My Checkout Without Account Mod

I've come up with a checkout without account mod that I'd like to get some feedback on. It seems pretty solid, I developed it on one store, then packaged it and installed it on another. I've put it through its paces, and as far as I can tell it does everything I want to perfectly.

I'm putting it out as a beta, and am looking for the community's views on language, phrasing, usability, bugs, proper practices, etc.

I've got links in my sig which link to the mod and a demo store. Feel free to perform whatever experiments you'd like there.

The Pithy Explanation:
This mod allows users to checkout with or without an account. Like all other such mods it creates an invisible account which requires less effort/commitment from the customer. However, my mod uses a particularly simple method to keep the problem of multiple accounts with the same e-mail address from effecting those who create permanent accounts.

I've pasted this further explanation from the readme:

What this mod does:
When a visitor adds something to their cart and proceeds to checkout, they are greeted with three options. They can sign in to their existing account, they can create a new account, or they can proceed through checkout without an account. They are only given this third option if they have something in their cart. After entering their billing information they are sent to checkout_shipping. If they somehow manage to enter the COWOA sequence without something in their cart, then after they enter their billing information they are directed to their empty cart.

A visitor may COWOA as many times as they like using the same e-mail address. They may COWOA using a given e-mail address, and then later use that same e-mail address in the creation of a regular account. They may not COWOA using an e-mail address that is associated with a regular account.

There's more information about how it works in the readme.

Awaiting feedback,
Joe

Hi Joe,

I was testing and when I hit "checkout" (COWOA) doesn't go anywhere. :schmoll:

PS: I inserted the link on url (main_page=no_account) and takes me to the page, but the button is not working.

Ideasgirl,

Thanks for testing it out. (;

I was having trouble replicating that, and then on a whim I tried IE. It's terribly weird but the button that works for FF doesn't work for IE.

So, I switched to split panel(the mod puts the button both on split panel and non-split panel login), and the button works in IE. I don't have time to figure out the problem tonight, but now that it's on split login it should work for all parties.

Thanks for giving it a test drive.

--Joe

This is great - just what we have been looking for.

Have tried it on 1.3.7 test site and it has worked fine - apart from the IE problem. (In fact have just tried it on Safari and have the same problem)

Is there any way to tell in admin which customers have registered and which have not. Would be really interesting to know for sure whether mandatory registration really is a turn-off - I personally would much rather have no registration at all but simply a mechanism to check order status with email address and order number.

I like this!
It works great in FireFox, but not IE (as already noted).
Looking forward to trying it when you get the IE part fixed. :smile:

Edited to add...Only bug I see so far:

When you receive the confirmation email it still has a link to view the order, which it won't let you do because you didn't enter a password and don't technically have an account.

I had an opportunity to check this out with IE7 and it's even more screwed up. (;

I was checking IE6 last night when I said that it worked with the split login setup, but with IE7 it directs you to the standard account creation.

So, for the moment, the demo store doesn't work with IE7. If you only have IE7 then once you get to the split login screen you can manually go to:

Code:

---

https://www.theknitteur.com/zc/index.php?main_page=no_account

---

I'm sure this should be an easy enough fix, probably just have to put the link tags inside the div tags.

TPHoare: The emails of invisible accounts have a '.' at the end. I'm taking advantage of the fact that there's an implicit '.' at the end of every email address, and using it to keep invisible accounts from interfering with normal accounts.

At the moment there's no automatic sort, but I think that I could easily clone the admin 'customers' module into two more modules, one that shows only normal accounts and another that shows only invisible ones.

Boggled: Thanks for noting the email text issue. Glad for the feedback on the stuff I miss.

I have a question regarding the function of the mod. As noted, once a normal account has been created with a given e-mail address, that address can't be used to checkout without an account. That's a function I could easily remove, but I felt that it would lead to too many confusing issues. Any thoughts?

Also of note, you can pare down the information requirements on the no_account page using the admin module that controls account creation. You can see a more elegant implementation of the page here:

http://www.theknitteur.com/zc/screenshot.gif

Alright, thanks for all the feedback. I've got the button issue and the email text to do, and I'll look into the admin module.

Thanks much,
Joe

Alright, I've made the following modifications.

Fixed: IE button issues and cleaned up button code in general. Conditionally removed account/order invoice references from email. Conditionally removed product update notification and account references from checkout_success.

These are reflected in the store and the zip file.

--Joe

Haven't had a chance to try your latest fixes, but it appears that order acknowledgement emails are being sent in plain txt with the store address (for example) one continuous unformatted line, while order acknowledgements from registered accounts are being sent in nicely formatted html.

Really pleased, though, about all the work you've done and just want to get this into action as soon as possible!

Hi Jo

Thanks for the work you are doing on this - I would really like my customers to be able to purchase without creating an account as I believe this does turn some people away....

As a really new Zenner I'm not overly confident on installing & testing the mod - but as soon as it is working well I will ask my hosting company to help me out.

Anne

Good job Joe!

It appears to be working with IE7 now and the confirmation email looks perfect. :smile:


Things I noticed but aren't major issues:

When you complete the purchase, it tells you to log off...

1) If you click on log out, it takes you to the typical log out page telling you that you've logged out of your account, etc.

2) If you don't log off and decide to buy something else, it treats you just like a regular logged in account, adds stuff to your basket and you don't have to enter your address information again.

Not really a problem on the buyers end, but what will this do on the Admin side?

We have buyers who do this occasionally - they decide to add to their order within minutes of checking out. It's always an eBay buyer who came to the website to checkout and pay for their auctions. I don't think they realize they can continue shopping before paying for their eBay stuff. :rolleyes:

I really like the 'neater' short version of the checkout page too. Less info to have to enter. Will that be customizable on the Admin side?

One other thing I just thought of...
How will this work with the 'Order Steps' mod and/or the Ty Package Tracker?

Just seen your readme update note about hidden text variable - which I guess answers my query above re html acknowledgements

Hi, so if there is any way to auto logoff on completion of check out, it should be perfect? So if the guy decides to add something after checking out, he will have to key in all the address again.

So technically, we would be looking at managing a bunch of new accounts with dots behind their email addresses?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ronwong

Hi, so if there is any way to auto logoff on completion of check out, it should be perfect? So if the guy decides to add something after checking out, he will have to key in all the address again.

So technically, we would be looking at managing a bunch of new accounts with dots behind their email addresses?

---

I said from the buyer's side it wasn't a problem, BUT I was curious as to HOW it would show up on the Admin side.

Also if the customer *thinks* he hasn't created an account, but clicks a log off button that tells him he has logged out of *his account*, they may get a little concerned/confused. I don't think an auto log-out is necessary, just maybe a different page to land on with alternative verbiage.


Maybe we could change the dots to *red asterisks*. :smile:

TPHoare: Regarding e-mails, I think I'll go ahead and bring the html/text option forward again, with some optional instructions for hiding it as I've done.

Boggled: Thanks for noticing that language issue. I'll go ahead and clear that up. As for the neater version, that is controllable in the admin. At the moment, it's linked to the settings of your regular account creation page, so you turn fields off and on by adjusting your...I forget, I think it's somewhere under customer details. I think I'll put in an auxiliary readme with details like that.

The only things I've flat out removed from the no_account page are date of birth, phpBB integration, and newsletter sign up.

As for the issue of allowing users to remain "logged in" outside of the checkout process, I've wondered about this myself. On the admin side, it's no difference at all so long as it doesn't confuse the user. There does need to be a way for a customer "without an account" to log off, but an account should not be mentioned.

As ronwong has brought up, an auto logoff on checkout completion would be nice, and would address some of these issues. I'm guessing that will be simple enough, and I think this is something else I'll put in the auxiliary readme. Once everything is working correctly I think I'll move these options out of the readme and into an admin control panel, including separate control over the no_account fields.

Yes, the e-mail addresses of the invisible accounts do all have the '.' at the end. This isn't an administrative challenge, however, because they operate identically to ones without dots on the end, except they're non-identical to searches.

Also, TPHoare, you mentioned a page where you could look up order status with an e-mail address and an order number. That should be pretty easy to whip up, and I think it's a great idea, something that buy.com uses I think. That's also going onto my list.

Finally, Boggled you mention Order Steps and Ty Package Tracker. I plan on modifying Tableless Order Steps as an optional add-on for this. I looked a bit at Ty Package Tracker, but I'm not really familiar with it. What features are you curious/concerned about in particular?

Thank you again for all of the feedback,
Joe

Quote:

---

Finally, Boggled you mention Order Steps and Ty Package Tracker. I plan on modifying Tableless Order Steps as an optional add-on for this. I looked a bit at Ty Package Tracker, but I'm not really familiar with it. What features are you curious/concerned about in particular?

---

The Ty Package Tracker allows you to enter a tracking number into the order on the Admin side and then it emails the information to the customer. Like the confirmation email, it includes a link to their order details. I think it works through the normal 'Order Update' because that's what the subject line of the email says. Customers with accounts can log-in and see the shipping details of their order. :smile:

Alright, I got most of that done this weekend. I'm going to be a bit slower over the week, but here's what I've decided to put on the list for this mod.

Conditionally editing account references out of follow-up e-mails.
Giving the page a more integrated look with the rest of checkout, including alternate page header('Step 1 of 5', 'Step 2 of 5' etc.) definitions.
As an optional add-on, a modified tableless order steps mod that will also conditionally display 4 or 5 steps.
A page to check order status with e-mail address and order number.

Once those are complete, I'd consider this mod done, pending a final search through for account references. After that I'll begin hacking away at an admin control interface.

This mod is going a bit deeper than I intended, but I suppose that's alright because a lot of people seem to want an integrated solution to this problem.

And I'm still open for feedback. (;

Thanks much,
Joe

you are the greatest!

Who do you know that wants to click through 5 pages to check out?

3 is bad enough. I am in the process of hacking code to make it 1 page.

I am using craftzombies no password no account mod. It works great.

I just don't feel someone wants more than one page after the shopping cart to to success.

Bill To, Ship To and Shipping method and Payment should and can be all on 1 page.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KGZotU

Giving the page a more integrated look with the rest of checkout, including alternate page header('Step 1 of 5', 'Step 2 of 5' etc.) definitions.
As an optional add-on, a modified tableless order steps mod that will also conditionally display 4 or 5 steps.
A page to check order status with e-mail address and order number.


Joe

---

Quote:

---

Who do you know that wants to click through 5 pages to check out?

---

I haven't seen the hard numbers, but I understand that the testing on this is a little counter-intuitive.

From what I understand, the larger reaction to single page checkout is "That's a lot of information to fill out!" Alternatively, a properly designed multi-page checkout benefits from the 'succession of yeses' effect. Rather than being overwhelmed by a whole lot of information to enter, they enter a portion of that information, and by the time they're asked for more information they already feel committed by the effort they put into the first form.

I believe that multiple pages are the superior solution. However, I haven't seen the a/b testing numbers for myself, and there might be audience dependent variance.

That said, throw as many mods onto the pile as possible. Choice is a boon!

I will note that craftzombie's method, by which I was inspired, does not allow for permanent account creation.

Isn't there already a similar mod? I would think that the 'single page checkout' mod would be compatible with craftzombie's. Of note, you still require a 'fill out your info page' and a 'confirm your order' page before your success.

Best of luck,
Joe

PS: Ron, thanks for the support. (;

Edit: On second thought, no the 'single page checkout' mod won't work as you describe if combined with craftzombie's. But, hey, why not make it an optional mod for my COWOA mod? (; Good luck.

This looks great, I can't wait till you get it finished! Thank you so much for this.

Alright, I've made a few more modifications.

1. Conditionally editing account references out of follow-up e-mails:
Done, update e-mails no longer contain the "detailed invoice" link.

2. Giving the page a more integrated look with the rest of checkout, including alternate page header('Step 1 of 5', 'Step 2 of 5' etc.) definitions:
Done, no_account looks like another checkout page now.

3. As an optional add-on, a modified tableless order steps mod that will also conditionally display 4 or 5 steps:
Done, you can see this on the test server. The order steps div shows 4 or 5 well formatted steps depending on whether you are checking out with or without an account.

Not done:
A page to check order status with e-mail address and order number.

This is all up on the test server. I'll have it repackaged for download in the next few hours, along with some screen shots from my live store which is a bit nicer looking.

Also of note, I went ahead and took down the forms asking for Company name and fax number. These are still available using the stock Configuration -> Customer Details.

--Joe

Clarification: Regular account holders still receive "detailed invoice" links with their update e-mails.

In addition to the changes above, I've created an auxiliary readme detailing a couple of optional modifications, including logout upon checkout_success.

I've also taken some screen shots of this on my live store. They do much better justice to what can be done with this mod using a more attractive template. You can find the links in my sig.

There is one thing I'd like some input on. As you can see from the first screen shot, I'm telling my customers that an account is necessary, then I offer them the option to checkout without one. Obviously I need to change this. Can anyone think of a good, short, one sentence, fairly inclusive reason why someone should create an account?

That would help. (;

To do: Simplify the readme and installation instructions. Create that page for checking order status.

Thanks much,
Joe

PS: Please keep nitpicking. (;

Looks really good Joe!

How about something like...

Create a Customer Profile which will allow you to shop faster, create an address book and take advantage of other member benefits.

It's needs tweaking, but maybe it's a start. :smile:

Thanks for all the support, godspeed and Boggled.

I've got the Order Status page up, if someone could give it a look. That's the last of my planned features. I think I'll clean up my code tomorrow, then leave it open to testing and feedback for a few days.

Thanks again for the help,
Joe

Can anyone tell me what advantages/benefits there might be over the other checkout without account mod. Both are really appreciated!

Nice work KGZotU! My hack needed someone to come along and make it what I really would like it to be. When I was forced to choose account or no account, I chose no account... wishing I could choose optional account. I would prefer optional account, but do not have enough experience with PHP to do this. I am looking forward to making another test site where I can play around with your mod. I can say this.... I have had more orders come through after removing accounts. I think it would be even better with optional accounts.

Thanks for your hard work. I can't wait to poke around and see what I can do with this! And of course I am pressed for time at the moment. It figures.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kelvyn

Can anyone tell me what advantages/benefits there might be over the other checkout without account mod. Both are really appreciated!

---

Kelvyn,

Sure. Basically, my mod allows a user to either create an account for checkout, or to checkout without an account. So, it's a bit more featured but it's probably also a bit more complicated, a larger pain to upgrade with, etc. Both mods are otherwise similar.

I think the essential strength that both of our mods share is that whether the customer creates an account or "doesn't create an account", we still capture and store all essential user contact info. As I mentioned, I was inspired by Craftzombie's mod.

I've added a couple of extras, like a page to check order status and a modification of tableless order steps that displays 4 or 5 steps depending on whether you're using an account or not.

Craftzombie, well thank you for the inspiration. (; I've really been wanting to do this for a long time. IIRC some studies have found that having to create an account is second only to hidden charges as a reason for cart abandonment. None of the other checkout without account mods seemed like they had a lot of potential, though. Glad I found yours. (;

Thanks again,
Joe

Hi all great mod... BUT :-)

Just went throught the install in the test version runs great plonked it on the live site and all hell breaks loose!!

We are using the latest edition (3.7) edited and uploaded all files and get this error

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

Warning: main(includes/modules/no_account.php) [function.main]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/jms-music-de/htdocs/Shop/includes/modules/pages/no_account/header_php.php on line 17

Warning: main() [function.include]: Failed opening 'includes/modules/no_account.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/jms-music-de/htdocs/Shop/includes/modules/pages/no_account/header_php.php on line 17
------------------------------------

The php reads:

<?php
/**
* no_account header_php.php
*
* @package page
* @copyright Copyright 2003-2006 Zen Cart Development Team
* @copyright Portions Copyright 2003 osCommerce
* @license http://www.zen-cart.com/license/2_0.txt GNU Public License V2.0
* @version $Id: header_php.php 4035 2006-07-28 05:49:06Z drbyte $
*/

// This should be first line of the script:
$zco_notifier->notify('NOTIFY_HEADER_START_NO_ACCOUNT');


require(DIR_WS_MODULES . zen_get_module_directory('require_languages.php'));
include(DIR_WS_MODULES . zen_get_module_directory(FILENAME_NO_ACCOUNT));

$breadcrumb->add(NAVBAR_TITLE);

// This should be last line of the script:
$zco_notifier->notify('NOTIFY_HEADER_END_NO_ACCOUNT');
?>
-----------------------------------

We use 5 language packs as we have customers in various European countries and I figure it has something to do with this as we added the other 4 language files and copied the English data across.... (will make the translations available when finished)

I guess this is an easy php fix but either I am stoopid or its more serious....

Uploading the back-up as its a working shop so you wont be able to see the error but if a php wiz has an idea we would really welcome a reply....

Kind Regards

Richie
JMS Music
www.jms-music.de

Richie,

The server is basically saying that it wasn't able to find the no_account.php file at includes/modules/YOUR_TEMPLATE/no_account.php.

The most common reason for this would be misnaming the YOUR_TEMPLATE folder. Unfortunately this mod has its fingers in a lot of pies, so it can be tough to nail down every last YOUR_TEMPLATE. (;

If you renamed these folders from your computer, you might be able to go into the folder you uploaded to see whether or not this was the case.

If this isn't the cause, and this is actually the cause of some language issue I'm not familiar with, then you could temporarily work around it by placing the includes/modules/YOUR_TEMPLATE/no_account.php file directly into /includes/modules.

That said, I'm working out a couple of bugs today, namely around gift certificates.

Thank you for your encouragement. I hope it was this simple problem.

I hope this helps,
Joe

It looks like a css problem, the text / layout is all over the place, have proofed the file names and had written spanish and french wrong (with CAPS), hey its only 00:30 here be crazy not to go for another upload :-)

Thanks once again for all your help....

Richie

Sure. (;

Let me know how it works out for you. Also, could you let me know what you think of the installation instructions? I separated the new pages and the overrides/writes into two separate folders for the convenience of the user, but I'm afraid that it might be confusing.

Thank you for your help,
Joe

I have this running on a clean install of 1.3.6 (I don't use 1.3.7 - yet). Here is the test site if anyone would like to check it out:

http://craftzombie.com/optionalacct/shop/index.php

I have not added the order steps or order status parts of the mod.

I started off as a "no account" customer. Did that twice with same email. Works great.

Then I used the same email to become an account holder. Worked great.

Then I used the same email address to checkout without an account and got the message that I already have an account. As it should. Worked great.

There were no issues with the text emails either.

Tried it in Firefox and IE7. Worked great all the way around.

The only issue I had was with the Log Off part of the checkout success page, which looked like this:

http://craftzombie.com/optionalacct/shop/success.jpg

Easy fix I'm sure, in fact I may remove it altogether.

This is the way Zen should be for those of us who still want to have accounts. My mod is good for those who don't need them, but won't work for sellers of downloads and gift certs, so yours would be good for those people too.

Really great job. Thanks for putting it all together and sharing!

:smile:

I've taken care of a gift certificate issue with today's package. Namely, if you redeem a gift certificate during COWOA then you'll never be able to log back in to use the remaining balance. So, COWOA customers should not be able to redeem gift certificates.

My solution:
If you haven't begun COWOA, behavior is pretty much the same.

If you have the gift certificates module installed, then a line in the COWOA box on the login page says that you can't use a GV during COWOA.

If you're viewing checkout_payment during COWOA, the GV box will not be displayed.

If you try to redeem a GV by any other method during COWOA, you are 'logged out' of your COWOA session and directed to create an account. Your cart however will be preserved.

I've gotten that all packaged up. That should be all of my features, now it's just bug fixes, cutting out the junk code, etc.

craftzombie: Thank you for testing this, for your feedback, and for your very kind words! (; The way I look at it, we're all pretty useless without the ideas we pick up from each other. I'll see what I can figure out regarding that issue.

Richie: I've got a few more ideas. I've got a couple of installs now that haven't replicated your problem, but there might be some other issues at hand.

Thanks again,
Joe

I've tried to install this mod (which I think is great!) and I also added the checkout steps add-on. I get to enter in my information and then receive this error:

Warning: main(includes/templates/template_default/templates/tpl_checkout_default.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/content/(userroot)/html/includes/templates/serious_docs/common/tpl_main_page.php on line 119

Warning: main(includes/templates/template_default/templates/tpl_checkout_default.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/content/(userroot)/html/includes/templates/serious_docs/common/tpl_main_page.php on line 119

Fatal error: main(): Failed opening required 'includes/templates/template_default/templates/tpl_checkout_default.php' (include_path='.:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/content/(userroot)/includes/templates/serious_docs/common/tpl_main_page.php on line 119

I've tried removing it, and then reinstalling it, but I get the same error.

What did I do wrong? lol

Thanks!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DevilsAvocado

Warning: main(includes/templates/template_default/templates/tpl_checkout_default.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/content/(userroot)/html/includes/templates/serious_docs/common/tpl_main_page.php on line 119

---

DevilsAvocado,

I was scratching my head over this for quite a few minutes. "tpl_checkout_default.php"?

Apparently you have one page checkout either installed or incompletely uninstalled. I don't have plans right now on modifying this to a one page checkout, or to be compatible with one page checkout.

If you have previously tried uninstalling it and weren't aware that it was still around I might be able to give some pointers if you'd like to PM me.

Sorry I can't be of more help,
Joe

Ok now for the latest installment on the LIVE SITE!!

uploaded the files agin after running my back-up, same error... see earlier post, edited the files listed and now have a small problem, the WHOS ONLINE is not refreshing i.e. enter the shop = 1 guest leave the site and re-enter = 2 guests
same when logged in as customer, looks great for traffic figures!! :-)

I guess this is an issue within the log out... digging deeper and will keep you informed :-)

Richie

DOH !!!!

Cache

Admin > whos_online.php

and the 5 language files

:-)

Ok will go for another upload on the test server later today and see if this is an issue with the languages + the new mod from Joe incoorperated

Translations almost finished will post as a ZIP soonest...

Richie

Okay KGZotU, I've got this running on my live 1.3.6 site and its working beautifully. The process was pretty quick too. So once again, I'm sure you'll get sick of this, but I gotta say it again... THANK YOU! That is all. I will shut up now.

Not sure what i have done wrong but i have installed the IntegratedCOWOAbeta.zip file on my test 1.3.7 store running php 4.4.4 http://modscity.co.uk/test/, i uploaded all the files in the overrides-writes folder, but when im about the checkout of my store i click checkout with no account i get a 404 error what have i done worng ?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bean_2k1

Not sure what i have done wrong but i have installed the IntegratedCOWOAbeta.zip file on my test 1.3.7 store running php 4.4.4 http://modscity.co.uk/test/, i uploaded all the files in the overrides-writes folder, but when im about the checkout of my store i click checkout with no account i get a 404 error what have i done worng ?

---

bean_2k1,

From the behavior of your test store, it looks like you might not have uploaded the /includes folder. There's an IntegratedCOWOA/includes/, an IntegratedCOWOA/overwrites-rides/includes/, and an IntegratedCOWOA/overwrites-rides/admin/ folder to upload. You mention the two folders in the overwrites-rides folder, but did you get the top level includes/?

This gets back to the issue of me figuring out a less confusing installation. (;

craftzombie: Given that you've got it working on your store, did you find the issue on your test store? Would you say it was a package issue, a version compatibility issue, or an install fluke/error issue?

Richie: Likewise for you, once you get this working could you let me know just what it took to solve it.

Danke for the translations. (;

--Joe

joe,

i never uploaded your tpl_checkout_success_default.php. i kept the one i had edited before. when i get a chance i'll switch them out and see if i still get the same problem. also, i use css buttons, not sure if that makes a difference. and i also haven't uploaded the order status and order steps yet. there really aren't enough hours in the day for me. i went to sleep at 6 a.m. this morning!

i have reinstalled this contrib now but im getting this error when im about to see the order complete screen on the checkout


Email Error: Could not instantiate mail function.

Joe,

I confess, I haven't downloaded this yet or read the directions, so my question may be answered in the documentation. If so, I apologize!

I already have order steps installed on my website. Will I need to remove it and install the one included with your package or will I just need to make modifications to my current version? (It's the tableless one).

Looking at bean_2k1's installation it appears that at least one host/server configuration does not like my nonstandard method of differentiating COWOA accounts. In this case, php gives the error: "Email Error: Could not instantiate mail function."

That means I have to use a standard method of differentiating accounts. Should just be a small modification to the existing code. I'll probably have it out next weekend as the weekends are when I tend to get this stuff done.

Boggled, it's answered a bit. I'll probably document it more clearly since you've asked. (;

If you already have tableless order steps installed, making the move to COWOA w/tableless order steps would look something like this:

I) Creating the new CSS files.
A) Edit the css files in the package to match your old css files in terms of colors, border style, etc.

II) Putting the modified order steps code into your checkout pages.
A) If you don't have any modification to your checkout pages aside from order steps, use the checkout pages given in the package under /add_ons/ordersteps. They contain both the COWOA modifications and the modified order steps code.
B) For any checkout pages that you have modified, use the overrides-rights.txt to modify them for COWOA. Then open that template from the /add_ons/ordersteps, copy the order steps code(the lines between the order steps comments) and use it to overwrite your current order steps code.

Hope this helps,
Joe

Joe,
How can I remove detailed invoice links from emails for ALL emails, regardless of sign up, checkout without account, etc.?

I thought I'd mention this just in case anyone else had an issue... don't forget that if you have the Super Orders mod installed, detailed invoice links will be sent to all customers regardless of account if you send order update emails through Super Orders. I spent at least an hour trying to figure out why I was getting detailed invoice links in the non-account emails and now I feel like a big idiot.

If anyone has a clue how to make it so the Super Order emails do not send detailed invoice links, please share.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KGZotU

Boggled, it's answered a bit. I'll probably document it more clearly since you've asked. (;

If you already have tableless order steps installed, making the move to COWOA w/tableless order steps would look something like this:

I) Creating the new CSS files.
A) Edit the css files in the package to match your old css files in terms of colors, border style, etc.

II) Putting the modified order steps code into your checkout pages.
A) If you don't have any modification to your checkout pages aside from order steps, use the checkout pages given in the package under /add_ons/ordersteps. They contain both the COWOA modifications and the modified order steps code.
B) For any checkout pages that you have modified, use the overrides-rights.txt to modify them for COWOA. Then open that template from the /add_ons/ordersteps, copy the order steps code(the lines between the order steps comments) and use it to overwrite your current order steps code.

Hope this helps,
Joe

---

Thanks Joe!

Hopefully, it won't be too difficult. I haven't modified my checkout pages in any way other than the order steps...at least I don't think I have. :laugh:

Just to elaborate on my plans a little bit, I've decided to go ahead and go with SQL for this mod. It has become apparent that the quick and dirty hack that I first envisioned has grown beyond its scope. I've already gone pretty far with this mod, I'd like to take it all the way and my current '.' scheme doesn't really provide a sound structure for that.

I would suggest that anyone wanting to go live with this hold off until this weekend. For anyone who has already gone live with this, if you'd like to switch over the upgrade should be just a few overwrites.

craftzombie: I took a look at superorders, and I think that the necessary edit is in /admin/includes/functions/extra_fuctions/super_orders_functions.php

Search for EMAIL_TEXT_INVOICE_URL. There's only one occurrence. Go ahead and comment out that line such that you have:

Code:

---

// EMAIL_TEXT_INVOICE_URL . ' ' . zen_catalog_href_link(FILENAME_CATALOG_ACCOUNT_HISTORY_INFO, 'order_id=' . $oID, 'SSL') . "\n\n" .

---

Once again, that will remove detailed invoice links from all e-mails, as you've requested. I'll go ahead and make a genuine compatibility patch for this mod later.

Thanks for all the help and feedback through this,
Joe

Sounds great Joe! :thumbsup:

I can be patient and wait until this weekend.

Question...would it be possible/hard to implement it to ask people if they want us to save the information (create an account) after they've completed their order? Kind of like Amazon does?

If not, no big deal because I already love the way the mod works. Just a suggestion since you're revamping it. :P

This sounds great....but i just dont think i have the brains to do it :( I want it! Can anyone loan me their brain for the install? :blush:

Boggled,

That sounds like it should be fairly easy to do. I'm too tired to think how it would effect the standing, "You can't COWOA because there's already a permanent account," etc. scheme. I'll give it some thought. (;

mooncavecrystals, I've got separate new files, overwrites, SQL patch, and two add-ons. I think I'm going to make an html readme so I can better get the instructions across. (;

In case anyone is wondering, the pictures, demo store link, and download are in the wiki. As I mentioned, I'd suggest that anyone wanting to install this on a live store hold off till at least this weekend when I get the SQL version out.

Thanks again for the support,
Joe

thanks. I am a creative type, not a computer type.....just trying to find what folder to put where in the tree of confusion is enough to put me in the looney bin :)

any and all help humbly and graciously appreciated :D

don't worry, i already offered my help to mooncavecrystals. with a few shots of tequila and some valium, i'm sure we'll be fine.

make sure you bring some for you too! ROFL

I don't envy Joe at all having to write directions!

I've got a friend who has cussed me daily for talking her into a Zen Cart.
My directions leave alot to be desired, so she finally just said, "Here's my password. Fix it!" :laugh:

German Translation nearly finished, just gotta proof it... will then start with Italian... Spanish.... we also have French on the site but my French is MERDE!!! so any Candians or maybe even French People are welcome to attack that one :-)

Richie

Good Grief Richie!! Are you mad - how many more languages?? Mind you might well be ordering a bass from you shortly - my son's 16th birthday soon and he has hinted he wants a bass to add to his other bass plus four other guitars.

Thats the problem living in the middle of Europe, I am a Brit, I accept that The Queens English is the only true language... trouble is all these bloody Europeans speak Forignish!!!! :-D

Just like to point out that was a joke we here at JMS Music accept all checks credit card and cash payments from all races and nationalities :-D

Pleeeeese dont anyone take that seriously!!!!! LOL

If I like this I will port it to Japanese and upload it.

JMS_Music, you said "I accept that The Queens English is the only true language...". It's always been my contention that if you only left children alone, they'd all grow up speaking English. Well, it makes sense to me. :P

KGZotU, I am almost bouncing up and down on my chair waiting for this. I suggest you take Friday off and have a loooong weekend. :D

I was very interested in craftzombie's mod, but decided, since I had to choose one way or the other, that I needed the accounts. But this removes the need to choose. Let the customer decide. That's great!

Thanks, and get to work.

Rob

Alright, well for those "bouncing up and down" it will probably be tomorrow evening. (; I'm engaged Monday-Thursday, and I try to leave the heavy stuff for Friday-Sunday.

I really appreciate all of the interest, not to mention the translation.

--Joe

HALLELUJAH

:clap:

Eh, thanks. (;

Alright, I have the SQL version done. I've tried it on a couple of fresh installs and it seems ready to go.

If you've already installed a previous version then you can do the following:
1. Install the SQL patch.
2. Overwrite all of the new files. That is, those files in /install/includes. The files which are not overwrites or overrides of stock zen files. (If you've already started to customize these files, let me know. I can tell you specifically what changes need to be made).
3. Overwrite, override, or edit the following files:
/admin/orders.php
/includes/modules/pages/password_forgotten/header.php
/includes/modules/YOUR_TEMPLATE/create_account.php

Also, check your old download of this mod, if you don't have the mods of:
/includes/languages/english/YOUR_TEMPLATE/gv_redeem.php
and
/includes/modules/pages/gv_redeem/header.php

You'll want them if you're going to deal with gift certificates.

Let me know if that's at all confusing or you need any help. (;

Barring any bugs, I think this is pretty much done. Please let me know of any problems. In particular, I'm hoping we've eliminated all references of accounts for COWOA customers.

Thanks for the help,
Joe

Is there a place where we can download the new version? Thanks for working on this.

Scott

Sure, just visit the wiki link in my sig.

Thanks for letting me know that isn't clear, I'll make a note down there. (;


--Joe

Been on it all day, its not doin it :-( But the good news is that the Translations are nearly finished .-)

Files Uploaded
SQL Uploaded
File Names double checked
test purchase

BOOM

Same error

am comparing the files (new to old) at the mo but not finding anything that will throw this confirmation Email out.....

Any ideas???

Could it be Server Side???

RIchie

Richie,

Taking a look at your store, it appears that you still have the code that is responsible for making the '.' at the end of the e-mail address. I verify this by beginning the COWOA process, and then going to the 'Contact Us' page.

The code that does this is one of the mod specific files, /includes/modules/YOUR_TEMPLATE/no_account.php.

The line:
$email_address .= ".";

I went ahead and verified that this is not in the new package. Perhaps there was an overwrite error? Or maybe the old file is in the override folder, but the new one got placed in the default folder? If you try overwriting again and it doesn't solve the problem, do a developer's toolkit search for that line of code above.

I hope this helps,
Joe

Latest SQL version works perfectly - no problems, as far as I can see.

Just two minor points though:

Now there is no '.' at the end of the email address it's impossible to tell which are account and which are not - just be useful to know, really, and not that vital.

Order status add-on. If you check the status of an order there is a repeat of the email and order number input boxes at the bottom of the order status page. If you press the 'continue' button it takes you back to the previous email and order number input page with a logical error message about no input having been made. I assumed first time round that the 'Continue' button would take me back to the home page or something similar.

One final thing - we use PDFOrder Centre (Oops! Richie, I'm a Brit too!) which exhibits the same email problems as Super Orders - just thought you'd like to know.

Apart from that - Fantastic.

TPHoare,

This will partially address your post:

Code:

---

INSERT INTO query_builder ( query_id , query_category , query_name , query_description , query_string ) VALUES ( '', 'email,newsletters', 'Permanent Account Holders Only', 'Send email only to permanent account holders ', 'select customers_email_address, customers_firstname, customers_lastname from TABLE_CUSTOMERS where COWOA_account != true order by customers_lastname, customers_firstname, customers_email_address');

---

This will create a new category in your drop down, 'choose the group to e-mail this to' menu. I'll come out with an edit/overwrite for admin/customers.php that displays whether a customer is COWOA or permanent. These seem pretty essential, thanks for pointing them out. (;

I'm going to take a step back from template changes for the moment. In the meantime, however, if anybody has any changes that they feel make this a little more usable or such feel free to post them. And feel free to post requests as well. I'll get to them a bit later. (;

Thanks much,
Joe

PS: PDFOrder Center and Super Orders both seem like common mods. Now that I've got the SQL version running, I'll go ahead and post edits for these. I'll also post general edits for anything else that sends out mail.

Alright, I don't have Super Orders or PDF Order Center to test these on, but I've given the following a good eye and I think they should work. If you're using these, could you confirm that they work as they should or alternatively tell me if they don't?

Thanks much.

Super Orders
File: admin/includes/functions/extra_functions/super_orders_functions/

Find:

Code:

---

$customer_info = $db->Execute("SELECT customers_name, customers_email_address, date_purchased
                                FROM " . TABLE_ORDERS . "
                                WHERE orders_id = '" . $oID . "'");

---

Replace with:

Code:

---

$customer_info = $db->Execute("SELECT customers_name, customers_email_address, date_purchased, COWOA_account
                                FROM " . TABLE_ORDERS . "
                                WHERE orders_id = '" . $oID . "'");

---

Find:

Code:

---

  // send email to customer
  $message = STORE_NAME . "\n" . EMAIL_SEPARATOR . "\n" .
  EMAIL_TEXT_ORDER_NUMBER . ' ' . $oID . "\n\n" .
  EMAIL_TEXT_INVOICE_URL . ' ' . zen_catalog_href_link(FILENAME_CATALOG_ACCOUNT_HISTORY_INFO, 'order_id=' . $oID, 'SSL') . "\n\n" .
  EMAIL_TEXT_DATE_ORDERED . ' ' . zen_date_long($customer_info->fields['date_purchased']) . "\n\n" .
  strip_tags($notify_comments) .
  EMAIL_TEXT_STATUS_UPDATED . sprintf(EMAIL_TEXT_STATUS_LABEL, $orders_status_array[$status] ) .
  EMAIL_TEXT_STATUS_PLEASE_REPLY;

  $html_msg['EMAIL_CUSTOMERS_NAME']    = $customer_info->fields['customers_name'];
  $html_msg['EMAIL_TEXT_ORDER_NUMBER'] = EMAIL_TEXT_ORDER_NUMBER . ' ' . $oID;
  $html_msg['EMAIL_TEXT_INVOICE_URL']  = '<a href="' . zen_catalog_href_link(FILENAME_CATALOG_ACCOUNT_HISTORY_INFO, 'order_id=' . $oID, 'SSL') .'">'.str_replace(':','',EMAIL_TEXT_INVOICE_URL).'</a>';
  $html_msg['EMAIL_TEXT_DATE_ORDERED'] = EMAIL_TEXT_DATE_ORDERED . ' ' . zen_date_long($customer_info->fields['date_purchased']);
  $html_msg['EMAIL_TEXT_STATUS_COMMENTS'] = $notify_comments;
  $html_msg['EMAIL_TEXT_STATUS_UPDATED'] = str_replace('\n','', EMAIL_TEXT_STATUS_UPDATED);
  $html_msg['EMAIL_TEXT_STATUS_LABEL'] = str_replace('\n','', sprintf(EMAIL_TEXT_STATUS_LABEL, $orders_status_array[$status] ));
  $html_msg['EMAIL_TEXT_NEW_STATUS'] = $orders_status_array[$status];
  $html_msg['EMAIL_TEXT_STATUS_PLEASE_REPLY'] = str_replace('\n','', EMAIL_TEXT_STATUS_PLEASE_REPLY);

---

Replace With:

Code:

---

// send email to customer
  $message = STORE_NAME . "\n" . EMAIL_SEPARATOR . "\n" .
  EMAIL_TEXT_ORDER_NUMBER . ' ' . $oID . "\n\n";
  if(!$customer_info->fields['COWOA_account'])
    $message .= EMAIL_TEXT_INVOICE_URL . ' ' . zen_catalog_href_link(FILENAME_CATALOG_ACCOUNT_HISTORY_INFO, 'order_id=' . $oID, 'SSL') . "\n\n";
  $message .= EMAIL_TEXT_DATE_ORDERED . ' ' . zen_date_long($customer_info->fields['date_purchased']) . "\n\n" .
  strip_tags($notify_comments) .
  EMAIL_TEXT_STATUS_UPDATED . sprintf(EMAIL_TEXT_STATUS_LABEL, $orders_status_array[$status] ) .
  EMAIL_TEXT_STATUS_PLEASE_REPLY;

  $html_msg['EMAIL_CUSTOMERS_NAME']    = $customer_info->fields['customers_name'];
  $html_msg['EMAIL_TEXT_ORDER_NUMBER'] = EMAIL_TEXT_ORDER_NUMBER . ' ' . $oID;
  if(!$customer_info->fields['COWOA_account'])
    $html_msg['EMAIL_TEXT_INVOICE_URL']  = '<a href="' . zen_catalog_href_link(FILENAME_CATALOG_ACCOUNT_HISTORY_INFO, 'order_id=' . $oID, 'SSL') .'">'.str_replace(':','',EMAIL_TEXT_INVOICE_URL).'</a>';
  else
    $html_msg['EMAIL_TEXT_INVOICE_URL']  = ''; 
  $html_msg['EMAIL_TEXT_DATE_ORDERED'] = EMAIL_TEXT_DATE_ORDERED . ' ' . zen_date_long($customer_info->fields['date_purchased']);
  $html_msg['EMAIL_TEXT_STATUS_COMMENTS'] = $notify_comments;
  $html_msg['EMAIL_TEXT_STATUS_UPDATED'] = str_replace('\n','', EMAIL_TEXT_STATUS_UPDATED);
  $html_msg['EMAIL_TEXT_STATUS_LABEL'] = str_replace('\n','', sprintf(EMAIL_TEXT_STATUS_LABEL, $orders_status_array[$status] ));
  $html_msg['EMAIL_TEXT_NEW_STATUS'] = $orders_status_array[$status];
  $html_msg['EMAIL_TEXT_STATUS_PLEASE_REPLY'] = str_replace('\n','', EMAIL_TEXT_STATUS_PLEASE_REPLY);

---

PDF Order Center

File: admin/pdfoc.php

Find:

Code:

---

$email .= "\n\n" .
                        $email_text_subject . ".\n\n" .  PDFOC_EMAIL_SEPARATOR .  "\n\n" .
                        PDFOC_EMAIL_TEXT_INVOICE_URL . ' ' . zen_catalog_href_link(FILENAME_CATALOG_ACCOUNT_HISTORY_INFO, 'order_id=' . $orders->fields['orders_id'], 'SSL') . "\n" .
                        PDFOC_EMAIL_TEXT_DATE_ORDERED . ' ' . zen_date_long($order->info['date_purchased']) . "\n\n" . $notify_comments .  PDFOC_EMAIL_SEPARATOR . "\n\n" .
                        PDFOC_EMAIL_IF_QUESTIONS . PDFOC_EMAIL_SIGNOFF . STORE_NAME . "\n\n" . PDFOC_EMAIL_SEPARATOR . "\n\n" .
                        EMAIL_DISCLAIMER;

              $email_html['EMAIL_SUBJECT'] = "\n\n";
              $email_html['EMAIL_MESSAGE_HTML'] = sprintf(PDFOC_EMAIL_SALUTATION,$order->customer['name']) . "\n\n" .
                        $email_text_subject . ".\n\n" .  PDFOC_EMAIL_SEPARATOR .  "\n\n" .
                        PDFOC_EMAIL_TEXT_INVOICE_URL . ' <a href="' . zen_catalog_href_link(FILENAME_CATALOG_ACCOUNT_HISTORY_INFO, 'order_id=' . $orders->fields['orders_id'], 'SSL') . '">' . zen_catalog_href_link(FILENAME_CATALOG_ACCOUNT_HISTORY_INFO, 'order_id=' . $orders->fields['orders_id'], 'SSL') . '</a>' . "\n" .
                        PDFOC_EMAIL_TEXT_DATE_ORDERED . ' ' . zen_date_long($order->info['date_purchased']) . "\n\n" . $notify_comments .  PDFOC_EMAIL_SEPARATOR . "\n\n" .
                        PDFOC_EMAIL_IF_QUESTIONS . PDFOC_EMAIL_SIGNOFF . STORE_NAME . "\n\n" . PDFOC_EMAIL_SEPARATOR . "\n\n";

---

Replace With:

Code:

---

$customer_info = $db->Execute("SELECT COWOA_account
                                FROM " . TABLE_ORDERS . "
                                WHERE orders_id = '" . $oID . "'");

              $email .= "\n\n" .
                        $email_text_subject . ".\n\n" .  PDFOC_EMAIL_SEPARATOR .  "\n\n";
                        if(!$customer_info->fields['COWOA_account'])
                          $email .= PDFOC_EMAIL_TEXT_INVOICE_URL . ' ' . zen_catalog_href_link(FILENAME_CATALOG_ACCOUNT_HISTORY_INFO, 'order_id=' . $orders->fields['orders_id'], 'SSL') . "\n";
                        email .= PDFOC_EMAIL_TEXT_DATE_ORDERED . ' ' . zen_date_long($order->info['date_purchased']) . "\n\n" . $notify_comments .  PDFOC_EMAIL_SEPARATOR . "\n\n" .
                        PDFOC_EMAIL_IF_QUESTIONS . PDFOC_EMAIL_SIGNOFF . STORE_NAME . "\n\n" . PDFOC_EMAIL_SEPARATOR . "\n\n" .
                        EMAIL_DISCLAIMER;

              $email_html['EMAIL_SUBJECT'] = "\n\n";
              $email_html['EMAIL_MESSAGE_HTML'] = sprintf(PDFOC_EMAIL_SALUTATION,$order->customer['name']) . "\n\n" .
                        $email_text_subject . ".\n\n" .  PDFOC_EMAIL_SEPARATOR .  "\n\n";
                        if(!$customer_info->fields['COWOA_account'])
                          $email_html['EMAIL_MESSAGE_HTML'] .= PDFOC_EMAIL_TEXT_INVOICE_URL . ' <a href="' . zen_catalog_href_link(FILENAME_CATALOG_ACCOUNT_HISTORY_INFO, 'order_id=' . $orders->fields['orders_id'], 'SSL') . '">' . zen_catalog_href_link(FILENAME_CATALOG_ACCOUNT_HISTORY_INFO, 'order_id=' . $orders->fields['orders_id'], 'SSL') . '</a>' . "\n";
                        $email_html['EMAIL_MESSAGE_HTML'] .= PDFOC_EMAIL_TEXT_DATE_ORDERED . ' ' . zen_date_long($order->info['date_purchased']) . "\n\n" . $notify_comments .  PDFOC_EMAIL_SEPARATOR . "\n\n" .
                        PDFOC_EMAIL_IF_QUESTIONS . PDFOC_EMAIL_SIGNOFF . STORE_NAME . "\n\n" . PDFOC_EMAIL_SEPARATOR . "\n\n";

---

Fraid I get this error PDFOrder Center pdfoc.php:

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_CONCAT_EQUAL in line 392

Line 392 is:

email .= PDFOC_EMAIL_TEXT_DATE_ORDERED . ' ' . zen_date_long($order->info['date_purchased']) . "\n\n" . $notify_comments . PDFOC_EMAIL_SEPARATOR . "\n\n" .

I am hopeless with php so am not much help I am afraid

Ammendment to code above

For PDF Order Center. Replace With block should read:

Code:

---

$customer_info = $db->Execute("SELECT COWOA_account
                                FROM " . TABLE_ORDERS . "
                                WHERE orders_id = '" . $oID . "'");

              $email .= "\n\n" .
                        $email_text_subject . ".\n\n" .  PDFOC_EMAIL_SEPARATOR .  "\n\n";
                        if(!$customer_info->fields['COWOA_account'])
                          $email .= PDFOC_EMAIL_TEXT_INVOICE_URL . ' ' . zen_catalog_href_link(FILENAME_CATALOG_ACCOUNT_HISTORY_INFO, 'order_id=' . $orders->fields['orders_id'], 'SSL') . "\n";
                        $email .= PDFOC_EMAIL_TEXT_DATE_ORDERED . ' ' . zen_date_long($order->info['date_purchased']) . "\n\n" . $notify_comments .  PDFOC_EMAIL_SEPARATOR . "\n\n" .
                        PDFOC_EMAIL_IF_QUESTIONS . PDFOC_EMAIL_SIGNOFF . STORE_NAME . "\n\n" . PDFOC_EMAIL_SEPARATOR . "\n\n" .
                        EMAIL_DISCLAIMER;

              $email_html['EMAIL_SUBJECT'] = "\n\n";
              $email_html['EMAIL_MESSAGE_HTML'] = sprintf(PDFOC_EMAIL_SALUTATION,$order->customer['name']) . "\n\n" .
                        $email_text_subject . ".\n\n" .  PDFOC_EMAIL_SEPARATOR .  "\n\n";
                        if(!$customer_info->fields['COWOA_account'])
                          $email_html['EMAIL_MESSAGE_HTML'] .= PDFOC_EMAIL_TEXT_INVOICE_URL . ' <a href="' . zen_catalog_href_link(FILENAME_CATALOG_ACCOUNT_HISTORY_INFO, 'order_id=' . $orders->fields['orders_id'], 'SSL') . '">' . zen_catalog_href_link(FILENAME_CATALOG_ACCOUNT_HISTORY_INFO, 'order_id=' . $orders->fields['orders_id'], 'SSL') . '</a>' . "\n";
                        $email_html['EMAIL_MESSAGE_HTML'] .= PDFOC_EMAIL_TEXT_DATE_ORDERED . ' ' . zen_date_long($order->info['date_purchased']) . "\n\n" . $notify_comments .  PDFOC_EMAIL_SEPARATOR . "\n\n" .
                        PDFOC_EMAIL_IF_QUESTIONS . PDFOC_EMAIL_SIGNOFF . STORE_NAME . "\n\n" . PDFOC_EMAIL_SEPARATOR . "\n\n";

---

TPHoare:

Thanks for catching this. I left out a '$'. On the line you pointed out, place a dollar sign just before 'email'.

--Joe

Hi Joe

Now I am getting this:

1054 Unknown column 'COWOA_account' in 'field list'
in:
[SELECT COWOA_account FROM orders WHERE orders_id = '49068']
If you were entering information, press the BACK button in your browser and re-check the information you had entered to be sure you left no blank fields.

Cheers

Tim

You've got a PM. Rather than incrementally solve this on the board I should figure it out first. (;

--Joe

Hi Joe again - Have sorted out the error above - missing ' around 'COWOA_account' I think. Emails are being sent but they don't reflect the change of status - so status could be 'On Order' but email just has no subject and no content.

By the way, I'm personally not worried about sending emails from PDFOrder Center, because we very rarely, if ever, send bulk emails and much prefer to update status from the normal ZenCart order admin module. So, don't burn the midnight oil just on my account.

Hi Joe,

I downloaded the new version but haven't been able to take a look at it yet. I am wondering, for those of us who are using the old version... is it better to switch to the new version? I have had several orders placed using the old version and everything seems to be working great. In the long run, are there any problems you can think of if I just leave it the way it is? Or did you foresee future problems (perhaps with the period at the end of the email addresses) and that is why you made a new version? Much thanks again!

TPHoare:

Hmm...can you tell me if there's the same problem with orders made from permanent accounts?

craftzombie:

It was mainly an issue of a minority of servers not liking the set up. I think that the only feature that I didn't have implemented before the SQL version was the extra drop e-mail, newsletter, coupon, gv, etc. drop down option by which you can elect to send only to permanent account holders.

If you were to move to the SQL version, the only issues you would face with the old COWOA accounts would be as you update their order status.

Hope this helps,
Joe

How much have people noticed sales go up w/ this?

KGZotU

It's great that you are working to solve the checkout with or without account options that should have been included with ZenCart all along. I am happily using CraftZombie's checkout without account module right now.

I have one layout suggestion. Your login page is a bit confusing and intimidating when one first see's it. Maybe it's because the third option of checkout without account is not emphasized with a bold title, or that the customer has to read in two directions to decide on a choice. I think since customers have 3 distinct choices, that the choices should carry equal weight. Here is a site with an easy to follow login page:

https://www.fanshawemusicstore.com/login.php

I am told it is an OSCommerce page.

Thanks for all your hard work!

Good advice. It's basically a hack of the split login page, and on that note I would definitely recommend split login over traditional if you're using this mod.

On my live store, I've been using a bold header which I think does the job. Anyone interested can see it in the wiki with the screen shots. But, based on your note that the mod is somewhat confusing I think I'll include this bold header by default.

It's hard for me to step back at this point and judge the two pages. I think there's a good possibility that your link is less confusing. I'm a bit reluctant, though, to implement it at this point. I might a bit later when I'm in a position to do conversion testing.

That said, I do appreciate template change suggestions. Anything that gives anyone else an idea of how to make their store better is good. (; At this point, however, I think I'm going to step back from the presentation and maintain the code. If anybody comes up with some good template changes, I'll host and link them from the wiki.

Thank you again,
Joe

PS: For that bold header, just use this definition of TEXT_RATHER_COWOA:

Code:

---

define('TEXT_RATHER_COWOA', '<strong>Don\'t Want an Account?</strong<br /><br />Would you rather check out without an account?  Click the button below to do so.<br />');

---

You're right, your live site is much better. That "Don't Want an Account" title stands out very well. Nice job.

Lovely, I just installed into a 1.36 installation.
For note of 1.36 installation. The paypal express codes will throw out errors on page 3 of check out, as paypal express is not in 1.36. You need to edit tpl_checkout_payment_default.php and remove 4 instances of paypal express checkout codes, they are all quoted out, so fairly easy to identify.

Now my only last thing is after checkout, the checkout success page has the word TEXT_CHECKOUT_LOGOFF_CUSTOMER and a broken link lof off button. Will look at this.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by craftzombie

I have this running on a clean install of 1.3.6 (I don't use 1.3.7 - yet). Here is the test site if anyone would like to check it out:

http://craftzombie.com/optionalacct/shop/index.php

I have not added the order steps or order status parts of the mod.

I started off as a "no account" customer. Did that twice with same email. Works great.

Then I used the same email to become an account holder. Worked great.

Then I used the same email address to checkout without an account and got the message that I already have an account. As it should. Worked great.

There were no issues with the text emails either.

Tried it in Firefox and IE7. Worked great all the way around.

The only issue I had was with the Log Off part of the checkout success page, which looked like this:

http://craftzombie.com/optionalacct/shop/success.jpg

Easy fix I'm sure, in fact I may remove it altogether.

This is the way Zen should be for those of us who still want to have accounts. My mod is good for those who don't need them, but won't work for sellers of downloads and gift certs, so yours would be good for those people too.

Really great job. Thanks for putting it all together and sharing!

:smile:

---

craftzombie, how did you remove the TEXT_CHECKOUT_LOGOFF_CUSTOMER and the broken image link? if you give me a pointer I can check it out. I dont really know php. I am also installing on 1.36.

Well I don't know if this reply's gonna be useful to you guys, but I just wanna say that I've tested the mod with an 1.3.5 cart, with manual modification, and worked perfectly.

Will post the modification steps and files soon when I've completed them

Good Luck

:thumbsup:

By the way, thanks KGZotu for writing the module :smartass:

Matthew,

Thank you for your help and support, once you get that posted I'll link it in the wiki.

Regarding PDF Order Center, I'm not going to be able to get to that for the moment. Perhaps this weekend I can get a test server up to see what's what. But, I've got a pretty full week and I'm coming up on a couple of launches, so I'm not entirely sure myself what my schedule looks like.

In the mean time, if anybody has the skills to tackle the problem the relevant flags in the table 'accounts' is COWOA_account and in 'orders' is COWOA_order.

Thanks again for the support.

--Joe

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ronwong

craftzombie, how did you remove the TEXT_CHECKOUT_LOGOFF_CUSTOMER and the broken image link? if you give me a pointer I can check it out. I dont really know php. I am also installing on 1.36.

---

In includes/templates/your_template/templates/tpl_checkout_success_default.php

I removed this:

Code:

---

<!--bof logoff-->
<div id="checkoutSuccessLogoff">
<?php
  if (isset($_SESSION['customer_guest_id'])) {
    echo TEXT_CHECKOUT_LOGOFF_GUEST;
  } elseif (isset($_SESSION['customer_id'])) {
    echo TEXT_CHECKOUT_LOGOFF_CUSTOMER;
  }
?>
<div class="buttonRow forward"><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_LOGOFF, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo zen_image_button(BUTTON_IMAGE_LOG_OFF , BUTTON_LOG_OFF_ALT); ?></a></div>
</div>
<!--eof logoff-->

---

The Logoff link appears in my header anyway. And many other sites that I have shopped at do not remind you to logoff after checkout. Maybe they might have automatic logoff? I don't know, I never bothered to test that. I also added this...

Optional (to give them a little more info)-
right after this line:

Code:

---

<?php if(!($_SESSION['COWOA'])) { ?> <div id="checkoutSuccessOrderLink"><?php echo TEXT_SEE_ORDERS;?></div> <?php } ?>

---

I added:

Code:

---

<div>You will receive an order confirmation email containing the details of your order.
<br class="clearBoth" />
You will receive a shipping confirmation email when your item(s) have shipped.
</div>

---

I switched servers yesterday and the old version of this mod did not like my new server, so I installed the new version. It works wonderfully on 1.3.6, except I also had this problem:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ronwong

Lovely, I just installed into a 1.36 installation.
For note of 1.36 installation. The paypal express codes will throw out errors on page 3 of check out, as paypal express is not in 1.36. You need to edit tpl_checkout_payment_default.php and remove 4 instances of paypal express checkout codes, they are all quoted out, so fairly easy to identify.

---

I am so glad I figured it out fairly quickly. If no one else is going to do it, maybe I will fix that file (can't give out mine, its really customized) and maybe Joe can add it to the zip???

Also had the issue with the checkout success logoff from the previous post. But these two things are very minor and easily fixable. This mod is fantastic!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by godspeed27

How much have people noticed sales go up w/ this?

---

I have had increased sales, but I do not know if it is in fact this mod that did the trick or if it is some of the other things I have been doing to increase traffic, improve the speed of the site, etc. When I had the old version of this mod installed, most people checked out without creating an account (could tell back them with the period at the end of their email address).
That certainly tells me something.

Geez, I just wont shut up.....


Joe, I tested the Super Orders code changes and this is what happened:

1054 Unknown column 'COWOA_account' in 'field list'
in:
[SELECT customers_name, customers_email_address, date_purchased, COWOA_account FROM orders WHERE orders_id = '16666']
If you were entering information, press the BACK button in your browser and re-check the information you had entered to be sure you left no blank fields.

Alright, that column should be COWOA_order, not COWOA_account.

I wish I could go back to the old post and say 'NOOOOO! DON'T LISTEN!'. Oh well, mistakes of the past. If anybody is reading this, I'll eventually have the full and correct information in the wiki regarding the Super Orders and PDF Order Center mods.

And, I'd absolutely love the 1.3.6 files. I think I'll package them separately and put a note in the install file regarding where to download them.

--Joe

PS: If that doesn't work, I'm lost, sorry, and will find a fix next weekend. (; I did write it wrong originally, but just to confirm that will only work with the SQL version.

Yes, I am now using the sql version. I just tried it again. No errors this time, but still sends detailed invoice links in text emails to non-account customers. Don't worry about it. I usually only use Super Orders for editing order totals. I can send emails through the regular orders page. :smile:

Tried installing on another installation, this time a windows server, I get this:

1054 Unknown column 'true' in 'where clause'
in:
[select count(*) as total from customers where customers_email_address = '[email protected]' and COWOA_account != true]

This comes out after page 1/5 after the customer enters the address etc and hit continue checkout..

any idea?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ronwong

Tried installing on another installation, this time a windows server, I get this:

1054 Unknown column 'true' in 'where clause'
in:
[select count(*) as total from customers where customers_email_address = '[email protected]' and COWOA_account != true]

This comes out after page 1/5 after the customer enters the address etc and hit continue checkout..

any idea?

---

You sure the sql patch was applied and went OK?
Trying pasting it in again

i believe so, it says 3 instructions executed, then I looked into the tables,

Customer table has this:

COWOA_account tinyint(1) No 0 Change Drop Primary Index Unique Fulltext

should be correct right? Can I run it again? will duplication occur?

the last line of the sql:

INSERT INTO query_builder ( query_id , query_category , query_name , query_description , query_string ) VALUES ( '', 'email,newsletters', 'Permanent Account Holders Only', 'Send email only to permanent account holders ', 'select customers_email_address, customers_firstname, customers_lastname from TABLE_CUSTOMERS where COWOA_account != true order by customers_lastname, customers_firstname, customers_email_address');

what does this do? how do I check this has gone in successfully?