One of the things we wanted to try an achieve with v2 of our eCommerce Software was to increase the level of simplicity when i came to installing and upgrading the software. Looking at some of our competitors, these two tasks (which should be as simple as possible) were actually pretty tricky in the majority of cases so we took a different approach…

Speedy Installation

The install routine for v2 is the fastest and simplest we have seen anywhere whilst still providing a fully accessible hosting platform for users. There’s no mucking about creating database and editing configuration files to get started, here’s the steps…

1. Buy license
2. Go to the domain the license was purchased for
3. Enter license key
4. Log in and start using the store

Simple enough we thought? In the background the the install routine is doing a multitude of tasks such as creating and populating the database, setting up the domain configuration etc and all with minimal input from the user. An install can be completed in less than 30 seconds!

Upgrading Made Easy

OK so a new version comes out and you want to upgrade. Most of our competitors require a complex system of backing up, comparing files, re-editing templates, blah de blah; and all this puts people off upgrading simply because they don’t have the time.

As with the install routine, we took a simple route for upgrades:

1. New version announcement goes out so users log into their store and click the “Store Upgrade” link
2. The system downloads and merges in the changes and upgrades the database
3. A list of conflict files are shown for the user to resolve

Now on step 3) this is unavoidable as users could change a file between versions and we don’t want to overwrite those changes. So what we do is compare the changed files against the new version and if there is actually a difference in the file structure, the original and new files are stored in the database. Using the built in comparison tool, users can easily see what’s changed and then update these templates.

As the templates are constructed in such a way that we are unlikely to update the core design files between versions, it would take less than 5 minutes to carry out a full upgrade.

Two major improvements to the system giving our users another reason to use our ecommerce software.

We are pleased to announce that v1.4.3 of Open Mind Commerce is now available to purchase!

This is a minor release and is likely to be last of the releases for the current v1.x series as all development efforts are now being poured into v2.x as previously notified.  There are a couple of new features in this release as well as bug fixes but as always, the latest change log may be found here (login required):

http://bugs.openmindcommerce.co.uk/index.php?cmd=changelog&project_id=1&version_id=11

Google Analytics
This release includes a new smart tag that can be used to easily track site visitors though services such as Google Analytics. To activate the service you simply add the appropriate tracking code into your admin area and this is then automatically inserted for you into your store pages meaning no more messing around with code!

We have also added support for Googlebase (http://www.google.com/base/) in this release.  No extra configuration for the store is required, just setup a new product feed and point it at http://www.yourstore.com/googlebase.cfm where yourstore.com is your store URL.  This will then take all your existing products and add them into Google base for extra SEO benefits and sales!

Would you like £60???
Well we could like to give you up to £60 just for referring people to us through our new affiliate scheme!  More information and how to signup can be found on our blog here:

http://blog.openmindcommerce.co.uk/ecommerce-software-announcements/we-would-like-to-give-you-60/

Finally we are very pleased to announce a new partnership with e-terms.co.uk and be able to offer you professionally written privacy policies and terms of use for your site at a very reasonable price.  For more information and to place you order, just click the link below:

http://www.e-terms.co.uk/#a_aid=ecommercesoftware

That’s all for now and as ever, if you have any questions then please do not hesitate to get in touch!

Yep that’s right, we would like to give you up to £60 for every sale you refer to us though the Open Mind Commerce affiliate scheme. Sound good to you? Then read on…

The Program
Dead simple this one, we will give you 10% of the excluding VAT value of all sales generated by you referring customers to our site. This could result in up to £60 in commission for customers who purchase a license from us along with our bespoke design service.

At the the very least you would earn £8.90 if they just bought a single license so your commission could quickly add up to quite a bit!

Because we’re lovely people we’ll not only also give you £20 as a thank you for signing up but if you refer a new affiliate to us through your link, you will get 20% of their earnings as well!

The program is completely free of charge to join and you can start adding a range of banners and text links to your site straight away…

So to summarise:

1. You earn 10% for every completed sale
2. We give you £20 just for signing up
3. We also give you 20% of all earnings that your referred affiliates generate

Signing up is very simple, click the link, fill out the form and you’re done…

The Nitty Gritty
Just a couple of points to make things clear…

1. Commissions are based on the ex. VAT value of the sale
2. Payments are made on the 1st of the month via PayPal or cheque as long as you have at least £100 “in the bank”
3. You earn commission on referrals up to 90 days after they click the link even if the customer visits via another affiliate
4. You may not refer yourself for purchases, sorry!

So you’ve read about the program now do something about it. Join today, earn yourself £20 for five minutes work and start driving money out of our pocket and into yours!