New Features in ShopSite 10 sp2

This month ShopSite has released version 10 sp2 (service pack 2). Below are listed a few of the new features:

Back Office Dashboard (Starter, Manager, Pro): A dashboard can now be displayed on the initial ShopSite screen (backoffice), providing store statistics such as new orders, recent sales numbers, popular searches, RSS feed, etc.
Back Office Mobile Support for the Merchant (Starter, Manager, Pro): Log into ShopSite from your phone's browser; both the dashboard and orders have been optimized for mobile viewing.
Inventory Tracking for Product Ordering Options (Pro): Inventory Tracking on a product ordering option level is now available (e.g. Size and Color). You can even assign different images and weight to each option.
Links to Facebook and Twitter to “Follow” the Merchant (Starter, Manager, Pro): Merchants can now have "follow me" and "become a fan" links for their corresponding facebook and twitter pages.
Links to Facebook and Twitter for sharing (Manager, Pro): Facebook Share/Like or Twitter Tweet buttons can also be added.

Click here for the complete list of new features in 10 sp2

New Payment Integrations

For merchants interested in PCI compliance and in not having credit card information entered in on their servers, ShopSite has two new integrations which can help: Braintree and Authorize.net (SIM). First, let's discuss Authorize.net and how it integrates with ShopSite.

If you have an Authorize.Net merchant account, you can configure ShopSite to process credit card orders in real time using Authorize.Net’s Server Integration Method (SIM) to communicate with the Authorize.Net servers. It is found in Commerce Setup > Payment, under the "Payment Methods Accepted" section.

Please note: this integration is different from the Authorize.net (AIM) Integration which was previously the only Authorize.net integration ShopSite offered. The AIM integration keeps customers on the merchant site for the entire checkout process and sent the payment information to Authorize.net behind the scenes.

With the Authorize.net (SIM) integration, customers will begin the checkout process on ShopSite by filling out their billing and shipping information. Next, they will be taken to Authorize.net to enter in their credit card information for verification. Finally, they will be taken back to the ShopSite Thank You page to show the order has been successfully submitted.

With the two Authorize.net integrations, merchants have to decide if they want customers on their site or on the gateway site when payment information is entered, while our next integration, Braintree, offers an alternative. Braintree is unique in that it integrates with ShopSite websites in such a way that customers enter in their payment information on the Braintree servers even though they appear to still be on the ShopSite merchant's website.

Help documentation for these new integrations can be found at the URLs below:
-Authorize.net SIM
https://www.shopsite.com/help/10.2/en-US/sc/pro/payment.authnetsim.html
-Braintree
https://www.shopsite.com/help/10.2/en-US/sc/pro/payment.braintree.html

Merchant Tip

Question: I just set up my store and I am now trying to connect it to my payment gateway but I keep getting an error message. What should I do?

Answer: The first thing you should do is go to Commerce Setup > Payment > Configure Processor and check the box to display error details. Then, when you go to make another test order you will receive a detailed error message underneath the generic one (which says to check your card number, zip code, and expiration date).

If the issue involves any of the information which you, the merchant, entered when configuring the gateway in ShopSite, then it usually says that clearly in the detailed error.

If the error shows no response from the gateway ("nil" code) then it is possible that the port on the server which the gateway needs to communicate with ShopSite is closed. You would need to contact your host and ask them to check the necessary ports (please note: the port needed for the gateway is generally listed under Configure Processor or in the online help documentation).

If there are numerical errors listed, then that generally means ShopSite was able to communicate with the gateway and that you will need to contact the gateway to find out what the number means.

So, to sum up, when working with payment gateways and ShopSite issue is generally one of the following: 1) that the information for configuration was not entered properly, 2) the ports needed on the server are blocked, or 3) there is some issue on the gateway side of things.

The Support Queue

Question: In April 2010 ShopSite merchants using the Authorize.net payment gateway received a notice from Authorize.net regarding new Discover and MasterCard requirements for certain types of transactions (involving debit, prepaid or gift cards). The notice said these new Discover and MasterCard requirements would go into effect on April 16, 2010 and May 1, 2010. Does ShopSite support these requirements, or what do I as a merchant need to do?

Answer: As noted in the email from Authorize.net, they have not yet implemented the requirements on their system so there is not anything that can be done yet to make ShopSite meet these new requirements. However, as also noted in Authorize.net's email, Authorize.net merchants do not have to meet these requirements until June 30, 2011. During this time, Authorize.net will be working on their implementation of these requirements, and will then inform ShopSite, Inc. of their new parameters and requirements, which can then be evaluated and implemented in a new version of ShopSite sometime before the June 30, 2011 deadline.

More information and a portion of the email Authorize.net sent to merchants, can be found at the following URL:
April 2010 email from Authorize.net regarding new MasterCard and Discover processing requirements

Designer Tip

Question: I would like the colors in my templates to be the same for every page without the merchant having to manually set them, but I want the merchant to be able to change these colors easily down the road. How can I set the colors in one place yet still allow the merchant to change those colors without going into the code?

Answer: ShopSite has two features that you can use to accomplish this. First, ShopSite now creates a ‘publish’ directory under the merchant’s output directory where custom CSS and JavaScript can be found. The publish files can contain the existing and the new global ShopSite tags such as global colors and global fonts making it easy for your merchants to change some styles specified by the CSS within the ShopSite control panel. Go to Merchandising > Custom Templates > Includes, and upload your CSS file. Then you can replace the colors in the CSS file with global tags such as #[-- STORE.LinkColor --] or #[-- STORE.TextColor --].

The second new feature is the Layout Settings Screen in the ShopSite back office where global colors and fonts can be specified. This feature is found by going to Preferences > Layout Settings. Your merchants can change these colors whenever they want, republish the site, and have the new colors take effect.

Visit the links below for more information on these features:
Publish Auxiliary Files
Global Store Tags

Industry Articles

Search Engine Optimization in 2010: What You Need to Know Now
http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/1839-Search-Engine-Optimization-in-2010-What-You-Need-to-Know-Now
"If you want to use search engine optimization best practices, or want to get updated on the latest search engine optimization techniques, there are a lot of good SEO resources to keep you up-to-date. If you’re confused already about search engine optimization, here are my expert thoughts about search engine optimization in 2010, based on my experience."

5 Ways that Your Small Business Site Might Be Failing
http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/technology/article/5-ways-that-your-small-business-site-might-be-failing-glen-stansberry
"A company's website should be a priority, not an afterthought. More and more people are using the web to research companies and products, and if your site doesn't appeal to online searchers, you might lose a sale. There are plenty of ways that small business sites can improve."

Eye Tracking Study Shows Importance of Search Snippets
http://searchengineland.com/eye-tracking-study-shows-importance-of-search-snippets-49304
"The study shows that the search snippet, often the meta description from the site, is an extremely important factor for searchers."

News, Tips and Trends

Whether you like to get emails, read RSS feeds, follow on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook you can keep up with the news, tips and trends with ShopSite and E-commerce.

Recently Added Knowledgebase Articles

The following articles were recently added to the support knowledgebase:

v10 sp2 r2 maintenance release fixes some problems with v10 sp2 and v10sp2 r1

First Data Global Gateway (formerly LinkPoint or YourPay): Socket connection or timeout issues (port 1129)

April 2010 email from Authorize.net regarding new MasterCard and Discover processing requirements

Can't login to ShopSite backoffice after installing WordPress, Drupal, or other CMS software

Current Version of ShopSite

Latest Releases:

Version 10 sp2 r2 on Linux, FreeBSD, and Windows (2003 and 2008 (32-bit))
Version 10 r7 on Solaris

To upgrade your ShopSite store, contact your authorized reseller hosting partner.