Features- are these part of AC7 already?

[Brewhaus]

There are a few features that I need incorporated, and I am unsure if these are already a part of AC7 and I simply am overlooking them, or if they need to be written in. Some may also be in the works, in which case there is no point in having them custom written for me. If anyone knows anything about these features, please let me know:


We do not want to Authorize OR Capture the customer’s payment at the time they place the order. We want to handle this completely manually when we are ready to ship. Is there any way to turn off the automatic authorizing of payments? All that I can find is an option for Authorize or Authorize and Capture. Doing this in two steps will only drive our gateway fees higher than they already are.


Can we somehow add a Comments box for customers to add a comment at the checkout? This is a feature that our customers really take advantage of with our current software, so we definitely want to include this.


Is there an easy way to remember a customer when they return? This is a feature that we really wanted when we were looking two years ago for software, as I find it a nice feature to welcome a customer back by name when they return to the site. This also makes logging in simpler for them (they only need to enter their password, as the e-mail address field is already filled in), and it automatically remembers their shopping cart (which is another thing- can the site be set up to remember shopping carts for customers that were not logged in when they added the items?).


Is there any way to 'stack' the different actions when processing orders? What I mean is can we somehow get the parts used on every order (specifically 'Summary', 'Payments', and 'Shipments') onto a single page to simplify and expedite order processing. A simply way to navigate from one order to another would be great, too.


Lastly, how can we add a flat weight to all shipments when pulling the shipping rates? Basically, if a customer’s order weighs a total of 8.7 lbs., we want the system to add 0.5 lbs. and pull rates for a weight of 9.2lbs. (which would automatically round up to 10lbs. when pulling rates). This helps to cover the weight of a box and packing material. Adding a small amount of weight to all items is much less accurate, and leaves us undercharging or overcharging on nearly every sale.

Thanks...

Rick

[Katie]

Hello Rick,

I'll try to answer your question that are not related to a customization. If you would like to post in the Feature Request forum for 7.0, there's a chance that it will be incorporated in a future release.

We do not want to Authorize OR Capture the customer’s payment at the time they place the order. We want to handle this completely manually when we are ready to ship.

You can configure the gateway in AbleCommerce if you want to use our post-order processing features. Just don't assign the Anet gateway to any payment methods. Then, you will need to go to the Configure > Security > General page and change the setting for number of days to save the credit card information.

Can we somehow add a Comments box for customers to add a comment at the checkout?

For the ConLib control "OnePageCheckout", there is a new property in RC2 called "EnableShipMessage". It is turned OFF by default. If you turn this on and re-label the field, your customers can add a note for the order.

Is there an easy way to remember a customer when they return?

I believe this would be a very simple customization. You can post it to the features thread if you like.

Is there any way to 'stack' the different actions when processing orders?

I'm not sure I understand what you are asking here. If you click on the Order, we have Summary, Payments, and Shipping available from the left-column tabs.

how can we add a flat weight to all shipments when pulling the shipping rates?

I think that most customers would use the handling fee option that is built-in, but I'm guessing that you might ship very small to very large packages, so that might not work in your case. Unfortunately, this is not a built-in feature and may require a deeper level of customization. You can certainly request it in the feature forum.

If you use AbleCommerce custom shipping methods, there is a "Vary by Quantity" feature which might work for you.

I hope this answers your questions.

Thanks,
Katie

[Brewhaus]

You can configure the gateway in AbleCommerce if you want to use our post-order processing features. Just don't assign the Anet gateway to any payment methods. Then, you will need to go to the Configure > Security > General page and change the setting for number of days to save the credit card information.

I think that I may have not explained this properly. What we want to do is to use AC to process the credit card payments, but not at the time that the order is placed. We want to Authorize and Capture as a single step, via the AC system, all at the time that we are ready to complete and ship the order. Can this be done? We do not want to add in excess of $100 per month in additional processing fees by authorizing when an order is placed, and then capture when we are ready to ship.

For the ConLib control "OnePageCheckout", there is a new property in RC2 called "EnableShipMessage". It is turned OFF by default. If you turn this on and re-label the field, your customers can add a note for the order.

Great, we got this working. Now, is there a way to enlarge this box (make it say three lines high instead of one)?

I believe this would be a very simple customization. You can post it to the features thread if you like.

Done

I'm not sure I understand what you are asking here. If you click on the Order, we have Summary, Payments, and Shipping available from the left-column tabs.

We find it to be time consuming to have to click on the tabs to select the different parts of processing an order. We would like to have the major pieces (Summary, Payments, and Shipments) all display on a single page instead of having to bounce from one to another, as these are tasks performed on every single order. This would speed the processing of orders, and also make training people easier because all that they need to do will be on a single page.

I think that most customers would use the handling fee option that is built-in, but I'm guessing that you might ship very small to very large packages, so that might not work in your case. Unfortunately, this is not a built-in feature and may require a deeper level of customization. You can certainly request it in the feature forum.

Again, done. You are correct- we can have shipments from under a pound to nearly 70lbs. per box, so we really need a flat weight added. My thought is that this could easily be added at the time the system calculates the order weight and rounds it up to the next pound (add 0.5 and then round up).

Thanks for the help. I will wait to hear back on the remaining questions above.

Rick

[AbleMods]

We find it to be time consuming to have to click on the tabs to select the different parts of processing an order. We would like to have the major pieces (Summary, Payments, and Shipments) all display on a single page instead of having to bounce from one to another, as these are tasks performed on every single order. This would speed the processing of orders, and also make training people easier because all that they need to do will be on a single page.

It almost sounds as if you are looking more for buttons to initiate an action rather than screens that include the action to be intiated. AC7 is designed to accomodate what you need, but only to a point.

From one screen you can process a payment, ship partial or complete, cancel or change the status of a order. Or an entire group of orders at one time. This is all possible from the Orders page in the Admin of the site. The only thing the order page lacks is the details of the order itself.

But it sounds like you have a specific set of options you want available to suit your particular business flow. That would almost certainly require a customized order processing screen for it truly be efficient within your processes. AC7 does a good job of giving you choices but, like any software package, there will be limits.

Realistically, it would not take much work to add payment processing and shipment processing as new "sections" to the order summary screen. But, you'll be faced with a different issue of wearing out the scroll bars.

There simply isn't enough screen space to handle all three in an efficient manner while giving your users enough information to make sound business decisions.

My order processing takes time too. But I have to see the information to make valid business choices about my customers orders. Squeezing all of that into one screen for efficiency sake would only create more opportunity for error due to the lack of a logical separation of the information.

[Brewhaus]

I considered the option of handling all of the parts of order processing via the main Orders page, however, AC7 does not seem to offer the option of adding tracking numbers after an order is marked as shipped. This means that if we are going to add tracking numbers, it must be done at the time that we complete this action for each order. Otherwise, it may prove to be a simple way to process multiple orders at one time.

Is the processing of payments for multiple orders at a time now working? I was told previously that this was not working properly yet.

I have attached a screenshot of our current system (but have removed the software name and customer information). In most cases you do not even use the scroll, as the information that you access fits on the screen. Any changes are extremely simple, and everything is done from a single page, making order handling very streamlined. Now, it does not need to be quite this 'fancy', but what I am looking for is to get a similar handling of orders, where the actions taken on virtually every order are controlled without jumping around. Am I correct in assuming that my worst case scenario is having a file (or part of a file) custom written to achieve this?

I apologize for the size of the graphic, but shrinking it down any further made it very difficult to make anything out.

Rick

[AbleMods]

That's a great screen. Huge, but it has everything necessary to manage anything about a given order that needs work. The simple orders would indeed take less space, but complex ones will still demand alot of scrolling to reach the various aspects of the order.

Obviously there's nothing like that in AC7 or you would have already found it. The only option you have is a custom-written screen. It certainly would be possible, but the AC7 admin screens are not all designed as user controls. Some are designed as pages, so the work would involve some extensive code merging in .Net.

Would be an interesting project though from a development standpoint. It would force the developer to become intimately knowledgeable about every aspect of an order. That could open alot of doors for future development work by that programmer.

[Brewhaus]

I would be quite happy having the primary three 'tabs' incorporated into a single screen, basically tiling those below each other. Although it still may not be quite as user-friendly as what we have now, it would speed order processing by not having to click on a tab and perform tasks on three separate screens. Would that be an easier task doyou think?

[AbleMods]

If all you did was receive full payments, never issued refunds and shipped complete orders, sure it would be easier.

But in order to accomodate all the possible scenarios for each sub-section, the code behind the scenes would have to be quite complex (and flexible) for it all to be on a single page. AC7 has a lot of detail with each aspect of an order.

[Will]

That screen is from Volusion. At this price point, they've got the best backend admin tools by far. We almost went with them because of that.

You can structure and download csv files of any data you want directly from their browser interface. It also can generate and print shipping labels directly.

Their front-end is very limited because it's a fully hosted service.

I agree -- we should be able to add tracking numbers after the order has been marked as shipped. If only to account for human error.

[Brewhaus]

I had removed the software name to try and avoid any thought that I was putting in a 'plug' for a competing piece of software. But yes, it is from Volusion- and at $10K for the license they SHOULD have a great system. We stopped outside hosting a long time ago due to problems, and to purchase their software is quite simply outrageous. And my opinion (from my experience with them) is that once they get your $10K, you are of no further value to them and this shows in their level of service.

You are also correct in the limited front end. It looks like it is probably a bit of work to 'create' your own design in AC7, but at least it is an option and from what I hear, something that most anyone can do if they just put in a bit of time. That is a tremendous feature!

But, we can process 70-80 orders in a day, so any extra steps that we must take will cost us valuable time. This is the reason for wanting to create a back end similar to that of Volusion. Everything is done from a single page, with order processing taking less than a minute to complete. Literally it is a matter of clicking 'Receive' to process the payment, 'Invoice' to print the invoice, and then 'Complete' to mark the order as shipped and send the customer an e-mail to that effect. Adding the tracking number can be done at the time or later, and is simply a matter of copy and paste, then click 'Add'.

Again, I am not trying to put in a plug for them. I feel that their licensed software is horrendously overpriced, and even their hosted options are extremely high compared to anything else out there. From working extensively with it, and the bit of time that I have in with AC, I think that with a couple of adjustments to the back end AC would be the better software hands down- even ignoring price.

At this point, though, I would be willing to pay for someone to custom write the adaptation of the order processing page for us, just to ensure that it is streamlined. If anyone on here can do this (if I am breaching any rules by requesting this, please let me know and I will remove this from my post) please get in touch.

Rick

[Brewhaus]

Okay, I have figured out that we should be able to export the tracking numbers from the UPS / DHL software, and have a routine written to import those into the SQL database table. That should allow complete processing of multiple orders from the main Orders page (and ultimately greatly reduce our order processing time instead of increasing it).

I just need to get this routine written for us, and also get around the automatic authorizing of credit cards.

[AbleMods]

I wish I had the experience to take on the UPS tracking number integration - that would be a neat project. My business is completely drop-ship though, so I wouldn't even be able to test it using my site.

That mother-of-all-order-admin-screens is a different story. I might be able to tackle that one. Code would have to be VB though, C-Sharp is for little school girls.

I'll do some playing around and see what I can do. I'll use the screenshot you uploaded as a template to start with.

[Brewhaus]

Now that they have the ability to process multiple payments at one time working, and assuming that I can get the tracking number importation working, is there any advantage to using the individual order pages for processing? It seems that all of the main features (printing invoices, processing payments, and marking orders as shipped) can be done on multiple orders at one time. That is a huge time saver.

Now, that would be for me personally. For the few times that we do need to adjust something on on an order that order page that I posted is absolutely fantastic!

[compunerdy]

For the ConLib control "OnePageCheckout", there is a new property in RC2 called "EnableShipMessage". It is turned OFF by default. If you turn this on and re-label the field, your customers can add a note for the order.

I enabled this and got the note section to display on checkout but when i added a note to a order it didnt show up anywhere on the order and no error was displayed.

[Brewhaus]

I was satisfied that I had the 'comments' box working, and never actually tested it (bright, aren't I). The notes show under 'Delivery Instructions' if the customer views the order, and also show up on the 'Shipments' section of the order- but they are not printing on the invoice / pull sheet (where we really need them). I do not know if this is a bug or if the Delivery Instructions are simply not given a place on the invoice, and we need to correct this ourselves.

[compunerdy]

I figured they would show up under shipment but it didnt seem to work for me???

I checked the database and it shows null for shipmessage. So I am getting the text box to display but for some reason its not saving it to the DB. Did I forget a setting?

[Brewhaus]

All that I did was enable the field and now I have put in a test order with a comment in the box. All seemed to be fine aside from not showing on the printed invoice, where we would see it when handling the order. I do show it if I go to the specific order and click on the Shopment tab. It shows between Ship Date and Tracking, listed as Delivery Instructions.

Does anyone know how we can increase the size of the text box?

[jmestep]

In the site files Folder Admin--> Orders -->Shipments
EditShipment.aspx
Change this line to the size you want:
<td colspan="3"><asp:TextBox ID="ShipMessage" runat="server" Height="74px" Rows="3" Width="257px" TextMode="multiLine" Wrap="true"></asp:TextBox></td>

[Brewhaus]

Actually, it was at the checkout that I wanted to enlarge the 'comments' box, so it was a different file (OnePageCheckout.ascx, for anyone else that wants to do this), but the method was the same. Thank you!

[rusackson]

Has anyone figured out how to put the 'Order Comments' into the admin printed invoice?

[mazhar]

Has anyone figured out how to put the 'Order Comments' into the admin printed invoice?

Edit the Website\Admin\Orders\Print\Invoices.aspx and locate the following line

Code: Select all

if (!addressList.Contains(shipTo)) addressList.Add(shipTo);

and make it look like

Code: Select all

if (!addressList.Contains(shipTo)) addressList.Add(shipTo);
            addressList.Add("Delivery Instructions: "+shipment.ShipMessage);

[Brewhaus]

These comments appear to be different from the 'notes' added after the order is placed (in th add new notes box at the bottom of a given order). How can we make those notes show up on the order? We find people to be using that input to add order comments, and with the comments not showing on the invoice or packing slip, the people pulling the order can miss important information from the customer.

[jmestep]

You could try adding this tot he one page checkout- I'm not sure it would work--I don't know when the order number is actually generated.
From the receipt.ascx and receipt.ascx.cs (order confirmation page-- the note feature is already there- maybe moving it to the top so customers would see it would server your purpose)
<tr id="trAddNote" runat="server">
<td>
<table class="inputForm">
<tr>
<th class="rowHeader" valign="top">
Add Note:
</th>
<td>
<asp:TextBox ID="NewOrderNote" runat="server" TextMode="multiline" Width="400px" Height="80px"></asp:TextBox>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td><asp:LinkButton ID="NewOrderNoteButton" runat="server" Text="Submit my Note" SkinID="Button" OnClick="NewOrderNoteButton_Click"></asp:LinkButton></td>
</tr>

private bool _AllowAddNote = true;
public bool AllowAddNote
{
get { return _AllowAddNote; }
set { _AllowAddNote = value; }
}


private void BindOrderNotes()
{
OrderNoteCollection publicNotes = GetPublicNotes();
if (publicNotes.Count == 0) OrderNotesPanel.Visible = this.AllowAddNote;
trAddNote.Visible = this.AllowAddNote;
OrderNotesGrid.DataSource = publicNotes;
OrderNotesGrid.DataBind();
}

private OrderNoteCollection GetPublicNotes()
{
OrderNoteCollection publicNotes = new OrderNoteCollection();
foreach (OrderNote note in this.Order.Notes)
{
if (!note.IsPrivate) publicNotes.Add(note);
}
return publicNotes;
}

protected void NewOrderNoteButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
string safeNote = StringHelper.StripHtml(NewOrderNote.Text);
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(safeNote))
{
_Order.Notes.Add(new OrderNote(_OrderId, Token.Instance.User.UserId, LocaleHelper.LocalNow, safeNote, NoteType.Public));
_Order.Notes.Save();
BindOrderNotes();
}
NewOrderNote.Text = string.Empty;
}

protected string GetNoteAuthor(object dataItem)
{
OrderNote note = (OrderNote)dataItem;
return (note.UserId == Token.Instance.User.UserId) ? "you" : Token.Instance.Store.Name;
}

BindOrderNotes()

[Brewhaus]

What we need is for the order notes to actually print on the invoice. Would your code do this?

[mazhar]

I don't know when the order number is actually generated

In OnePageCheckout you can access the orderid in its CheckedOut method from its event argument as below.

Code: Select all

e.OrderId