COWOA (for ZC v1.5.x)

DivaVocals:

So I've been doing more work refining the on-screen text and error messages for this module.. In testing this module, my client and I both felt that some of them are a little awkwardly worded. I also realized that the Standard and COWOA error message I posted my corrections for previously should be separated and not shared. My client and I have been doing some informal research as to how similar guest checkout features are used with other online retailers (with a particular eye on some of the larger online retailers). My client and I are also gathering feedback from some of his customers who agreed to help us with a VERY informal usability study.

The purpose of this effort was to come up with clearer and more consistent on-screen messages for COWOA. I made a number of changes to several COWOA files to implement the changesIn this effort, I also found one instance of hard coded text in one of the COWOA files which I also corrected to use a language file define.

Wanted to share the changes I've made as a result. It's too much to post all the changes inside a post so I've uploaded screenprints of the changes I made. I will attache a zip file of the modified files my next post.. Would like to suggest that these changes (or similar ones) should be part of the next COWOA release. I would be happy to bundle these changes up, but wanted to throw it out to the community for opinions.. (and I don't want to step on my friend CountryCharm's toes!:smile:)

Files modified:
includes/languages/YOUR_TEMPLATE/english.php
includes/languages/english/YOUR_TEMPLATE/time_out.php
includes/languages/english/YOUR_TEMPLATE/login.php
includes/modules/YOUR_TEMPLATE/no_account.php
includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/templates/tpl_login_default.php

I also added an additional arrow image thought others might find it useful so I've included this as well
New_Installation\Optional_Arrows\arrow_checkout16.png

No problem Diva, since you have change and modified the code your welcome to upload the update. Just change the version number to 2.4 when doing so. I will continue to help support this thread when I have time.

countrycharm:

You can try this, change line 87 to 95 In the file includes/functions/audience.php, Changed function get_audience_sql_query to:

//if no match found against queries listed in database, then $selected_entry must be an email address
if ($query_name=='' && $query_category=='email') {
$cust_email_address = zen_db_prepare_input($selected_entry);
$query_name = $cust_email_address;
$query_string = "select customers_firstname, customers_lastname, customers_email_address
from " . TABLE_CUSTOMERS . "
where customers_email_address = '" . zen_db_input($cust_email_address) . "'
and COWOA_account = '0'";
}

> 
> By doing this Cowoa will not send any emails to Cowoa customers.

> **Datax:**
>
> Which order emails do you mean?
> 
> 
> It seems to work
> 
> 
> If you add this in de query around line 55 also, the COWOA clients are removed from the dropdown field too.
Should this be added to COWOA's core?? if so, I have a few questions:
Can someone share with me what the change at line 55 should look like (wanna test it)
Help me to fully understand what this change will do exactly.. When you say prevent COWOA from sending e-mails, which e-mails??

Lastly I think that there is one more change that COWOA should include. Sideboxes should be turned off during the checkout process to minimize customer distractions during checkout. (I believe FEAC includes this as part of it's default setup) looking at some of the larger e-commerce retailers, they too turn off "distractions" during checkout... That said I will be adding the following change to the COWOA version I will be submitting:
in the **includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/common/tpl_main_page.php** file:

// the following IF statement can be duplicated/modified as needed to set additional flags
if (in_array($current_page_base,explode(",",'account,account_password,account_edit,address_book,account_history_info,account_newsletters,account_notifications,account_history,login,logoff,checkout_shipping,checkout_shipping_address,checkout_payment,checkout_payment_address,checkout_confirmation,checkout_process,checkout_success,shopping_cart,address_book_process')) ) {
$flag_disable_right = true;
$flag_disable_left = true;

DivaVocals:

Lastly I think that there is one more change that COWOA should include. Sideboxes should be turned off during the checkout process to minimize customer distractions during checkout. (I believe FEAC includes this as part of it's default setup) looking at some of the larger e-commerce retailers, they too turn off "distractions" during checkout... That said I will be adding the following change to the COWOA version I will be submitting:
in the includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/common/tpl_main_page.php file:

Please make this an option, not a default setting.

dw08gm:

Please make this an option, not a default setting.Wasn't planning on making it a default feature.. Will be including it because its good practice and one that many of the larger retailers use for the reasons that many of the Zen Cart powerhouses/gurus suggest it.. If the reason that shopowners use COWOA is to decrease cart abandonment, and to increase sales conversions, this is simple low hanging fruit that should be included with COWOA..

DivaVocals:

Wasn't planning on making it a default feature.. Will be including it because its good practice and one that many of the larger retailers use for the reasons that many of the Zen Cart powerhouses/gurus suggest it.. If the reason that shopowners use COWOA is to decrease cart abandonment, and to increase sales conversions, this is simple low hanging fruit that should be included with COWOA..
:thumbsup: been using that edit since I started using zencart looks sooooo much neater.

discoverytdi:

:thumbsup: been using that edit since I started using zencart looks sooooo much neater.yep I agree.. my edit is a tad more aggressive than most. I went through a painstaking process of reviewing the entire checkout process and all the pages that a customer can get to from each step. I added each one of those pages to the list of pages to turn sideboxes off. Now the checkout process is lean and mean..

DivaVocals:

yep I agree.. my edit is a tad more aggressive than most. I went through a painstaking process of reviewing the entire checkout process and all the pages that a customer can get to from each step. I added each one of those pages to the list of pages to turn sideboxes off. Now the checkout process is lean and mean..

Ditto, me too. Much neater.

countrycharm:

You can try this, change line 87 to 95 In the file includes/functions/audience.php, Changed function get_audience_sql_query to:

//if no match found against queries listed in database, then $selected_entry must be an email address
if ($query_name=='' && $query_category=='email') {
$cust_email_address = zen_db_prepare_input($selected_entry);
$query_name = $cust_email_address;
$query_string = "select customers_firstname, customers_lastname, customers_email_address
from " . TABLE_CUSTOMERS . "
where customers_email_address = '" . zen_db_input($cust_email_address) . "'
and COWOA_account = '0'";
}

> 
> By doing this Cowoa will not send any emails to Cowoa customers.

Back in July 2010 some were getting a duplicate email address/duplicate email send bug.. [JTheed](http://www.zen-cart.com/showthread.php?59189-My-Checkout-Without-Account-Mod&p=906863#post906863)[ in one of his post](http://www.zen-cart.com/showthread.php?59189-My-Checkout-Without-Account-Mod&p=906863#post906863) shared the fix if you were getting them. Unless you are getting them also I wouldn't worry about this.



> **Datax:**
>
> Which order emails do you mean?
> 
> 
> It seems to work
> 
> 
> If you add this in de query around line 55 also, the COWOA clients are removed from the dropdown field too.

I understand what he was talking about sorry for not explaining it. 

Whenever a customer check out using the guest checkout his email address is saved. 
When the same customer returns and use the guest checkout again there email address is saved again. 

If he decides to make and permanent account it is saved again the difference is you can not use the guest checkout again unless they use a different email address.
Each time the he/she returns and use the guest checkout there email address is saved in the database.

What is the point here if you need to send that customer a email from under admin/tools send email there email address is there by my example under the drop-down menu 3 times. The more that customer uses the guest checkout the more there email address will show up when sending emails.

If you add this code to line 57 in the includes/functions/audience.php 
"and COWOA_account = '0' " .

the cowoa customer email address will not show but 1 time. I hope that makes since to you.





> **DivaVocals:**
>
> Should this be added to COWOA's core?? if so, I have a few questions:
> Can someone share with me what the change at line 55 should look like (wanna test it)
> Help me to fully understand what this change will do exactly.. When you say prevent COWOA from sending e-mails, which e-mails??
> 
> Lastly I think that there is one more change that COWOA should include. Sideboxes should be turned off during the checkout process to minimize customer distractions during checkout. (I believe FEAC includes this as part of it's default setup) looking at some of the larger e-commerce retailers, they too turn off "distractions" during checkout... That said I will be adding the following change to the COWOA version I will be submitting:
> in the **includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/common/tpl_main_page.php** file:
> ```
  // the following IF statement can be duplicated/modified as needed to set additional flags
if (in_array($current_page_base,explode(",",'account,account_password,account_edit,address_book,account_history_info,account_newsletters,account_notifications,account_history,login,logoff,checkout_shipping,checkout_shipping_address,checkout_payment,checkout_payment_address,checkout_confirmation,checkout_process,checkout_success,shopping_cart,address_book_process')) ) {
    $flag_disable_right = true;
    $flag_disable_left = true;

This is how I have set up my regular checkout. Yes I think it would be a good idea. Yes it have being proven the less distraction a customer has the more likely he will finish the checkout process.

Here the whole code staring on line 53 and ending with line 64 includes/functions/audience.php

//if this is called by an emailing module which offers individual customers as an option, add all customers email addresses as well.
if ($query_category=='email') {
$customers_values = $db->Execute("select customers_email_address, customers_firstname, customers_lastname " .
"from " . TABLE_CUSTOMERS . " WHERE customers_email_format != 'NONE' " .
"and COWOA_account = '0' " .
"order by customers_lastname, customers_firstname, customers_email_address");
while(!$customers_values->EOF) {
$audience_list[] = array('id' => $customers_values->fields['customers_email_address'],
'text' => $customers_values->fields['customers_lastname'] . ', ' . $customers_values->fields['customers_firstname'] . ' (' . $customers_values->fields['customers_email_address'] . ')');
$customers_values->MoveNext();
}
}

countrycharm:

Back in July 2010 some were getting a duplicate email address/duplicate email send bug.. JTheed in one of his post shared the fix if you were getting them. Unless you are getting them also I wouldn't worry about this.

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.

If a customer checks out without an account, then later signs up for a full account, you have two accounts with the same email address.
If I then send a gift certificate from admin, the customer gets 2 gift certificates with 2 different redemption codes!
You may be asking yourself why am I sending gift certificates? Well, I have a competition running where the prize is £30 of gift certificates.

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

countrycharm:

I understand what he was talking about sorry for not explaining it.

Whenever a customer check out using the guest checkout his email address is saved.
When the same customer returns and use the guest checkout again there email address is saved again.

If he decides to make and permanent account it is saved again the difference is you can not use the guest checkout again unless they use a different email address.
Each time the he/she returns and use the guest checkout there email address is saved in the database.

What is the point here if you need to send that customer a email from under admin/tools send email there email address is there by my example under the drop-down menu 3 times. The more that customer uses the guest checkout the more there email address will show up when sending emails.

If you add this code to line 57 in the includes/functions/audience.php
"and COWOA_account = '0' " .

the cowoa customer email address will not show but 1 time. I hope that makes since to you. 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).

countrycharm:

This is how I have set up my regular checkout. Yes I think it would be a good idea. Yes it have being proven the less distraction a customer has the more likely he will finish the checkout process.Gonna remove the checkout_success page though.. No reason to hide the sideboxes once the sales transaction is complete..

DivaVocals:

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

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 :lamo: and maybe a home button at the bottom of the Order Complete page just a thought

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 :lamo: and maybe a home button at the bottom of the Order Complete page just a thoughtThe 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??

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.

DivaVocals:

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

2. 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."

3. 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.

discoverytdi:

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..

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.

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 } } ?>

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................:D

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................:DJust 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.