Here is an official list:

Flash for IOS - Now you can provide an alternative HTML (Image, Video, Etc) for a flash frame.  Since IOS (Apple mobile devices) do not play flash.  You can automatically swap it for something else when viewed by these devices.

Multiple Coupons - Now you can optionally DISABLE the ability for a customer to redeem more than one coupon code per order.  There is a checkbox that you can use to prevent multiple coupon codes.

Trace Forms - Look at your "Submitted Data" in your Feedback Forms area.  You can now look and see how a visitor found your form.  Including the search term used to land there.  Look for "View Visitor Path".   I will also have this info added to the emailed copy of the form submission soon.  

Trace Orders - View your order list and look for "View Visitor Path" on each order.  You can see how the customer found your web site and the full path before checking out.

Login "Tab Button" behavior - We changed the login box so that when you click the "TAB" key. It jumps to the next appropriate field.

Tracking Abandoned Carts - Some of you already know.  You can now view all abandonded carts in your "Visitor Tracking" area.  Just use the drop down to choose "Abandoned Carts".

"Direct FTP access to Template" - I'm a little nervous to announce this one.  For those who would like to develop their own templates.  Or modify their own templates.  We CAN provide direct FTP access to your TEMPLATE.  You must, of course, know how to code HTML and follow our "Template Specification" guideline.  Also any fixes or restores needed are at your own risk and cost.  That being said.  HTML savvy people can try this advanced access to the Website Forge system.

"Mobile Version" - Just a reminder that we can enable a "MOBILE FRIENDLY" version of your website with just one click.  Contact support to test it out.  90% of the time - this automatic conversion works perfectly without changes.  You can of course modify the mobile view if you wish using the normal tools.

Sitemap Upgrades - There are always many google sitemaps upgrades going on.  Recently we made some modifications to help Bing grab your sitemaps file.  This "Google Sitemap" file is now really a universal file for all SE's.

Those are the highlights.  Please provide your questions and comments!!

Shane Merem

Website Forge

www.websiteforge.com

You NEED the new checkout because our customers are reporting an average of 15% less abandonded carts.

That means MORE ORDERS!

Don't wait.  Contact support TODAY and request a FREE Website Forge Checkout Upgrade.  

CLICK THIS LINK TO REQUEST THE UPGRADE http://ticket.websiteforge.com 

You can't afford NOT to upgrade.  It's free and you will sell more stuff!

Shane Merem

Website Forge

www.websiteforge.com

First, you should be aware of the changes and required attributes which will go into effect Sept 22nd.  Below is the relevant portion of an email from Google which explains the changes.
 

The following changes were applied per Google's new requirements effective Sep 22:

Field set changes

1) "Availability" is now a required field.

2) "Image Link" is now a required field.

3) "Google Product Category" field can be added via "Add Mapping". It is a recommended (and required for some product types) field which must contain a category from Google's Taxonomy.

4) "Availability" can be set to "preorder".

5) New fields for apparel products: "Material", "Pattern", "Gender" and "Age Group" can be added via "Add Mapping".

6) The following fields have become deprecated and removed: quantity, feature, manufacturer, genre, featured product, year, author, edition.

Note that our set of required fields is very basic. We require those fields only which are required by Google for any product type. Some products, e.g. apparel, have a broader set of required attributes. You need to read Google Merchant Center manual thoroughly yourself to find out what is requred for your particular store.

Option export

For apparel or variant products, Google requires every variant (size, color, material) etc. to be exported as a separate product. To achieve this, Size/Color/Material/Pattern mappings can be set to "<Option>" which allows you to specify names of options containing these attributes. Inventory grids, as well as regular options, are supported here.

Automatic Google Base export!

There is a new "Google Base Export" section added within the Ecommerce module (at the end of the Catalog section) which will allow you to set up mappings for an automatic export. This new section (in your WebsiteForge Member's Area ) will display the URL which should then be entered into Google merchant account for scheduled upload. Google will then fetch the data from this url on schedule.

- Please contact Support if you have any specific questions about the WebsiteForge changes.

- You should contact Google with any questions about how their new requirements affect your feed.

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

Forge Ahead with International e-Commerce!

Register today, for our webinar on Sept 22nd, 1 pm EST

Join us for this complimentary, informative webinar to learn:

- Expansion Challenges

- International Solution - Simplified

- Benefits

- See How it’s Done

- Q&A…

Sign up here to register and make the most of the holiday shopping season!

*After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

Kevin Ledezma

www.websiteforge.com

e-commerce web site design

First, you should be aware of the changes and required attributes which will go into effect Sept 22nd.  Below is the relevant portion of an email from Google which explains the changes.
 

The following changes were applied per Google's new requirements effective Sep 22:

Field set changes

1) "Availability" is now a required field.

2) "Image Link" is now a required field.

3) "Google Product Category" field can be added via "Add Mapping". It is a recommended (and required for some product types) field which must contain a category from Google's Taxonomy.

4) "Availability" can be set to "preorder".

5) New fields for apparel products: "Material", "Pattern", "Gender" and "Age Group" can be added via "Add Mapping".

6) The following fields have become deprecated and removed: quantity, feature, manufacturer, genre, featured product, year, author, edition.

Note that our set of required fields is very basic. We require those fields only which are required by Google for any product type. Some products, e.g. apparel, have a broader set of required attributes. You need to read Google Merchant Center manual thoroughly yourself to find out what is requred for your particular store.

Option export

For apparel or variant products, Google requires every variant (size, color, material) etc. to be exported as a separate product. To achieve this, Size/Color/Material/Pattern mappings can be set to "<Option>" which allows you to specify names of options containing these attributes. Inventory grids, as well as regular options, are supported here.

Automatic Google Base export!

There is a new "Google Base Export" section added within the Ecommerce module (at the end of the Catalog section) which will allow you to set up mappings for an automatic export. This new section (in your WebsiteForge Member's Area ) will display the URL which should then be entered into Google merchant account for scheduled upload. Google will then fetch the data from this url on schedule.

- Please contact Support if you have any specific questions about the WebsiteForge changes.

- You should contact Google with any questions about how their new requirements affect your feed.

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

Forge Ahead with International e-Commerce!

Register today, for our webinar on Sept 22nd, 1 pm EST

Join us for this complimentary, informative webinar to learn:

- Expansion Challenges

- International Solution - Simplified

- Benefits

- See How it’s Done

- Q&A…

Sign up here to register and make the most of the holiday shopping season!

*After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

Kevin Ledezma

www.websiteforge.com

e-commerce web site design

Please contact support if you are interested.

Prerequisites:  

1.  You must be willing to be a beta tester.  This means if there are bugs or issues -- you are willing to report them and allow us to resolve them.

2.   You must have already upgraded to the new checkout if your site includes e-commerce.

If you qualify.  Please contact support and we will upgrade it.  It only takes a few minutes to turn it on.

Social Networking Features - Facebook, Twitter, and Google 1+ integration 

Now you can add Facebook, Twitter, and Google 1+ to your web site in seconds!  Also you can automatically deliver content to your Facebook and Twitter accounts as you post to your Website Forge Blog.

Watch this short video.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdVZcZHlXX4 (don't forget to click FULL SCREEN to see it clearly)

Previously:

We have hundreds of support videos ON DEMAND.  Go to http://videos.websiteforge.com

New Website Forge E-commerce FREE Checkout upgrade is here.  Click here.

Google 1+ integration is becoming widely used.

1+ is a way to say "This is pretty cool" or "I like this"..

What is it?  Check it out here http://www.google.com/+1/button/

Check it out on our home page at www.websiteforge.com (must be logged into your google account to use it).

MAKE SURE YOU Facebook LIKE and Google 1+ our websiteforge.com web site!!  And this blog!

Contact support at http://ticket.websiteforge.com asap to add it to your site. 

Other recent FREE e-commerce web site upgrades:

- Improved Checkout

- Facebook Integration

- Twitter Integration

Upgrades Coming Soon:

- Instant MOBILE SITE delivery

- Constant Contact API integration www.constantcontact.com 

- Go Data Feed www.godatafeed.com integration

Recent Feedback from Website Forge e-commerce web site customers:

Ginger Rushing says: June 28th, 2011 at 11:20 am   Edit Delete I upgraded both www.yourlightsite.com and www.coppergaslanternsplus.com a few weeks ago.  I LOVE the new checkout.  A lot of my customers call me to order due to the nature of my products and I am now able to enter their orders while they wait, with ease.  If I can do it quickly and easily, I know my customers can also.  The wait was worth it.  Thanks Shane for this great "free" upgrade.

Cary Anderson says:

Brian says:

June 28th, 2011 at 10:39 am   Edit Delete

We here at ShopBakersNook.com have seen a dramatic decrease in cart abandonment rates with the new websiteforge e-commerce check out process. This is a no brainer upgrade that is free and a great addition to the websiteforge e-commerce platform.

Thanks again for all the great feedback!  WE ARE LISTENING!!!

Shane Merem

www.websiteforge.com

e-commerce web site design 

The new checkout upgrade is free!

Who has it?

Check out www.shopbakersnook.com and www.gandlclothing.com to see it.  Anyone else that has upgraded... Post a comment and show it off!

How do you get it?

Go to http://ticket.websiteforge.com and request it via a support ticket.

How does it happen?

You will be scheduled (usually on a Tuesday).  We notify you, perform the upgrade.  Then VERY IMPORANTANT.  THEN you check it, make any visual adjustments and then PUBLISH your e-commerce web site when you are ready.

Thats it!

Contact us today for your FREE e-commerce web site checkout upgrade!

Shane Merem

www.websiteforge.com

e-commerce web site design

Just a few of the upgrades our new website forge e-commerce checkout process offers.

How do you upgrade?

Simply contact Website Forges support and let us know you wish to upgrade.   We will schedule an upgrade time so you can review the upgrade and publish these great features!

Look forward to hearing from you!

P.S.  For you who have already upgraded.  Feel free to comment your experience thus far!

Shane Merem

www.websiteforge.com

e-commerce website design

It's true that Website Forge e-commerce web sites work perfectly on most mobile devices -- some people request that a smaller/ligher version run across a .mobi for a number of reasons.

So "coming soon" -- MOBI functionality for your Website Forge e-commerce web site.

Thanks Brian for making me jump on really fast and make this annoucement at 5:12PM .. LOL

I'm sure there will be plenty of typos in this post.  :)

Stay tuned

Shane Merem

www.websiteforge.com

e-commerce web site design

P.S.  Brian's site is www.shopbakersnook.com 

I am blogging to you AND beta testing our Social Media features right now!

If this goes well.  This blog post will be instantly posted to our Facebook Page and our Twitter account.

Stay tuned for the official release of the Website Forge Ecommerce Web Site Social Media features!

Shane Merem

www.websiteforge.com

ecommerce web site design

As requested in the Forum http://www.WebsiteForge.com/forum (<-- shameless plug) here is a list of WF Updates from the past several months that you may not know about!  I'll get right to it...

Navigational Menu frame:
Many already know about this, but some may not.  This new frame allows you to add a Navigation Menu literally ANYWHERE in your website (anywhere that's an editable Content Area of course).   The process for adding buttons to the menu is similar to the Classic WF "Site Menu".

Check this link to see the Frame Type:  http://my.jetscreenshot.com/4815/20101217-v6id-22kb

Here is a shot of the Config Screen with no options configured:  http://my.jetscreenshot.com/4815/20101217-tvud-38kb

As you can see, the advantage this menu has over the Classic "Site Menu" is that it allows you to control and edit the look of the menu.  You can even upload your own buttons to be used in the menu.  Here is another shot that shows more options:  http://my.jetscreenshot.com/4815/20101217-m7io-46kb

Automatic SEO-friendly URL's for products and categories:

Old URLs for Categories and Products looked like this:
/6.html?m5:cat=/Accessories/Wallets
/m5_view_item.html?mX:item=CODE001

We have made them SEO friendly without removing references to a page (6.html), a module (m5) and the SKU (CODE001). Now they look like:
/6m5/Accessories/Wallets.html
/m5/CODE001--Black-Leather-Wallet.html

BTW:  You can change the product title to whatever and it will not break old URL's because the system will only use the SKU from the URL to locate the product.


Layout Builder: Making fields Members-Only
Now you can make any field in a Layout Builder hidden unless a Member is logged into the site.  See here for an example:  http://my.jetscreenshot.com/4815/20101217-swlo-73kb


Search for Expiring Members:
In the Modules > Membership > Members & Groups section...  If you have Member Signup Packages, you can now search the Membership module for expiring Members.  See an example here:  http://my.jetscreenshot.com/4815/20101217-olj1-11kb

Mass Mail Members from search results:

In the Modules > Membership > Members & Groups section...  See the new button here:  http://my.jetscreenshot.com/4815/20101217-lcw5-18kb
This will send the list of Members below to the Mailer for a One Time email.  So for example, you could use the new "Expiring Members" option mention above to find Members who are exiring within 2 weeks, then with one click send those Members to the Recipient list of a One Time email.

Membership module: Expired and Unpaid Member Entry Pages.
Using this new Setting you can make expired and unpaid Members automatically redirect to specific pages when they log in.  These can be configured in two places: in General Settings of a Membership module, which will specify module-wide entry pages, and in Group properties (go to Members & Groups, then click Edit on a group), which will override these settings for particular groups.

If neither module-wide, nor per-group page is specified for one of these settings, normal entry page will be used instead.

FYI:  An "Unpaid Member" is a Member who selected a paid package and was directed to the payment form, but did not finish the payment.

Membership: Upon Purchase Redirect:

This parameter was added to the Frame Settings of an Edit Profile frame in addition to the old one Upon Profile Edit Redirect. This will allows for the Member to be redirected to specific pages depending on if they did a purchase or just edited their profile.  See here for an example:  http://my.jetscreenshot.com/4815/20101217-qvm1-18kb

Membership: Upon Free Signup Redirect To:
The "Edit Profile" frame, in addition to "Upon Purchase Redirect To" and "Upon Profile Edit Redirect To" settings, now has "Upon Free Signup Redirect To" settings. This allows for different behavior depending on whether the visitor signed up with a paid package or a free one.

Close Menu When Moving Mouse Out:

The option "Close Menu When Moving Mouse Out" has been added to the Site Template and Settings page.  Checking this option will allow your Site Menu submenu(s) to disappear when the mouse moves off of the menu.

Have a Very Merry Christmas and a Safe Holiday Season!

Sincerely,

Kevin Ledezma

Website Forge

E-Commerce web site design

www.websiteforge.com

As most of you might have noticed -- we performed a huge hardware and file system upgrade over the weekend.

The most noticable difference will be the speed of your web site.  The front end server hardware is significantly faster.

Also this upgrade should resolve the recent intermittent issues that a few of you experienced the last couple of weeks.

The upgrade went rather smooth with very few service interruptions.  And any issues were resolved VERY quickly.

We value you as a customer and hope you enjoy the new hardware!

P.S. Just let us know if you have any questions or run into any glitches -- we will handle them asap!

Shane Merem

support@websiteforge.com

www.websiteforge.com

E-commerce web site design

Meanwhile I wanted to send you a quick update of support videos Eric Huffman, on our support team, did.

Check them out and give us your feedback:

Start Hosting Fees                                                              

http://support.websiteforge.com/154.html

We recently added a new feature called "VISITOR TRACKING" to your web site!  This feature includes:

• Real time list of anyone on your web site!
• What browser your visitors are using..
• The IP address of your visitor
• How much time your visitors spent on your web site
• How much time your visitors spent on each individual page
• The FULL history of each and every page visited and how long
• The CURRENT search used on your web site
• And more....

You have to check out this video to see the Visitor Tracking feature in action:

Login to your Website Forge Member's Area right now!  Check out who is visiting YOUR site!

Shane Merem

www.websiteforge.com

e-commerce website design

Website Forge E-commerce websites have always provided excellent custom options and product view controls.

Recently we added a new level of product option.  We call it an "Inventory Grid".

Here is a short video that gives a very brief overview.  The KEY BENEFIT to this upgrade is to allow individual SKU or product number inventory tracking to custom options.

Example:

You sell a pair of Levi 404 jeans in 10 sizes and 3 colors.  Thats 30 different individual SKU's (product numbers) you might sell from one product listed on your web site. 

When a customer purchase a "Size Waist 32" in "White Washed" color.  That SPECIFIC item SKU is identified and your inventory QOH (Quantity on Hand) will be reduced by 1. 

This is true for any of the color/size combinations.

Contact support@websitefoge.com or use our LIVE CHAT at www.websiteforge.com to learn more if you are interested in using this new feature!

Shane Merem

www.websiteforge.com

e-commerce website

First it's your duty to keep in touch with your customers without becoming a nag (Yes, I sad nag).

If you nag your customers -- they will stop listening.  If you ignore your customers -- they will stop buying.

So take advantage of our "New Product Notification" in Website Forge.

Here is a quick video overview:

Contact LIVE SUPPORT or email support@websiteforge.com with questions!

Shane Merem

www.websiteforge.com

e-commerce website design

Some people have read or been told that using Google Checkout on their site shall increase search engine results. 

Our research so far has not given us any real indication of that.  Also keep in mind that Google Checkout has "terms" that might exclude your site from using it.  So make sure you follow all the rules stated.

Also remember, as far as I know, Google isn't a bank.  I will include a snippet that will clarify my point:

"Despite all the media attention surrounding alternative payment systems like Google Checkout™, traditional credit card transactions remain the most popular choice among customers for online purchases. According to a recent survey, only 44% of PayPal™ customers and 19% of Google Checkout customers rate their purchase experience as good or very good.*

Alternative payment systems create a middleman between you and your customers, which may hurt your business and confuse your customers. Accepting traditional credit card payments is critical to building a successful business, and all you need is a merchant account and a payment gateway account."

Please provide any feedback you can on Google Checkout -- so that we can share with all our Website Forge community.

NEED CUSTOM PROGRAMMING ADDED TO YOUR SITE?

I recently received some feedback that sparked this headline.  Website Forge is designed to handle the vast majority of web site and e-commerce needs.

In fact, we find that Website Forge is a fit for about 80% of the business models out there. 

HOWEVER, if you need some customization to your existing Website Forge site -- or -- require special programming for a brand new site.  We can do that as well.   Remember Website Forge is developed and maintained by WORLD CLASS web application developers.  There is no application to big or too small.

So please contact us if you feel you need something special added to your web site.

Thanks,

Shane Merem

www.websiteforge.com

Web Design and E-Commerce

1) New cross-browser editor is available.

Just use a non-IE browser (like Firefox or Mac Safari) and you'll see it. Users with IE are still using the old one.  Please test it out and report any bugs you find.  We will iron them out quickly.

2) Java uploader addition.

A Custom File option can be configured to accept either all files or images only, and in the case of images only, they can be forced to be downsized to a certain pixel size.

3) PayPal Pro DirectPayment Gateway.

DirectPayment Gateway now sends customer shipping address to PayPal allowing for third-party software which pull order info from a PayPal account.

4) General performance improvements.

We have done several performance improvements.

***DO NOT FORGET to sign up for one of our weekly tele-classes.  FREE TRAINING!  Go to www.support.websiteforge.com for class schedule.

Thanks,

Shane Merem

www.websiteforge.com

This network has been put through rigorous performance, security, and
redundancy, and hardware failure tests to ensure te highest levels of
service availability.

During the following network maintenance window we have scheduled to
migrate your WAN circuits to the new network infrastructure:

Thursday, May 22st, 2009, between 1:00am-2:00am

There will be an approximate 10-15 minutes of network unavailability
during the time when our network engineers physically move your network
interface to the new access router and enable the new router switch port.

If you have any questions or concerns about this process please reply to
this ticket or call support at 888-558-2446. Thank You.

Shane Merem
support@websiteforge.com
www.websiteforge.com

Our Layout Builder frame has been updated to include some additional options for displaying Suggested Items.  Aside from the suggested item's "Product Title" - you can now show images and prices of the suggested items.  We have also added some formatting options which allow you to control their appearance.  The image below shows what options are now available (when you choose to show "Images with Additional Info").

If you already have suggested items assigned to your products (and the suggested items field added to a Layout Builder frame) then you only need to change the new "Mode" field to access the new features.

Make sure you contact support@websiteforge.com if you have ANY questions regarding these upgrades!

Kevin Ledezma

Website Forge

www.websiteforge.com

Web Design and E-commerce

Make sure you contact support@websiteforge.com if you have ANY questions regarding these upgrades!

Website Forge

www.websiteforge.com

Web Design and E-commerce

1) Fancy Zooming feature. In a Layout Builder frame (for the Ecommerce and Ad modules) a “Zooming” parameter for an Image field has been added.  If it’s set to "Yes", the user will be allowed to see enlarged portions of the image while moving the mouse over it. For this to work, an image must be large enough to see all details. Also, the Image field itself must be set up to show a smaller version of the image (by setting the field’s Width and Height parameters) and the zoom window will display portions of the image at it’s original size.

2) USPS has been upgraded to the newest version of their API. USPS domestic and international methods can now be configured to use different types and sizes of packages (different kinds of Flat Rate Boxes, Envelopes etc.) to fine tune the calculation.

Also, the "Add International Methods" button was added to the Shipping Conditions/Methods form for users who wish to add international shipping.

3) The “FreightQuote” calculation engine has been added. To enable it, you need to add FreightQuote under a shipping condition using the Add Method button in the “Shipping Conditions/Methods” section and configure its parameters according to the type of goods being shipped. Note that FreightQuote is not a general-purpose shipping service like UPS/FedEx/etc., but is used to calculate shipping items of large size and dimensions via different freight companies.

4) Publish notifications have been updated to include an HTML link to the published version of your website.

Kevin Ledezma

www.websiteforge.com

Web Site Design and E-commerce

There are a couple nice upgrades recently added to WebsiteForge.com

First we have added Product Ratings and Product Reviews!  Take a look at http://www.thehomefurnishingsstore.com/m8_view_item.html?m8:item=1651 and try adding a review.  You can also see the product popularity within your web site member's area.

Contact support for help with this new feature.

Fuzzy SKU search option is enabled by default for any Search Box frame.  "Fuzzy search" means that the system tries to match incorrectly entered SKU numbers. It ignores separators (dashes, spaces etc.) and does not differentiate between "O" and zero.

This "Fuzzy Search" may allow people to find products when your customers do not type the EXACT sku or product number -- increasing the number of successful searches.

I also recently decided to setup a Twitter url for WebsiteForge.com.  I'll let you know if I notice any marketing value.  If you are on twitter.com, follow us at www.twitter.com/websiteforge and we will post twitter updates regularly.

Shane Merem

Website Forge

Web Design and E-Commerce

Hello Website Forge Community!

We are performing an important upgrade and migration over the weekend.

On Saturday evening 1/10/2009 we will syncronize our current set of database servers with our new cluster.

On Sunday evening 1/11/2009 we will reconfigure our directors and firewall rules to redirect traffic to the new set of database servers.  They may be a few minutes of down time related to this step. Nothing serious is expected.

This new upgrade will provide additional space, bandwith, redundancy and speed to your web sites and e-commmerce applications.

Thank You

Shane Merem

www.websiteforge.com

www.magnusoft.com

I wanted to drop you a line with a few important updates:

1)  The Website Forge iPhone application is almost here!

We have developed an iPhone application that is called the WF Order Management program.  This application will allow you to view and manage your web site orders easily with your iphone.  You can view orders, change order status, view customer info and more....  Please contact support@websiteforge.com if you would like to be a beta tester for this application.  We need volunteers to help us test and improve the application.

2)  Website Forge is PCI compliant!  Don't just take our word for it... Talk to our clients.  Ten or more (more every day) Website Forge clients have already passed PCI compliance audits from First Data. 

An independent PCI compliance consultant has scanned and tested the Website Forge system and Website Forge passed every test. 

Since PCI compliance is somewhat subjective hesitated to boldly advertise compliance until a recognized auditor tested the Website Forge system.

You are safe and secure at Website Forge!  Every time we upgrade our system we have your security in mind!

3)  We never stop upgrading your web site!  With roughly 50 key upgrades in the queue -- we will help your site run smoother and continue to make sure your site is secure.  Keep an eye on this BLOG for upgrade reports.

4)  News releases.  We are looking to do some news releases in the near future.  We have heard the great success of many of our Website Forge clients and want to share your success. 

If you would like to share the growth of your web business.  Let us know via support@websiteforge.com and we can include you in our News release.

WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT:

In today's business world.  When companies like Circuit City, GM, Ford, Chrysler, and numerous large companies struggle -- you have to appreciate how hard it is to grow a small business.  It is not easy.

I once read that the biggest difference between people that "succeed" and "fail" is not education or intelligence.  THe most common factor was refusal to quit trying -- Persistence.  Don't quit.  Because you can't succeed if you are not trying.

Shane Merem

www.websiteforge.com

Web Site Design and E-commerce

- Froogle (google base) attributes are automatically mapped to fields on the Froogle Export form to reduce customer errors.
- Image Lists can show out-of-stock overlays.
-  Default distance for zip distance search can be specified.
-  Tree options performance optimizations - thousands of items should not be a problem to display in a tree.

- DHL realtime rating option.
- Zero-downtime publishing - the old version of the site will be 100% accessible during the publishing process, until the moment new published version is ready.
- Stricter validation of discount coupons.
- Detection of different error conditions in file uploader.
- File uploaders validates file types (won't allow to upload WMV when FLV is expected, etc).

Thanks, Shane Merem

www.websiteforge.com

Web Design and E-commerce

1) Custom Date / Custom Number options for products now available

2) Custom Weight option added
3) URL fields in the layout builder can be set up to open in same window/new window/popup.
4) Instant unsubscribe links for blog and membership.
5) Ability to quickly unsubscribe a member from blog categories (all or some) on Edit Member form.
6) Image / Image List fields and option images display a hand cursor if they are clickable to help people see they can click the image.

REMINDER! Make sure your site is indexed properly by Google and Yahoo!

Don't forget how valuable it is to configure your web site for Google Sitemaps!  It is a built in feature of Website Forge to provide important page and product informationto Google!  Contact support so that we can help you with this feature.

Shane Merem

www.websiteforge.com

Web Site Design and E-commerce

Will you ship the product only to find that it was a stolen card and because this crook is from a far away land -- you can hardly do anything about it?

What about trying to get a product through customs?  Is it worth the time and effort?

I'm pleased to announce that we are working with an international solution provider to REMOVE ALL THE RISK FROM INTERNATIONAL orders!

New FiftyOne service will improve international shopping experience and simplify international fulfillment

We are planning on integrating a leading-edge international ecommerce and logistics service later this year called FiftyOne into the Website Forge platform. 

FiftyOne is a service that will automatically present all of your products in foreign currencies to international visitors by detecting the country they are coming from, and for any international orders that results, FiftyOne eliminates all of the headaches associated with international order processing, including landed cost calculation, international shipping, credit card fraud and customs compliance. 

FiftyOne will:

• Convert your USD$ prices automatically into the buyer’s local currency based on their IP address
• Calculate and guaranteed fully landed costs at checkout (i.e. complete end-to-end shipping, duties, taxes)
• Provide international payment processing and protection from international credit card fraud
• Pay you at order time in USD$
• Manages all customs clearance, brokerage, parcel tracking and end delivery (your customer will never be asked for C.O.D.)
• Provide a view into all order detail within a new “International Tab” in your Website Forge Account Management Portal (i.e. returns, billing inquiries, tracking information)
• Send international order and shipment confirmation emails, providing international customers with complete tracking information 
   

Once you sign up for FiftyOne, your website will automatically become multi-currency and be welcoming to an international customer.

You will not be required to make any changes to your existing business, financial, operational or fulfillment processes.

All international orders will be provided to you as U.S. orders with a U.S. credit card and a New Jersey shipping address that you will fulfill to and bill to as you normally would.

I think this service will drive more revenue for those who subscribe to it. 

Website Forge Merchant Partners who would like to enhance their websites for international visitors with a risk-free fulfillment process will be able to sign up for the service for a low monthly subscription fee of $14.95 plus a reasonable commission on sales.

At a time when the volume of international orders are growing due to the sagging USD$, having an improved international ecommerce and logistics service in time for Holiday 2008 will be a great advantage.  And saving time and money because you no longer need to handle customs paperwork is an asset. 

Let me know if you feel you would benefit from using FiftyOne and you intend to enroll when it becomes operational later this year.

Shane Merem

www.websiteforge.com

Web site design and e-commerce

We finally released the upgraded new and improved Website Forge site.

Take a look at www.websiteforge.com 

We face the same issues that you do -- never enough time in the day.  This new site design is way overdue and it's finally here.

Please post your comments.

P.S.  Don't forget to subscribe to our new Website Forge Community forum at http://websiteforge.com/forum

Shane Merem

www.websiteforge.com

Web Site Design and E-commerce

Ad Module:
- mX_edit_item.html page can be called with ?mX:cat=XXXX parameter which will cause the category to be preselected when creating an ad.
- If the Add button is clicked from the mX_item_list.html page and if this page displays only ads from particular category (mX_item_list.html?mX:cat=XXXX), this category will be preselected on the Add form.
- Item List interfaces have "No items found" text configurable, HTML allowed.
- When adding to cart a product with Custom File options and if at least one file is selected, "Please wait" will be displayed while files upload.

Import/Export:
- On the import pages, there is now a message recommending to split files into pieces.

Members' FTP folders: Are now named after member ID and email, i.e. mXXXX-yyy@zzz.com, instead just XXXX. So the owner always knows whom the folder belongs to. Also, on the Edit Member page there is now a quick link to member's FTP area.

Feedback forms:
- For File fields (with Max Number of Files=1), Please Wait message is shown while uploading.
- For File fields with Max Number of Files > 1, an in-page frame is now used instead of a separate browser window to select files for uploading.
- Form frame now has a new parameter, "Email Mode", which can be set to "Text" (suitable for automated processing), "HTML" (like before), and "HTML with Layout" (mimcs the form layout).

Multimedia Features:

- FLV thumbnail mode. On Product Types/Fields you can set fields of type File to display as a thumbnail. When clicked, the thumbnail will display a player in a popup window.
- FLV's and other media in ecommerce. COOL FEATURE!! Audio File, Video File and FLV file subtypes of File fields are now available for the ecommerce modules. This means you can put videos in your product details.

New File Upload Interface:
Multiple files and Java uploader support for Product Options. Product Options of type Custom File can be set up to allow multiple files, with limits on quantity and total size. They can also be set up to allow uploading via Java applet. If configured this way, the option will not display on the product list, but instead, when clicked "Add to Cart", it will open a popup for uploading. The popup can work both in regular mode and in Java mode (if enabled). All the uploaded files will be zipped and the link to this zip file will be added to the cart.

*** NOTE *** The Java uploader is not yet available to use in the Image/File store, it will be added soon.

Other features:
- Tree-like membership groups. Groups can now be organized in a tree like ecommerce categories. This will allow 3LG stores to divide users into companies, departments, subdepartments etc. This feature is systemwide and is available for all membership modules.
- Multi-level group selection. On Registration and Edit Profile forms, and also on Edit Ad forms of Ad modules, multi-level group selection is now supported. To enable, open the corresponding page in the memeber's area, select Frame Settings for the form frame, and change "Tree" setting to "Multi-level" for the group selection control. Republish the site. In this mode, the user first selects the first level of groups (e.g. companies) in one dropdown, the second level in the second dropdown etc. Like we have for tree-like options. This feature is available systemwide for all membership and ad modules
- Aliases in Google Sitemap. Made it possible to use aliases just like real pages.
- Membership. Trial Period for LinkPoint recurring payments.
- Site favicon feature.
- Login frames have now two configurable messages: a) for invalid logins and b) for inactive accounts. HTML is allowed.
- Shipping Source product field can be now exported and imported.

- MAC users are now able to input and save products to the ecommerce module

3) Ecommerce:
- SQL query optimizations.
- Customizable customer fields in the invoice.
- Add to Wish List button available in Multi-Buy Mode.

4) Sub-accounts:
- Fixed access to newly added pages
- Manage Content Areas screen for sub-accounts

Olivia E Guerrero

Customer Service

Project Manager Assistant

Training Specialist

http://www.websiteforge.com

http://support.websiteforge.com/trainingclasses.html

Olivia E Guerrero

Customer Service

Project Manager Assistant

Training Specialist

www.websiteforge.com

Because of the updates we affected last Sunday to all the Website Forge web sites -- you are getting more traffic because your products and keywords are more effective than ever in Yahoo!, Google, MSN and more!

Imagine:  Your Website Forge web site is moving to a higher position in the major search engines right now as you read this article! 

Brian Shockly at www.shopbakersnook.com just sent me via email:

JUST BECAUSE IT'S SIMPLE DOESN'T MEAN IT IS EASY!  You still need to work at marketing your web site in the search engines.

Buying a car with all the latest features doesn't make you a better driver -- it just makes driving easier. 

Fact: Your Website Forge site is loaded with technology that exponentially increases your ability to rank well in the search engines

Fact: Garbage in -- Garbage out

You need good content to have good search engine results!  If you don't take the time as a business owner to make sure your web site and product descriptions are written with plenty of keywords  then your web site will not be relevent to search engines.  It's that simple.

If you have not yet talked to our SEO expert, email us at support@websiteforge.com and we will schedule a time for Kevin Gannon to contact you and see what things you can do to make the most out of your Website Forge web site. 

He will give you free advice and offer a strategy.  I cannot name any business  that is successful without good marketing of some kind.

Shane Merem

www.websiteforge.com

Web Design and E-commerce

That is great news because it allows us to improve the code very quickly so that you won't run into these issues.

The two empty BLOG posts were random attempts to exploit our code to submit spam without our permission.  The spam failed but the posts did send.  Sergey is resolving this issue now (no, he never sleeps).

Of course all spam and security upgrades we perform will immediately transfer to your BLOG code as well.

Another big advantage of our BLOG is the "Image Text" field that requires a real live person to read and re-type text displayed in an image.  This makes a substantial decrease in automated spam attempts.

You can see the "Image Text" field when you post comments in this BLOG.

Thanks and let us know if you have any questions!

Shane Merem

www.websiteforge.com

Web Design and E-commerce

It now has the more familiar Website Forge feel.

If you have not yet installed a BLOG on your site -- you really should.  The search engine and marketing benefits are well worth it.

Please post comments and let me know what you think about this BLOG and any questions you have about using a BLOG for your own site.

Shane Merem

www.magnusoft.com

www.websiteforge.com

Web Site Design and E-commerce

2) Feedback form. Emails from the forms will be sent in rich text (HTML) format.

3) Blog subscribe feature
- Under General Settings of the blog module settings, there is an email template.
- Subscribers are attached to blog groups, when adding/editing a group in admin you can include/exclude members in/from that certain group.
- In the customer's site members area (a page protected by member's login), the logged in members will have a link Subscriptions; by clicking on that link, the member will be taken to the page where they can check/uncheck blog groups they want receive emails on (when a new post is being posted to that group).

 Olivia E Guerrero
Customer Service
Project Manager Assistant
Training Specialist
www.websiteforge.com
http://support.websiteforge.com
http://support.websiteforge.com/55.html

1) Gift list even selector. Found under General Settings. If Enable Gift Lists is ON, following it appears the Gift Lists Events text area, you can edit the list of events there.

Customers' sites

2) Large menu load time improved.
Samples of sites tha have large menus: http://www.shopbakersnook.com and http://www.partsguysusa.com.

Members Area

3) Bread crumbs added at top of member's area screens.
E.g. cool-components.com > Modules > Ecommerce: Products (m6) > Order List
It makes it obvious WHERE you are located in WF Member's Area, as well as supposed to facilitate support - the user can simply copy and paste the bread crumb string when addressing their issues.

4) Payment Settings made separate screens. The link is placed right under General Settings. This applies too all modules that can accept payments - Ecommerce, Membership, and Ad.

Blog

6) Per-month blog display.
Under blog frame settings, there is a new parameter View Mode = Calendar|Monthly.
- Calendar is namely the calendar;
- Monthly is a typical for blogs list of links in the Month YYYY format.

7) Title-like URL support for posts.
This feature is called 'slugs' in WordPress; e.g. a post titled "Hello, World!" will be available at the "hello-world" URL. The highlights on the feature are:
- the URLs are NOT checked for uniqueness (so if you place 2 posts with the same name, both will have the same URL);
- the URL gets changed on post Title change;
- our automatically generated links, as before, use the mX:post=postId syntax for now, however the core understands both formats (mX:post=postId and slugs)

8) Control allowing comments.
Under General Settings, there is the Allow Comments parameter with the possible options of {Anyone, Member Only, None}. Additionally, for the Edit Post form, you can added a similarly named control, which will give control over allowing comments for a specific post; in which case the value from General Settings is the default value for that control.

Concerning the Blog upgrades:

6) Per-month blog display.
Under blog frame settings, there is a new parameter View Mode = Calendar|Monthly.
- Calendar is namely the calendar;
- Monthly is a typical for blogs list of links in the Month YYYY format.

7) Title-like URL support for posts.
This feature is called 'slugs' in WordPress; e.g. a post titled "Hello, World!" will be available at the "hello-world" URL. The highlights on the feature are:
- the URLs are NOT checked for uniqueness (so if you place 2 posts with the same name, both will have the same URL);
- the URL gets changed on post Title change;
- our automatically generated links, as before, use the mX:post=postId syntax for now, however the core understands both formats (mX:post=postId and slugs)

8) Control allowing comments.
Under General Settings, there is the Allow Comments parameter with the possible options of {Anyone, Member Only, None}. Additionally, for the Edit Post form, you can added a similarly named control, which will give control over allowing comments for a specific post; in which case the value from General Settings is the default value for that control.

Shane Merem
www.websiteforge.com
Web Site Design and E-commerce

Today it was brought to our attention that the USPS International shipping methods were changed by the US Post Office.  It appears this was done without any warning.

Many methods were deleted, merged or modified.  I already sent a personal e-mail to the owners of affected sites.

We performed an emergency code update to reflect the new USPS methods and rules.  We updated the server cluster shortly thereafter.

If you are using International USPS shipping methods and haven't received my email.  Please contact LIVE SUPPORT tomorrow during the day or email support@websiteforge.com for assistance.

Basically you just need to go to your shipping methods and re-select the most appropriate method from the new methods in the list.

Have a good night.

Thanks,

Shane Merem
www.websiteforge.com
Web Site Design and E-commerce

You always could offer free shipping, however you would need to create a custom shipping method.  Then when you accepted an order and entered your tracking number you would have to choose how it was shipped.

With this upgrade, you can turn a standard shipping type (UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL, etc) into FREE without the extra work.  Just one click.

I'll ask our video wizard Olivia to record a video and add it to our library!

Enjoy.

Shane Merem
www.websiteforge.com
Web Site Design and E-commerce

A few customers recently studied up on making it easier to resolve inquiries and chargebacks initiated by your credit card merchant.

We added two tools to your order details to help you document transactions so that you can better communicate with your credit card bank or merchant.

1.  Printable Transaction Details Report - This report has all the necessary transaction information required to document the online purchase.

2. Notes (Not visible to client) - Pretty self explanatory.  Use this notes field any way you wish to attach comments or important information like chargeback status or notes taken via phone.

I'll post some other upgrades to the blog soon.

Shane Merem
www.websiteforge.com
Web Site Design and E-commerce

For years we used a company called www.virtualpbx.com for our voicemail system.  It's an excellent way to have a virtual phone system to route calls to different physical locations and cell phones.  We used that company for over 9 years.

Recently we switched Website Forge (888-558-2446) to a company called www.voiceshot.com .  We switched becuase Voiceshot offers something that VirtualPBX didn't.  A programming API.  I want to make sure I tell you that VirtualPBX is a MUCH better choice if you need a good phone system without a programming API.

A programming API will allow us to offer some enhanced support features to our customers.  First when you call in and hit support (option 2), we can access your account and do some basic troubleshooting BEFORE you talk to a technician.  For instance we can detect expired domains, full mailboxes, and other common support issues instantly.

This API will allow us to provide online billing information like your last payment date, oustanding balances, and when to expect the next charge on your credit card.

We also can create OUTBOUND call campaigns for mass notifications and marketing.

Right now we have the system configured with the basics.  We are adding these enhanced support features over the next few months.

I also wanted to share this with you because this same service might be useful to your business.  If you are interested in a database driven, interactive, virtual phone system -- let us know and I'll share my new knowledge.

Shane Merem
www.websiteforge.com
Website Design and E-commerce

This posting is to inform you, our Website Forge customers, that we have bit the bullet and purchased the EV certificate.  This means that your web sites will always report as completely safe (by Microsoft's standards anyway).

There is an important technical item that I must share with you.   Of course when we installed the certificate we all opened the latest Internet Explorer 7 browser, slammed an item in a shopping cart and looked for the "GREEN BAR" that is supposed to be there.  To our total dissatisfaction the green bar did not show up.  After calling a few people we found that some browers wouldn't turn green.

Here is an article I found explaining that if you change ANY settings in your IE 7 -- the green bar will not glow.  I have no idea why this is.  I'll let everyone know as soon as we find out why.

If your browser doesn't "GO GREEN" read this article for the explanation.  Please don't yell at us -- Its not our fault :)

http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1369032&SiteID=1

Anyhow, please enjoy your updated web site security and maybe take advantage of Microsoft's marketing machine and advertise the upgraded security to your prospective customers.

Have a great Easter weekend!

Shane Merem
www.websiteforge.com
Website Design and E-commerce

Click here to see the updated video index: http://www.websiteforge.com/support/55.html

Videos on site management, import/export, and email configuration are included in this list.  There are many more.

Please post your suggestions if there is a demonstration video you would like us to add to the list.

Shane Merem
www.websiteforge.com
Website design and e-commerce

Some web sites offer the ability to calculate shipping before "checkout" to determine how much shipping will cost them.  We have added a new feature that provides this new functionality.

To view the feature.. Go to www.shopbakersnook.com , add an item to the shopping cart and you will see a button allowing you to view your shipping cost.

Your comments are welcome.  I'm sure Brian will tell us if it makes a difference in sales volume and customer service.

Shane Merem
www.websiteforge.com
Website design and e-commerce

Start by taking a look at your "site list" and you'll find a green  or a red  next to each of your domain names. 

The green  means your domain name is valid and configured to the proper DNS name servers. 

The red  means your domain is either expired or misconfigured.

We will soon add some automatic notifications to make you aware of a change in status so you can react quickly.

Next take a look at your "Manage Email" area.  We now show the mailbox usage next to each mailbox. 

One of the most common reasons people stop receiving mail is because they have their e-mail program misconfigured to "Leave mail on server".  This causes the mailbox to fill up and stop accepting mail.   Now you can see how full your mailboxes are. 
Contact support@websiteforge.com with any questions.

Shane Merem
www.websiteforge.com
Website design and e-commerce