New Features in ShopSite 8.2 and 8.3
Version 8.3 of ShopSite has been released. Some of the new features are listed below, and for the complete list of features click here.
Submit products to be listed on Google Product Search (formerly Froogle) or Google's main Web Search. You can configure individual products and what information to submit to Google.
Create a google-style sitemap for your store. Sitemaps allow you to tell Google about your website and can improve your ranking. You can configure ShopSite to automatically create or update a sitemap whenever you update your store.
Automatically or manually resize images in your media directory. You can configure ShopSite to automatically reduce images to fit within specified dimensions when you upload them. You can also manually select images and reduce them in size.
Shopping Cart contents and Search Results can now include the product image. You can select whether or not to show the image in the cart contents, and which of the available sizes to use. You can also specify which of the available sizes to use on the Search Results.
If you have set a minimum order quantity for a product, the volume discount feature now sets that value as the starting quantity in the discount rate table displayed to the customer.
Real-time UPS shipping quotes can now calculate the shipping costs for UPS Saver shipping services.
For the complete list of features click here.
Advertisement
E-commerce Site Search - Increase sales with Nextopia's powerful e-commerce site search. Features include:
- Merchandising / Searchandising
- Error tolerant fuzzy matching
- Spell correction
- Synonym correction
- Advanced search refinements
- Reporting and Analytics
- Affordable and ShopSite compatible
- and more!
Click here for a free 30 day trial and demo!
Certified ShopSite Designers
Shopsite is pleased to announce two new Certified Shopsite Designers/Developers, Alex Dodkin and Jeremy Williams. A Certified ShopSite Designer/Developer is an individual who has demonstrated a strong knowledge of ShopSite products and the ability to use that knowledge to design and implement highly functional and easy-to-use ShopSite stores. As part of the Certification process, each designer must submit a selection of functioning ShopSite stores that they designed. These stores will then be reviewed by our panel of experts to make sure that the merchant customer is pleased with their site, and that the designer has properly and artfully utilized the functionality of ShopSite software.
We at ShopSite, Inc. are proud to recognize our certified designers, and to show off their work. Please visit their listings at:
https://www.shopsite.com/csd.html
If you are interested in becoming a CSD click here.
Register with us to receive your own developer store.
Merchant Tip
Question
I'm using the UPS real-time rate calculator to calculate shipping in my store. My problem is, I have some products in my store that I need to ship by themselves, rather then have their weight added with the rest of the products in the order. Is there any way for me to set this up so that UPS calculates the rates correctly?
Solution
The real-time rate calculators will take the weights of the products listed within the shopping cart and add them together to calculate the total shipping charges. However, if you have specific products that need to be shipped by themselves, you can go to Products > Edit Product Info, and enter the dimensions of that product. If a product has weight and dimensions specified, then the rates will be calculated as if that product was shipping by itself, rather then with the rest of the products in the cart.
The "Support Queue"
Q: When shoppers go to my secure Checkout and/or Thank You page they receive a browser warning about some of the content not being secure. How can I check my cart pages to see what item(s) is causing this warning?
A: If you're using an IE browser the only way to find it would be to view the source and look through it to find any external content items (images, references to .js, .css, and flash objects, etc) that are using an non-secure (not beginning with https://) URL.
If you're using a Firefox browser, go to the Checkout screen (or whatever screen is producing this warning) then right-click on the page and choose 'View Page Info'. Check the 'Links' tab on this menu and check here for non-secure .css stylesheets, and .js files, and check the 'Media' tab for non-secure images and flash files, etc. Note that regular links that shoppers can click on to go to other web pages do not have to use https:// and will not cause this warning.
These non-secure items may be coming from custom HTML in your custom shopping cart template and/or custom HTML you have included in text area settings in ShopSite, such as the Commerce Setup -> Order System -> Checkout setting labeled 'Text at the top of the Shipping screen'. If you find the non-secure item(s) in the source of the cart screen but can't locate the custom HTML that it is coming from, consult your designer.
Advertisement
QuickBooks order manager for ShopSite - Easy to use software, manage orders from one screen. Automate order fulfillment with shipping and cc processing integration. Order entry for phone and mail orders too. Compliments QuickBooks for managing an efficient E-commerce business.
2-way inventory sync between ShopSite and QuickBooks - Avoid backorders and manual inventory updates. T-HUB automates inventory sync between Shopsite store and QuickBooks. Receive new items and quantity is increased online, an order placed online automatically gets entered into QB. Works with QB Pro/Premier/Enterprise and Point of Sale systems. Shipping integration with UPS, Fedex and USPS.
Consolidate multiple channels - T-HUB can transfer online orders from Shopsite, Amazon, eBay and Overstock directly to QuickBooks. Streamlines order processing for all channels and keeps your books in sync.
Designer Template Tips
Q: With the ShopSite pagination feature, is there anyway to change the look of the generated numbers of pages, so my customers know what page they are viewing?
- Example: prev 1 2 3 4 5 next
A: You can't change the HTML that is created by the PrevNext template tag, however the code it creates does have classes assigned to it so that you can define some of the look of it in your own CSS. The current page number, for example, is in a span with a class assignment of 'currentpage', so if you define a style for text in a span of this class, then it should affect only the current page number in the pagination links.
ShopSite In The News
ShopSite, Inc. Releases Version 8.3 of leading Shopping Cart Software
https://www.shopsite.com/news_8_3_released.html
"Popular software adds additional features for Google Checkout, and Froogle/Google Base."
Industry Articles
Google, Yahoo, Microsoft adopt same Web index tool
http://news.com.com/Google%2C+Yahoo%2C+Microsoft+adopt+same+Web+index+tool/2100-1025_3-6136041.html
"The companies are adopting Google's Sitemaps protocol, which enables Web site owners to manually feed their pages to Google and to check whether their sites have been crawled."
E-Coupons 101: Offering Digital Discounts
http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/solutions/advertising/article.php/3667331
"It's no secret that shoppers love bargains, and if done the right way, offering discounts can increase conversions and nurture customer loyalty. 10 tips include, mass appeal, keep it simple, dollar vs percentage, and smooth landing."
Logoworks - a better choice for logo design
Logoworks provides creative solutions to make your small business stand out from the crowd. Logoworks provides custom designs for all your needs. We specialize in customized logos, business cards, stationery, and websites but if you need something else, just ask. With our talented group of professional designers, you will get a design you love at a price that you can afford.
Visit our gallery and see why over 45,000 customers have chosen Logoworks to design their logo. You'll enjoy a hassle-free design process guaranteed to make you happy with the final results.
Knowledgebase Articles
The following articles were recently added to the support knowledgebase.
Froogle feed not working in ShopSite Pro v8.2.1 (for stores with many products).
Shopping Cart error message 'FedEx Message: Service was not found'.
Product database upload hangs/stops on linking phase.
Current Product Information
Most recent release of ShopSite:
- Version 8.3 on Linux, Solaris/SPARC, Windows Server 2000 and 2003 and FreeBSD servers.
To upgrade your ShopSite store, contact your authorized reseller hosting partner.
Subscribe Today!
Looking for tips and information on using ShopSite features? How about relevant news from the world of e-commerce? Read and subscribe to the ShopSite Merchant newsletter to keep up-to-date on your favorite store-building program!