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List of
fixes and enhancements:
Version 3.0 comprises over 65 new features and
enhancements.
A new package (Platinum) is now available for advanced e-commerce
merchants and provides full B2B capabilities.
Summary:
Shopping
cart:
Fixes
Enhancements
& New Features:
Self-scaling detail pages:
Category-level A to Z
listing capability:
Enhanced visual integration:
Shopping
cart page headers:
Support for ACH (electronic checks):
Re-ordering capability:
Teaser message on product listings:
Confirmation e-mails:
Database
optimization:
Page optimization:
Enhanced
product search:
Browser support:
Simplified
folder structure:
Admin Center:
Fixes
Enhancements
& New Features:
B2B
Capability:
New
user interface:
Product
definition:
Product
price breaks by quantity:
Quantity
pre-set feature for Cross-Sells:
Power-Price
utility:
Coupon
by product capability:
Product
listings filter by category:
Integrated
Admin Center Wizard:
Upgraded
online help:
Scrollable
Admin Menu:
Order report:
Merchant
information:
Customer report:
Referrer
report:
Coupon
report:
Inventory
report:
Static product file generation:
Shipping
costs by percentage of order amount:
List
separators & 'accelerators':
Plug-ins:
Event
log:
Reports
time-out:
'Logo' page:
Advanced Mass-Mailer:
An advanced
mass-mailer is now available. Features:
- Enhanced performance (up to 40,000 e-mails/hour).
- Unlimited number of e-mails per batch.
- Automatic scheduling of mail-outs.
- Automatic clean-up and opt-out of rejected e-mails.
- Server-friendly features keep CPU & memory utilization within
specified range.
- Capability to process multiple mail-outs in parallel.
- Positive notification of mail-out job start, completion, delays and
errors.
- Bandwidth utilization tracker.
- Automatic re-scheduling of interrupted mail-outs.
Please contact
//digital
things
or your VAR about
this new system.
1. Shopping Cart:
1.1 Fixes:
1.1.1 EZS2002-06221812:
Buy button non-functional from Promotion Listings with some
browsers.
This behavior has been corrected.
1.1.2 EZS2002-11021245:
- Cell displaying SKU and weight/dimensions wraps under certain
conditions.
This behavior has been corrected.
1.1.3 EZS2002-11101455:
- Product details page (DTProductZoom.asp) generates ODBC/SQL 'COUNT
field incorrect' error.
This behavior affected only customers upgraded to version 3.0 beta and
has been corrected in final release.
1.2 Enhancements:
1.2.1 Self-scaling detail pages:
The width of product details pages scales up or down automatically according to
the amount of text in the product description. Generated details
pages also follow the same behavior.
1.2.2
Category-level A to Z listing capability:
A to Z listings can now be defined to list the products belonging to a
specific category only. Global listing capability is unchanged. All A to Z
listings now include a 'Quick Navigation' index (0-9 and A-Z) at the top of each page.
1.2.3 Enhanced visual integration:
- All shopping cart pages are now 'background-neutral' and accommodate
solid color backgrounds as well as graphical backgrounds.
- A new, advanced configuration setting (AppHeaderStyle) allows
specification of backgrounds or other CSS style commands for shopping cart
section headers.
Specifying CSS commands in AppHeaderStyle will affect the way the
View Cart and Check Out pages display section headers. Other pages are not
affected since they do not have section headers.
As for all advanced settings, this setting is optional and requires
editing the _sysdefs.asp configuration file directly.
1.2.4 Shopping cart page
headers:
All shopping cart pages display the merchant name in the browser
header. Detail pages also display the name of the item currently selected.
1.2.5 Support for ACH (electronic checks):
The system now supports ACH payments.
1.2.6 Re-ordering capability:
Customers logging on to the web site can now replicate any previous order.
The new order is identical to the previous order but can be modified by
the customer.
1.2.7 Teaser message on product listings:
Product listings can display a special 'teaser message', definable for each product. This feature is available only for Gold &
Platinum versions.
1.2.8 Confirmation e-mails:
- Sales confirmation e-mails now display the order comments and the
shipping method used.
- Shipping confirmation e-mails now display the shipping method used.
1.2.9 Database optimization:
All display and processing functions (such as tax & shipping
calculations) have been optimized for better web site performance. The new
system yields 20% better performance on average.
1.2.10 Page optimization:
HTML code in shopping cart pages has been optimized for faster load time
and lower bandwidth consumption. Average page size has been reduced by
15%.
1.2.11 Enhanced product
search:
The product database search (AKA catalog search) now searches the
following fields:
- Item name (even partial).
- SKU (even partial).
- Keywords (even partial), when specified.
1.2.12 Browser support:
The application has been certified for Microsoft Explorer 6.x
(including MSN 8.0),
Netscape 6.2, AOL
7.0 and 8.0 and Opera 3.x to 5.x browsers.
1.2.13 Simplified folder
structure:
The /secure folder has been consolidated into the main shopping cart
folder. Merchants providing customer log in capability will need to
modify the path to the log in module from /ezstore123/secure to
/ezstore123. Version 2.2 log-in module being fully compatible with version
3.0, these changes can be applied after upgrade without any adverse
effects. The system settings must however be modified to point to the new
folder location. //digital things will modify the settings accordingly
when upgrading the systems.
Modification of pages pointing to the log-in module must be made by the
site owners or hosting companies.
The modifications listed above have no impact on application security.
2. Admin Center:
2.1 Fixes:
2.1.1
EZS2002-05171423:
Mass-mailing module disregards state/province selection if no
country is specified.
This behavior has been corrected.
2.1.2 EZS2002-07220934:
Single-quotes get duplicated when saving records in product and
category descriptions.
This behavior has been corrected.
2.1.3 EZS2002-11051105:
Low inventory report does not display items with 0 count and 0
alarm threshold.
This behavior has been corrected.
2.1.4 EZS2002-11151246:
When a new coupon is added, products assigned to the coupon are
incorrectly recorded and become available only after editing the coupon
again.
This behavior has been corrected.
2.1.5 EZS2002-11120922:
Reports and other screen using date ranges generate an error if the
year is less than 1753 or greater than 9999.
This behavior has been corrected. Validation library has been updated
to take into consideration these limitations inherent to Microsoft or
Sybase SQL Server.
2.2
Enhancements:
2.2.1 B2B
Capability:
Version 3.0 includes a new 'Platinum' package featuring the B2B
capabilities listed below:
- Definition of unlimited customer types each with optional minimum order
requirements.
- Variable pricing by customer type.
- Special discount conditions for B2B customers can be defined globally
and/or at the product level.
- Multiple layers of sales tax defined by customer type.
- Multiple layers of product categories defined by customer type.
- Multiple layers of promotions defined by customer type.
- Multiple layers of product cross-sells defined by customer type.
- Multiple layers of coupons defined by customer type.
- Multiple layers of FrequentSurfer programs defined by customer type.
- Mass-mailing by customer type.
- Capability to add and edit B2B customers from the Admin Center.
- Capability to create 'private label' products only available to specific
customers.
- New 'list-only' catalog functions.
The Platinum (B2B) package is available as an upgrade for all customers.
It is priced only 65% higher that the Gold package but provides virtually
unlimited 'virtual web sites' tailored by customer type.
2.2.2 New user interface:
Version 3.0 includes a brand-new user interface for the Administration
Center.
The new UI (code name: Galactik) has been designed for better productivity
(and of course to look better!). The application general
layout & navigation remain the same in order not to confuse users and
minimize re-training.
The new UI offers a
more consistent visual feed-back, field backgrounds are color-coded to
indicate their function (edit, read-only, etc...). Enhanced 'smart
listings' provide fast, accurate and intuitive navigation. The use of a new font
allows more data to fit on the screen, minimizing scrolling while at the
same time providing improved readability.
We have not forgotten ergonomics either. The new UI is easier on your eyes thanks to the utilization of sharp color contrast
and darker backgrounds.
2.2.3 Product definition:
- Sale of products can now be limited to any quantity. This feature is
useful when offering free products (with a limit of N) or products in
limited supply.
- Product maintenance screen has been re-organized for better readability.
- A 'teaser phrase' can be defined for each product (Gold & Platinum
only). When defined, the 'teaser phrase' is displayed on product/promotion
listings instead of the first N characters of the product description.
- Platinum (B2B) only: An additional markdown may be specified at the
product level. The markdown applies only to customer types other than
retail.
2.2.4 Product price
breaks by quantity:
Gold & Platinum only.
This new feature allows various levels of discount according to quantity
purchased. The feature also applies quantity breaks to products options
including a price modifier.
This feature is a separate menu item from the product definition, so that
it can be assigned to separate users if restricted access to the feature
is required.
2.2.5
Quantity pre-set feature for Cross-Sells:
Cross-sells can now be defined to pre-set the quantity of items
associated to a specific product in a cross-sell. This facilitates kit
definition. Example: 1 flashlight could be associated with its necessary 4
batteries.
2.2.6 Power-Price utility:
The Power-Price utility has been enhanced to allow selection of
product categories for pricing.
The utility also benefits from the 'smart listings' feature. The screen
has been re-designed for better usability and provides positive feedback
of proposed price change in the confirmation message.
Power-Price now offers standard and custom-rounding capabilities to enable
price changes to comply with marketing standards (example: add 5% to the
price, round price so it ends with .95).
2.2.7 Coupon by product
capability:
Coupons can now be restricted to an item or a range of items. Combined
with the new capability to limit quantity by item, this feature provides
more flexibility in controlling promotion costs and more narrow customer
targeting.
2.2.8 Product
listings filter by category:
The system now features a product category filter for product listings
(Products, Price breaks, etc...) for faster access. This feature can be
set to 'force' category selection in order to handle very large product
databases. (see next section).
2.2.9 Integrated
Admin Center Wizard:
The Admin Center wizard is now part of the 'System' menu and no longer
an external function. In addition, online help is now provided for this
module. As on previous versions, the Admin Wizard will automatically take
over the application when critical settings are not provided. This
normally happens only during initial set up.
The Admin Center wizard provides useful new
settings:
- 'Smart product listing': This features allows forcing of pre-selection
by category when editing products. This feature is a huge time-saver for
merchants with very large product databases.
The 'smart product listing' default is OFF (all products are listed).
- Definition of the web statistics URL. This feature fully integrates all
your web functions by allowing you to directly connect to your stats
server right from the Admin Center.
2.2.10 Upgraded online help:
The online help has been extended with detailed discussion of critical
points. It has also been re-organized to serve equally 'regular' and
'advanced' users (or integrators). All sections start with generalities
then drill-down to trickier and/or more technical points.
2.2.11 Scrollable Admin Menu:
To provide better usability for users with smaller monitors or
laptops, the Admin Menu can be made scrollable. To enable this feature,
provide a 'scrollmenu' parameter to the Admin Center default page.
Example: https://www.yourDomain/admin/default.asp?scrollmenu=y
Default is: NO SCROLL.
Note:
This feature is not provided in the 'Application Settings' section of
the Admin Center Setup screen because it does not necessarily apply to all
users. Users with large screens (17" or higher) and/or high
resolution (1024x768 or higher) will normally not need a scrolling menu.
2.2.12 Order report:
a) The order report has been re-organized to display more data
in a less space. A more intuitive 'magnifier' symbol is displayed for the 'more
info' lookup buttons (order details or customer details).
b) The report now features 2 'compound statuses':
- 'All Valid Orders': Shows new, posted & shipped orders in one
list.
- 'All Recoverable Orders': Shows abandoned yet recoverable orders
in one list.
2.2.13 Merchant information:
The Sales Department e-mail field may now contain multiple addresses.
When e-mail notification on sales is enabled, the confirmation e-mail is
sent to all specified e-mail addresses. e-mail addresses must be separated
by semi-colons or the system will report an error.
The sales confirmation e-mail going to the Sales Department contains all
order information necessary to process and ship the order. Pricing is not
displayed.
This feature is particularly suitable for merchants using drop-ship in
collaboration with a manufacturer or distributor.
2.2.14 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.
2.2.15 Referrer report:
The referrer report details now show customer name and phone number.
The e-mail is displayed in strike-through font when the customer does not wish to receive
e-mail communication.
2.2.16 Coupon report:
The referrer report details now show customer name and phone number.
The e-mail is displayed in strike-through font when the customer does not
wish to receive e-mail communication.
2.2.17 Inventory report:
The inventory report now identifies items under the alarm level with a
red star next to the quantity. The report also provide the total of items
sold in the last 30 days for easier determination of when inventory
may
run out.
2.2.18 Static product file generation:
The generation mechanism has been streamlined to produce smaller HTML.
In addition, file management has been improved by deleting details pages
for expired products.
2.2.19 Shipping
costs by percentage of order amount:
Shipping methods can be defined to determine shipping cost according
to the order amount. Our unique 'cumulative method' allows merchants to
apply even the most sophisticated shipping methods.
2.2.20 List separators &
'accelerators':
Selection lists now have section separators (white text over black or
gray background) to help identify the various sections displayed. The
same style is used for default values in data entry and marketing
sections. In addition, menu 'accelerator' keys allow for fast navigation
between the various sections of a selection list. Separators are
color-coded for easy identification.
2.2.21 Plug-ins:
Additional plug-ins are now available (custom development and/or
integration may be required).
- MAS90 integration tools: bi-directional integration between web site and
MAS90.
- M.O.M. integration tools: Orders can be exported to Mail Order Manager.
2.2.22 Event log:
The Admin Center provides a event log report listing all errors and
events occurring during operation. All errors and events and their
description are logged as well as the date/time they occurred, the user IP
address and browser used. The system also logs 'security' events or
perceived attempts at breaching system security.
2.2.23 Reports time-out:
All reports or potentially time-consuming batch tasks use increased
time-out values to prevent time-out errors.
2.2.24 '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 in the center of the screen
when the main menu is displayed.
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