My Checkout Without Account Mod

[KGZotU]

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

[ideasgirl]

Hi Joe,

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

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

[KGZotU]

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

[TPHoare]

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.

[Boggled]

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.

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.

[KGZotU]

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:

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

[KGZotU]

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

[TPHoare]

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!

[deshojo]

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

[Boggled]

Good job Joe!

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


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.

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?