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List of
fixes and enhancements:
Summary:
Shopping
cart fixes
AOL
QuickCheckout
Automatic
coupon code referral
More
efficient database processing
New
supported browsers
Admin
Center fixes
Plug-in
for Shop@AOL
Store
user access control
Shopping
cart setup wizard
Coupon
performance management report
Product
options: price modifiers
Customer
report
Order
report
Data
export
Static
HTML generation
Ship-by-weight
Help
system
Smart
listings
List
separators
FrequentSurfer
status tracker
Plug-ins
Logo
page
1. Shopping Cart:
1.1 Fixes:
1.1.1
EZS2002-02260912:
Validation of e-mail addresses is too strict and rejects some
punctuation characters allowed in e-mails.
This behavior has been corrected.
1.2 Enhancements:
1.2.1 AOL Quick Checkout:
AOL subscribers and other web users can now keep their internet shopping
information in an e-wallet on AOL secure servers. When shopping at
sites supporting the AOL Quick Checkout, they only need to enter their
'screen name' and password, select one of multiple credit cards from the
e-wallet and they will be returned to the shopping cart checkout screen
with all information filled-in. All billing and shipping information is
transferred on a secure channel and remains encrypted throughout the order
process.
ezStore123 is one of the first e-commerce systems to offer fully
integrated support for AOL Quick Checkout.
1.2.2 Automatic coupon code referring:
This new feature enables merchants promoting their products via e-mail
or other hyperlink-compatible means to pass a coupon code to any shopping
cart page by defining an HTTP variable (TXCOUPONID). When the customer
purchases from the site, the coupon code is automatically entered in the
order and validated. This mechanism facilitates 'impulse buying' of
promotional items.
This feature is also available for customers using the AOL Quick Checkout
method.
1.2.3 More
efficient database processing:
Database functions have been streamlined to provide better performance and
minimize server bandwidth utilization.
1.2.4 Browser support:
The application has been certified for Microsoft Explorer 6.1,
Netscape 6.2 and AOL
7.0 browsers.
2. Admin Center:
2.1 Fixes:
2.1.1 EZS2002-03041038:
Order processing error with 'state' codes larger than 4 characters.
The size of the 'state code' field has been increased to 40 characters
database-wide to accommodate special international shipping needs.
2.1.2 EZS2002-03041037:
Modification of 'country' or 'state' codes causes loss of order
data referential integrity.
Country and state codes are de-normalized in the order table for
performance purposes and to facilitate data export. The system has been
modified to prevent updates to those codes when they are in use.
2.1.3 EZS2002-01221147:
Activity report sorts weeks and months incorrectly when report spans a
year boundary.
This behavior has been corrected.
2.1.4 EZS2001-11300855:
Coupon codes are not displayed on order management screen or reports.
This behavior has been corrected.
2.1.5 EZS2001-12152143:
Sales Analysis reports a 'divide by zero' error when there is no order
data in the timeframe specified.
This behavior has been corrected.
This is mostly a 'cosmetic' fix, report functionality was not affected
since no output would have been generated in these conditions.
2.2
Enhancements:
2.2.1 Support for AOL Quick Checkout plug-in:
The 'Shop@AOL feed' exports product information from the database to
AOL-compatible XML format. The export file is generated in the www.[siteName]/admin/export
folder. The export file is then picked up automatically by AOL and
incorporated to its Shop@AOL search database. A utility to map store
products to AOL business categories is also provided.
The plug-in is available only to AOL Preferred Merchants since it requires
an AOL merchant ID and special secure certificate.
2.2.2 Store user access control:
The system now supports definition of specific access rights for store
users at the menu-item level.
The security system is implemented as an add-on to the normal server
security and does not require definition of special passwords. When
a user is authenticated by the server upon logging in to the Admin Center,
the system looks up his/her store-specific access status and enables only
the corresponding menu items. Definition of access profiles is normally
done by the Store Administrator (a special user having access to all the
Admin Center features).
Merchants must ask their VARs/ISP to set-up the required user accounts
on the server or domain before setting up store-level security.
This feature is available only from the Silver service level and up
and cannot be purchased separately.
Important:
Merchants using Silver or Gold packages must create at least one
security access definition for their Store Administrator. To do so:
1. Open the Administration Center
2. Select System->User Access from the main menu.
3. Click 'New' when empty listing appears.
4. Enter your current store login, click the 'Administrator' box.
5. Save the access definition.
A 'security grace
period' is in place and you have until 4/15/2002 to set up your Store
Administrator access rights. If you do not complete this update, you will
be locked out of the Admin Center starting 4/16/2002 at 0:00am PST.
A $25.00 'emergency unlock' charge will be applied to your account if
you failed to set up your access rights on or by 4/16/2002 0:00am PST as
resetting account rights necessitates special manual intervention from
//digital things.
Avoid emergencies and save money, please set up your access level as
soon as you are upgraded to 2.2, it's really easy.
The above paragraph does
not apply to Bronze users since their stores have only one access security
setting (Admin). Their access level will be unchanged.
2.2.3 Shopping cart setup wizard:
The Admin Center now provides a screen-based utility to define and
maintain the various parameters used for web site set-up and
customization. This new feature enables non-technical users to
configure their e-commerce web sites much more easily. To simplify
set-up even further, the number of configuration parameters has been
streamlined and obsolete configuration parameters eliminated.
Versions 2.2 and higher can use older configuration files unchanged.
However, the wizard cannot edit old configuration files. It will display
instructions on how to convert the configuration file from the old format
to the new one when detecting an older version. The format upgrade is not
required but recommended.
2.2.4 Coupon performance management report:
This new report displays the total amount of orders and order amount
for all coupons defined in a given timeframe. A second mode displays
detailed order information by coupon, indicating the geographical
locations for which the coupons were the most successful at triggering
sales.
2.2.5 Product options price modifiers:
Product 'passive' options now support the following new extended price
modifiers in addition to the fixed amount price mark-up (+$nn.nn)
currently supported:
- Fixed amount price mark-down (-$nn.nn).
- Percentage-based price mark-up (+nn.nn%)
- Percentage-based price mark-down (-nn.nn%).
Product 'passive' options are now available for all packages.
2.2.6 Customer report:
The customer management report now allows customer search by order
number, name,
phone number, e-mail address, country, state or postal code. The functionality is implemented as
a drop-down selection list as in the current order management report.
A 'date range override' feature is now also available.
2.2.7 Order report:
The customer management report now allows customer search by postal
code in addition to order
number, name,
phone number, e-mail address, country and state.
A 'date range override' feature is now also available.
The customer name is now a link to the Customer Maintenance screen in
order to provide more information about the customer if needed. Note
that the information on the customer screen cannot be modified when the
screen is called from the order report. Orders can now be searched by
country or state in addition to previously available search parameters.
2.2.8 Data export:
- The data export functions have been improved to output de-normalized
information in order to facilitate integration with other software such as
Accounting Systems.
- Data can be exported as text in in Excel-compatible files (both tab-delimited and
comma-delimited format) and as 'DTD-less' XML. The generated XML
files are compatible with any XML parser (V1.x and higher).
Data export functions are now available for all packages.
2.2.9 Static product file generation:
The generation mechanism has been improved to guarantee uniqueness of
file names and at the same time generate user-friendly file names.
The system also performs a better clean-up of obsolete files. We
recommend to all merchants using file generation to run the 'Generate
File' routine to bring their system up to new specs.
The page generation capability is no longer reserved to Gold
packages only. It is however a billable option for Bronze and Silver
packages.
2.2.10 Ship by weight option for Shipping Methods:
The feature is now available on all versions. Merchants
must run the Admin Wizard to enable the feature (default setting is
'disabled').
2.2.11 Help system:
The Help system default font size has been reduced in order to fit
more help text on the screen. Font size can be increased if needed
using regular browser font size settings. In addition all help
screens provide a link to the main help index for easier cross-reference.
2.2.12 Smart listings:
All selection listings now 'remember' and select the last item
accessed and edited. This provides an accurate way of tracking
progress when applying changes sequentially to many items (AKA 'the data
entry curse').
2.2.13 List separators:
Selection lists now have section separators (white text over black
background) to help identify the various sections displayed. The
same style is used for default values in data entry and marketing
sections.
2.2.14 FrequentSurfer ® status tracker:
Confirmation e-mails report the current status of the customer rewards
account:
- Current amount since last coupon.
- Amount of next coupon.
- Amount of sales necessary to obtain the next coupon.
FrequentSurfer must be enabled for this feature to be active.
2.2.15 Plug-ins:
The 'Custom' main menu option (if present) has been renamed to
'Plug-Ins'. Its function is unchanged.
2.2.16 'Logo' page:
The 'logo' page now provides links to the current version release
notes for better documentation about new
features and/or tips on how to take better advantage of the system.
To access the 'release notes' page, click on the 'Version 2.2' link or on
the //digital things logo in the middle of the screen.
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