Today marks the 5th year AgoraCart.com has been online.

Originally the site was rolled out as the only authorized tech support site for the Agora.cgi Shopping Cart project. After the original domain name (agoracgi.com) for the project was hijacked for domain aftermarket speculation by Network Solutions, AgoraCart.com became the new online home for the project in 2002. The project was subsequently renamed from Agora.cgi to AgoraCart shortly thereafter.

Since becoming home to the AgoraCart Shopping Cart project, which is Open Source Software written in the PERL programming language, AgoraCart.com has seen dramatic growth in unique visitors, now topping 928,000 as of today. Though these metrics are small compared to some sites, it was never imagined that the site would become so popular, let alone that the shopping cart would become a popular ecommerce mainstay worldwide.

All of us involved in the project, from keeper of the code to the many volunteers working the various user forums would like to thank all those that have supported the project financially and with time contributions as well as for supporting the service providers that promote and use AgoraCart. Thank you for helping AgoraCart become a success.

Release Candidate 1 (RC1) for version 5.0.0 of AgoraCart is very close to being a reality. Despite set backs and under estimating the time needed to develop and recode certain features, RC1 is tentatively targeted for release by end of January 2006.

AgoraCart 5.0.0 RC1 is not a beta version, and is fully capable of running in a production environment. However, it is missing some features, mostly gateways. Layout refinements will also need to be made prior to the final release.

Some features, such as the static page builder, froogle exporter, and the "buy now" button generator will be released at a later date.

ME

A new look for AgoraCart's website, AgoraCart.com, is under way. After reviewing useability of the site for new visitors, many changes were put into development to improve the navigation of AgoraCart.com.

Changes include CSS attributes that fill a visitors screen no matter what size of monitor or resolution they use, a new header at the top, and a new menu system on the left side navigation bars.

Changes will take several week as the complete site is converted to the new design, as well as the performing of updates to much of the content to ensure it is all up to date. The online manual areas will be updated after the release of a production distribution of AgoraCart version 5.0.0

As a result, users should be able to navigate and find where they wish to go more easily and not be overwhelmed by the massive number of links, especially on the left side of the site.

It's been a long while since I last reported any progress on AgoraCart version 5.0.0 development; mainly due tothe fact I was sick for about 2 weeks.

So, I'm happy to report that I have now completed the new templates and button sets. Now store admin can select a preconfigured template or one that they have uploaded to a custom template directory. Then they can select a button set. This is all designed as drop-in and play so that the template manager will find the new templates and button sets in real time the next time it's reloaded and/or accessed after the items have been uploaded to the appropriate store directories.

The custom layouts and headers still work and if needed, are placed in the original directory so they can be found for each product category that one desires to have a custom header/footer style for.

This also ties into the new CSS manager, where the style sheet for the template can be edited within that manager.

Another detail is that the new templates, appropriately named "TheAgora", are CSS & HTML 4.01 compliant.

This new system also allows designers to submit buttonsets and header/footer templates to the AgoraCart community that will be easy to implement for most folks that can atleast use FTP in some form or another. Another version will come soon that will allow a tarball to be uploaded and installed via a manager interface.

We'll also be attempting to create a few more templates / themes before final release of version 5.0.0

Well, that be the news fer now...

Until next time,

Mister Ed

Order Management is a feature I have wanted to improve for about three and a half years now. I made some major adjustments to the order logging processes in June and July. However, I am happy to report that I have done more in a day towards the overhaul of the order management in version 5.0.0 than I did in a whole month last summer. In addition, all the items I've been working on will be included in the general distributions. I figure this is key feature that I will not withhold for members only. I might make more advanced versions available next year for "members only", if it's found feasible to do, but the idear is to make the cart useful as possible and provide some of the other extras to members only in order to increase donations and memberships (such as additional gateway files and higher maintenance files such as UPS and FedEx shipping in real-time).

I've coded out the backbone for order logs to be written out to individual orders in 3 pieces: cart contents, order details, and old style order logs but for individual orders. I've also added a feature to grab most of the key data from the a gateway order lib file during the processing of an order and place that data into a hash array that can be used in the log_order routines.

Using the above hash array, I've also added the capability to create master order logs in any of the following groups (individually or in any combination): year, by month(within year sold), and an overview log that shows recent orders when logging into the online store manager areas. This will allow reports to be generated by year, month or any range of dates, which are dynamically available according to the dates of orders available within the cart.

I've also kept the old order log style. I have enhanced it for easier downloading and splitting into separate orders for legacy programs that might be looking still use the existing order log schema.

I've also added a product

I still have a lot to do on this aspect of the managers. I need to write the manager routines to look at the data available, and then the routine to generate the reports. It's going to be very flexible. This new format will also make it easier to code out the QuickBooks accounting format exporter, or even to a tab delimited file for a spread sheet... the possibilities are endless with this new format. (I will look at other accounting formats much later)

I took the stance of what I'd like to see in the sales and order data reported and balanced it with resources and time I have to develop these features. It will definately be an ongoing improvement process as my programming eyes are much bigger than the time i have to devote to the desired features. So, I "tone" it down with the intentions of adding in the needed pieces gradually as time permits. I already have ideas on improvements on the new features for later versions. But, in the end, this is yet another massive advancement for the AgoraCart shopping cart project.

Until next time,

Mister Ed

Howdy,

I've received some good feedback on issues on the product edit/add/delete manager areas.

Here are the changes that have been implemented so far:

1) maxlength of most database fields allow for more information to be input. Some are doubled & tripled in the max number of characters allowed. Userfields are now doubled. Image name and category name, are also lengthened considerably.

2) adding clearer infomation next to some of the boxes.

3) added some links and notes at bottom of the add and edit screens. Still a bit ugly, but allows folks to see some of the key information without wondering where to look. Links open new browser window.

4) the previously posted user field name/title overhaul. This is a really cool update for those struggling to remember what each userfield was being used for. this allows user defined changes the titles for the userfields in the Add Product and Edit Product screens.

5) added more image upload boxes.

6) doubled the viewable area on the description field. Increased from 5 rows to 10 rows that can be seen before scrolling intervention is needed.

7) default number of products show in each category was increased from 25 to 100.

8) navigation for additional & previous pages of products within a category are now showing at bottom as well as the top of the screens

9) created routines to filter out all carriage returns, spaces ,newlines, and tabs on image names, prices, shipping info, and item numbers/IDs DB fields.

10) tabs, carriage returns, and newlines removed from all other database fields. Duplicate spaces and white space removed from all userfields, the description, and the product name.

11) #9 and #10 jointly will cut down 98% of cut and paste errors that grab invisible characters and spaces at both ends for those fields that these issues are critical on, in regards to parsing out the products/database for AgorCart generated pages. This is also a big help, I think, in eliminating some of those hidden errors we all have troubles seeing (spaces and hidden white space characters like the dreaded tabs and carriage returns).

There were other items I wish I could have added, such as a search box onthe delete screen, much like that found onteh edit product screen. Hoever, due to the way the items are deleted, this would not allow double checking to ensure you really wanted to delte the product... especially if you entered the wrong item number by accident. This aspct might be explored later, but for this round of development, it will be skipped.

I am really looking forward to this new cart release, and I'm hoping that it will be as useful as I envision it now with all these really cool changes.

Well, time for me to get back to work. Until next time, Mister Ed has left the stables...

Mister Ed ... of course ... of course

Howdy,

I am currently working on the product management aspects of the online store manager areas. I am hoping that folks will submit any ideas or features they would like to see in this next version. If you like to submit your requests or observations, please post a reply to this article or post at the following forums:

freebie forums:
http://www.agoraguide.com/faq/

or the members only forums at:
http://members.agoracartpro.com/proforum/

If you have a suggestion, a problem with how the current product management process functions, or even a feature request, please feel free to submit a constructive response.

Thanks,

Mister Ed

Howdy,

a light day today on development. I completed a nice little tool that will allow store administrators to rename teh database userfield names as they are shown in the Product Add and Product Edit managers for the store.

This new feature will help store admins remember which userfields are used for what purpose. It will automatically detect the number of userfields available in a particular version.

Just another handy tool to help with product entries into the database.

---------------------------------

On another note, I made minor modifications to the Product Edit and Product Add screens in an effort to make them a bit easier to follow and hopefully atleast a little more user friendly for newbie store admins.

Howdy,

Last night I started developing the new look inside store manager areas of the version 5 series. I have tinkered with several idears on the look and layout previous to last night. However, as I was working thru designs to actually implement, I was curious about some issues in displaying a new look. So to do a quick check, I loaded up a template from the front page of AgoraCart.com. The result was very good and better than I had expected. I started to wonder if I shouldn't keep this look for the store manager layout. After talking to a few folks and showing off the initial concept, I decided to keep the manager layout consitent with the official website appearance. In doing so, I've found that I can tie in help sections and misc features of the cart in a tighter fashion than I could with a design from scratch. Plus it saves much needed time to develop templates for the client/customer side of the store, whcih also needs a new look or two.

So, I am proceeding forward with this new manager look that ties into the look and feel of the official website. However as time marches forward, I will look at refining the look and the features it highlights. First off, I will remove items that might be offensive to designers and web hosting companies as I'm not looking to take their customers away. Besides, I love interacting with design and hosting companies of all shapes and sizes. In fact, I'd rather send business to a competitor that uses and builds around AgoraCart than let business slip into other arenas, so I consider it necessary and it is a long standing tradition with me to promote those that promote the cart.

On other notes:

I finally finished the electronic downloader. I had some final issues to clear up with this new add-on feature. It's not as clean as I'd like, with features such as dedicated download variables for thank you pages and emails (I attached to existing ones to save time in going thru all the payment gateways). I also want to expand it so you can log into the store and get a list of your downloads, but I'll save that for expansion programming as the version 5 platform progresses over the next 1-2 years of development.

I also finished the taxable/non-taxable indications for each product. Each product is considered taxable by default unless you indicate otherwise in a predetermined userfield. Later I want to be able to indicate differing rates for products as some states and countries need this expanded. But hopefully this is a step in the right direction to build upon later.

Well, that be the end of my notes fer today. I nee dto get back to work on what I think is the largest functional increase of AgoraCart in this single release versus all the changes over the last 3 1/2 years. It's going to be exciteing to see all the "wows" folks will have when they see how much it has improved in one release.

Till next time... fight hard, fight with honor, and may you be victorious in your ecommerce venture

Mister Ed

This marks my first entry on the status of version 5.0.0 development, so I'll do my best to bring the processes up to date.

I hope to be able to add updates as the project progresses towards the final release of this much anticipated release, so here it goes...

I've been working on the new version for over 2 years now. So far, it's been a very long development cycle compared to the quick paced release cycles circa 4.0k. I've worked on the core code, with the help of Eric, Mark S., Alan Young, and other volunteers over the past little while to bring probably the biggest AgoraCart overhaul in the history of our humble project. here's a quick list of what has been accomplished so far:

1) Sub categories using a userfield. can have multiple sub categories in same main category. mostly used in agorascript functions in header.
2) options pricing protection. validates options prices or errors out if different than what is in options file for the product in question.
3) negative price blocks. blocks negative priced options if desired
4) minimum order amount. errors out if minimum order not met
5) speed enhancements on searches... this includes looking up products in any form or fashion
6) non-taxable indicators. if not taxable, item will be skipped if turned on and indicated in a userfield for each individual item
7) USPS shipping updated. includes international shipping in real time.
8) UPS shipping updated. this is a bit more accurate now, but the members only file recommended.
9) UPS International shipping. can ship internaionally and from 14 countries. this is a members only add-on
10) only shipping types desired and/or installed are shown in manager config areas
11) custom shipping types config for cut and paste into your order forms added to shipping manager
12) main settings manager rearranged into topical areas
13) CSS compliance added to AgoraCart... no more digging thru core code to layout and design cart to match your site and/or to chnage display attributes of cart items.. this is a huge bonus.
14) Inventory tracking. members only though. allows inventory deduction at checkout or at add-to-cart, your choice.
15) inventory checking. members only. allows you to check status of all items below certain levels... but only on items that have inventory defined.
16) discount and coupon manager. this applies to jsut about any level of discounting. percentages, flat rates, etc all supported. members only add-on
17) order management. this is expanded and still being worked on. basically you can export, track, and update individual orders.
18) electronic deleivery. members only add-on. will allow for downloadable products. can set to expire in a couple hours or use one time download then it's not available.. your choice.
19) more codehooks added for flexibility for future custom code
20) headers and footers by category. drop in and go by naming a file for each according to product category name. displays them automagically or uses default stare headers/footers if none uploaded
21) same as #20 but basically custome productPage.inc files for layouts per category
22)more cart userfields. this is the shopping cart only, not the product database userfields. this allowed us to set downloadable, non-taxable, and multiple origins for shipping
23) multiple shipping origins. you can now ship or drop ship from multiple locations in realtime ratings. uses a product database userfield. nearly unlimited origins (too many will take a while to quote out)


as far as things we are still working on, we are working on ways to check for updates and actually install those updates to the core code only, new look for the managers, new look and skins for the cart shopping areas, and a few other features.

Well I am out of time to expand on this subject, so I'll try to keep folks up to date as I can