Notes for Release 6.0.13.0
hpCommerce Orion Release Notes
Build 6.0.13.0
Released May 1, 2020
New Features and Functionality
- Alternate Web Title and Web Description
For users of our Yellow Hat Web integration it is now possible for you to provide alternate text for these two very important "tags". These new fields appear on the Part Number eCommerce Maintenance form [L-L-T]. A text counter is provided for each field so that as you edit you get instant feedback on the amount of text you have provided. These alternate fields are a fantastic tool for fine tuning your product descriptions and will help you achieve the SEO results you are aiming for. If you provide text in these fields it can flow to your Yellow Hat Web website and be used as a substitute for the standard text. These new fields do not force capitalization and text would appear on the website exactly as typed in Orion. The Title and Description tag text is what appears in your search results, for instance, in Google. You can also import data for these two new fields. These fields have been added to the Combined Data Import and Export available via [M-N-B] and [M-N-5]. - User Definable fields for Part Number Maintenance
WOW! You can now define up to five (5) character fields and three (3) numeric fields for your own use on the Part Number Maintenance form. This is a great way to define and store information about parts that is very specific to your business. This system is easy to set up and use and you can even define a list of standard values for the user defined fields. First you define the "labels" of your new fields. You do this by using [S-B] Part Number Configuration. Once you have defined a label for one or more of the user defined fields you can then edit a list of optional values for the fields via [S-B-F1] Edit Field Value List. This list is just optional and you can always type whatever you want into these user defined fields. But using this list is a great way of standardizing your text that you put into these fields. Once you have defined one or more field labels these fields will appear on the Part Number eCommerce Maintenance form [L-L-T]. Each field will be labeled as you defined. This user defined fields only appear on this form and not on any reports. You can also import this data into Orion. These fields have also been added to the Combined Data Import and Export available via [M-N-B] and [M-N-5]. - Import for Part Number Shipping Options
Now it is even possible to import shipping options! What a huge time saver. Use [M-N-7] Export Part Shipping Data to export a Microsoft Excel formatted file of existing shipping data from Orion. You can then use [M-N-J] to Import Part Shipping Data. These import and export tools make it very simple to update Part Number Shipping Options as needed. - Import for Part Number State Shipping Options
Separate options have been added to import and export shipping option data that is at the state level. These dedicated import/exports can be found at [M-N-8] Export Part Shipping State Data and [M-N-L] Import Part Shipping State Data. These import/exports work with a standard Microsoft Excel file. - Import for Part Number Recommended Accessories
Recommended Accessories can now be exported/imported. This data is primarily for use with an integrated Yellow Hat Web website. Recommended Accessories can be manually added to a part number by using [L-L-R]. The new export and import [M-N-9] and [M-N-M] can be used to import recommended accessories for parts. These tools use standard Microsoft Excel file formats.
Improvements to existing Features
- Part Number Note/Memo field Lengthened
This field has been lengthened to 1,000 characters. This field appears on the Part Number Maintenance form [L-L]. This form has been rearranged so that all 1,000 characters of this notes field display. The contents of this field do not display in any other location nor report. - New Shipping Options for Part Numbers
Amazing new options have been added to the Shipping Options for each Part Number. Shipping Options are sent to the Yellow Hat Web integration and are used to control how shipping is rated for an item. Shipping Options are maintained for each Part Number via [L-L-O] Shipping Options. A text label has been added to "Extra Handling Fee" so that this text can optionally display with the fee so that the shopper gets a great description of any extra fees involved in shipping the product to them. The option "No Flat Rate Shipping" has been added. A Dropship indicator has been added and the ability to add a Dropship Fee. A "Free Shipping" indicator has also been added. State Shipping Add-Ons have also been upgraded. These options are accessed via [L-L-O-F1] Edit State Add Ons. You can add an unlimited number of states. For each state you can indicate if you are allowed to ship the product into this state and you can also specify an "Extra Handling Fee" amount and text describing the fee. - Imports can now "blank" out data
Data in some columns in various imports can now be set to NULL. This is not blank it is completely empty. For instance if you wanted to remove an "Extra Handling Fee" message you can now do this. If you want to clear out the value in a field and set it to NULL then you put the tag <NULL> into the column of your spreadsheet. When Orion processes the sheet and sees this <NULL> "tag" it will clear out the contents for that item. - Attachments to Part Numbers can now be Imported
Attachments to Part Numbers can now be imported. Up to five (5) attachments at a time can be imported via the Combined Data Import [M-N-B]. The file to attach can be specified as a fully formed URL, a path on a local computer or network path, or just by using the filename of the attachment. In the last case you must place the attachment file in the same folder as the import file. There are even columns for each attachment to specify a description for the attachment. These attachments are viewable in Orion but most importantly they are uploaded to a Yellow Hat Web website. To add attachments manually to a Part Number you use [L-L-A]. - Item Memos for Part Numbers can now be Imported
The Item Memo can now be imported via the Combined Data Import [M-N-B]. Optionally you can specify if the memo is to print with a Part Number or just to display to the user or both. These memos are an excellent way to pass along valuable information to the customer. You can spend a little time creating and formatting this text and then it will pay you back time and time again for this little up front effort. - All Images for Part Numbers can now be Imported
These images are primarily for use for an integrated Yellow Hat Web website but they are also viewable in Orion. You can now specify an image and an image description in the Combined Data Import [M-N-B] for each for the seven (7) images. The image can be specified as a fully formed URL, a path on a local computer or network path, or just by using the filename of the image. In the last case you must place the image file in the same folder as the import file. Image Descriptions are a very important part of optimizing SEO for images. The web crawlers know that an image is on the site but they cannot "see" it. By giving it a description the crawler can serve up valuable information about the image. - Customer Cost on Integrated Shipping - Get Shipping Rates can now be set to ZERO
It is now possible to set the Customer Cost for a shipment to ZERO. This is a great feature for if you are going to comp the customer the cost for shipping but still want to create a shipping label, get tracking data and acquire your cost of shipping for the order.