2007 Most Wanted Mods/Features

2007 Most Wanted Mods/Features



[color=red]In 2006 we requested alot of new mods/features and CS listened bigtime and added in a truckload of requests. List your Most Wanted Mods/Features for 2007[/color]



Snorockets Most Wanted Features:

Survey Module [size=1](with polling/voting capabilities and the ability to attach a survey upon order completion, ability to attach gift certificates and/or discounts as a reward for completing a survey)[/size]

[thread=345]Articles Manager[/thread]

[thread=341]IP Blocking/Banning[/thread]

Cart Log Analyzer [size=1](log products added, removed to cart, products viewed ect… for logged and unlogged customers…)[/size]

Data Feed Manager [size=1](Ability to export Yahoo, Froogle, EBay plus custom defined exports ect…)[/size]

SEO Catalog [size=1](Ability to define your own HTML Links)[/size]

HTML Catalog to export pages/mfg’s [size=1](add pages and manufacturers to HTML Catalog)[/size]

Block Manager [size=1](Ability to create left, right, middle sideblocks/mainblocks with the ability to assign products, pages and articles to any block and be able to choose which pages to show blocks on and use smarty code in the blocks)[/size]

Destination dependency [size=1](ability to add surcharges to selcted states, countries ex: add $1 for shipments to CA or $2 to TX ect…)[/size]

Export/Import Data [size=1](ability to define and export/import ALL data variables, customers, orders, statistics, products ect…)[/size]

Price Match/Inquiry [size=1](price match mod where as customer can enter data of another customer’s product for us to compare and price match…)[/size]

Ecards [size=1](ability to upload and create ecards which can then be sent to customers on birthdays, anniversaries with a discount ect…)[/size]

Returns Manager [size=1](Return Merchandise Authorization)[/size]

Special Offers [size=1](Buy 1 get 1 FREE, Buy 2 Get 3rd FREE, Buy X product get FREE shipping ect…)[/size]

Pagination/Sorting [size=1](pagination and sorting added in all areas of cart)[/size]

I’d vote for, from your list;



Cart analyzer

Block Manager

Payment Surcharges

Special Offers - Big Time!

Pagination/Sorting



They are the ones from your list that I personally would like or benefit from, they are all great ideas and should all be implemented!



Most the other stuff I want would be very specific to my site so theres not much point posting here but I’d be interested to hear what other people are after too.



Simon

Payment Surcharges - this is already included in 1.3.4, why is it on the wishlist?



My wishlist is the same as before: [url]http://forum.cs-cart.com/showthread.php?t=1761[/url]

Haha, probably not updated. I have 1.3.3 still, it’s heavily modded so I’ve not upgraded yet.

post what you would like to see in the next version even if it is specific to your site others may want similar functionality…

okay, I’ll make a post in the morning… But I really don’t think CS would implement a record companies usergroup, mp3 uploader, mp3 tag editor etc in a shopping cart for general use! :wink:



There are a few things that might be handy though so I’ll see what I can come up with.



Simon

I like the sound of all of the suggestions so far.



As far as the Price Match goes you could just have a link on your product detail pages that when clicked opens up a form with a few basic fields.



The product that you are selling that the customer has seen cheaper could be automatically entered into the form and the other fields ask things like ‘competitors price’, ‘competitors URL’?



I would be quite happy with that, saves the customer typing out an email to you and would be quite discreet on the page.

Would love to see a “Contact for shipping quote” option. If any product placed in cart has this option set, customer cannot checkout until the shipping amount is entered by store admin. We have a lot of stuff which requires freight shipment and we have to manually determine which carrier gives us the best rate into a particular area.



Bob

[quote name=‘jobosales’]Would love to see a “Contact for shipping quote” option. If any product placed in cart has this option set, customer cannot checkout until the shipping amount is entered by store admin. We have a lot of stuff which requires freight shipment and we have to manually determine which carrier gives us the best rate into a particular area.



Bob[/QUOTE]

Amen to that, I’ve got products that require $30AUD for shipping so purchasing 5 products adds up at the checkout. This would make a great mod

The shipping quote mod is right up at the top of my list as well right next to a gift certificate mod. Both of these would be great.



Brandon

What about getting rid of Smarty templates and converting to XML? (Might be a different X???, but a couple of folks were talking in the forums about converting the cart over to something other than what it is now.)



Cheers,

Mike

CS cart is fantastic. Here are my humble thoughts about possible tweaks…



An advanced mini-cart display on the Customer side. I know there is a forum mod for this but I would like this to be coded by cscart and integrated into the cart.



I’d like to see the Admin///Look and Feel//Manage Ads section expanded:


  • more options on where to show the ad. For example on selected product pages or selected categories. Make the ads a clickable link to a selected group of products (currently clickable to a url).
  • I would like this expanded so the clickable link goes to a search result such as all product by a certain manufacturer.
  • Make a series of ads rotate or cycle and have an expiry date so I can co-ordinate them with the discounts module



    I’d like Admin///Currencies to be linked to live currency rates. I don’t have time to update them regularly and it would be much more professional to display live rate.



    On Customer///Product Details have a tab for a direct product enquiry so that customers can email me to ask a question about that product. Currently they have to go to the Contact Us page.



    On the Admin///View Orders pages I would like to be able to add a one line note underneath an order. Often I have a full screen of orders with 3 or 4 waiting for something… For example waiting for a bank deposit to clear, a cheque to arrive, a note that the customer will pick the item up on a certain day.time, a reply from a buyer or a product to arrive, whatever… I would like to add a one line note on this view orders page so I can quickly see an overview of what is happening without having to click thru to the individual order page. The note line not to be displayed for all orders, only where a note exists.



    More catalog fields that I can import/export.



    An advanced product search so customers don’t have to load a new page when they search for an item. Search results pop up in a drop down box…



    Streamline the checkout a little more like Jesse Stringer suggested in another thread



    If possible, let me delete some order status that I won’t ever use but they cannot be deleted at he moment.

Out of snorocket’s list I would vote for:



IP Blocking/Banning

Cart Analyzer

Block Manager

Export/Import Data

Price Match



I would also love to see…



Better Ad Management - with the ability to view stats, rotate and better site placement

Shipping estimates in the cart - customers could see any charges before the checkout by selecting their destination or delivery service required.

Products of interest - customers could select in their account which products/categories are of interest and the ‘featured products’ block would display products depending on their choices.

Product stock notifications



I’ll maybe think of more later.

[quote name=‘Luthien’]

I’d like Admin///Currencies to be linked to live currency rates. I don’t have time to update them regularly and it would be much more professional to display live rate.[/QUOTE]



I couldn’t agree more with this, I can view current market rates via websites however there isn’t a simple way to integrate that I can think of.

Cheers for bring that one up.


[quote name=‘Luthien’]On Customer///Product Details have a tab for a direct product enquiry so that customers can email me to ask a question about that product. Currently they have to go to the Contact Us page.[/QUOTE]

Adding a link within a ‘new’ sidebox maybe a way to go, as it is always present, Due to the nature of some products (Automotive Spare Parts) it is increasingly difficult getting the correct part 100% of the time.

This will increase customer queries a lot.

[quote name=‘Luthien’]

On the Admin///View Orders pages I would like to be able to add a one line note underneath an order. Often I have a full screen of orders with 3 or 4 waiting for something…[/QUOTE]

I just had a bright idea : Creating an ‘awaiting action’ status order/area within the Order CP. This would allow storage of bounced payments, awaiting cheques, more information required, possible fraud etc. That way you wouldn’t have to view it ‘all’ the time when you can work on orders that are ready to post.[/QUOTE]





I’m all for SnoRocket’s requests, it can’t hurt to have more right :wink:

Hi Simon, I know there has been several questions about people wanting to upload sound (mp3) and video (mpeg) clips so I think it would be a pretty reasonable request for a custom mod, even I have considered product video demo clips ect…

I’m hoping for new support hours. Their day ends at 10-11am EST. and leaves the rest of the USA w/o direct support for the next 14 hrs. There is always at least a 1 day wait for a response and that’s not what I consider a fast response turnaround.



That is one positive of X, they have 24/7 staffed helpdesk. they may not have all the answers, but at least getting a response back in less than 14 hrs is a nice feeling.

Automatic currency update is a must! Updating it manually is just too time consuming and unefficient.



Automated related products - so you have an option to add a related product on both ends in one go instead of doing it to both products.



Accessories - similiar to the related products you can add accessories for each product with a checkbox which the customer can check and will add both the product and the accessory (which is a standalone product awell) to the cart.

Jesse,

Thanks for your suggestions. The one line note and direct product enquiry are things I am used to on ebay. If I decide I want them I could get cs cart to code them up. They are coding reward points and xc data migration for me at the moment - back in stock notifications is next.



I guess I’ll stick to detailed mini-cart, better ad management and live currency updates as a global request then…

I definitely want to throw my vote behind a banner ad rotator.



Additionally, I’d like a dynamic index page similar to this one:

[URL=“Ma Labs - Leading Distributor of PC Components, Computer Hardware and Software, Servers, Laptop Systems, Digital Signage, Consumer Electronics and more!”]Ma Labs - Leading Distributor of PC Components, Computer Hardware and Software, Servers, Laptop Systems, Digital Signage, Consumer Electronics and more!

I know all of this can be done right now, but not without a bunch of modifications to templates, etc. and it would mean altering code to make daily changes. It would be much better if there was some method of “Managing” the content better on the index page, especially in the prime center section.



Cheers,

Mike

[quote name=‘MikeK’]I definitely want to throw my vote behind a banner ad rotator.[/QUOTE]



What is wrong with using a complete system like PhpAdsNew? In my opinion CS-Cart team should focus on the shopping cart aspect more and improve it when there are already free open source systems for other things. Everything does not need to be integrated into the core. It will just make the whole cart bloated.