed/adjusted in future releases.

Special thanks go to Hungry Dog Media for making this update to Add to Wishlist possible.

Related Products gets easy manual Product selection in 1.6

August 12, 2010

I’ve been laying low last few days learning about the depths of WP e-Commerce to integrate my Plugins even better, take a look at what I’ve come up with in 1.6!

You can now manually assign related Products to each Product using a simple check box selection system, no more custom Product meta! I’ll be embedding this customisation across all of my Plugins as I continue to learn more and more through my experience with the Instinct team. Oh, and I’ve also filtered out the Product being displayed also showing up in the Related Products list!

Give it a go, read the Product detail page for Related Products or for existing customers download the latest release today.

Telecom NZ: Hands tied on Removing Capped Usage Restrictions

August 5, 2010

I’ve put a few tips together for Telecom NZ – my new broadband provider – on how to maintain a strong, trusted and respected relationship with customers.

This post was originally titled, ‘Telecom NZ: How not to be a dick in 3 easy steps’, I’ve since ‘toned’ this post down in order to resolve the issue amicably through support and corporate channels.

The core of my issue is to go about enabling front-line support staff within Telecom to remove the speed restriction imposed on fixed-line broadband plans that have usage caps, this process currently takes up to 48 hours which is unacceptable as an on-demand service. As it stands now I have a crippled internet service which leaves me feeling punished for going over my allocated limit with no means of ‘topping’ up my account nor Telecom support staff able to lift this restriction. Is this the fostering of customer relations that is encouraged by Telecom?

I understand the need and purpose of fixed-usage broadband plans to limit the costs of data usage passed onto customers and that data has a real ‘cost’ within the industry but without the means to pay for additional usage or lift this restriction I am at a loss of why this feature has not already been implemented as part of the core roll-out of capping internet speeds.

If you could raise this issue to the respective person within your department I would be very appreciative, I understand that this will have no effect on my case but I can clearly see this benefiting other Telecom customers. [...] I’ll be raising this issue with the Telecommuncation Dispute Resolution group for consideration.

Credit must be given where it’s due, call 123 and say ‘complaint’  followed by ‘broadband’ if you need any form of intervention from front-line support staff, they are awesome!

Speed limiting

‘Usage capping’ is an industry standard in Australia and New Zealand to reduce broadband costs passed onto customers, here’s the best way to go about speed limiting.

If you like maintaining a strong relationship with customers…

  • remove the usage limit as  a once-off or as a concession
  • upgrades customers to a higher usage plan for the following billing month and remove the speed restriction for the remaining billing month

If you want to be appear incompetent…

  • instruct the customer that’s just how it is
  • mention other customers have requested this too
  • tell the customer that it’s out of their hands; point the finger, blame the system, , abandon the call
  • provide no contact details to escalate the issue

Plans

Fixed price internet plans allow customers to pay for usage up to their allowed data usage, if a customer goes over the allowed data usage in any billing month the remaining period of that month has reduced Internet speeds.

If you like maintaining a trusted relationship with customers…

  • offer the cheapest solution to accommodate their needs

If you want to come off as a car salesman…

  • offer the most expensive plan first then work your way down to a compromise between price and usage

Internet

If you like maintaining a respected relationship with customers…

  • offer  ‘speed free’ zones so customers can still make use of their crippled service

If you want to destroy your relationship with customers…

  • slow all traffic, including that to your own website and portals

Related Products turns 1.5

August 4, 2010

The migration from custom Page Templates is almost done – only Wholesale Pricing and Bulk Product Manager remain – so I’ve embarked on my next mission, adding configurable Admin page under Store > Upgrades, Related Products and Printable Invoices are the first Plugins in this series!

The positioning of the Related Products element within the Product detail template (single_product.php) can now be managed from a drop-down option within Store > Upgrades > Related Products. I’ve added support for manual positioning through the template tag wpsc_the_related_products(); make sure you set the Position to Manual if you plan to manually place the Related Products element. I’m in the process of going through and updating documentation to explain how to manually specify related products as well as other goodies for this Plugin. Check out the Product details page for Related Products.

Quantity on Hand becomes Store Reports for WP e-Commerce

August 1, 2010

Quantity on Hand got a serious upgrade this weekend becoming Store Reports bringing additional reports and detailed monthly and all-time live reporting functionality to WP e-Commerce.

Quantity on Hand was a standard Count Sheet report that reported stock levels in WP e-Commerce, this is now only a small part of a much larger and comprehensive Plugin, Store Reports includes the following report templates:

  • Count Sheet (aka Quantity On Hand)
  • Customers
  • Products Sold

Each report can be filtered by month as well as all-time. The three reports above are included in the initial release with additional reports planned for inclusion shortly release, these include:

  • End of Day
  • Payments
  • Performance
  • Sales
  • Stock
  • Tax
  • Turnover

Existing Quantity on Hand customers shouldn’t fear, their Session ID will allow them to download Store Reports straight away! Check out the Product details page for Store Reports.