Today is the day of the major update!

We have released the new version of WebAsyst web services suite that we have been working on during the last several months.

WebAsyst is a suite of online services for group or personal usage - online file storage and sharing, photo sharing, online contact management, project management and more. All services are tightly integrated and can be accessible from the same account that requires single login.

You can create your account in a minute and use WebAsyst services for free!

Please visit http://www.webasyst.net/

What is in there for Shop-Script users?

This autumn we plan to release WebAsyst Shopping Cart web service

This will be an online store builder web service that will allow users to create online stores in just minutes without having to install anything (simply create an account, and you get your own online shop immediately). This service will be powered by Shop-Script PREMIUM software… or to be more correct, it will be significantly refactored and improved Shop-Script PREMIUM!

We have been working on this new shopping cart product for over a year now (and this is why we did not release major updates in currently available Shop-Script packages). Some advantages of the new service over current Shop-Script PREMIUM version will be full mutilingual support (both interface and database content), built-in template editor, Flash sales reports, new product management forms, and more. The most important thing that took more development time than any other is design editor. The goal was to create tools for easy design editing and a technology that would allow Shop-Script users to easily upgrade their installations without having to reintroduce changes in template files, uploading files from the new package to the server, etc. You will be able to see how it works when the new product is released :)

After the first release of WebAsyst Shopping Cart web service, it will not be available as downloadable software. Once we fully test it on our platform and it proves to work stable and secure, we will release a major update of Shop-Script software packages for all our customers and users (everyone will get a free upgrade!). I think it will be a couple of months after the shopping cart web service is released.

If you would like to be up to date about the progress of WebAsyst Shopping Cart service, please read this blog (subscribe to RSS feed).

We appeciate your feedback. If you would like to share you thoughts about new WebAsyst, please write comments to this post.

The proper set up of currencies and exchange rates mechanism is essential to any online store that targets worldwide community of buyers. This makes a store user-friendly and open to majority of customers independent of their country’s currency system.

The goal of course is to offer customers the choice of currencies in which they want to see the prices and pay for the goods. The list of possible currencies, their ISO’s, types and exchange rates is set up in an administrative mode of a store. An administrator also has to make a decision of which currency to consider the “base one”. Setting up prices in actual currency ($ for example) can be complicated, since $ value can change and consequently its exchange rate. Thus, you are more prone to make an error in calculations and present wrong information to customers.

In Shop-Script PRO and Shop-Script PREMIUM stores product prices, shipping rates, and sales amount are set up in conventional currency units, rather than in actual currency.  Thus, all prices are independent of “base” currency’s actual value. Converting prices to other currencies is based on currency exchange rates and product price in conventional units. This makes price setting and currency conversion more consistent and less confusing.

For example, you can set 1 conventional unit to be worth $1. This makes the exchange rate in your store to be the number that shows how many units of a currency make 1 conventional unit. For each currency in your currency list you can add the corresponding number, which later can be updated to keep up with currencies exchange rates. The picture below shows that a product worth 1 conventional unit is worth $1, or €0.73, or £0.50, or 25.68 руб.

When customers browse thru your product catalog, they can choose in which currency they wish to see product prices (from the list of those currencies that a merchant had setup in a store):