Changes to invoice in AC 7.0.7

[Brewhaus]

With the upgrade from 7.0.2 to 7.0.7 our old forms will not work. Unfortunately, the new forms have a couple of issues that we need to resolve before we can complete the switch:

• 1 Shipping is now a line item on the invoice. I see this as causing confusion, as the shipping is also listed below the subtotal, and despite being listed with the line items it is not included in the subtotal. How do we remove the shipping from the line items, and show it only below the subtotal?

• 2 Kit items are no longer listed on the invoice- only the primary product is shown. How do we get the individual kit items to show on the invoice? When customers make selections these items should shown on the invoice. It also makes it impossible for people to pull the orders when the options are not shown anywhere.

Rick

[compunerdy]

Good luck.. I fought with this since 7.0.5 when they made the changes to kits. I E-mailed pics and tried to explain the issue but I may as well have been talking to a wall for all the help I got on it. I did modify the code to show the kits items but it is still a mess because there is no sku or qnty shown for the items. Why they thought it was okay to change the way things worked for 5 releases and then just say too bad so sad is beyond me and as you can tell I am still pretty pissed about it.

[Brewhaus]

I hope that all of my work to this point is not in vain, and if it cannot be resolved that they we refund the upgrade, as there is no realistic way for our staff to pack orders when the customer's selections are not shown on any packing list! We may be able to live without the quantities showing, as our kits are pretty standard. However, if the items do not export properly then there is no way for us to import the day's orders into our accounting software, which means that we cannot keep our inventory (or P&L) correct!

UPDATE: It appears that the items and quantities do get pulled in an export of the orders (at least that is how it appears on a preliminary test). The thing that I noticed when entering a test order is that the items do show up in the order confirmation e-mail, so I may try attacking the invoices that way. If we can get the invoices working then it is easy to manipulate the Packing List, Pull Sheet, etc., from that. If we have success I will post the file.

[Brewhaus]

I found that changing the kits to 'itemized' instead of 'bundled' does cause the items and quantities to show up on the invoice, but at this point I do not know if there are any other effects to making that change. If anyone can clarify this it would be appreciated.

Boy, a lot of changes, and a lot of work just rebuilding all of our customizations. That is just why I hate upgrading software.

[Brewhaus]

The invoices are nearly where we want them. However, the new design shows the shipping method and cost as a line item along with the products ordered, does not include it in the subtotal, and shows the cost again below the subtotal (beside "Shipping and Handling"). This seems very confusing. Is there a way to remove the shipping from the line items and just add the shipping method up near the order number and order date (similar to the old invoice layout)? That is how it is displayed in the e-mail order confirmation, but we have not been able to figure out how to manipulate the new invoice files to do this.

[compunerdy]

Let me know if you figure it out please. I could not change from bundled to itemized because once the kit is added to a cart it is no longer a kit. As in you cannot delete it as one item, customers can delete a portion of the kit, It does not show as a kit on the invoices, etc..

[Brewhaus]

I found almost zero difference in how the items showed when I changed from Bundled to Itemized. In both cases each item was listed out in the cart, however, you could not change the individual items and if you tried to delete one of the components it would just show right back up. If you delete the main item then the components were also deleted. So, while it is much more confusing that in the old version, it is functional. It always amazes me how a newer version of software can be a step back in some facets. In this case they have increased the possibility of customer confusion. To be honest, if it were not for some issues in 7.0.2 that I hope to see resolved (tax being charged when it should not, and sometimes at outrageous rates, along with a CatGrid sorting issue that I expect will not be resolved) I would not have upgraded. I am actually wondering if I would be better of just eating the cost of the upgrade to 7.0.7 (two licenses, so not something I take lightly), and just live with the couple of little issues that I have with 7.0.2.

I always liked AC, but am very disappointed in the new version. With the extreme changes (most custom ConLib files do not work after upgrading, leaving you spending hours rebuilding your customizations. When they literally change formats this extensively it should have been listed as a new version (ie. version , not an upgrade. That would warn people that the changes are more than simple bug fixes and aesthetics, or the addition of a feature or two.

My next post- another new thread- will be begging for help in rebuilding a few of our customizations. We have spent hundreds of dollars on customizing files, and now those files do not work.

[compunerdy]

My memory is not that great and it has been awhile lol. Originally you created a kit like what is now bundles but on invoices they showed up the way itemized ones do now. Then in 7.0.5 they changed the way kits work. So in order to have the items show up as separate lines with sku and quantity on invoices you had to use itemized. The problem with this is I like the kit to be one item on the storefront where as if I select itemized then they all get added to the cart as separate line items and basically do not show as a kit. This is not kiting..it is bundling and works fine for someone who wants to use bundled but not for someone who uses kits. With the current changes if you have hidden items included in a kit they do not even show up on invoices by default (I hacked the code to make them show or I would not have been able to use the system at all). I guess it all just depends on how you use kits/bundles as to if it works for you or not.

Selling a group of items is bundling which is what they call itemized now.
Selling a kit which is one item made up of multiple items is kitting which is what the now call bundled.

It doesnt make much sense but it does work for the most part. The largest issue I have had is the way they changed how they show on invoices/packing slips. All of the previous hacks on the forums to modify the invoices no longer worked and so far nobody has helped modify the new ones.

[mazhar]

The invoices are nearly where we want them. However, the new design shows the shipping method and cost as a line item along with the products ordered, does not include it in the subtotal, and shows the cost again below the subtotal (beside "Shipping and Handling"). This seems very confusing. Is there a way to remove the shipping from the line items and just add the shipping method up near the order number and order date (similar to the old invoice layout)? That is how it is displayed in the e-mail order confirmation, but we have not been able to figure out how to manipulate the new invoice files to do this.

Here the modified file Invoices.aspx.cs. It contains two changes, first it excludes shipping items to be listed in items grid. Secondly it includes ship method name in Ship To area above items Grid. I know you mentioned that it should be under order number but I think it makes more sense in Ship To address area because in case of multiple shipments it will not confuse the user. Anyway if you want it to appear under order number that will be quick change in current adjustment.

[Brewhaus]

Thank you very much, Mazhar. I will compare these files with the files that automatically update the order status to Order Printed and merge them. We now just need to re-build a couple of our customizations and we can move our site to 7.0.7.

[compunerdy]

There are 2 things I need changed so I can have everything on one page..

1. Include order notes on invoices.
2. Make the line item discounts show on one line instead of a line under every item.

[Brewhaus]

Please don't tell me that they changed that on the invoices, too. Ugh... I want my old invoices back.

[Brewhaus]

I have noticed that the payment method is no longer showing on the invoices. How can we include this below the order number and date?

[compunerdy]

LOL..

ABLE please, please, please.. give us a invoice that shows EVERYTHING. That way we can easily remove what we do not want.

[mazhar]

Try this modified version. I tried to address points mentioned like Payment method, combined discount, ship method and order notes.

[compunerdy]

Mazhar,

Thanks for tackling this. I do have a couple of issues.

1. The shipment notes that are left when the order is placed are not showing up. The comments or notes made after the order is placed are though. Can we get both to show please.

2. With the original invoice by making a change in OrderItemDetail I was able to make hidden kits items show up. But with your changes for removing the discounts,etc somehow makes it so that chunk of code in OrderItemDetail is ignored. Not sure how this all works or why it is working that way.

3. This is me being picky and is not a real concern but would make the invoice make more sense..
A. Remove shipping service as a line item and add the ship method down below where it already lists the shipping & handling.
B. Remove the discount as a line item and add the type down below where it already lists it as adjustments.

Thank you...

[Brewhaus]

I have attached a copy of our invoice from 7.0.2. It should contain everything that everyone is looking for (I did not see so many complaints on the invoice before, so I am guessing that it worked well for everyone). Kit items are itemized below the product, shipping and payment methods are both shown, the shipping message (added prior to checking out) is shown, as is the order note that is added after the order is completed. Tax is shown.

Is this what everyone is looking for? I know that it certainly works extremely well for us. If this is what everyone is looking for, then Mazhar, is it possible to supply this invoice? it is simply the invoice file from 7.0.2, with our logo added, so hopefully it would be very simple to create as you likely have the base file from this (if you no longer have them I can easily supply the originals).

[mazhar]

OK give a try to this one. I modified it to have appearance like 7.0.2 one

EDIT: zip file updated

[compunerdy]

This did not work for me. What aspx.cs file are we supposed to use with it?

[mazhar]

This did not work for me. What aspx.cs file are we supposed to use with it?

it was due to bad zip file. I missed the code file. I just updated the post. Please download and try updated package.

[compunerdy]

worked great! thanks..

[Brewhaus]

I believe that the only issue with the new invoice file is that, in the case of a kit, the primary item is not listed at the top. Kit items are at the top of the list, with (in this case) the main item being the fifth on the invoice.

[mazhar]

I believe that the only issue with the new invoice file is that, in the case of a kit, the primary item is not listed at the top. Kit items are at the top of the list, with (in this case) the main item being the fifth on the invoice.

I applied the fix and updated the attachment. You can download and try the updated package.

[compunerdy]

On line 5 of the pdf invoice brewhaus linked above.. why is there extra lines/spaces under the description. It seems that the code is generated server side and I cannot get rid of it. It is very annoying when you have multiples of these as it makes the page quite a bit longer then needed.

[Brewhaus]

I would also like to know how to remove the extra space under every line item. It really wastes a lot of paper by extending most invoices onto multiple pages. It is not just the extra lines and space under the primary item, but every item on the invoice has extra space below it, and I have not been able to figure out how to remove it.