Zen Cart / osCommerce Archive from December 2007 - July 2007
Changes to Gift Wrap
(12/2007) A small bug was found in version 2.2, so I released version 2.3. This will be the FINAL version for Zen Cart 1.3.7. In the new year, I will release the required changes for Zen Cart 1.3.8.Big Chooser getting closer ...
(12/2007) I made a lot of progress this week and buttoned up version 0.0.2 of Big Chooser/Conditional Discounts. It should be ready for final release soon. Take a look at the awesome cross-selling power it gives you.Search Helper
(12/2007) Looking for a way to correct typos and use additional keywords in your cart searches without the headache of having to update meta tags on every product? Take a look at Search Helper!Passing the Century Mark
(12/2007) Not my age - although it seems that way some mornings - the number of newsletter subscribers I have. If you'd like to join this awesome group of over 100 clued-in Zen Cart users, go ahead and sign up today! Looking for even more style points? Read my blog!What's in a name?
(12/2007) Like a father confusing his children's names, somehow I got mixed up the other day writing about Combination Discounts and Conditional Discounts. So I thought I'd give them more easily differentiated names. Conditional Discounts is now Big Chooser - Conditional Discounts. Not only does this provide some separation from Combination Discounts, it also re-enforces the similarity with Big Spender.New Gift Wrap features for VAT liable shopowners
(12/2007) Gift Wrap at Checkout has been enhanced to allow the display of gift wrapping charges in a tax-included format. If your tax regime requires this, download Gift Wrap at Checkout 2.2 from the Zen Cart downloads area.The Perfect Gift
(11/2007) I wrote a fundraising appeal on my blog for the Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades, in response to a challenge grant generously made by Mr. Henry Rowan. Please take a moment to read it and respond if you're able.Quantity Discounts by currency per item
(11/2007) I've updated Quantity Discounts to provide per item discounting on a currency basis. So instead of saying "10% off for over 10 items," you can now say, "$5.00 per item off over 10 items." A number of people asked for this in the past week, so I thought it was about time to add it.On one condition!
(11/2007) .... or three or four. People seem to like the specification flexibility of Big Spender, so I am refactoring it into a discounting module that looks at cart contents rather than dollars spent. I hope to have it ready by December, but you can get started reading the documentation on Big Chooser - Conditional Discounts now.Updates to Gift Wrap at Checkout
(11/2007) I have added a series of user exits to Gift Wrap at Checkout which allow you to disable or surcharge wrapping services for specific categories or product ids. It's available from the Zen Cart downloads area as version 2.1.Welcome, Google Searcher!
(11/2007) I wrote a small contribution that recognizes when surfers arrive at your Zen Cart and generates an internal keyword search for them based on their Google keywords. Here's the help for Welcome Google Searcher. Happy Googling!Super Orders Fixes
(10/2007) Thanks to Frank Koehl (Blindside) for incorporating my changes into Super Orders. These changes fix the bulk status update issues that some users have reported. You can download them here.Magento and StoreSuite
(10/2007) I've gotten a few questions in the last month about Magento. Magento looks very promising, and as soon as it's released, I'll be talking more about it, both here and on my blog.Of course, it never rains, but it pours. Web Solutions provider Interspire is building momentum in the development of their own shopping cart, called StoreSuite.
Please see my most recent blog post on StoreSuite for more information.
It's a wrap!
(10/2007) A frequent topic on the Zen Cart forum was how to provide (and bill for) gift wrapping services. I wrote up some suggestions, then wound up writing a small contribution, but I wasn't satisfied with either of them. I really wanted to follow the Amazon model of wrap selection at checkout time. Finally, I took the bull by the horns and developed an at-checkout gift wrapping selection interface. I hope it helps your Christmas sales!thecartblog.com - A blog about shopping carts, e-commerce and all the rest
(09/2007) I keep coming across things I think are interesting that I want to share, but I'd like to keep my business home page for business matters. So I started thecartblog.com. Take a look!Using Google Checkout with my discounting modules
(09/2007) If you are using Better Together, Combination Discounts or Big Spender along with Google Checkout in your Zen Cart™, you must be running at least the following versions:- Google Checkout: v1.4.1_beta2 or better
- Better Together: 1.5a or better
- Big Spender: 1.1.3a or better
- Combination Discounts: 1.0.4a or better
Buy The Set extension for Combination Discounts
(09/2007) For linkages between products without attributes using Combination Discounts, I have add the ability to purchase the entire set of items with a single click. Not surprisingly, it's called Buy The Set. It does for Combination Discounts what Buy Both Now did for Better Together - making it easy for your customers to buy all your cross-sells in a single click.Hey, Big Spender!
(09/2007) Want to provide discounts or free gifts based on the dollar total in the cart? Take a look at Big Spender. It is now available.Promotional Pages for your discounts
(09/2007) A few people have asked for special pages that list all their discounts for the various discounting modules I've created. I've made them available by download and installed them on a test cart so you can see how they look.See Promotional Pages for Discounts for more details.
Buy Both Now extension for Better Together
(08/2007) For prod_to_prod linkages using Better Together, I have add the ability to purchase both items with a single click. Not surprisingly, it's called Buy Both Now. Amazon uses this technique, so you know it works.Updates to Combination Discounts (version 1.0.3)
(08/2007) I have updated Combination Discounts to permit item selection on the basis of price. So now, in addition to specifying discount combinations on the basis of product or category number, you can specify them on the basis of price. For instance if you have items that are $1.99 each and 3 for $5.00, you can say$this->add_linkage(PRICE,1.99,2,PRICE,1.99,1,"$",0.97);What are you waiting for? Order it! This is a free upgrade if you have purchased a prior version of Combination Discounts; just send me an email and I'll send it to you.
Article on Discounting Strategies
(07/2007) The nice folks at shopping-cart-reviews.com have published my overview of discounting possibilities in Zen Cart. It's a good overview for newcomers to the cart, especially if your idea of a sale is "three for the price of three!"More MailChimp News
(07/2007) Well, I sent out my first newsletter using MailChimp, and it worked really well. In fact, I was so pleased that I cooked up a Zen Cart sidebox which allows you to integrate the MailChimp Newsletter subscribe mechanism with your Zen Cart. Hopefully this will encourage other people to give MailChimp a try. The MailChimp guys backlinked me on their API page.My next newsletter will be coming out in a month or two when I'm finished with my next big Zen Cart project.