Site Builder (aka Cool Tools) System Update: 4.17 is chock full of wonderful new features, summarized below.
Please let us know if you need our consulting help implementing any of these Cool Tools on your website. (Remember, these features are available only on the sites implemented with our Cool Tools system — officially named Site Builder. Not sure whether you're using a Cool Tools system? Simply contact us and we'll tell you.)
We are always looking to improve the quality of our services and your feedback is appreciated. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please let us know.
MOBILE WEB PAGES
More and more internet users are using mobile devices such as the iPhone or Android. This release includes support for adding mobile optimized pages. You can create new pages that are designed to work on advanced mobile devices.
The mobile support is not for all mobile devices. It is designed to work with advanced mobile smartphones such as the iPhone and Android based devices that have full HTML support (we are not supporting WAP based phones).
To add mobile pages to your site, go to the page list and click the Mobile Website Settings button. Click here to view the Precision Computing Arts Sample Mobile Website.
BLOG ENHANCEMENTS
New customization options let you customize the styles, fonts, colors of many of the blog display elements. You also can customize how many blog posts are displayed on the first page. You can set the system to show all the posts from the last 7 days, last 30 days, or you can specify the number of posts to display. (We have customized some features of this blog to illustrate the latest and greatest.)
ECOMMERCE - REWARDS
With the ecommerce rewards system enabled, you can give your customers discounts for shopping at your website. Customers will earn reward points for making purchases at your website. They can log in to their accounts and redeem the reward points for credit that can be used on future purchases. You can configure how points are converted, which products are included/excluded, and set specfic products to be worth more/less points.
FORM BUILDER DATA
The form builder now allows you to view your form data on your website. All data is saved in a forms database. To view form data, you can log in to your website, click the Form Data link under Administration > Reports/Info and select the form that you want to view.
The form data csv file also has been updated. The csv data file for newly submitted forms will contain the form data fields in the file header. This will make it much easier to use/import the file into other applications. The form data file also contains all data fields such as radio buttons and checkboxes. Each time you change the form field data structure, a new csv file is created.
SECURE FORMS (requires UPGRADE to Business Website or better)
With the secure forms upgrade you can use the form builder to collect form information over a secure https:// page. The data that is submitted is saved in your site admin. You can then login to your site to view the form data over a secure link.
- When visitors browse to a page with a secure form they will be redirected to a https:// version of the page.
- Form data is not sent in the form, but you will receive an email notification when a secuform has been sent.
- You must log in to your website to view form data. To get started viewing data, go to the Admin page and choose Administration > Reports/Info > Form Data in the lefthand column. Or, edit the form, scroll down to the bottom SECURE FORM section, and click the link below Form Data.
- The secure form cannot be used to collect credit card/billing information.
Application Database - AppDb (requires UPGRADE to Business Website or better)
Use the AppDb feature to set up a searchable/sortable data table. You can define your own custom fields when setting up the data table. To create a new AppDb, go to the page list, create a new page, and click the AppDb page type. You may have up to 3 AppDbs per site. Click here for a sample application database.
SOCIAL NETWORKING
You can add the social networking icons to the bottom of the product catalog detail pages. Social networking icons allow visitors to share the product page/information on their social networking pages (twitter, facebook...) To add the social networking icons to product detail pages, log in to your website, and then click Social Networking link under Site Editor > Settings on the left side of the page.
Google Buzz has been added to the list of social networking icons.
DESIGN
- New groupbox styles
- Advanced css menu settings (align right, margin/spacing, menu bar settings)
- Animated text/css menus
- Up to six groupbox styles available
MISCELLANEOUS UPDATES
- Image tools: A slider on the main resize image page allows you to easily reduce the image size by moving the slider.
- Footer styles: Advanced padding/border/margin settings allow you to enhance the footer styles area.
- Image gallery/rotator: All image gallery/rotator modes support the image description display.
- Product search: The product search from within the store manager allows you to change the product category/login after clicking on the edit link from the search.
- Ecommerce order notes: Append to Notes button allows you to enter time stamped updates to the order notes area.
FIREFOX 3.6 FILE UPLOAD/DRAG DROP
Firefox 3.6 supports the HTML5 enhanced multi file upload. When the advanced file upload option is enabled, you can use the Firefox 3.6 upload features. When you browse to select files to upload, you can select multiple files in the file open dialog box.
Drag/drop upload: A drop files box appears next to the file upload/browse button. To upload files via drag/drop, open a file/explorer window. Select the files you want to upload, click the files and drag the files to the "drop files" area in the browser window. The files will be uploaded to your website.
UPGRADED RATE PLANS
This release comes with some revised web hosting rate plans, with more bang for your buck! Please see the New Plan Updates - 8/2010 blog entry for details.
