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Ecommerce Software Updates |
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We continually upgrade the InstanteStore ecommerce solution so that you can always have the most powerful and flexible solution to power your online store. Some of these are minor bug-fixes while some are major feature additions/upgrades. As an InstanteStore subscriber, you do not need to do anything to get these upgrades installed to your store. Your store is automatically upgraded. We have just started documenting these upgrades on our website, so information on all future upgrades will be posted here.
If you have any suggestions on how we can improve the InstanteStore solution, we would love to hear from you. Click here to post your suggestions
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May 2008 |
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New Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Features
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02 May 2008
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We've just introduced 3 new SEO features that will make it much easier for you to boost your store's SEO. If you weren't sure about how to get your pages ranked well before, these new tools will help guide you along your way with useful and focused SEO recommendations.
SEO Wizard
The SEO Wizard feature provides important keyword statistics and SEO Best Practice recommendations on how to get each of your pages to rank well. It will provide suggestions on how to use your keywords correctly, and help you keep SEO considerations in mind as you add and modify your store pages. The SEO Wizard feature has been activated by default, and is active on all Add and Modify Product, Category, and Custom Page interfaces.
Quick Internal Linking
Activate this feature to add a link to your store's main URL at your store border, so that every page of your store will automatically link back to your store's main/front page, using your targeted keyword. Your store's main page will now automatically have a whole new set of links to it using your primary keyword, which is an instant SEO boost.
Automatic Cross-Linking
Cross-linking pages can help boost your store's SEO. This feature makes creating cross-links a lot easier by creating cross-links to other pages that make use of the appropriate keywords automatically.
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March 2008 |
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Manage Banned IP Addresses
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26 March 2008
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You can now block the IP addresses of questionable visitors using the new Ban IP interface. This interface allows you to ban specific IPs as well as a range of IPs.
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Improved Questions/FAQ Page
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26 March 2008
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We've upgraded and streamlined the existing Questions/FAQ page so that you can now easily add and edit questions on the page. With this upgrade, you can add sections to your FAQ page in order to group sets of similar questions together.
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Google Checkout Integration Upgrade
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25 March 2008
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Our Google Checkout integration now support customers from all over the world, not just the US or the UK.
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Secure Administrator Login
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12 March 2008
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All Administrator Login pages are now secure HTTPS pages.
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February 2008 |
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Easy Google Analytics and Google AdWords Order Conversion Tracking Integration
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28 February 2008
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We've made it easier to integrate website statistic tracking of InstanteStores via Google Analytics by providing an easy-to-use interface where merchants can just paste the relevant code in the space provided, and start tracking their stores immediately. We've also made it easy to switch between Google Analytics tracking and our in-house Urchin website statistics package. Additionally, we've provided a convenient interface for merchants to enter Google AdWord Order Conversion Tracking Code.
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eBay Integration Enhancements
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12 February 2008
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The Post Items to eBay integration has been streamlined and updated to make this module more intuitive and easier to use.
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January 2008 |
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ShopSafeHere.com Online Shopping Directory Launched
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15 January 2008
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ShopSafeHere.com is the latest online shopping directory from the people behind InstanteStore.com. ShopSafeHere.com currently features over 100 InstanteStores, and counting. InstanteStore merchants can currently list their stores and feature up to 2 products on ShopSafeHere.com's main page for FREE. It also features a cool Visitors' Activity Map feature that gives potential shoppers the feel of a virtual mall by being able to view what other shoppers are looking at and buying. Listing on ShopSafeHere.com's online directory also gives InstanteStore merchants access to free traffic as well as links that will boost SEO.
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November 2007 |
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New Product Layouts
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28 November 2007
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We've introduced 2 brand new product layouts. It's now possible to choose and switch between layouts instead of being stuck with just the one product layout. Each layout has been designed to cater for different types of products, and we've optimized the placement of all the product elements to make the product pages as attractive and efficient as possible. In addition, we've also spruced up blow-up image viewing to give it a fresh, modern look.
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October 2007 |
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UPS WorldShip Integration
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19 October 2007
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Great news for UPS WorldShip users: we now feature integration with UPS WorldShip. You can now:
- Export orders from your InstanteStore to UPS WorldShip: this saves you from having to manually re-enter your order information at WorldShip
- Re-import package tracking numbers from WorldShip back into your InstanteStore: this lets you update your customer order tracking information more conveniently
- Export customer information from InstanteStore orders to the UPS WorldShip Addressbook
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August 2007 |
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GoogleBase Field Updates
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17 August 2007
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Updated the GoogleBase product download with 2 additional fields: UPC (Universal Product Code) and MPN (Manufacturer's Part Number). These fields are required by GoogleBase.
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New Generate Product Option Search Panel Feature
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06 August 2007
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This is a useful tool that you can use to generate a product option search panel that you can place at your store borders. This will allow your customers to search your store for products that have specific product options, e.g. if you sell clothes, this allows your customer to search for all products in the T-shirts category that have Large sizes available.
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Auto Responder Feature Update
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06 August 2007
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The Auto Responder feature has been updated so that you now have the option of creating Auto Responder campaigns that automatically subscribe customers. This is a potentially useful tool for following up with your customers after they have made purchases at your store, e.g. to provide them with specific information about the product(s) that they have just purchased.
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July 2007 |
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All-New One-Page Phone Order Module
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17 July 2007
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We're to happy to announce that we've just introduced an all-new, re-designed phone order module, Easy Phone Order ™. We've brought all the phone order elements together in a single page, so that the phone order process is more streamlined and phone order operators can now access all the information they need to place orders on behalf of customers.
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June 2007 |
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Introducing One-Page EasyCheckout™
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26 June 2007
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We've received a lot of requests for a one-page checkout feature, and we're very pleased to announce that it's now here and ready for you to try, then roll out for your customers.
With our new EasyCheckout™ feature, you now have the option of letting your customers check out either using the traditional checkout, or with an all-new convenient one-page checkout process. We've designed the EasyCheckout™ to be as quick and seamless as possible to offer your customers the best possible shopping experience.
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Easy Google Adwords Tracking!
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21 June 2007
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With the Google Adwords Tracking function, we've introduced a brand new feature that helps you easily add Google Adwords and create advertisement tracking campaigns to track the effectiveness of each of your keywords at the same time.
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Cross-sell on Final Payment Page
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07 June 2007
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This cool new feature gives you the option of offering your products at discounted prices on your final payment (order confirmation) page. This is a great way for you to be able make exclusive offers to customers who have just completed purchases at your store, who are much more likely to be responsive to such offers.
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April 2007 |
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Autodiscovery of Sitemap
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12 April 2007
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The new open-format autodiscovery allows webmasters to specify the location of their sitemaps within their robots.txt file, eliminating the need to submit sitemaps to each search engine separately. We've modified your robots.txt file (if you did not specifically upload one of your own) accordingly to take advantage of this.
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Product Video
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09 April 2007
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You now have the option of easily adding video to your product pages. We've provided an easy-to-use interface that you can use to quickly add videos that are externally hosted on video hosts to your product pages. We've also provided tools to easily preview and modify the video displays on your product pages. Video adds a whole new dimension to your product pages, and opens up new possibilities for further improving your customers' shopping experience.
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Breadcrumbs Display on Shopping Cart, Product, and Wish List pages
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09 April 2007
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Breadcrumbs are a trail that represent the pages that your customer previously visited before arriving at the Product, Shopping Cart, or Wish List page that they are currently viewing. They are a useful tool for customers to easily navigate your store and access pages that they just left but want to re-visit. This feature displays up to 5 of your customers' last-viewed pages as links on the Shopping Cart, Product and Wish List pages. This makes navigating your store to find items they want to purchase just that much easier.
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Additional Configurable Sections at Top/Bottom of Product/Product Listing Pages
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09 April 2007
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We've added additional configurable sections to the top and bottom of the product and product listing pages so that you can now add additional text/descriptions/HTML there using the HTML Editor. This adds a further layer of customization to your product and product listing pages.
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Configure Own Product and Category Page Filenames
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09 April 2007
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This is a pretty significant update in terms of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) value. Previously, the filenames of your product and category files that would appear in URLs (e.g. "pd_red_tshirt.cfm" or "cat_comic_books.cfm") were always auto-generated. Now, you can choose to retain the auto-generated filenames, or manually configure filenames of your own should you decide they are more suitable for your products and categories. Used properly, this could be potentially very helpful in improving your store's SEO.
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mid-November 2006 to March 2007 |
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| Improved News and Announcements Section |
| We've revamped the News and Announcements at your InstanteStore's admin control panel so that it now functions much like your favourite e-mail client does. It's now easier to notice new messages that we've just posted, and to read/manage messages. |
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| New Order RSS Updates |
| Tired of always having to log into your store to check to see if you have received new orders? Well, you can now activate the New Order RSS Alert feature at your store, which will provide you with your very own personal RSS link which you can use with your preferred RSS reader to receive alerts of new orders. You can also customize the amount of detail for your order alerts. This feature is useful for notifying you of new orders at your store without having to check your email or at your admin panel. |
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| Batch Upload Categories |
| You can now batch upload multiple categories simultaneously in a CSV file instead of adding them one-by-one using the add new category interface, much like the product batch upload function. This will be a real time-saver when you need to add a lot of new categories. |
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| Revamped Support Ticket System |
| We've replaced the support ticket system with our very own in-house support ticket system. In addition to now being able to more easily customize the system, it's also now more closely integrated with the solution. One of our first improvements is that now secondary administrators who you've created at your store can now have support ticket accounts of their own to log/update tickets on your behalf. |
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| Category Page Sort By Menu |
| You can now choose to activate the Sort By Menu at your Category pages, which will provide your customers with the option of sorting products in categories by name, price (lowest to highest, or vice versa), date (newest added to latest added, and vice versa), manufacturer number, or manufacturer name, thus simplifying your customers' decision-making when purchasing products at your store. |
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| Stone Edge Order Manager Integration |
| It is now possible to integrate your InstanteStore with the Stone Edge Order Manager. Once you've configured the necessary settings, you'll be able to import/export inventory to/from the Stone Edge Order Manager, as well as be able to export customers and orders from your InstanteStore to the Stone Edge Order Manager. |
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| MSN Windows Live Products Beta Product Download |
| You can now download your products in a format that you can later upload to MSN Windows Live Products Beta. This will help your products be displayed in MSN Windows Live search results. Both text and XML formats are available for download. |
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| Configure Order Status E-mails |
| You can now configure separate order tracking update e-mails for separate order tracking statuses instead of using one generic order tracking update e-mail for all statuses. For example, you can now have separate e-mails to reflect your custom "Pending Delivery" or "Just Shipped" order statuses instead of a single e-mail for both. |
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October to mid-November 2006 |
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| New HTML Editor |
| We've replaced the old HTML editor with a new and improved one that's easier to use, and as an added bonus, is no longer restricted to Internet Explorer on Windows machines. The new HTML editor works on more browsers, including IE (including IE7), Firefox, Opera, and Netscape on Windows among others. |
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| HTML Emails |
| You can now choose to have your administrator and customer emails sent out as HTML-format emails rather than just plain-text as before. Just head to 'Manage Your Store -> Design/Customization -> Customize Automatic Emails' at your store admin control panel, and you can now customize your store emails in HTML as well. |
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| Display Product Inventory Count (on Product Pages) |
| If you have products that sell very briskly, this new feature might be very useful to you. If you go to 'Products & Categories -> Inventory Control -> Activate Stock Count' from your admin control panel, you can choose to have the actual current inventory stock count of your products displayed at your product pages, instead of the generic "In Stock" message. This way, your customers will be better informed as they make their purchasing decisions. |
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| Modify Inventory By Batch Function Update |
| When modifying your product stock counts via batch inventory upload, you can now use the "Set_To_Stock" column in your batch upload files to update your product stock values to their exact current stock values, instead of using "offsets" (+2, -5, etc.) with the "Update_Stock" field as before. This provides you with a quicker, more convenient way of uploading your product inventory via the batch function. |
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| New On Sale Product Listings |
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You can now choose to set your on sale product listing layout to use the same layout as your category product listing pages, instead of being restricted to the single standard on sale product layout as before. If you choose to make use of this feature, when you select a new product listing layout, your on sale product page will automatically use the matching layout.
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InstanteStore V4 Launched! (September 2006) |
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