X-Cart forums

[shan]

This version is not meant for live stores and is only released at this time for people to try it out and catch any problems before it moves to a full release in around 1 months time.

If you find any problems or have any suggestions please use this thread only.

This is a good time to air your concerns about the little things that have annoyed you about xcart. What you say now stands more of a chance of being included in the final release of xcart 4.0 then at any other time and will save loads of minor upgrades later on.

X-Cart 4.0.0 alpha 1
====================

Dear customers!

Our team is working hard on the upcoming X-Cart 4.0 We hope that the new version of X-Cart will deliver you even better ecommerce experience than the previous ones. Although the work on 4.0 is not finished we decided to release alpha version of the software to give you an opportunity to participate in the development of the new version by giving us your feedback and valuable comments.

The key features for this version include:

- fully multilingual interface;
- considerably improved usability of administrator/provider interface;
- memory usage optimization;
- new integrated UPS Online tools module, supporting not only shipping rates calculation, but providing an address validation tool and the possibility to register a UPS account via X-Cart site;
- new integrated .Manufacturers. module enabling you to classify your products by the brand names;
- new integrated .News Management. module enabling you to have multiple news lists for your customers;
- printable version for all information pages in the customer zone;
- additional options enabling you to optimize your e-store for search engines;
- gathering of statistical data on product search queries in the customer zone and on the client.s environment (browser type, screen resolution, operating system, JavaScript support);
- renewed first page in the administrative zone: new orders statistics and top sellers info are added;
- customizable product search form, extended set of search fields;
- simultaneous editing of multiple products;
- ability to adjust the registration form for different user types;
- Anti-Fraud module: verification of the customer.s address in the process of checkout (check-up information can be included into the order details);
- ability to edit the options of a product contained in the shopping cart;
- ability to export products in Froogle format.


The released version includes all the features listed above. However, we continue working to increase X-Cart functionality. Within a month after the release of 4.0.0 alpha 1 we are planning:
- to change the categories management mechanism (unlimited categories);
- to introduce inventory tracking based on product options;
- to add new payment gateways support.


WARNING!
We do NOT recommend to use X-Cart v.4.0.0 alpha 1 for live stores. This version is not yet of production quality, it did not undergo all the necessary thorough testing and it comes without a reference manual and technical support. Remember that you are using it at your own risk.


We hope you will enjoy the renewed interface of v.4.0.0 alpha and we would appreciate hearing any comments you may have regarding the functionality being offered or, features you would like to see us offer.

[laureon]

v4.0 incorporates BOOMERS 'send to friend' (modified) and NOCHEX payment gateway support.

[natalieb]

Version 4 has exactly the features I want, great job.
Another great option would be the possibility to edit orders after they have been placed. To add/delete products/prices in orders ( in case of exchange or 1 is in stock and 1 not and customer decides to exchange
or maybe add a discount in case order takes longer then expected or did not go quite well as compensation.

I can't wait for the live version.

[shan]

Originally Posted by natalieb

Version 4 has exactly the features I want, great job.
Another great option would be the possibility to edit orders after they have been placed. To add/delete products/prices in orders ( in case of exchange or 1 is in stock and 1 not and customer decides to exchange
or maybe add a discount in case order takes longer then expected or did not go quite well as compensation.

I can't wait for the live version.

This is what X-Aom does

[natalieb]

ooouch....
been so busy to overlook x-cart site for ages
thanks

[groovico]

- to introduce inventory tracking based on product options;

- simultaneous editing of multiple products;

- customizable product search form, extended set of search fields;

- simultaneous editing of multiple products;

- ability to edit the options of a product contained in the shopping cart;

- considerably improved usability of administrator/provider interface;

- memory usage optimization;

Those alone are just plain excellent! I can't wait for this version to go stable.

[groovico]

Oh this is nice! Love all the new UI tweaks.

One thing, you can't release x-cart 4 with the same invoice screen, you just can't! Somewhere, somehow you need to give users a way to design their own printable invoices, it's the one thing every client I've had complains about.

Could the invoice in the admin area be a kept seperate to the invoices on the front end so we can at least edit that template easily without having to hack up the cart.

[shan]

Originally Posted by groovico

Oh this is nice! Love all the new UI tweaks.

One thing, you can't release x-cart 4 with the same invoice screen, you just can't! Somewhere, somehow you need to give users a way to design their own printable invoices, it's the one thing every client I've had complains about.

Could the invoice in the admin area be a kept seperate to the invoices on the front end so we can at least edit that template easily without having to hack up the cart.

Soooooo agree.

we have to loose this <pre>formatted text. It looks so bad. get the invoices formatted in tidy tables. I loose count the amount of times Ive had to remake the invoices and order details display

[groovico]

I really hate to say this... but the new product screen is actually really awkward.

It's slowed the product population process down even more than before, it's too cumbersome and it's actually doubled the amount of clicks.

A few points on it (I know this is the unfinished beta)


There's nothing that tells you what product you are editing when you switch screens.

The way it's laid out makes quick editing really slow, there's no "quick edit" screen where you can see everything at a glance, so you need to click each section link in turn, which adds even more main screen refreshes.

The whole product screen can be done on one page, with each of those sections being Iframes which refresh inside themselves (example adding options, the main product page would not refresh, only the options iframe would) it would speed up the whole thing considerably, you wouldn't have full screen refreshes and you could see all the information in one go.

I think the above would seriously improve that area, it wouldn't take much to do as the way the product screens are done it's actually translates over to the above format very easily.

Picture it this way, the main product info up at the top, then a series of scrollable windows (self refreshable) for each other section like product options, details pictures etc etc directly under one another. You can even use Hidden divs to hide them so they aren't always on show, but as long as there is an option to "open all" with one click.

I'm almost tempted to mod it up just now. But it would be so nice if it was done in the actual distribution

[shan]

Heres a few more easy things to do that will tidy things up.

Loose the
tag at the end of each menu file and just put one in the menu.tpl file. this way if you dont want the
you only have to remove one and not hunt down every menu file.

sort out the copyright.tpl file. dont hard code the start and end date in there. Use variables so it never has to be edited.

eg - http://forum.x-cart.com/viewtopic.php?t=5072&highlight=copyright

give the option to turn off ALL statistics gathering. The main reason people have problems backing up and restoring their datbases is because they get so full of stats. how many people actually use these ?

set all the blank spacer columns in the home.tpl files to have a <nowrap> tag in there. simple addition that keeps things looking neat.

create a header and footer for the html emails and maybe allow or a seperate style sheet to control them. Im sure the number of files that are used to create the emails could be greatly reduced by using more {if} statements in there too.

allow admin to set which emails are sent to users / admins / providers when things change. eg profiles, order status etc

move recover password link to auth menu instead of in the help menu and make it dissapear when the user is logged in

Allow admin the option to review the reviews before they get listed on the store.

set the categories menu links the same size as the links in the other menus by default.

allow for one detailed image to be uploaded / imported along with the standard set of information for a product. Most sites only have one detailed image anyway

remove the shipping address details drom the standard sign up screen or at least have a link for click here if your shipping address is different from the billing address. At the moment the sign up screen is too big and puts people off. most of the time users ship to the same address that they buy from so most people never use shipping address anyway.

At the first stage of checkout dont give the user a massive form to fill in and a tiny link to click if they are already a member. Give them two options that are side by side. option 1 - members log in now option 2 - if you have not used our store before click here to enter your personal details. and then send them to the signup form.

Do the same type of idea that you did on the registration form where you allow the admin to choose which fields are visible to the contact us form. People always ask how to edit that.

When a discount is not used etc remove this field from the order totals in the invoices and the cart totals screens

Instead of saying Vat/Tax on goods and then Vat/Tax on shiping why not just put one field that says Total Vat/Tax.

All of these are simple things to implement but help the usability and appearence of the store.

More to follow