Shop-Script update

The long awaited Shop-Script update is now available.

How to install:

• Users of Shop-Script PHP software (please read before you run software update!):

  Before you run software update in WebAsyst Installer, apply chmod 777 to index.php file that is located in the root of your WebAsyst installation to allow WebAsyst Installer to rewrite this file (enable write permission for this file; you can do this using your favorite FTP client software). Write permission for index.php should be enabled before you start software update to allow update routine to be applied successfully.

  Please contact customer support if you have any questions.

• Users of WebAsyst Shopping Cart hosted service:

  Update has been successfully applied to your accounts. You don’t need to do anything.

Below is the list of changes in this update:

1. Support for time zones (storefront time zone is configured in your store back-end settings screen, server time zone — in WebAsyst Installer settings).
2. New screen “Tools — Sitemaps” which allows creating XML Sitemaps for your storefront. Sitemaps file is an XML file that lists URLs of your website and allows search engines to crawl your site more intelligently.
   After you install this software update, you should manually activate “Sitemaps” screen. To do this, go to WebAsyst Users application and grant your WebAsyst user access rights to the new “Sitemaps” screen (you may allow other users to access Sitemaps as well).
3. New screen “Tools — Print forms” which allows configuring various order forms that you can print directly from your order info page. Some of the forms are available for customer in “My account” tab in storefront.
   After you install this software update, you should manually activate “Print forms” screen. To do this, go to WebAsyst Users application and grant your WebAsyst user access rights to the new “Print forms” screen (you may allow other users to access print forms configuration screen as well).
   Currently there is only one order form — invoice. We are working on adding new order forms such as shipping labels for UPS, FedEx and other supported shipping carriers. We appreciate your feedback regarding order forms; please tell us which print forms would you like to have in your online store (email us or post in our forum). We are open to your suggestions.
4. SEO, improved page layouts, JavaScript optimization.
5. WYSIWYG-editor: new features, ability to add custom JavaScript code, widgets and iframes directly to your texts.
6. 5 new skin templates: Lucid, Aqua, Sale, Tableware, Flowers.
7. Bulk image upload in “Design — Image Uploader” screen.
8. A lot of tiny features and improvements:
   — product search in back-end,
   — settings option for enabling/disabling product code (SKU) display in storefront,
   — the ability to define text direction for a certain language (left-to-right, right-to-left),
   — improved product import from CSV files,
   — order’s “Print version” now includes all customer data including custom registration form fields (e.g. phone number),
   — product duplicating feature,
   — now your customers have the ability to enter how many items to add into shopping cart when ordering something in your storefront (to enable this feature, go to built-in design editor’s “Product info” tab, double-click “Add to cart” element and enable corresponding settings option),
   — in the back-end “Settings” — “Catalog” tab there is a new option that allows you to define the quality of product thumbnail images which are created automatically when you upload product images.
9. Improved stability and security, slightly increased performance, code optimization.
10. Many bug fixes and insignificant improvements:
    — bug fixes in product image uploading,
    — homepage category sorting issue,
    — proper display of special offer products on storefront homepage (products with long names will now be displayed properly; this feature requires your action to be enabled: go to “Design editor”, double-click you special offers block that is displayed not as expected and enter a right value for height of the product image+name block in pixels),
    — update of some payment modules according to the latest integration documentation changes (Paypal Payflow Link, HSBC, Paymentech),
    — and more.
11. PHP software users: in WebAsyst Installer settings you may now configure whether to display “Powered by WebAsyst” or not.

If you notice something weird about the functioning or the look of your store back-end, try updating your browser cache. To do this, right-click somewhere inside store back-end that works not as expected, and select “Open frame in new window” in the popup menu. Then press Ctrl+F5 (Windows) or Cmd+R (Mac) in the new window.

During this update we experienced a slow down in WebAsyst service operation caused by a batch upgrade of metadata (database structure) simultaneously for hundreds accounts of our hosted customers. This slow down continued from 3:30 am until 4:30 am EDT. We apologize for any inconveniences that could be caused by this case. This situation was unusual for us and it was a good experience which will help us improve WebAsyst software update system.