New Custom Order Invoice
 

This is something that I had worked on a month or so ago and now have been using these invoices for our company.

http://triton.networkoperations.us/invoice.jpg

Had to spruce it up a bit from its old look.
What I was wondering is if there are already several templates that look like that or better. Because I had to modify PHP Code & Much Much more inorder to get this to work they wa I wanted.

If not then I was going to release a ZIP file with a README in there on how to install this template or if you want you can install it and change it to your specs.

UPDATE:
Download it here

would be a great mod to share if you are feeling really generous or I am sure people will contribute to you for it as it is well worth it. :D

I would love to realease it. Ill just have to make some changes for GPL but yeah sure no problem.
I just wanted to make sure that there was nothing like that offered by X-Cart or by some one else.
That has happened to me before (not with x-cart) but with something else to where I decided to make a realease of something when it already existed.
This template is very easy to work with and very pretty! :)

Yes, I would like to be able to do this for my site too. I been looking around for awhile and I can't even find the file I need to modify to change the inovice look. Please post the file, thank you. :D

please post the file. I am a big fan of professional invoices and i would GREATLY benefit along with others from this. Thanks matey for even considering sharing your hard graft.

I wish i would have seen this topic this morning. o.O I just did an invoice change on my site today. It's modeled after Amazon's packing slip that they send out with all their orders. We're planning to print one of these out landscape (without IE headers or footers) and include it as a packing slip with our orders. On the top right hand corner is a mailing label.

http://www.aheadgames.com/images/invoice.gif

My invoice took editing of a couple template files, no php changes. I'll leave releasing an invoice mod to anoack though. I don't want to step on any toes. :)

I would love to see this either of these mods. Both look very professional. Great work!

Nice, very nice!
Good work

Here's the other part of invoice.. an incomplete invoice for emails because I didn't think it was necessary to have all the customer's information in emails... emails are setup to be html instead of the standard ascii xcart ones.

http://www.aheadgames.com/images/emailscreenshot.gif

nice job anybody care to share the mod?

Nice work! Gave me quite a few ideas....!!

nice
 

Looks Perfect Great Job
Can I have any Ideas which templates to Edit?
Thanks

I would love to know how to create such a professional looking invoice and more importantly such a professional email response as that one.

Please, Please, Please :D

You have to go in and edit skin1/mail/order_date.tpl.

Adding HTML to make it look good is a nice feature; however, you have to remember that this template is also sent out in several of the emails that your customers receive. The HTML in those emails won't display properly unless you click the "HTML Mail" check box in your General Settings. HOWEVER, clicking this check box will also enable HTML mail for all your other emails Б─⌠ so they won't display properly.

My suggestion would be that if you want to just simply print out nice invoices, modify your order.php page so that when mode=invoice it displays a different template (that you design, call it anything you want i.e. invoice_template.tpl) contaning the order_date.tpl variables. This way, you won't have to enable HTML mail which will screw up all your other emails.

If, however, you want to go all out and change all your emails and make them HTML compatible, I have 2 caveats for you:

1) In version 3.3.X there are something like 50+ different emails that can be generated by x-cart
2) Not everyone enables HTML to display in their email programs. So formatting it - especially for AOL users can be tough.

Hope that was clear - good luck everyone :!:

I'm working on packing up the invoice files.. i'll have them up soon.

If you'd like someone to customize the invoice to fit your site and install it for you...
http://aheadgames.com/images/invoiceprint.gif
http://www.aheadgames.com/cart/customer/product.php?productid=16206&cat=284

To download the mod and install it yourself... http://aheadgames.com/xcart_invoice.zip

hahahahhaha
 

thats frigg'n hilarious yo, i'll edit the .tpl myself, hahahahahahhaha

I have replied to his solicitation through my PM as "Not a chance". With everything that everyone does on this board to help each other out this made me really chuckle. Thank heaven Shan, Funky, and Boomer (as well as everyone else that gives advice) don't charge to help out or most people on here would be broke by now. Get a life invisible!

I dont see a problem with a small charge for his mod if he wants too. If there was a lot of work put in and if people are happy to pay for it to be done for them then go for it I say. If you want to do it yourselves and save a few $$ then good for you too its just not everyone know how to change things around so well

Hear hear!

I agree with Shan.

This forum does offer a lot of free help, but there's no obligation for everyone who posts here to make available code that they have hours invested in for free. I, too, appreciate all that Shan, Funkydunk, Boomer, and others (DealsonDeals -- nice DHTML menu mod) post on here for free, but I don't expect it.

Just my two cents.

--Kurt

Putting a mod like that on the board is pure capitalism. He is providing a value added service and charging for it. Think about what your time is worth, multiply that by the time you will spend making the mod yourself. If the cost is above what he is charging go buy the mod. If it isn't, go at it alone. Either way, the product is a perfectly viable and I, for one, hope quite a few people who need it buy it.

Invincible...I notice that you have edited your file for this mod, and though I completely appriciate the fact you put it up for free...DONT ever be pressured to give your code away for free. For the two guys that made fun of or laughed at paying for the mod then go edit your own damn code...HOW RUDE. I spent 1 hour the other day to put "Recover Password" in the Authentication box. Easy for some yes, difficult for a newb like me...yes. I was going to post it, but felt everyone would think what's the big deal, it's an easy mod...so I didn't.

Is there anyone intrested in getting this fairly easy mod? I choose to post the code for free, but I'm sure there are others that would pay for mods we deem easy. Do your own thing, Invicible and don't let people make you feel guilty for investing all those hours!!!!!

Chris

I agree. Those guys are jerks. Don't be pressured. Just because somebody wants something for free, doesn't mean they should get it. They probably download their software off kazza, too. Alot of people on here are freeloaders, and don't know how to make a business run in the real world. Why they buy a freaking shopping cart to charge people then get mad at others when they charge people is beyond me. Just ignore people like that, and you'll be better off.

Thanks for your support guys. I don't mind giving away the code for the invoices. For every jerk that will use it, I'm there there's three of you guys that have helped me sometime in the past. Hope you guys like the mod. :)

Letme know when someone has actually installed it. I didn't get a chance to install it on a fresh cart.


I did the exact same modification. :D

Just my two cents.

I think Invincible is entitled to charge for this. I know that Shan and Funky and Boomer help out a lot and help build a community that will also use their services. I think that is smart business. I'm not a developer however if I did develop or pay to develop a mod, I would expect to be able to resell it. That's called business... Time and effort are equal to money.

The only person(s) who really gain a massive advantage from forum participation are the X-Cart Developers who have what I would imagine to be 90% of their support issues answered here.

Guys, if you want free mods, then you had better be prepared to do some research and find them on this board. I modded my print and html displayed invoices by researching 5 different posts on this board. It takes time. If you are not up to it, then go pay someone to do the work for you. Don't look for handouts. Ask the Development Team why they didn't include it because IMHO they are the only entity required to give you free X-Cart functionality.

Invincible, good on ya. I love how we can buy the service from your store. If your work for others is of the same quality that you did for yourself, then it is a cheap and essential mod for anyone looking to add some professional presentation to their store.

Oh yeah, and he did include a free download of the mod. He's charging for his time to implement it.

'Nuff said.

You're obviously not in real business making a comment like that. People don't have to give you everything for free on a plate.

What have you done in return for example? He's well within his rights to charge for a service. It's called "business" none of this is a charity.

There's no need to be rude to people over it. He takes time out to figure out how to do the mod, posts it up on the site, then takes time out to contact you.

You make money out of your shop therefore, why should someone give their time for free to enhance your business? It's almost like asking an employee to work for free.

Some people don't have the knowledege to modify the tpl's themselves and risk screwing an important part of their shop so don't ridicule him for making a small charge for his time!

Now if the rest of you are done with your ridiculous comments:

Quoted from groovico

"You're obviously not in real business making a comment like that. People don't have to give you everything for free on a plate.

What have you done in return for example? He's well within his rights to charge for a service. It's called "business" none of this is a charity.

There's no need to be rude to people over it. He takes time out to figure out how to do the mod, posts it up on the site, then takes time out to contact you.

You make money out of your shop therefore, why should someone give their time for free to enhance your business? It's almost like asking an employee to work for free. "

I am sure that you find telemarketers calling you about their products a welcomed solicitation as they have found a way to trim your long distance bill or a better way for you to take a vacation through time share huh? Didn't think so!

And as for you telling me I did not need to be rude right after insulting me yourself...good example!

And as for not being in real business...you have no idea the level of my business expertise (at least I have shown where I am from and my url). Regardless, this is not a forum for business. It is a forum for support. I may not have helped people as much as you maybe but I have paid for a feature that will be in the next release of x-cart giving the ability to set tax exempt status for different membership levels. Big whoopie? Yes...for someone in the US that sells retail AND wholesale it is.

I will tell all of you why I wrote what I did. His statement was "now that I see that people want it I decided to charge for it". When he did not think it was all that special he was willing to give it away and not until people showed an interest did he say that he decided to charge. If you don't like my opinion than I really could care less as I am entitled to my opinion. I appreciate the help that is given to me on this board and if there is a time that I feel that it would be easier to pay to have it done than to just do it myself I would contact one of the pro's here (which could also be someone like invinceable) but that was not the way it was presented originally. This is a forum in which everyone helps everyone reach a common goal...an efficient, good-looking cart. That is why I sign on here...to get help and see if I have encountered something that I can help someone with. If it is to just be a place to sell your wares then I don't need to be here. It is wonderful if someone wants to sell something but present it as such from the beginning and why not have a place on the forum where they can post these items that they want to sell. I don't feel I need to be PM'd to be solicited for it or have to wade through these solicitations to find the help that is needed. This is still a forum provided by x-cart for x-cart support. I probably won't get any help anymore for stating my opinion but I live in AMERICA where you CAN say what you feel...popular or not! I hope you all have a great day.

And just a quick note to ADP...he was NOT giving it for free and just charging to implement it. You did not notice his post has been edited three times. He was charging for the download of the mod until he encountered resistance from people that he PM'd. Then he sent a follow up PM stating that he "was sorry for being an ass" and charging for the mod (those were his words). Just a little info as you came late and did not see what transpired originally.

Yea, I was charging for the code earlier. I felt that the invoice really makes an improvement on anyone's cart that uses it. It's like groovico said.. it's essentially improving someone elses business so that they can profit off of it. Also, with the way the old templates were setup, this change also adds functionality. I know that my x-cart client used to do all invoicing through another program by cutting and pasting order information.

That' fine but then everything that happens here, all of the advice that's given, is improving people's stores and I have not seen anyone post anything saying that they wanted to profit from what they were sharing until your post. I do see people requesting quotes to have a site modified or wanting a certain mod developed and that is something different. They are asking for something specific to be developed that they needed. I was going to have BOOMER do my site (skin) because he gave a very fair price (especially for the level of work he produces) but then I felt that I wanted to learn how to implement the things that people on this forum where sharing. Now my site may not look anywhere near as good as something that BOOMER, or funkydunk, or Shan (or any of the others that sent me quotes) could have made it look but at least I can say I am the one who created it (with the help of the great folks here).

And as for remarks about "not being a business person" I would have to say that those of you that feel that way are the ones who are clueless about how to survive in business. It would almost seem as those that have made those statements have never been in a real business. Do you just take the pricing given by suppliers and never question it or try to get it as low as possible? Do you not try to leverage and get "freebies" whenever and wherever possible? The whole purpose of a business is to bring in as much as possible with the least amount of outlay. Then, and ONLY then, will you be truly as profitable as possible. I have an obligation to shareholders to make them the most for their money. That is business! It even carries over to personal...do you walk into a car dealership and pay sticker price for a car? Do you not bargain and haggle in everyday life? Think about it!

I fully agree with alot that you've said but it was your reply to the fellow that sparked my post. Like i said there's no need to be rude, "no chance" is hardly diplomatic as all that happens is that person is then inclined not to offer help or thier mods in the future.

Many of us including myself offer free time on this forum to helping others occasionally you charge for your service when it involves installing or customising someone elses cart, it's time you have to take out of your life, you risk running into unforseen problems with servers/set ups/ configs etc the $29.00 is pocket change in real business terms to simply have something done and dusted with no headaches.

My post was geared towards the replies given to the poor chap. It's disheartening to see people add to a community only to have negative responses, believe me it makes alot of us think "why bother?" he may very well come up with the next killer must have x-cart mod that you really want, you'd hardly be on his best side straight off the mark.


I'll let that go, I'm not looking for a bar brawl. Survived for 9 years in pro internet development so I've been round the block more than once with everyone from sole traders to blue chip corporates :wink:

A reply of "Thanks, but I can't afford that right now" is far more diplomatic and doesn't alienate people in the forum.

heads are surely to roll
 

editing a tpl file is not much of a mod to charge for, bust open frontpage folks its not too difficult, a little wacky, few cups of coffee and the experience gained to edit other files is well worth it. Shan & Funky have some awesome mods that are well worth paying for and this i A ok because most folks lacking php & smarty knowledge would never be able to do them. As for being negative the only negative things i post are about the fags/porno/pedifiles running xcart sites selling homo toys, that is sick sick sick & should surely be in violation of the xcart license just as many hosting companies refuse to provide services to such losers.

SNO lets keep your personal opinions and judgements out of here. This forum is about X-cart, and not your view of what is right or wrong.

I'm quite sure that Shan, Funky and Boomer have worked on these sick sick sick sites you have passed judgement on. Perhaps you should PM them individually and tell them to stop.

If you disagree with who X-Cart is being used by, send a message to the Dev. team. I'm sure they are a fraction more interested to hear about it than the users on this board.

We don't need anymore thread crapping so lets get back to what this forum is good at. Building better carts.

Ok, here's the down and dirty way of doing this if you want to print out fancy invoices. I am not guaranteeing any of the code, nor would I attempt any of this before backing up all the files - before they change - in case you have to fall back. With that said, here we go:

1) Find the file include/history_order.php
2) Find the following line of code:
3) Change
to
4) Find the file skin1/main/order_invoice_print.tpl
5) Find the following line of code:
change it to
6) Using the variables from your order_invoice.tpl file make a file called custom_order_invoice.tpl - here is where you are going to use HTML to make it look fancy. Save it to your mail directory.

There is one more include in the order_invoice.tpl file "{include file="mail/order_data.tpl"}" so you may want to change that line and make your own customized tpl for that too.

I hope this is clear, and that it helps stop all the name calling.

I dont think theres any reason for you to make comments like that.

I dont recall anyone being banned from the forum yet but thats the sort off thing that will do it.

This forum is not here for people to air their personal hang ups or narrow minded attitudes its to with building stores and helping each other out.

Re: heads are surely to roll
 

8O whoa... man take a chill pill, we're talking about being diplomatic and friendly with contributors in the forum!

This is ridiclous. He was entitled to charge for the module, end of story. Modifying a "simple TPL" file can be a big thing to alot of people--I think any of us who actually do work of people know that. If you don't think he should have, then just please ignore the thread.

Banned? Never Happen, Heads Rolling? Yes
 

banning would never happen 8O the reprecussions that would come back about getting banned from a support forum you paid for would do more harm :twisted: then ignoring my post 8O. Being an admin you can just delete it, normally i would have just deleted it myself but considering it got quoted several times even by you i decided to let stand as one of the all time "Top Ten Posts" 8O

Hmm.. you paid for a free support fourm that was started by the community and then hosted by x-cart as a free service as a bonus to customers? Very interesting.

Yes
 

you have to buy the software to access the forum so YES (smartass)