2008 July to December

Combination Discounts Admin Panel

(12/2008) As promised, the Zen Cart Combination Discounts Admin Panel is now ready for sale.

Updates to Gift Wrapping at Checkout

(12/2008) My Zen Cart Gift Wrapping at Checkout mod (2.6_138 version, aligned with Zen Cart 1.3.8a) has been updated to display the gift wrapping settings on the packing slip. Merry Christmas!

Admin Panel for Combination Discounts

(12/2008) I have challenged myself to build an admin panel for my Zen Cart Combination Discounts module before the end of the year. (You can see the original announcement on Twitter from two weeks ago.) Stay tuned for more details.

Discount Marketing Text when Linked Products are used in Zen Cart

(11/2008) If your Zen Cart uses linked products and you discount by category using one of my mods Zen Cart Better Together, Zen Cart Combination Discounts, Zen Cart Big Chooser or Zen Cart Big Spender, you will see misleading marketing text messages when you view a linked item in a discounted category. My Zen Cart Category Issues page discusses how to resolve this problem.

More Boilerplate Tips

(11/2008) A Zen Cart user asked me how he would go about inserting a product name into one of the boilerplate files for Zen Cart product descriptions. I updated the tip to include instructions for doing this.

Creating a Facebook Page

(10/2008) That Software Guy is now on Facebook. I'm going to write a series of blog posts about creating a Facebook page for your business, and hopefully build some Zen Cart - Facebook glueware. Keep an eye on That Software Guy on Facebook to learn more.

Automatic Coupon Generation in Zen Cart

(10/2008) My AutoCoupon modules have now been released with versions for Zen Cart 1.3.7 and 1.3.8. See the documentation on Zen Cart Spender AutoCoupon and Zen Cart Chooser AutoCoupon for details.

Coupon Extensions in Zen Cart

(10/2008) Want to know how to make a Big Spender offer dependent on a coupon? Or how to create a coupon with Spender AutoCoupon that is required for a Big Chooser discount? Please see my Zen Cart Coupon Extensions page for an explanation of my extensions to the built-in Zen Cart coupon mechanisms.

Automatic Coupon Generation in Zen Cart closer to General Availability

(09/2008) My AutoCoupon modules are now in limited availability. The documentation on Zen Cart Spender AutoCoupon and Zen Cart Chooser AutoCoupon has been finalized. Right now, these modules are available for Zen Cart 1.3.8 only, but I will be preparing back-ports for 1.3.7.

Zen Cart - Wishpot Integration

(09/2008) Wishpot is a new service that allows you to maintain a wishlist (or registry). I have integrated it into Zen Cart so that you can display the "Add to Wishpot" button on your product info page. You can see the details in my Zen Cart Wishpot Integration page.

Bug in Big Chooser

(09/2008) Zen Cart Big Chooser versions prior to 1.2.0a had a defect in handling certain set_constraint and set_choice_constraint parameters which is described in this blog post.

Better Together 2.0 Released!

(09/2008) Better Together 2.0 is now available. The new features in this version are:

• The addition of add_cat_to_prod linkages.
• Automatic cart sort by price. This means that discounts which use add_cat_to_cat, add_prod_to_cat or add_cat_to_cat will automatically discount the least expensive item that matches the second id.

Related changes to other parts of the Better Together family:

• Users of the Zen Cart Better Together Admin Panel will require version 2.0 of that software to create add_cat_to_prod linkages; the upgrade fee is $10. Prior versions will continue to work but will be unable to create add_cat_to_prod linkages.
• Users of the Zen Cart Buy Both Now will require version 2.0 of that software to create add_cat_to_prod linkages; the upgrade fee is $10. Prior versions will continue to work but will be unable to create add_cat_to_prod linkages.
• Users of the Zen Cart Better Together Promotional Page must download a new copy from my site here.
• Users of Zen Cart Discount Preview and Zen Cart Checkout Candy do not require any additional changes.

Upgrades to Zen Cart - MailChimp interface

(08/2008) If you use my Zen Cart contributions MailChimp Newsletter Sidebox for Zen Cart or Zen Cart Newsletter Discounts, please upgrade; new versions have been released that use the latest API.

Discounting by Manufacturer in Zen Cart

(08/2008) I have released version 1.2.0 of both Zen Cart Big Chooser and Zen Cart Big Spender, which allow discounting by manufacturer. "MANUF" will work the same way that CAT, PROD, PRICE and MINPRICE do now. For existing Big Spender or Big Chooser customers, the upgrade price is only $10 for this great new feature.

Automatic Coupon Generation in Zen Cart

(08/2008) I'm working on modules that will allow you to automatically create coupons based on the cart contents or order total. They're called Zen Cart Spender AutoCoupon and Zen Cart Chooser AutoCoupon (the syntax they use is derived from Big Spender and Big Chooser). They'll be ready for purchase in the early fall, but you can see how they will work now.

Gift Wrap at Checkout and PayPal IPN

(07/2008) A bug was reported in processing orders using PayPal IPN in carts using the Zen Cart Gift Wrap at Checkout. The fix is documented here.

Better Together Admin and PayPal IPN

(07/2008) A bug was reported in processing orders using PayPal IPN in carts using the Zen Cart Better Together Admin Panel. The fix is documented here.

FoxyCart: A Bolt-on Shopping Cart

(07/2008) This month I spoke to the founders of FoxyCart, an ingenious system which allows you to add e-commerce to an existing website. You can read the FoxyCart interview here. Well, I took up their challenge and converted an existing site to a shopping cart, and sure enough, it was quite straightforward. (NOTE: This resource is no longer online) I look forward to doing my first real project with FoxyCart!