Announcements Announcements http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/index.php Sun, 11 Mar 2012 06:55:08 +0000 10 Performance update for Categories http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/3407-performance-update-for-categories/
We just published a major update of the Categories page in the Administration Area. The category list has pagination now, and can display virtually unlimited number of categories without memory and CPU overhead. The category list now always displays only a single level of categories. You can view subcategories of any category by clicking the folder icon in the category row. You can return to an upper category by clicking the category link in the breadcrumbs area above the list. The update also affected the CMS/Pages page and a number of other pages in the Administration Area.

Another important feature which we added in this update is the proxy models, which can significantly improve performance of category trees on the front-end website. This feature is described in the Documentation: http://lemonstandapp.com/docs/performance_tuning/#proxy-models

Thank you

Attached thumbnail(s)

  • Attached Image: categories-navigation.png
]]> Sun, 11 Mar 2012 06:55:08 +0000 http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/3407-performance-update-for-categories/ Twig support has been published http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/3302-twig-support-has-been-published/
I'm excited to announce that we just published Twig support for LemonStand (http://lemonstandapp.com/blog/post/twig_simplified_theming_for_designers/). You can download the update and start using Twig in your templates right away. We are still working on the documentation, but part the most important documentation updates are already published:



Payment module developers: please note that new payment modules now should include payment partial templates in Twig (described here).

Thank you]]> Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:47:03 +0000 http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/3302-twig-support-has-been-published/ Important: update in the resource combiner security http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2990-important-update-in-the-resource-combiner-security/
Today we published updates in the resource combiner which improve its security. The updates allow to protect your store against accessing non-resource files through the resource combiner URLs. We added 2 new configuration parameters to LemonStand: ALLOWED_RESOURCE_EXTENSIONS and ALLOWED_RESOURCE_PATHS. New parameters are described in the documentation: http://lemonstandapp.com/docs/lemonstand_configuration_options/. The default parameters values are suitable for most cases, when your resource files have .js and .css extensions and live inside LemonStand root directory. For other cases please update your config.php file.

Thank you]]> Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:11:51 +0000 http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2990-important-update-in-the-resource-combiner-security/ Automatic nested category URL support http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2936-automatic-nested-category-url-support/
Today we published some improvements in the nested category URLs support:

  • NESTED_CATEGORY_URLS configuration option is obsolete now. Nested category URL management has been moved to System/Settings/eCommerce Settings page. This parameter is enabled if you have NESTED_CATEGORY_URLS paramerter in your config.php file.
  • Added support for automatic nested URLs. You can enable this feature on System/Settings/eCommerce Settings page. When this parameter is enabled, LemonStand automatically prepends a parent category URL to children categories. Also, when this feature is enabled, you can have categories with similar URL names in different category branches. For example, you can have 2 categories with URL name "boys" if they have different parent categories (t-shirts and shoes). On the front-end the category URLs will be resolved to t-shirts/boys and shoes/boys.

If you use automatic nested URLs you may need to use Shop_Category::get_url_name() method instead of the url_name field to determine which category is selected. For example, in the default theme, in shop:categories partial we have the following code:

<? if ($category_url_name == $category->url_name): ?>class="current"<? endif ?>

It should be replaced with

<? if ($category_url_name == $category->get_url_name()): ?>class="current"<? endif ?>

Thank you]]> Wed, 28 Dec 2011 01:58:48 +0000 http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2936-automatic-nested-category-url-support/ Bug fix in the Discount Engine http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2822-bug-fix-in-the-discount-engine/
We found and fixed a minor logical bug in the discount engine in the previous update. The bug affects the "Product is" discount condition. Please update your LemonStand copies.

Thank you]]> Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:09:32 +0000 http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2822-bug-fix-in-the-discount-engine/ Updates in the Administration Area http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2815-updates-in-the-administration-area/
Today we published several improvements in the Administration Area user interface:

  • Improvements in the Administration Area header and menus
  • Styled checkboxes and drop-down menus

Note for developers

If you use custom back-end themes you may need to update them. You may also need to make minor updates in your back-end JavaScript files as it is described in the documentation: http://lemonstandapp.com/docs/working_with_checkboxes_and_drop_down_menus/. It is required only if your scripts update checkboxes or drop-down menus programmatically.

Thank you]]> Mon, 28 Nov 2011 07:41:00 +0000 http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2815-updates-in-the-administration-area/ Nested category URLs support http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2724-nested-category-urls-support/
LemonStand now supports nested category URLs (men/jumpers/wool). The feature is disabled by default and can be enabled with NESTED_CATEGORY_URLS configuration parameter. Please note that the feature requires a minor update in the category pagination code.

LemonStand can use caching for storing the category URL map, so if you have hundreds of categories in your store, consider enabling the caching system.

Thank you]]> Mon, 14 Nov 2011 04:27:44 +0000 http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2724-nested-category-urls-support/ Versioning update http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2694-versioning-update/
A coupole of days ago we published a set of updates, which included a number of improvements and new features (see the Release Notes for details). Among other things we updated the module versioning system, which simplifies LemonStand module development in teams where multiple developers work on a same module at the same time.

Although this update was transparent for most of LemonStand users, it could cause problems with importing LemonStand CMS archives (LCA files) created in older LemonStand installations. If you have a problem with importing your LCA archive, please do the following:

  • Update the source LemonStand installation to the latest version
  • Export CMS objects from the source LemonStand installation
  • Update destination LemonStand installation to the latest version
  • Import the LCA archive

If you cannot update the source LemonStand installation for some reason (if you have frozen the updates, for example), please submit a support ticket.

Thank you]]> Tue, 08 Nov 2011 23:43:10 +0000 http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2694-versioning-update/ Bundle Products feature has been published http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2565-bundle-products-feature-has-been-published/
Bundle Products feature has just been published. The feature is completely documented: http://lemonstandapp.com/docs_search/?query=bundle

We also updated the Simplicity theme - it now includes bundle products support: http://lemonstandapp.com/marketplace/theme/simplicity/

Thank you]]> Mon, 10 Oct 2011 07:00:15 +0000 http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2565-bundle-products-feature-has-been-published/ Performance update http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2227-performance-update/
We just released a major performance update. This update addresses improving and simplifying the front-end SQL queries and optimizing the back-end list. Our measurements demonstrated the following changes after applying the update:

Back-end lists
Work almost twice faster and take half as much memory. It is especially noticeable with lists which display complex data - product list, order list, etc.

Front-end
The site works at least 1.6x faster due to the simplified queries.

The front-end optimization requires adding the OPTIMIZE_FRONTEND_QUERIES parameter to the config.php file. Please read the documentation article before enabling this feature.

Documentation: Performance tuning

Thank you]]> Fri, 05 Aug 2011 05:53:34 +0000 http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2227-performance-update/ New features! http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2093-new-features/
We just published an update of the Shop module which adds the following features:

  • Converting guest customers to registered customers
  • Tax Exempt checkbox on the Create/Edit Order page
  • The customer drop-down menu on the Create Order page has been replaced with the Find Customer widget
  • Improved appearance of the shipping method and payment method selectors on the Create/Edit Order page
  • Multiple minor imrpovements on the Order Preview and Customer Preview pages
  • Improved the Add Related Product form usability (the Create/Edit Product page) - you can now add multiple products without closing the popup form

Thank you]]> Thu, 14 Jul 2011 05:07:04 +0000 http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2093-new-features/ Update in the Shipping API http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2083-update-in-the-shipping-api/
We just published an update in the Shipping API. The update should not affect LemonStand installations which use native shipping modules. But if you use a third-party shipping module, the update can break it. We have notified the third-party developers who have published shipping modules for LemonStand and they should update their modules. Please contact them.

If you cannot contact your developer, please submit a support ticket.

The update details: http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2074-important-update-in-the-base-shipping-class/

Thank you]]> Tue, 12 Jul 2011 23:31:31 +0000 http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2083-update-in-the-shipping-api/ Business Address checkbox http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2082-business-address-checkbox/
We just published an update which adds the Business Address feature. This feature allows customers to indicate that the shipping location is a business address on the Shipping Information checkout page. At the moment only FedEx shipping module uses this information. If you want to add this checkbox to your store, please follow the instructions on this page (see the last article section).

Thank you]]> Tue, 12 Jul 2011 23:18:45 +0000 http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/2082-business-address-checkbox/ ImageMagick module http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/1933-imagemagick-module/
We published a free image-manipulation module, which allows to use any parameters of ImageImagick convert script. This module works only with ImageMagick and does not support PHP GD library. Basic usage: 

$product->images->first->getThumbnailPath(0, 0, false, array('im_process'=>true, 'cmd'=>'-resize 80x80^ -gravity northwest  -extent 80x80', 'size_name'=>'icon_80'))

You can download the module and find more documentation here: https://github.com/alekseybobkov/ls-module-imagemagick

Thank you]]> Mon, 06 Jun 2011 04:51:20 +0000 http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/1933-imagemagick-module/ Catalog price rules performance update http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/1879-catalog-price-rules-performance-update/
We just published a major update of the Apply Catalog Price Rules function. The update improves the memory management implementation with sub-requests. Instead of loading all products to the memory when you click the Apply Rules button, LemonStand splits the product list into small batches (by default - 50 products in each batch) and creates HTTP sub-requests, which process the batches. It isolates the memory usage, because sub-requests work in separate execution sessions. This approach allows to process virtually unlimited number of products, because it never loads all products the server memory.

We did a simple memory usage test. I have about 800 products in my database. My catalog price rules configuration has only 2 simple rules, which apply discounts to products in different categories. Below is the peak memory usage report before and after implementing the new approach.

BEFORE

Master process: 77.3 Mb

AFTER

Master process: 6.1 Mb
Batch processing sub-requests: 14.1 - 16.4 Mb

As you can see the peak memory usage before the new approach was 77.3Mb, and after the update - only 16.4 Mb.

Thank you]]> Mon, 23 May 2011 06:25:48 +0000 http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/1879-catalog-price-rules-performance-update/ Added address and card code verification reporting http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/1819-added-address-and-card-code-verification-reporting/
Attached Image: avs_cvv_reporting.png

The following payment modules have been updated:

  • Authorize.NET AIM,
  • Authorize.NET DPM,
  • Authorize.NET SIM,
  • BeanStream Basic,
  • BeanStream Server to Server,
  • BrainTree Transparent Redirect,
  • E-xact Hosted,
  • E-xact Web Service,
  • eSELECTplus API,
  • PayPal Pro,
  • PSiGate XML, age Pay Direct

Please let us know if you have issues with any of the updated modules.

Thank you]]> Mon, 09 May 2011 04:49:28 +0000 http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/1819-added-address-and-card-code-verification-reporting/ Shipping system improvements http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/1670-shipping-system-improvements/
We just published an update which enables you to display shipping service specific error messages in the shipping option list. For example, if a customer specified a wrong ZIP code in the shipping address, UPS would return the "The postal code XXX is invalid for CA United States". This feature requires a minor update of the partials which display the shipping option lists (in the checkout and shipping estimator). Also, you should enable the feature in the Administration Area. We updated the documentation articles:

Creating the Shipping Method partial
Implementing the Shipping Cost Estimator Feature
Shop_ShippingOption class

We also updated the Shipping Method tab of the Create/Edit Order form in the Administration Area, and it can now display error messages as well (see the screenshot attached). This feature in the Administration Area is always enabled and does not depend on the front-end settings.

Thank you

Attached thumbnail(s)

  • Attached Image: updated shipping method tab.png
]]> Fri, 08 Apr 2011 08:16:22 +0000 http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/1670-shipping-system-improvements/ New free theme: Simplicity http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/1653-new-free-theme-simplicity/
We just published a new free LemonStand theme - Simplicity.

Blog post: http://lemonstandapp.com/blog/post/new_lemonstand_theme_simplicity/

Thank you]]> Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:31:08 +0000 http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/1653-new-free-theme-simplicity/ Minor update in the session management http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/1556-minor-update-in-the-session-management/
We just published an update which improves the session management in LemonStand. In particular it enables to use 0 value for the FRONTEND_AUTH_COOKIE_LIFETIME and AUTH_COOKIE_LIFETIME configuration options, forcing the browser to delete session cookies when a user closes the browser. Please note that FireFox can still save cookies even if they have 0 life time, because of its tabs implementation.

Thank you]]> Thu, 17 Mar 2011 03:16:14 +0000 http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/1556-minor-update-in-the-session-management/ Note for SecureTrading payment pages http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/1447-note-for-securetrading-payment-pages/
We are going to publish an update which will affect LemonStand customers who use SecureTrading Payment Pages payment method. Before the update LemonStand was always sending the order amount to the payment gateway in USD. After the update it will be sending the amount in the currency which is specified in LemonStand currency settings. That enables to use any currency with SecureTrading Payment Pages gateway.

Please let us know in case of any issues with the updated module.

Thank you.]]> Mon, 28 Feb 2011 01:20:41 +0000 http://forum.lemonstandapp.com/topic/1447-note-for-securetrading-payment-pages/