Introducing WebAsyst application bundles.

WebAsyst application bundle is a set of WebAsyst applications for solve a certain task, e.g. opening an online store.

Application bundles are our permanent special offers for WebAsyst as PHP software. If you are about to buy WebAsyst software, consider buying bundle instead of just one application, and save!

Previously only entire suite of all 9 WebAsyst applications was available for purchase. Now we added 3 new bundles:

“Ecommerce” bundle
For those who want an online store.

	+		+		=	$557 $399
Shop-Script		Contacts		Mail

“Ecommerce Plus” bundle
For those who want an online store, and who work as a team.

	+		+		+		+		=	$755 $499
Shop-Script		Contacts		Mail		Files		Photos

“Files + Photos” bundle
For those who want to establish secure online place to store files and photos.

	+		=	$198 $149
Files		Photos

Buy WebAsyst software or learn more about bundles.

The price for the entire WebAsyst suite (all 9 applications) is now $699.

New version of WebAsyst Photos is available!

WebAsyst Photos application has been redesigned from scratch.

Initial release of the new version was planned to be done a couple of months ago, but we decided to postpone it until we integrate some cool features like thumbnails sharpening, crop, slideshows, various view options, etc.

Thanks to everyone who has been awaiting! We hope that the new WebAsyst Photos application will fully meet your expectations.

Take a closer look:

• new WebAsyst Photos website: http://www.webasyst.net/photos/
• feature list with descriptions
• demo photo gallery
• WebAsyst Photos user manual

New customers

Special $20 discount offer for WebAsyst Photos as PHP scripts is now available. Offer ends on September, 13th (sunday).

Existing users
(how to upgrade?)

— If you purchased WebAsyst Photos PHP scripts earlier, you may install this update using WebAsyst Installer, or download the new version from your WebAsyst Customer Center account (for free). Before you start updating your installation, see our how to upgrade guide (there are a couple of important things you need to know).

— If you use WebAsyst Photos as a hosted service, just login to your WebAsyst account. The update will be applied automatically.

Updated pricing plans

Good news regarding pricing plans for the hosted service: we have cancelled limitations on the number of images. Now the number of photos in your WebAsyst account is only limited by the free disk space. 

We have also increased the free disk space for every pricing plan of the WebAsyst Photos service:

My Photos — increased from 1 to 2 GB,
Photo Gallery — from 5 to 10 GB,
Photographer — from 10 to 25 GB,
Photo Studio — from 25 to 50 GB.

Prices have remained unchanged.

Access rights

We have added new screens to WebAsyst Photos : “Design” and “Settings”. After you update, go to the “Users” application, and set appropriate access rights to these new screens for users of your WebAsyst account.

Today (September 1st, 2009) we discontinue official support of Shop-Script PRO and PREMIUM products (predecessors of WebAsyst Shop-Script).

It means that Shop-Script PRO and PREMIUM are no longer available for download, and will not be updated anymore (even in case new bugs and/or security vulnerabilities are found).
However, we continue offering technical support by email on questions concerning functioning and problems with Shop-Script PRO and PREMIUM. We will be offering support while we continue to receive requests concerning PRO and PREMIUM versions. When the volume of requests decreases significantly (in a natural way), we will discontinue offering technical support by email as well (a dedicated post will be published regarding this change).

If you are still on Shop-Script PRO or Shop-Script PREMIUM, we recommend you to upgrade to WebAsyst Shop-Script. It’s free.

Discontinuance of PRO and PREMIUM versions was first announced in summer 2008, when WebAsyst Shop-Script product was launched.

We are working on several new partnership programs that will be presumably released in the following order:

If you are interested in becoming a partner, sign up for our email newsletter about the new programs. We will let you know when every new program is released. There are no exact timeframes for now—we are working to release asap.

You will be able to participate in all of our partner programs if you like.

One year ago we introduced new software update policy which assumed paid access to WebAsyst software updates: 25% of the original purchase price for 1 extra year of updates (after the first year passes).

According to this change updates were about to become paid for many of WebAsyst and Shop-Script users on September 1st, 2009.

However, we have several critical arguments against this paid update policy, and that is why we decided to suspend switching to paid updates for now. Let us get back to this issue someday in the future. For now we continue to offer WebAsyst software updates for all our customers for free.

Permanent extension of the functionality of WebAsyst Shop-Script was long ago understood as a dead end. The idea that this piece of software should rather become an easily extendable platform has been discussed during several past years by our team. A couple of months ago we finally realized the gravity of the situation and decided that this idea should be implemented already in the next release of Shop-Script.

We have collected and studied all available information about module-based software development and drawn up a source code refactoring plan.

Our main goal is to make Shop-Script a platform for creation of online stores.

A couple of words about what we are currently doing:

1. Creation of the module-based architecture that would allow installation of functional modules and plugins. This is the main part of work and it is what we are actually busy doing right now.

The problems we are facing are that plugins must remain operational after each software update and that they should be completely independent not to interfere with each other.

We decided to preserve the basic organization of modules, screens and interfaces currently used in WebAsyst Shop-Script and to reject the redundant tree-like structure.

2. Localization. The localization module is being modified to use gettext with compilation like in other new applications which are in development right now (Photos, Contacts, new Support application).

3. Design templates. We know how to make the design modification easier than it is now. We are planning to allow editing a larger number of templates than you can edit in the current version and make the editing tools more convenient.

4. Developer documentation. It is being created in parallel to the coding process and will be released together with the next update. The main idea is to make modification of our script a trivial task.

5. Performance. Preliminary tests already show reduction of load on server twice as high on frequently used screens. We believe that we will be able to increase the performance of the storefront and main screens of the administrator account by 3—4 times.

6. Redesign. Many core backend screens will be redesigned from scratch. For instance, the order and product management sections — they are the “heart” of an online store, and working with them should be a real pleasure.

Unlike transition from Shop-Script PRO/PREMIUM to WebAsyst Shop-Script, an update from the current version to the next release will be performed automatically by means of WebAsyst Installer. All user data as well as design changes will be preserved and correctly updated.

And now the bad news: we do not know yet when the new version is going to be released. Since we switched to a new pricing schedule last year (the purchase price of the script includes the cost of updates during a year with further updates to be purchased additionally) and suddenly decided to work on the next release during a long period of time, we hereby guarantee that owners of WebAsyst Shop-Script licenses will not be charged for getting this major update. We will offer it to all Shop-Script license owners free of charge.

In the upcoming period from December 30th, 2008 till January 5th, 2009 technical support team will be working in a reduced staffing level. Complex issues which require thorough technical investigation will be processed on January 5th.

Today, December 17th, 2008, from 6:05 until 7:53 GMT, WebAsyst servers were unavailable due to technical problems at the data center where they are physically located (Montreal, Canada).

As a result www.webasyst.net and all user accounts on it were unaccessible.

Our network administrators did their best to restore servers functionality. Not everything was in their power, however. We required assistance and cooperation of the data center technicians. That is why downtime was so lengthy.

At 7:53 GMT WebAsyst servers came back online. None of the users information and data has been lost. At the moment everything is back to normal.

We greatly apologize to all of the WebAsyst users that have been affected by the service unavailability. Right now we are thoroughly investigating this case to take all possible measures and prevent such downtimes in the future.

Our annual holiday sale event is very special this year. We have two special offers:

1. Generous discount for the entire WebAsyst Suite.

The price of the entire WebAsyst Suite delivered as PHP software is now only $499 Regular price: $999 It’s only $200 more than the price for a single Shop-Script application, but instead of one application you get all nine: Shop-Script, Files, Projects, Issue Tracker, Contacts, Mail, Notes, Pages, Photos. Buy WebAsyst Suite now

2. If you have already purchased Shop-Script or other WebAsyst applications,

then we have discounts for you as well. On Dec 10th we emailed personal discount coupon codes to all our clients. Every discount coupon which grants a generous discount on all additional WebAsyst software purchases while this special offer is available. Check your email for the message with your personal discount code.

In this new version we have substantially redesigned the main frame of WebAsyst user interface, including the services selection menu and the top panel with account name and logo.

What has been changed:

1. Using an iframes technique and HTML and javascript code optimization, we enabled the system to work faster – main menu is not reloaded  when switching between services or navigating inside a service.
2. You can now choose one of four positions for the main menu: Top, Left, Bottom, and Right (before you had only Left and Bottom). For every position user can select a convenient menu view: Icons and Names, Icons only, or Names only. This flexible tuning allows you to set a layout which is most suitable for your current screen resolution. Selected view will be remembered on a local computer in cookies. To manage these personal settings, simply click your name in the top line of your WebAsyst window.
3. We changed the bright background colors in the service heading and toolbar. These elements are now in a light, white-gray palette that allows users to concentrate on the main service content. Color customizing is now possible only for top panel.
4. “Control Panel” screen has been re-named “Account”, and is now accessible from the top line, next to the current user name. Using “Account” screen you can now customize color scheme for entire account and select account name and logo appearance options.
5. Login form has been personalized – it now displays your account name and logo.

Login to your WebAsyst account – it already has the new interface!

If you purchased WebAsyst software to install on your own server, you may go to your WebAsyst Installer and upgrade.

NOTE: If you encounter a problem within your WebAsyst main menu, press Ctrl+F5 in your browser to refresh the page. If you see distortion or only partially loaded page inside a service area, open iframe of this service in new window (click right mouse button in a service area and select “Open in new window”), and then press Ctrl+F5.