Is QTPro supposed to work in the Trial Version?

[growler]

I installed the trial version 1.1.1 today. My initial impressions are the layout is good and it certainly speeds up the process of adding/editing products/categories. Some minor negatives are that the download/installation process was frustrating, the program has a number of bugs/quirks and it's missing some important admin functions.

Unfortunately the QTPro function does not seem to work properly in the trial. Is it supposed to work?

On balance I would buy the program (with the expectation that future relaese fixed the minor issues), however I will not purchase it if I can't trial a version with QTPro working.

[michael_s]

Yes QT-Pro does work. Please post your problem with it and I will try to get it working for you.

Download and installation is frustrating? How so? It seems pretty straightforward to me, but your feedback will help streamline the process to make it easier.

Please post the bugs/quirks that you have found.

[growler]

OK, I'll see if I can help out by remembering the minor issues I noticed and leave the QTPro issues to last...

WARNING!! very long....

Registration/Download

1. Some images on one of the web pages during the registration/download process didn't display (can't remember which page) - very minor but doesn't look professional.

2. The account verification email and the password came in two separate emails. I can see from the internet headers they were only sent 30 sec apart, but it must have spanned an auto send/receive from Outlook because they arrived 5 Min's apart. The verification email arrived first, so I clicked on the link and sat staring at the screen for 5 Min's wondering what my password was...until the second email arrived - suggest you include a note in the verification email to say that the second email is coming or the password in the first email.

3. The title of one of the emails is "xShop Free seven day trial", even though it is now 30 days.

4. After the download is complete, the web page goes nowhere and has no links, which made me wonder if the registration/download process had any more steps - VERY minor, but if it said the process was finished or even just returned to the home page it would be clearer that it was time to run the setup program.

Connection Setup

5. There is no info/guidance on setting up FTP. I'm quite new to these programs and so in the Edit Connection window I just entered what it said to in the setup instructions. I only looked at the un-labelled box below the database connection setup box and wondered what it was for...it wasn't until I went to look at a product and the image wasn't showing that I realised xShop would need to access the image files on the server somehow - I suggest you label the boxes on the Edit Connections window and include the FTP setup in your setup instructions.

6. In the Edit Connection/FTP setup, it seems a bit redundant having to enter the Image Path when the Remote Path is entered and the program appends /images/ to the remote path in the Product window - in fact this was a bit frustrating because I entered /public_html/catalog/images/ as the Image Path in the FTP setup and ended up with /public_html/catalog/images/images/ in the Product window.

7. The requirement to set the Default Language in order to display products needs to be added to the set-up instructions - I know it is in a forum topic, but it took me ages to find because first I thought I hadn't set up the connection properly, then I trawled the help files, then the FAQ forum and finally did a full forum search to find it. I can understand the "search the forum, fool" mentality on open source programs, but in a commercial product something as simple as this should be fixed or spelt out in the set-up instructions.

8. Once I'd found the FAQ, I kept getting an error message trying to set the default language. The work-around was to access the Languages window first, and then go back to the Set Default Language window.

General Operation

9. Some of the Help Topics have text in the root section (i.e. Setup and Tools) but some don't (i.e. Connections and Store Manager) - this is only very minor, but when I clicked on one with text and then change to one without, it looked like xShop had the wrong text or I had clicked the wrong menu item, either way I had to select it again to be sure.

10. In the Add New Review window, when I select Link to Product, one product is missing from the list (i.e. in my test store there are 6 products and only 5 appear here, but they all appear in the Product Catalog window).

11. In at least one section of the program I had to exit out of a main window before changes would register from sub windows. This is a little hard to explain and I think it might happen in a few different locations, but the one I remember is as follows...in the Associate Values to Options window, if I select Add Value, then edit or delete an existing value the change doesn't propagate until I exit Add Value and "save" the Associate Values to Options window, this is frustrating because it closes the window I am trying to work in - perhaps the Add Options window needs a "save" button?

12. The Modules function is good, but when configuring a module it is difficult to set the sort orders, because the order values of other modules are not visible - perhaps you should consider having the order values display against each module listed in the Manage Modules window (then it can be seen while in the Configure window) or better still, be able to drag and drop them into the desired order on the list in the Manage Modules window.

13. The Date Available field in the Product window could do with a calendar to select from (similar to osCMax admin).

14. If you don't access the database for a while, the re-connection is sometimes very slow or even fails. I'm not sure if this is to do with my connection, but it should be checked - also a message such as "trying to re-connect" and something showing it is working (e.g. animated timer) would be better that a blank white window.

Missing Functions

I haven't been through the whole program properly, but two missing functions from the web based admin that I thought should be in it are:

15. Setting up Countries and Zones- minor, but I'm probably more sensitive to this because I'm in Australia and need to modify the Zone fields.

16. Cross Sell Products - since you are trying to make it easier to manage the shop, I think the ability to quickly set up and change the xsell products would be a great advantage.

QTPro

This is the real problem for me because I just can't see how this can function properly in the trial (even assuming the bugs I note below are fixed):

17. If I add new attributes to a product via the Attribute tab on the Product window, the number I type into the quantity cell doesn't appear until I select another cell - very minor bug.

18. If I add new attributes to a product via the Attribute tab on the Product window, and the product didn't have any attributes before, then I can only add two attributes (no additional rows appear) and the second (last row) attribute is not saved.

19. If I add new attributes to a product via the Attribute tab on the Product window, and the product previously had attributes added via osCMax admin, then I can only add one or two more than the number of attributes previously added and the last row attribute is not saved.

20. In the Products Attributes list on the osCmax Admin - Products Attributes page, some blank entries (empty Product Name field) have appeared with option names/values after I tried setting attributes in xShop.

21. OK... the BIG issue...I can't see how the quantity tracking can work because it only seems possible to assign a quantity to each attribute, but it needs to be assigned to a combinations of attributes. A simple example, if selling clothes with two attributes (Size and Colour), xShop obviously allows me to identify how many of a particular size I have (e.g. 1x L, 2x XL) and how many of a particular colour (e.g. 3x red), but I don't understand how to assign a quantity to the combination of attributes (e.g 1x L-red and 2x XL-red) like you can in QTPro in osCMax.

22. Even when I simply assign quantities to each attribute, if I go to the Stock page for a product in osCMax admin, xShop has assigned attribute values to the first attribute field and left the second blank (e.g. per the above example, in osCMax admin the products stock would show L, XL, red in the Size field and blank in the Colour field).

Pheeww...I've spent some time on this!! I hope it helps, because I would really like to use the program.

I also hope I've missed something really obvious in the QTPro implementation and it's actually working OK.

Best Regards,
Michael

[michael_s]

Thanks a bunch for the detailed reply. I am going to take some time to review it fully before responding, and it will take a while to go through all of it in xShop.

[growler]

I'd be happy to talk you though the issues over the phone, if you have trouble understanding my descriptions or you think it would be faster.

I'm just about ready to start populating a new store, so I'm keen to see this resolved ASAP.

PM me if you want to arrange a call.

[michael_s]

I have been over most of the issues. I was able to confirm most of them and the ones that were not already on the bug list were added.

First regarding QTPro = Confirmed your bug reports. It is not working correctly and is not allowing groups of attributes to be properly tracked. All the issues that you are having, I was able to reproduce. I am going to try to get a timeframe on the next release date (I am not on the dev team, but help with the forums and support).

Regarding the rest of the bugs small and big, I was able to reproduce almost all of them, with the exception of #14 which I think is just connectivity to your database. Many are already on the issue tracker and the ones that were not have been added.

[growler]

Are the QTPro issues likely to be addressed in the short-term (say a week), or should I look for another solution and reconsider xShop some time in the future?

[aaron_s]

QTPro is going to be addressed in the near future, but most likely not within the next week. I am currently trying to determine the extent of the problems with QTPro. I am hoping to have the next release out in early April.

[growler]

2 to 3 weeks to the next release might work out for me. Can you provide an update on the likely time frame after you've reviewed the QTPro issues?

[aaron_s]

I will definitely provide an update as soon as I determine how much work it will be to get QTPro working properly.

[aaron_s]

The QTPro fixes are taking longer than I originally anticipated. I am hoping to have the changes completed in about one week. QTPro had to be totally redesigned, and it will now be on a new Tab on the Product screen. This will now allow the quantities to be tracked properly by the Option-Value combinations (e.g. Large and Red) as opposed to single attributes (e.g. Size - Large) way that it used to use.

Other fixes have already been made and will also be in the next build... most notably the Attribues fixes (only being able to add two at a time, etc...)

[aaron_s]

The QTPro fixes have been completed, so be expecting xShop 1.2 tomorrow (04-14-2008) or the day after.

The Trial version will follow within another day or two. All of the changes that have been made to the full version will have to be merged into the trial version.

[michael_s]

Cool! I have been eagerly awaiting v1.2! I think a few other people have been too.

[michael_s]

Ok,

Growler is still having problems with his 1.2 demo, so I am posting instructions on how to add attributes and quantities, as well as screenshots from the demo to clarify where the issues are occuring for him and I assume others.

The QT Pro system is now working correctly, but there look to be a few small quirks left to be resolved in rendering the data to the screen.

First, you need to add your Options and Values. I like to do it all on the Tools >> Options and Values >> Link Options to Values page. Once you have your Options and Values entered in, drag the options over to the left pane, and then drag the values into their corresponding Options. It goes pretty fast.

Note : There is a refresh issue with this page where Options are not properly displayed until you close and re-open the page. It is known issue that will be resolved in 1.3, but it does enter the data into the database even though you cannot see the options.

The values are not afflicted by this issue, and they refresh as soon as you enter them.


In the end you will have something like this:



Next, you have to add a product. Go to Store Manager >> Product Catalog >> Add

Enter in all your product details, like name and description. Then click the Attributes tab. It is important when assigning attributes to a product that you fill in all fields. None can be empty.

• You must enter select an Option and a corresponding Value.
• You must enter a price, even if it is 0, you must enter it. This cannot be blank.
• You must select a + or a -, even if the value is 0. It cannot be blank

When you correctly fill in all the attribute details, xShop will allow you to add a new attribute by automatically creating a new blank entry row for the next attribute.

See the screenshot below:



Next, on the same screen, click the QT Pro tab.

You will see a list of all the Options and values. Enter in the quantity of each that you have in stock. See the below screenshot:


Now all you have to do is click 'Save' and your new product with its inventory tracked attributes has been added.


Notes:

1. If you do not enter in ALL the fields in the attributes entry page, you will not be able to add any more attributes. It simply will not let you move forward. Some warning text should be added to this page, or highlighting of fields to queue what needs to be entered.
2. I have noticed on new product entry, sometimes the attribute quantities do not properly save until you save the product and re-open it. So, when entering new products, it may be a good idea to postpone entering in the attribute quantities until after you have saved it and reopened the product (at least until this bug is fixed).

Please follow this guide and post back any issues or errors that you encounter.