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Greg Dinger View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Greg Dinger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15-April-2015 at 10:02pm

Tabs - I have a tabs module that has matured since I first created back in the v3.5 days.  The import works.

Cross Sell - I have Cross Sell Wizard add-on that highly accelerates the process of assigning cross sell assignments, and dispenses with all of the "mother may I?" annoyances of the stock implementation.



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Brett Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15-April-2015 at 10:24pm
Originally posted by NWClips Craig NWClips Craig wrote:

@Brett - It just expired on Sunday (4/12) after the initial period included in the price of the cart software.  Of the two actual items I submitted tickets for, one was fixed by clicking a box I was initially told (pre-sale) I would not need if I used a Bootstrap theme.  The second one apparently does not have a resolution yet (the ability to bulk import formatted HTML to the Product Layout - Tabs Area field) which means having to do a lot of manual copying and pasting for each product.

I typically don't bother tech. support with things that are simply annoying like this issue or those unnecessary (IMO) extra confirmation boxes that pop up at bizarre times when setting up cross-selling relationships or importing/exporting.  I was in tech. support for several years and led a team that rarely had time for those types of things which is why I put these into the "Suggestions" forum.

Whenever I run into something that obviously isn't working as expected (exporting category information for a product for example) I tend to first search the KB's and community forum for a resolution then try and figure out why, if I have enough time, or at least find a work-around.  After that I post or send my findings so the tech. support staff and/or other users can know.

While researching 136 shopping carts, most were rejected if they couldn't be moved from host to host, but one requirement I had was a community forum.  What I didn't realize is how few people actually post here.  I also missed the fact that there's no way to submit suspected minor bugs other than submitting a ticket (which you need to have a support plan for and, like everything else, my friend/customer is trying to avoid unless it really becomes necessary) or posting here.  

Another example:  When working with a lot of products sequentially from the PC Control Panel, you can "Modify the next product in this category" after you save the current product, except that it doesn't use the category that you used on the locate/search screen so you may or may not get the next product.  My guess is that it uses the next product from the first category the current product is part of instead.  That means for each product you need to first perform a search (i.e., locate it), select it, modify it, then do the whole procedure again.  This is a huge time waster especially since these changes can't be done with a bulk import...  All of that said, I still consider this a "Suggestion" not something I should have to create a support ticket for.



That's a shame about the support expiring on the 12th. However, I'm a bit confused, so perhaps you could clarify a couple things for me. First though, let me tell you a bit about myself so you know where I'm coming from. We've been using PC (ProductCart) to run our main eCommerce website since, I believe, 2008. I am the developer and defacto sysadmin for the business, and am generally in charge of all things related to the website. I thought I should mention this to make it clear that I, like you, am a PC customer and user. I haven't ever built any official PC plugins, I don't work with the development team, and I haven't really done any professional work on PC aside from for our one main site, and once more for a different client with whom I did a bit of freelance development.

You've mentioned that the PC installation you're working on is for your "friend/customer". If you don't mind me asking, in what capacity are you involved with the project? Are you the developer, designer, marketer? What is your position and involvement in this project for which your customer has purchased and will be using PC?

Regarding the two issues for which you've submitted tickets - you said the first one involved clicking a box you would not need if you used a bootstrap theme - which box was this? I am working on building a new theme for our site to use when we deploy with the upgraded PC (moving from v4 to v5) and perhaps this would concern me. As for the second issue, I'm not sure I understand what the issue is with bulk importing the tab area content.

I haven't extensively used the tabs, but don't they pull info from other parts of the product details? How do you have your product tabs setup? From what I can see upon taking a quick glance at my PCv5 admin dashboard and going to one of the products, it looks like I can set each tab to display a specific piece of information, for example the Product Long Description. Isn't that field accessible via the bulk import/export?

To clarify, while you won't find a "tab area" field in the bulk import/export area, I believe that all of the information you can assign to the tabs are indeed included in the import/export functionality. Which data have you assigned to the tabs that you are unable to import/export? Or is this an issue with the "formatted HTML" not properly importing?

You mentioned that you researched 136 different shopping carts. Might I ask why the ability to easily move from host to host was so high on your requirements? It would seem to me that most folks building a site are going to stick it on one host and keep it there. I'm having trouble thinking of a situation where you'd necessarily need the ability to easily move from host to host, but perhaps I'm missing something obvious. Also, I'm a bit surprised that, after taking the time to research (a whopping) 136 shopping carts, you wouldn't have taken a bit more time to check the community forum and make sure it's relatively active.

I understand that your customer is trying to avoid any unnecessary costs, but I'd advise against foregoing the support plan. Not only does this plan give you access to the support team, it also gives you access to future updates. Since you've just purchased and we are basically in the early stages of v5, I suppose you probably won't end up needing the support plan for updates. I could be wrong, but I believe the way it works is that you are given access to same-major-version updates (eg 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 etc) but not next-major-version updates (eg v6). That being said, you probably won't run into a situation where you need the support plan in order to access an update, at least for a while.

However, even though you probably won't need to pay for access to any updates / patches released, it sounds like you're going to end up wanting to pay for access to the support team. When it comes down to it, unless you are willing and able to dig into the code yourself and troubleshoot these issues, you're going to end up having to pay someone to do it. Whether that's paying a consultant to come on board and resolve these issues, or paying for the official PC support plan, time is money and someone's going to end up having to spend time to go in and make changes to the code.

I agree with you that there could be a more streamlined bug report system, but I can kind of see why PC may have chosen not to implement one. The problem with bug report systems is that people tend to submit reports for things that aren't necessarily bugs. I've seen it many times where people submit things that lean more towards personal preference, feature requests, or hosting issues, and which aren't really "bugs" that can be fixed by the development team.

Just as desktop software has a list of "minimum requirements" and typically will not run if those requirements are not met, PC (and most eCommerce software) has requirements that the server / hosting plan must meet in order to run correctly. Considering the great amount of research you did (136 carts), I would hope that you've spent a reasonable amount of time researching your choice of hosting provider to ensure that they have a service which meets the requirements of PC. I believe you mentioned earlier that you are using GoDaddy - before purchasing your hosting plan did you check to verify that the hosting you purchased via GoDaddy meets ProductCart's operating requirements?

Speaking of which, what kind of hosting plan are you using? Is it some kind of shared Windows hosting, or is it a (virtual) dedicated server? If it's the latter, I would assume that you'd be able to change just about anything you need, including the session timeout duration.

Regarding the final issue you mentioned, I believe this is going to be one of those things that falls under the banner of "personal preference / not really a bug" as you mentioned (that you consider it a suggestion and not something you should have to create a support ticket for). The problem is, there are going to end up being many different ways for each thing to work, and the development team can only do their best in implementing what they feel is the best solution. Inevitably it's going to be wrong for some people, so they have to go with whatever is going to work for the majority of their customers.
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Brett View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Brett Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15-April-2015 at 10:27pm
Lol, Greg and I keep replying at around the same time. I assure you we are not in cahoots! More likely a result of, as you said, a relatively mild level of activity on these forums. I got an email alerting me to your reply, and have spent far too long writing my reply. At any rate, hopefully you're able to get this and any other issues resolved and can get ProductCart working correctly and your customer's site launched! I look forward to your reply (to my previous comment) and I will certainly offer any advice I can. Like I said above, I am not a certified PC developer or anything, but I am a user like you, and I have made quite a few modifications to my installation.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote NWClips Craig Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16-April-2015 at 2:46pm
Wow...  Ok, let's see if I can answer all that!  LOL.

I guess I can start with my background.  I started programming a LONG time ago when I was only 7 on an HP-2000.  I sold my first program in 1976 (a help system for the San Diego Unified School System) when I was 12.  At 19 I was one of those hacker kids you may have heard of working for a defense contractor (while finishing college early).  They were an Alpha Test site for new DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) machines and I lucked into having a full set of manuals (which took more than a 6' x 3' bookcase to hold them all).  Only the onsite librarian had a set of manuals for about 210 programmers to share so I got the chance to learn about everything and everyone came by to borrow my copies which helped me know who knew what.  I became the tech. lead for the CMQA department at 20 before moving into other areas.  I usually got the fun work (i.e., the stuff no one else wanted to tackle) so I didn't get bored.  By the time the contract ended after five years I moved to a healthcare utilization review company that was migrating to DEC machines.  I still got to do a lot of everything (good and bad, like when I was forced to create a full-screen editor in COBOL - hehe...). After 8.5 years as a full-time employee I was so under paid that I was having to offer people I was hiring more than I was getting.  The nice corner office with the leather chair, nice title, extra work stations and fridge were nice but didn't pay the rent so went back to consulting and ended up being a consultant to Anderson Consulting (now Accenture) at a Verizon Wireless project. That was seven years, the last two consulting directly for VZW.  When their main billing system was converted to another managed in a different state, they started laying off the consultants and, since I have always been a jack-of-all-trades, I was in the final wave.  By this point, Intel had bought all of the DEC gear and buried it to force people to use their servers, and Oracle had purchased all of the DEC database products for the same reason.  So I basically went from being an "expert" (even teaching some classes) to starting over.  In what little spare time I had I used to run game servers and had the second most popular server on the West Coast at one time (in addition to playing sports and music).

By this time I was pretty burnt out with all the long hours (I averaged almost 60 hour weeks for the last ten years and didn't have a week off during that whole time).  Since my side investing had done well I went back to college to work on a PhD in a completely different field and moved to the Pacific Northwest (my body had started wearing out from too many sports).  I sold my home in So. California and ended up here with five properties, no debt and a lot of money.  Then a LOT of bizarre things happened, like my father passing the day after I moved up here, along with the real estate and credit crunch in 2008 plus a lot of illegal actions taken by financial institutions.  When the dust settled I had no properties left, no vehicle, barely found a government subsidized appartment for my Mom (who will be 86 next month) and over $820k gone.  I ended up with some things hidden in storage and living in a friend's extra room.  Part of the problem at the time was that I wasn't eligible for any of the government programs because I'd actually been paying my mortgages (really???) and the other was that I wasn't working.  Obviously I immediately tried to get back into the job market but was told that without two years of recent experience I wasn't employable (again, really???).  I did get a couple of short contracts, including one with Intel, but the financial issues hit everyone and all hiring was either frozen or people got laid off.  I ended up in a promising startup company with a couple of friends but that ended after five years (another long story).  After that I've just been getting by doing miscellaneous IT work for friends that either own or manage companies. In most of those cases they needed the work done, but couldn't afford to pay the normal rates so I'm able to help them.  Apparently, I'm unemployable otherwise.  All the IT places want recent experience, certifications (that weren't around or necessary for me when I was still working for VZW) and won't even hire me for an entry-level position (a lot of age discrimination really, they want someone young who will drink the corporate kool-aid).  I can't even get low-paying jobs like working at a supermarket, UPS Store, etc.  Those that will actually respond to an application say they can't pay what I'm worth and that I'll leave them as soon as I find a better job.  They don't seem to believe me when I say I'd be happy to just make enough to pay my rent and other living expenses.  Oh well.  This is a LONG story (sorry) but it does show I got to where I am now.

One of those friends that I've been doing work for started off with his own water leak business which expanded to supplying auto-body repair parts (paints, solvents, abrasives, screws, bolts, rivets and all those plastic clips that hold your vehicle together).  I've known him for 11 years and have helped him for over five of those (my main strengths are organizing so I designed his supply & inventory systems, created the layouts for his warehouses as well as his company branding, images, literature, etc.).  The first website I ever created was for the startup company mentioned above (where I wore about 11 hats).  It actually came out well albeit cutting edge 1990's.  He asked if I would like to try and make an online store for him and the first attempt is actually still up and can be seen at www.nwclips.com.  I did all of the image scanning and processing, all product detail research as well as all company branding (95% of the work).  The website ended up on GoDaddy by his choice (neither of us knew much about hosting back then - all of my personal websites are on 1and1 because I only use them for data transfer and email accounts).  This meant that I used GoDaddy's Quick Shopping Cart (QSC) online tool for everything.  I didn't need to know any HTML, CSS or javascript.  As I went forwards I continually ran into issues with their tool and even submitted over a dozen fixes for them (most of which they've included).  But all of that plus other problems that my friend ran into dealing with the company made him have me create a new version with Volusion.  I completely modernized the look and feel, but was still mostly using Volusion's online shopping cart tool though it was FAR better than GoDaddy's QSC.  My friend ran into more issues with the company that dealt with hidden charges, payment gateway issues, and other problems that I wasn't party to, and he pulled the plug on Volusion. Now I realize that it's possible my friend has unrealistic expectations, but he's the owner so he has to be happy.  This is why he wants a website that can be customized in any fashion without be limited by a host's online tool and also wants to be able to move from host to host as he sees fit.

This is already too long, so I'll just add here that between all of the above AND a couple of side companies I've started that I haven't done much with I've since done training and been exposed to SEO, SEM, HTML5, CSS and some javascript.  In addition to the website I will also be doing some of the managing at his new warehouse and his goal is to be able to hire me full time at what I'm worth.  We'll see how that works out.  I'll put more answers into the next reply!
~ Craig B.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote NWClips Craig Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16-April-2015 at 3:10pm
RE: My first support ticket

The site was looking good on a mobile phone but the login/register area was missing.  The solution was to turn the Mobile Site on in Mobile Commerce Settings area.  I was originally led to believe that this was only necessary on non-Bootstrap themes that weren't responsive.


RE: My second support ticket

Here is a good example from the new website in development of the look I am going for with a product: http://www.clipsnfasteners.com/clips/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=63&idcategory=

There's a LOT of formatted HTML involved (and Custom HTML fields).  However, even when I tried importing and exporting with simple information, it wasn't working in the Tab Layout area.  When I exported with the tabs I wanted, but none of the custom HTML, here is what I got:

Overview``CUSTOMHTML,``Overview ||Specs``CUSTOMHTML,``Specs||OEM's``CUSTOMHTML,``OEMs||Models &amp; Years``CUSTOMHTML,``Models||Related Products``PrdCS,``||

However, if you simply turn around and try to import this, it will fail.  Ideally, a correctly functioning import/export process shouldn't have any difference between what it exports and what you import.  Here's what the cell would look like for the product linked above:

Overview``PrdOpt,CUSTOMHTML,``This is a Honda & Mitsubishi clip for use in the fender area.<br><h2>Package Quantity: 25</h2>    ||Specs``CUSTOMHTML,``<ul><li>Hole Size: 5/16&rdquo; (8mm)</li>
<li>Flange Diameter: 20mm</li>
<li>Stem Length: 11mm</li>
<li>Black Nylon</li>
<li>Push Type Retainers</li></ul>    ||OEM's``CUSTOMHTML,``<ul><li>91512-SX0-003 91512SX0003 (Honda)</li><li>MU000319 (Mitsubishi)</li></ul>    ||Models &amp; Years``CUSTOMHTML,``<ul><li>Acura CL (2001-2003)</li><li>Acura Legend (1995-1995)</li><li>Acura MDX (2001-2011)</li><li>Acura RDX (2007-2011)</li><li>Acura RL (1996-2011)</li><li>Acura RSX (2002-2006)</li><li>Acura TL (1995-2011)</li><li>Acura TSX (2004-2011)</li><li>Acura ZDX (2010-2011)</li><li>Honda Accord (1994-On)</li><li>Honda Civic (2001-On)</li><li>Honda CR-V (1997-On)</li><li>Honda CR-Z (2011-On)</li><li>Honda Element (2003-2011)</li><li>Honda Fit (2007-On)</li><li>Honda Insight (2010-2012)</li><li>Honda Odyssey (1995-2012)</li><li>Honda Pilot (2003-2012)</li><li>Honda Prelude (1992-2001)</li><li>Honda Ridgeline (2006-2012)</li><li>Honda S2000 (2000-2009)</li><li>Mitsubishi Outlander (2008-2011)</li><li>Mitsubishi Lancer (2002-2005)</li></ul>    ||Related Products``PrdCS,``||"

Needless to say, having to go into each tab, edit the Custom HTML, click on the Advanced tab and paste code I created in Excel takes a LONG time.  I've only finished about 1/3 of the products because of this. 
~ Craig B.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote NWClips Craig Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16-April-2015 at 3:37pm
So, to try and summarize everything, all tools have their quirks and I'm still learning them for PC's Control Panel.  One of the hurdles, being new to this, is that I don't always know where the problem resides (e.g., with PC's Control Panel, the theme, the host, etc.).

I try not to report annoyances or personal preferences as bugs (if I think something could be done better, I make a post in the Suggestions forum), but I've definitely found some minor bugs.

The other main issue is that I am one guy doing everything for a friend who has to keep his expenses very tight for a little while more (tax time hurt him).  I also find myself running into unrealistic expectations.  He sees ads that claim they can create a website in next to no time for next to nothing.  What is taking some time to get through to him is that these people would not be creating any content (branding, images, product information) which takes up about 95% of the time.  He also wouldn't get a customized website that he can take anywhere.  While he's starting to understand, he still thinks everything should be done by now.  I only had a few days to review those 136 shopping carts so I created a spreadsheet which mostly rejected carts that didn't have what we wanted.  The brief check here showed some activity and decent replies, but mostly I didn't see a bunch of users complaining.  People tend to rarely say anything when things are working well, but they will when there are problems.

Due to outside issues including my 85-year old Mother who just got out of the hospital and into a rehab facility, and some kind of nationwide Cogentco outage where I couldn't work on the website for a few days, I really haven't spent more than a solid week on the new website.  Most of the work is behind the scenes using a huge spreadsheet to calculate all of the field values and processing over 4,000 images.  My roommate's company just spent over $30,000 total to have a basic, responsive website created that took a team of designers and developers two months and it only has five products currently (your basic corporate ripoff if you ask me).  Within a week my friend will have a site that's at least as comprehensive with about 300 products for a fraction of the cost.  Once he's recovered from tax time the site will get moved to a better host and we'll begin adding more products.  It's not that he's cheap, he's actually doing this partially as a favor to me - something he really can't afford right now - so we both are making short-term sacrifices that we hope will turn into long-term positive returns.
~ Craig B.
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Greg Dinger View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Greg Dinger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16-April-2015 at 3:50pm
guys - I'm afraid this has become longer than I can spend time reading.  If there is anything in there that you would like to draw to my attention, please let me know.
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Hehe...
~ Craig B.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Brett Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28-April-2015 at 1:19am
Wow, so now I'm even more confused than before lol. Let's try to simplify. As you probably know by now, the password timeout is not something which can be resolved on the forum. ProductCart uses your server setting for this timeout, and so it's something which will need to be resolved by your host.

Regarding any other issues, I think they're best addressed in their own thread.
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