COWOA (for ZC v1.5.x)

[countrycharm]

But it seems to me that this isn't as much of a bug as it is a function that needs to be modified if you have COWOA installed.. Based on the original post which necessitated this fix, this would still be an issue if a customer uses COWOA and later signs up for an account.



Seems that this code should be part of the core to prevent this from happening..

Makes perfect sense, and thanks for the explanation.. and it seems that this too needs to be a part of the core COWOA code for the reasons you explained. However would it not make sense that the dropdown only show one instance of the e-mail address versus hiding all the COWOA customers (as the suggested code would do).


Gonna remove the checkout_success page though.. No reason to hide the sideboxes once the sales transaction is complete..

By adding the code to line 57 if the cowoa customer makes a permanent account with that same email address it would only show one instance of there email address in the dropdown regardless cowoa, permanent.

Gonna remove the checkout_success page though.. No reason to hide the sideboxes once the sales transaction is complete..

Agreed

[discoverytdi]

While your discussing the improvement of the customer experience of cowoa I'll put my 2cents worth in.
Is it possible to move the Terms and Conditions acknowledgement box to the bottom of the page say under the Special Instructions Order Comments box, even I miss the T&C box when testing and maybe a home button at the bottom of the Order Complete page just a thought

[DivaVocals]

While your discussing the improvement of the customer experience of cowoa I'll put my 2cents worth in.
Is it possible to move the Terms and Conditions acknowledgement box to the bottom of the page say under the Special Instructions Order Comments box, even I miss the T&C box when testing and maybe a home button at the bottom of the Order Complete page just a thought

The changes I am planning to submit are not about layout preferences as much as they are about providing clearer on-screen and error messages, and providing admin configurable options to make COWOA deliver what it promises (decrease cart abandonment, and to increase sales conversions)

What you are talking about is more of a layout preference, and IMHO, these kind of changes should be left to the shopowner to make (most are super easy to do). Just because I prefer the COWOA fieldset to appear ABOVE the new account and login fieldsets because my clients would prefer that clients use COWOA, does not mean everyone is going to want this same layout. So I don't plan to submit the 2.4 update with my preferred layout as part of the fileset. It's an EASY enough change for me to make on my own without imposing my preference on the community.

As for a home button on the checkout success page, again this is something a shopowner can easily add themselves if they want it. It's a preference and shouldn't be part of the core code IMHO.. As an aside, if the site has sideboxes, a top menu and a footer menu is this really needed??

[DivaVocals]

Still refining the on-screen messages. Thanks to Delia Wilson I found two more.

1. On the payment page the customer is prompted to continue to step 4 to "to confirm your order". Step 4 is actually the REVIEW order step. So I will edit: includes/languages/english/YOUR_TEMPLATE/checkout_payment.php so that the text reads "- to review your order."
2. Gonna make a small change to the includes/languages/english/custom_template/login.php file so that the PayPal Express text reads (the part in red is the addition):
   Have a PayPal account? Want to pay quickly with a credit card? Use the PayPal button below to use the Express Checkout option. No PayPal account is required to use your credit card.

[discoverytdi]

Still refining the on-screen messages. Thanks to Delia Wilson I found two more.

1. On the payment page the customer is prompted to continue to step 4 to "to confirm your order". Step 4 is actually the REVIEW order step. So I will edit: includes/languages/english/YOUR_TEMPLATE/checkout_payment.php so that the text reads "- to review your order."
2. Gonna make a small change to the includes/languages/english/custom_template/login.php file so that the PayPal Express text reads (the part in red is the addition):
   Have a PayPal account? Want to pay quickly with a credit card? Use the PayPal button below to use the Express Checkout option. No PayPal account is required to use your credit card.

I think the paypal express edit is a brilliant idea I've edited the paypal button on the cart contents page to read No Account Required in bold, you won't believe the number of times customers ring me because they think they need an account with paypal.

[DivaVocals]

I think the paypal express edit is a brilliant idea I've edited the paypal button on the cart contents page to read No Account Required in bold, you won't believe the number of times customers ring me because they think they need an account with paypal.

Yep.. It's totally an excellent idea!!

There's a few other minor changes Delia did that also make sense from a usability POV.. The next steps text really should be next to the "Continue" button and not on the far left of the page. So I'll make those changes as well..

Also in going through the two different checkout processes, I noticed a number of other inconsistencies that I will be correcting:

1. The order step numbers are inconsistent in the standard check out flow versus the COWOA flow. In the standard checkout it shows that there are only 3 steps, but in the COWOA flow there are 5 steps. (That's because the confirmation step is counted in the COWOA flow, but not in the standard flow) So I've corrected the text in the standard flow to reflect that there are FOUR steps not THREE.
2. I also noted that in the final confirmation step in BOTH flows and the billing step of the COWOA flow, the heading "Step # or #" is missing. So I've corrected the package to include the same step heading text as the other pages in the checkout process.

I'm continuing to test and review the workflow for inconsistencies and other usability issues.. Hope to have this all finalized and submitted today..

[DivaVocals]

More modifications to share..

If you are using the CSS Horizontal Dropdown Menu With jquery module with COWOA, there are some changes needed so that it works correctly with COWOA. in the file includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/common/tpl_drop_menu.php on find lines 104-113

              <ul class="level2">
                <?php if ($_SESSION['customer_id']) { ?>
                <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_ACCOUNT, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_MY_ACCOUNT; ?></a></li>
                <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_LOGOFF, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_LOGOFF; ?></a></li>
                <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_ACCOUNT_NEWSLETTERS, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_NEWSLETTERS; ?></a></li>
                <?php } else { ?>
                <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_LOGIN, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_LOGIN; ?></a></li>
                <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_CREATE_ACCOUNT, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_CREATE_ACCOUNT; ?></a></li>
                <?php } ?>
              </ul>

Replace with:

              <ul class="level2">
                <?php if (($_SESSION['customer_id']) && (!$_SESSION['COWOA']=='True')) { ?>
                <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_LOGOFF, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_LOGOFF; ?></a></li>
                <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_ACCOUNT, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_MY_ACCOUNT; ?></a></li>
                <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_ACCOUNT_NEWSLETTERS, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_NEWSLETTERS; ?></a></li>
<?php
      } else {
        if (STORE_STATUS == '0') {
?>

                <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_LOGIN, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_LOGIN; ?></a></li>
                <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_CREATE_ACCOUNT, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_CREATE_ACCOUNT; ?></a></li>
                <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_ACCOUNT_NEWSLETTERS, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_NEWSLETTERS; ?></a></li>
                <?php } } ?>
              </ul>

The order of items on the menu has been modified a little so that there is a more consistent layout of the menu items. Most importantly the menu will now work correctly with COWOA.

[DivaVocals]

Or if you are using the Pure CSS Mega Menu module Or any template by Picaflor Azul which uses this menu, these are the changes needed for it to work with COWOA:

in the file includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/common/tpl_mega_menu.php on find lines 190-197

            <?php if ($_SESSION['customer_id']) { ?>
                    <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_ACCOUNT, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_MY_ACCOUNT; ?></a></li>
                    <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_LOGOFF, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_LOGOFF; ?></a></li>
                    <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_ACCOUNT_NEWSLETTERS, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo TITLE_NEWSLETTERS; ?></a></li>
                    <?php } else { ?>
                    <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_LOGIN, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_LOGIN; ?></a></li>
                    <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_CREATE_ACCOUNT, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_CREATE_ACCOUNT; ?></a></li>
                    <?php } ?>

Change to:

            <?php if (($_SESSION['customer_id']) && (!$_SESSION['COWOA']=='True')) { ?>
                    <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_LOGOFF, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_LOGOFF; ?></a></li>
                    <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_ACCOUNT, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_MY_ACCOUNT; ?></a></li>
                    <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_ACCOUNT_NEWSLETTERS, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo TITLE_NEWSLETTERS; ?></a></li>
                    <?php
                  } else {
                    if (STORE_STATUS == '0') {
            ?>
                    <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_LOGIN, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_LOGIN; ?></a></li>
                    <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_CREATE_ACCOUNT, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_CREATE_ACCOUNT; ?></a></li>
                    <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_ACCOUNT_NEWSLETTERS, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo TITLE_NEWSLETTERS; ?></a></li>
                    <?php } } ?>

[countrycharm]

Nice work Diva, your coming along very well. You know that Cowao will be a built in feature in zen cart 1.6.0 While updating cowoa is a good thing I really wouldn't go to extreme if you know what I mean. I know how you are, getter done................

[DivaVocals]

Nice work Diva, your coming along very well. You know that Cowao will be a built in feature in zen cart 1.6.0 While updating cowoa is a good thing I really wouldn't go to extreme if you know what I mean. I know how you are, getter done................

Just because it's going to be built into Zen Cart v1.6 doesn't mean I would use it as is if they are using an older (outdated) version of COWOA.. I do know they do plan to have it built in to v1.6, but if the version included in Zen Cart v1.6 does not include the changes I am making, I would still make these exact changes anyway. My client and his customer's feedback was invaluable in nailing down the tweaks I am making to this module. From a consistency, usability and functional POV they are very much needed. I would hope that the admins would look to see what the LATEST version of COWOA is before releasing v1.6 and consider incorporating the latest changes into the v1.6 core code.

If these changes are not included in the Zen Cart v1.6 core that's fine.. It won't deter me from continuing to work on these improvements/modifications and sharing them with the community. Just like Super Orders is an enhanced version of the default order management, and Improved Sitemap is an enhanced version of the default Zen Cart sitemap, there's no reason there can't be an "Improved/Super COWOA" module.