Welcome, Visitors from Virtuemart.net!
I'm listed on the VM site here.This listing is NOT an ad!
I asked Soeren what the process for listing was, he emailed back that he'd add me to the developer's list and what was my preferred wording.
My free Virtuemart Downloads are here.
Thank you for visiting!
-Bob
New Virtuemart Subscription Site
By Bob Bloom | August 15, 2008
UPDATE (Aug 23/’08) :There will be no subscription site. You have spoken. Or, more like, have not spoken!
Shortly after Soeren listed me as a developer on his virtuemart.net site — he listed me, I did/do not pay for his listing — I started getting more enquiries than I could accept.
“It must be nice to turn away business”, a dear friend emailed me. No, it stinks!
I don’t just get emails, I get cries for help. I get entreaties to please consider taking on their engagement. Most people who email me are under duress.
I’m Virtuemart 911.
I’m not the first person people find, I’m the fourth (or fifth…) guy. Remember my post, Fixing Problems for Panicked Clients? Well, nothing’s changed since I wrote that!
Someone emailed me “ok, so who do you recommend?”.
Good question!
I don’t know anyone.
I’m not used to, and I do not like, declining pleas for help.
And so grew the idea to start my Virtuemart subscription site.
This site is NOT a “community” or “Web 2.0″ site. Nope.
This is more like a “co-operative”.
The idea is to devote 30% to 70% of revenues to development, forum support, template (theme?) development and other Virtuemart specific endeavours for the benefit of all members.
The idea is to grow a cadre of Virtuemart developers by doing development for me, and then for members. This is not a rent-a-coder site, members make arrangements privately. This idea is my approach to the problem that “I don’t know anyone”.
Something else I can do with my subscription site: a dream version of Virtuemart:
- the latest version of VM & Joomla
- all the best free add-ons available pre-installed
- these add-ons modified so they actually work with the latest VM version
And how ’bout getting my GST/PST tax add-on developed once-and-for-all (I get emailed about this like clockwork).
I have a few other pet projects that would be great to see in VM.
Proposition: pool money, let someone who knows Joomla/Virtuemart quarterback development, get a juiced-up Virtuemart you’d never otherwise get your hands on.
Proposition: run a Virtuemart forum where you get answers. Imagine that! What do you think about me devoting some revenue to paying good VM developers to answer a few questions? I’m not talking about relying on others in my “community” to respond, I’m talking about actual coders logging in and answering questions.
Proposition: A place to find decent VM developers. People email me all the time that they don’t know where to go to find decent VM programmers. Well, neither do I!
Other things that become possibilities because there’s a revenue stream: tutorials that aren’t just advertorials, meaningful VM related product reviews, meaningful MMO tips for VM sites. How ’bout getting a commercial template site to create nice VM themes?
Maybe we can get Joomla extension developers to modify their extensions to work with VM.
Yeah, if you’ve read my “JoomlaMart” missives, you’re already ahead of me on this one!
Do you think you can benefit from this?
Then subscribe to my new email list, which I just signed-up for today.
Then, put your thoughts on your wish-list features & suggested monthly price in a comment.
-Bob
**UPDATE (Aug 18):
Four email sign-ups (maybe I should put up the aWeber chicklet?) but no comments. I posted this page on Friday. This weekend, there were 54 unique pageviews with an average 2:42 minutes “time on page” which is quite significant. My site is not mass-marketed for massive traffic — it is designed to speak to the specific audience it serves. So these are pretty good stats — almost everyone who visited took a gander at this article.
Ah, but no one commented! Except one, a really terrrific professional I know through Twitter. He thinks it’s a great idea for a site that will never actually work, and didn’t want to say that on my site. Well, here are excerpts with my comments. Thank you “Mr. X” for emailing me from the heart!
| Fellow Web Professional Sez… | Bob Sez… |
| As someone who gets one VM site a year, why would I want to payout goodmoney each month for something I may not use? |
Of course you would not spend good money for something you would not use. |
| Now on the other hand if you were talking about a subscription Joomla/VM site then that’s a different story. |
Members of my subscription site will be hard-core Virtuemart users, looking to make a darn good buck from their Virtuemart sites. These people want to juice up revenues from their Virtuemart shops. So if there’s a way to use Joomla to boost their revenues, then they’re interested.My subscription site serves people using Virtuemart. |
| I say this from painful experience, is that the best ideas are often the worst received. A VM site will work, but only, IMHO, for people who have regular VM work and the chances are they have the skills to handle it |
Why would someone even consider subscribing to my Virtuemart subscription site?Pain and frustration!You know the frustration of posting to the-forum-of-unanswered-questions.You know the pain of draining your budget on non-credible Virtuemart developers.You know the agony of upgrading your sophisticated VM site.You know the irritation of shoehorning complex products and e-marketing plans into VM.I speak to those who know what I’m talking about, with real online businesses, who only ask that their Virtuemart sites might one day just do what the heck they want it to do. Who want their VM sites to grow as their business grows. Who want to know that there is a site they can go to when they need help. |
Give it to me straight, I can take it!I work for people who have Virtuemart sites that are (supposed to be) profitable all the time. My ear is to the ground, and I know this site is do-able.My first question: is there enough subscriber revenue to make this viable, since the premise of my subscription site is to devote most of the revenue into development, and into forum support.
My second question: is my feature set complete? Am I missing a key feature subscribers need?
What do you think?
Topics: Virtuemart | No Comments »
The Virtuemart Ears are Listening!
By Bob Bloom | August 7, 2008
Posted yesterday on the Virtuemart blog:
VirtueMart 2.0 will make extensive use of the Joomla! framework and will provide an extensible architecture to better support third party developers
Just what I hoped in my previous “Truth or Dare” post.
So, what do you want to see in Virtuemart 2.0?
-Bob
Topics: Virtuemart | 4 Comments »
New Free Shipping Bypass Add-on for VM 1.1.2
By Bob Bloom | August 5, 2008
My Shipping Bypass add-on is now incorporated into Virtuemart’s core, starting with VM 1.1.2.
Some nice-to-have features are still absent, and so I am releasing my add-on specifically for VM 1.1.2.
That confusing message still displays on the thank you page. I suppress it.
There is no payment method displayed when only free downloads are in the cart. I display a “free” payment method.
Displaying a “free” payment method is important! Virtuemart displays nothing but the heading “Payment method” is still displayed. So it looks like there is something wrong. Displaying a “free” payment method is just the reinforcement your customer needs to click the final confirmation button. As well, a “free” payment method is also displayed in emails, and in the customer’s & admin’s order details screen.
There’s no forced zero weight function. I include one.
I added something completely new: the ability to have non-downloadable products bypass shipping.
If you sell zero-weight non-shippable event tickets, my add-on is for you.
-Bob
P.S. You can see it in action at my demo site: http://shippingbypassforvm.com.
Topics: Shipping Bypass, Virtuemart | No Comments »
eMarketing Secret: People Come To You
By Bob Bloom | July 17, 2008
If you haven’t discovered Perry Marshall, here’s your chance to discover him.
I’m on somewhere between a zillion and a ga-jillion “MMO” (Making Money Online) lists and rss feeds.
There’s only one that has really pierced my consciousness: Perry Marshall.
Why?
He’s about the fundamentals. Not the funny-mentals.
Including this gem: “People Come To You!”. You do NOT go to them.
I haven’t met one client (or myself) for whom this does not apply. People come to you, you do not go to them!
When you are building your “JoomlaMart” site, when you are using the full power of Joomla to tell your story, when you are designing your site — keep this in mind!
I’m not on Perry’s affiliate program (does he even have one?), I’m not shilling for any of his services or whatnot. His free emails are a terrific. You’ll notice that he’s about marketing fundamentals first, e-marketing second. Ooooh, I like that!
After suffering through the latest e-marketing guru product launch, Perry is a breath of fresh air.
Get his free “Bon Mots” by getting on his email list. Then get down to the fundamentals, and skip the funny-mentals.
** UPDATE: Yes, he has an affiliate program. You can join, I’m not going to.
Ok, I think this is the list form for the “People Come To You” mantra (or, should I say, e-mantra!): http://www.perrymarshall.com/marketing/index.htm
Topics: General | No Comments »
Genericize Viruemart
By Bob Bloom | July 9, 2008
A quick post reiterating that the new completely rewritten Virtuemart 2.0 must genericize processes.
For example, we want to customize the checkout process by category, and even by product.
We want to be able to use a specific shipping method for a specific category, and then have a specific payment method for that specific product.
Virtuemart 2.0 must let us specify this, and VM 2.0 must automatically handle a cart comprised of a this category along with other categories.
We want to create our own products. Right now, Virtuemart has 2 products: shippable and non-shippable (downloads).
My clients want to roll their own products. Does a specific product have discounts? Does it have attributes? Is it downloadable? They want to roll their own products because they want to build a cart that makes sense to them.
My clients want reports based on products. Over and over again, I’m asked about reporting. They want a facility where they can build their own reports. Headers, footers, fields, summary columns, summation rows.
My clients want this report writing feature extended to email notifications. Over and over again, my clients want to know how they can change the email notifications.
Heck my clients want to know how they can set up follow-up emails asking clients if they have questions, and including FAQs. How wonderful if VM could talk to a site like aWeber, or perhaps an extension like AcaJoom.
Virtuemart 2.0 must be an ecommerce platform where it provides the building blocks for others to build the actual ecommerce application. Genericize all the ecommerce processes, and let third party developers build VM extensions that build the specific processes.
In fact, build Virtuemart 2.0 for the express purpose of having third party developers development. This will allow an industry of developers to offer a breath-taking array of extensions. Extensions that integrate with other Joomla extensions, and extensions that build-out functionality.
I’m convinced that the Virtuemart development team is thinking along these lines already. The auto-updater feature and the VM extensions website lead me to believe that this, indeed, is where they want to go.
However, just in case they are thinking of this direction tentatively, I want to reiterate that VM 2.0 must be an ecommerce platform, not an ecommerce application.
Genericize the ecommerce processes, and build VM 2.0 as an ecommerce platform for Joomla.
The result will be a breath taking array of applications (extensions) — both free and commercial — that the current developers could not even hope to write themselves.
-Bob
Topics: Virtuemart | No Comments »
Core Virtuemart With My “Bypass” Demo Site
By Bob Bloom | July 9, 2008
I installed Virtuemart’s July 07th build with my “Bypass” feature at http://shippingbypassforvm.com/soren.
It works. ** THANK YOU SOREN!! **
I have not looked at all the code to see how my features were adapted. Suffice to say that it is not a simple copy-paste of my code; rather, it is an adaption.
When I “buy” a free downloadable product, no payment method is listed on the Order Confirmation screen. (BTW, click the category “Hand Tools”for downloadable products).
My clients do not like this! They want the payment method to say “FREE — No Payment Required” so that they buyer has the feedback that, indeed, this transaction is free. Plus, they want to see the “FREE” payment method in the email notifications and in the order details screens both buyers & themselves see.
It’s not just a matter of offering downloadable products. You have to accomodate FREE downloads too. My Shipping Bypass add-on has the extra code to accomodate FREE downloads; and now, Soren, your adaption of my add-on must similarly accomodate FREE downloads.
Also, a message displays on the thank you screen that an email has been sent. This message displays when the email with the download link is sent to the buyer. A separate function generates this email, separate from the regular notification emails. This function generates the message. It is very convenient to see this message when I send this download email notification via the order detail screen. However, it is unwanted in the checkout process and must be removed. My Shipping Bypass add-on has this extra code; and so should your code.
Topics: Virtuemart | No Comments »
Joomla Front, Virtuemart Back
By Bob Bloom | July 9, 2008
Joomla as your shop’s front-end and Virtuemart as your checkout/administrative back-end is the way to go. Virtuemart’s browse and flypages are inadequate in this Web 2.0 world.
Instead of building out VM’s front-end capabilities, the rewritten VM 2.0 must harness the power of Joomla. That is, Joomla must be the shop’s front-end, not VM 2.0. VM 2.0 must provide the Joomla hooks.
We need the browse pages to be resident within Joomla itself — probably as a Joomla module. Essentially, we just need Joomla to access the VM tables.
Actually, this module almost already exists. It’s the “Featured Products” module. Of course, someone built their own version on top of this one called the “Extended Featured Products” module.
There should be a ton of parameters for formatting, and there should be parameters for the display of discounts, taxes, etc. Little should be hard-coded, much should be left up to us.
… I know I’m breaking blogging rules here, but I’m falling so far behind today and I need get through my to-do list! Two conference calls, client emails, etc — I want to get through everything today! So I’m going to cut this post short.
The only thing right now that links a hand-crafted Joomla product page with VM’s cart is the VM mambot. And let me tell you that I’ve had my fun making this thing work. It’s a tenuous link between the power of Joomla to sell my product and VM’s ability to consummate/administer my sales.
Virtuemart 2.0 just has to stop pretending it is a stand-alone application and harness its host program.
-Bob
Topics: JoomlaMart, Virtuemart | No Comments »
Virtuemart 2.0: Truth or Dare
By Bob Bloom | July 4, 2008
Have you seen the “Virtuemart Roadmap”?
There are two articles: “A Roadmap and lot’s [sic] to do!“; and, “Virtuemart Roadmap (WIP)“.
The money quote:
This next “big thing” will be a complete rewrite.
A COMPLETE REWRITE!
VirtueMart Version 2.0
planned Release Date:April 2009
Well, there’s a Gannt I’d love to see.
You know what I think happened? I think that Soren and his team have decided that they want Virtuemart to survive - and to thrive.
There was no doubt in my mind that VM 1.0.x was going to die. There are VM alternatives out there, in various stages of development, and one of them will most certainly kill VM 1.0.x. I have a keen eye watching for this usurper due to my vested interest!
Virtuemart 1.0.x was destined to die because its code and data model have gone about as far as they can.
I think Soren and his team had a “to be or not to be” moment, and they decided that VM will be.
Hence, the rewrite. VM 1.1/1.2 is the warm-up — and an attempt to forestall the usurpers during the rewrite.
I am convinced that Virtuemart should take a completely different tack with its rewrite. Soren and his team should not develop a Joomla ecommerce extension at all. Instead, Virtuemart should be an ecommerce development platform for a burgeoning community of third party developers, who will build the actual ecommerce application.
Soren, make the leap! The predicates already exist — the cottage industry of freelancers & developers, the huge install base, the bloggers!
Perhaps more profound than the bloggers (!) is Joomla 1.5 itself, which is a CMS development platform rather than a CMS app. Why is this profound? Joomla is all about the extensions. Joomla 1.5 is completely rewritten to be a basis for others to program with Joomla.
This is exactly what Virtuemart must be: the basis for others to program their ecommerce applications. We don’t need a rewritten version of Virtuemart. We need a platform to build our own ecommerce app, the same way Joomla extensions let us build our own CMS app.
Perhaps this is the plan. Just yesterday, this was posted on the VM blog:
The VirtueMart Remote Installer is a separate component that transfers the component and module installer directly to your server and extracts the arcive [sic] - so you can install it from directory instantly.
Extracts the archive from the new Virtuemart Extensions site, I presume! Hmm… an extensions site and an extensions installer. Sort of like peanut butter and chocolate.
The key thing that VM 2.0 needs is the ability to customize without having to use the php source files.
How can I customize the checkout process without modifying ps_checkout.php? And how many times do I have to change the “P” to a “C” in the add function because the client is puzzled why a paid transaction displays as pending? How can I customize the notification emails (or suppress them, for that matter) without touching the source code?
What about a client who wants to specify a specific checkout process for a particular category? How am I supposed to display a custom shipping method for that category only without touching the source files?
The instant you change one line in one source file, that’s it for the auto-installer: you cannot blindly use the auto-installer ever again. You have to look at the updates manually lest you overwrite your mods.
It seems to me that the auto-installer and remote installer are really beta implementations of features for the rewritten VM. And since these features require, how shall I express this, “virginal” source files , it seems that there is a plan to allow feature modifications without touching the source php files.
This applies to the MySQL database as well. Third party developers must be able to add to the database without touching the core tables. This will require a welcome rewrite of the data model.
So, if it is possible to never touch the source files when developing a third party customization, then it is possible to truly grow the third party developer community. If so, the VM third party developer community will experience explosive growth.
The Virtuemart team should think of themselves as an open-source foundation. They must develop a true ecommerce platform for Joomla. They must build the best platform that can be built. They must ensure that free and commercial VM extensions can exist. Most of all, they must let third party developers program the ecommerce features.
The Virtuemart team should cease and desist all 1.2 development immedately, and get to building the platform. Plans for the coupon system and the like must be dropped. Plans for the plugin system (inter alia) must be front and center!
Virtuemart becoming a foundation/platform rather than an application will result in the fastest possible overall development possible. More features will develop faster this way. Otherwise, April 2009 will fall by the wayside. Just look at Community Builder 1.2 development timeline.
Speaking of Community Builder, Virtuemart must remember that it installs in Joomla. “JoomlaMart” is extremely powerful. Virtuemart as an ecommerce platform overtop Joomla means that we can use the full power of Joomla to show off our products, to “blog-ify” our product pages, to use an unlimited number of articles for our products, to use context sensitive menus for our product pages (a la “mini” product website). How about Azrul.com integrating MyBlog with VM 2.0? There’s no way that VM can ever match the power of Joomla for a store’s front-end, so why not use the inherent advantage of Joomla? Browse & flypages are so constraining.
And speaking of Community Builder, VM 2.0 must meld beautifully with CB. There are about a zillion people waiting for this marriage! Imagine third party VM & CB developers developing in tandem!
Oh wait — VM 1.1 and CB 1.2 are integrated — check out http://forum.virtuemart.net/index.php?topic=41129.msg133487#msg133487
Don’t bother, CB 1.2 VM 1.1 and Joomla 1.5 are already user integrated.
To show VM accoun details in CB profile will be a feature provided by some CB plugins, or, to make it simple, in user menu, just add links you would like user to see:
-VM account details
-CB profile
-other user links..
It’s just a matter of internal site links.
Thank you, “laurent1234″ for your post in my forum!
Interesting that it’s a CB Plugin that will provide extra features — I presume a third party developer will write this. The “platform” of the VM-CB integration is built-in, but the features to bring this to life are provided by an “extension” — exactly!
The truth is, if Virtuemart doesn’t “foundation-ize”/ “platform-ize”, it is going to die at the hands of a usurper who does. The moment it’s obvious that VM is resisting its true 2.0 role, a usurper will seize the moment and VM will be toast.If Virtuemart does not dare to make the leap into its destiny, if the VM team dares not have the full vision of what it’s current direction manifests, then it will find itself in the dustbin of open source history.** UPDATE: Really, Virtuemart 2.0 should use as much of Joomla as possible. For instance, VM has its own email function, vmMail($from_email, $mosConfig_fromname, $vendor_email, $vendor_subject, $msg, “” ) — taken from ps_checkout.php. Use the Joomla email function.The less Virtuemart specific functions there are, the faster third party developers can get their Virtuemart extensions to market. Plus, the better the integration between VM and other Joomla extensions.
Someone just emailed me about problems with their RocketTheme.com menus. It smells like a MooTools conflict. The new VM themes use MooTools for the lightbox effect. The VM development team has to stop thinking of VM as a standalone app that just happens to live in Joomla. Get out there into the Joomla community! Contact Andy at RocketTheme and conduct outreach to other commercial template sites to let them know that you are building these themes, you want the lightbox effect, and how best to implement it.
This really is worthy of a post on its own. Suffice to say, the commercial template sites should be building Virtuemart themes. When VM 1.1.0 was released, so too should be Virtuemart-specific templates from the commercial template sites. I didn’t see any — did I miss them? I asked Andy at RT.com (thank you Twitter!) and he said he had nothing developed for the new VM. Well, for VM 2.0, these commercial Joomla template sites should have a lot of input into how the VM themes are structured, so that they can build VM-specific templates.
Topics: Virtuemart | No Comments »
My Bypass Will Be In Virtuemart
By Bob Bloom | July 4, 2008
Soren adapted my Shipping Bypass add-on to the Virtuemart SVN. So, it will be part of an upcoming version of Virtuemart.
-Bob
Topics: Shipping Bypass, VM 11, Virtuemart | No Comments »
Downloads - No More Bypassing Core!
By Bob Bloom | June 23, 2008
Great that Soren, founder of Virtuemart, commented on my last post.
Soren, your ears must be burning — I’m thinking of you! Soren, it’s time to incorporate my “Shipping Bypass” fixes into VM 1.1.x’s core.
- I am adding too many critical features.
- My theme tweaks should be part of VM’s suite of themes & all third party themes.
- You should ensure that my critical features are maintained in future releases — and that they do not conflict with future releases.
The critical feature I am adding is: download file handling in checkout.
My “Shipping Bypass” feature simply skips the shipping method when the only products in the cart are download products.
Additionally for VM 1.1.0, I am adding handling for FREE downloads.
Whilst adding these capabilities, I am finding some errors in the VM source. It seems that VM 1.0.x code was re-arranged to accomodate your new themes feature. However, the re-arranged code has some bugs. I don’t know if you are fixing them for VM 1.1.1.
Right now, Virtuemart allows for downloadable products. However, there is no customized handling for downloadable products. None!
What my suite of “Shipping Bypass” features does — these are not finished!
- When the only products in the cart are downloadable products, the shipping method is skipped + the shipping method does not display in the order confirmation screen.
- When the only products in the cart are FREE downloadable products, the shipping method is skipped + my new “FREE” payment method is selected + the shipping method does not display in the order confirmation screen + the download link displays in the email notification.
VM actually has code to sense if the order total is zero (free). However, as the $order_total variable is not recognized in that conditional, the if statement is always false, so the relevant code is always skipped. Also, that code just skips the Payment Method; but, it’s much better to insert a payment method into the tables.
The email notification for free downloads excludes the download link.
In the generic sense, VM needs two things:
- the ability for users to specify their own custom product type;
- the ability for users to specify their own custom checkout process for their own custom product type.
This is probably much too ambitious to contemplate right now. My clients would love to demarcate a product’s type and attach a specific shipping method &/or payment method to that product.
At the least, my enhanced “Shipping Bypass” features should be incorporated into the upcoming VM version.
I am not finished; however, I wanted to post sooner than later.
-Bob
Topics: VM 11, Virtuemart | 2 Comments »
Beware VM Auto-Updater
By Bob Bloom | June 20, 2008
Virtuemart 1.1.1 is coming out shortly.
According to this article, “This will also be the first time, when you can update VirtueMart using the built-in version-updater function”.
If you have any VM PHP file tweaks, beware! Back up your site first, cross your fingers, and hope that this new auto-updater doesn’t overwrite-and-destroy your source code edits.
**UPDATE:Bravo Virtuemart! I’m installing VM 1.1.1 and this message displays:
General Warning
Installing an Update for VirtueMart using a Patch Package can cause damage on your site if you have already modified some files of the VirtueMart component. The Patching Process will overwrite all the files listed below - it won’t just apply smaller changes (diff), but replace the existing file with the new one. If you have modified VirtueMart files on your own, this can lead to inconsistent files and missing class/function dependencies.
Hey, if WordPress can give a similar warning for plugin auto-updating, although WordPress lacks the lawyers’ touch:
-Bob
Topics: VM 11, Virtuemart | 2 Comments »
JoomlaMart - Tell Your Story!
By Bob Bloom | June 11, 2008
My first JoomlaMart site is http://79.170.40.54/underthecherrymoon.co.uk/.
Now that we are using Joomla for product pages, we are discovering that there’s more work than just filling in a short description field.
Each product can have it’s own mini-website (never mind its own website, if need be), with it’s own blog, videos, slideshows, comments, articles, et al.
My mantra “Tell your products’ stories” is making me rebellious.
I’m rebelling against the standard-usual layout, which buries the very things that ought to be front-and-center.
I’m rebelling against the main menu. Every site has a main menu — how can you toss it out? I’ll tell you, it’s bland, non-descriptive, and every important thing is buried. We are trained to have a main menu that people use to get deeper into our site. And then have a cluttered home page that leaves it up to the buyer to figure out what to do. Toss the main menu out the window, and bring the good stuff front-and-centre on the home page!
Oh yeah, I’ll tell you, Virtuemart dulls the senses! All my clients have very little cash for their sites. So they install Joomla and Virtuemart, fill in their product pages, get that awful product scroller module going, and there it is.
But what is your competitive advantage if you have little money to throw at your site? I’ll tell you what it is: elbow grease!
Use Joomla to tell your products’ stories, compile images & videos, have tons of product information, set up a blog, and make your products front-and-centre! There’s no cash outlay required to do a mock up of your site. Joomla gives you the tabula rosa you need, so map your site’s flow, rehearse your content, streamline your menus.
I’ll tell you, I’m struggling with this. I know what a site is “supposed” to look like. But if I succumbed to this standard look, the bounce rate is going to be huge. We have mere seconds to convince people to stay on our sites. Standard main menu fare like “products”, “blog”, “help”, “about” is going to put people to sleep. WE CANNOT MAKE PEOPLE FIGURE OUT WHY THEY SHOULD STAY. WE HAVE TO HAVE OUR COMPELLING REASONS FRONT-AND-CENTRE.
Ok, so I’m finding out for myself, that JoomlaMart is a culture change. Now that we aren’t shoehorning our site into VM anymore, we have to really figure out our site. Making a product-centric site that tells the story takes some figuring out.
So, I’m going to suggest to my client that throw away this first try. Now that we know what we are trying to accomplish, we should really storyboard this site first.
UPDATE: Just spent 90 minutes on the phone with my client. I’m amazed how new this angst is — the angst of figuring out how to design a product-centric site. No more just getting the products into Virtuemart!
-Bob
Topics: VM 11, Virtuemart | No Comments »
Free Download — Enhanced Shipping Bypass For Virtuemart 1.1.0
By Bob Bloom | June 9, 2008
My enhanced Shipping Bypass for Virtuemart 1.1.0 is now available on my forum at http://www.southlasalle.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=9.
There are 2 enhancements:
- Payment Bypass - when you offer free downloads, my new “free” payment method displays correctly. I also correct a VM bug.
- A Shopper Group that you specify can have free shipping.
You have to find your Shopper Group’s ID in the MySQL database. No drop-down selection yet.
As always, you must back-up & test!
-Bob
Topics: VM 11, Virtuemart | No Comments »
Profit Power with JoomlaMart
By Bob Bloom | May 23, 2008
I was working into the wee hours on enhancements to my Shipping Bypass for Virtuemart last night (early morning) at the beheset of a paying client. I charged a highly reduced rate in exchange for posting my enhancements in my forum.
With my Shipping Bypass add-on, Virtuemart will skip the shipping method during checkout when all products in the cart are downloadable products. With my new enhancement, Virtuemart will now allow you to offer free downloads.
Do you know what I found? ps_checkout.php already has the code snippet to accomodate free purchases. So why do I have to enhance Virtuemart? Two reasons: the existing code snippet does not work; and, if it did work, no payment method displays. I had to go to basket.php and add “global $order_total;” so that ps_checkout.php recognizes the $order_total variable from basket.php. So, the existing IF statement is always false, resulting in the usual payment method choices when your free order does not require them.
Funny how there is a shipping method called “free_shipping” (go to Store | Edit and look at the “minimum amount for free shipping” box), but there is no “free_payment” payment method. Nope. If the existing IF statement were ever true, you’d end up without a payment method. The confirmation screen still has the label “Payment Method”, and then nothing there. It looks like something went wrong. Similarly, the order details screen will simply not have a payment method, which looks like something went wrong. So I created a “FREE” payment method and it sure looks good — simply because there is a payment method specified. When my client user tests my enhancements, I’ll post it for free download for you.
I had a look at the Virtuemart theme files. These files are, essentially, the same php from 1.0.x, but reshuffled around. I suppose themes makes it easier to change the layout, but I confess that my first impression was “who gives a shit!”.
There is probably a software development theory akin to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Something like: the software can’t reach its self-actualization potential until the basic core features are nailed first. And the basic core features are not nailed.
Do you know what my clients really want from Virtuemart? They want what it is really designed to do: be the cart. Virtuemart is the back-end. That’s what it does. It takes buyers through checkout. Version 1.1 should be the ultimate check-out experience, and completely ignore any ambitions to be a front-end. Just leave the browse & fly pages alone, warts and all. Just focus on the heart of VM.
Why the heck do I even have to upgrade my shipping bypass feature from 1.0.x to 1.1? Never mind fixing the not-working “free” payment method? Meanwhile, my clients — and the VM forum — clamour for deeper shipping functions.
I’ll continue offering my free-downloads for core back-end functions that VM didn’t bother with for version 1.1. And, I’ll see what I have to develop to make life easier using Joomla as the store’s front-end.
I have a client site that is ditching VM’s front-end. No more fly and browse pages. Now, it’s the full power of Joomla at our disposal. Joomla is the store, and VM is the check-out. I am convinced that this is the way to use VM. My client has agreed to let me talk about the development of her site on my blog, and I’m thrilled to have a case study to relate.
When I set up a VM site, I enter the products and categories, and I pretty-up the browse & fly pages. I’m totally focused on shoehorning a set of products into VM. Today, I had a completely different experience. I had the entire Joomla tableau at my fingertips — the freedom and the power! So what happened? I asked my client what her business plan is. Instead of being techno-centric to cope with the limitations of the software, I needed to know what her plan is so I can build Joomla to implement her plan. Joomla got me business focused. I like the change already!
This site is going to be unlike any other VM site I’ve ever done. It is probably going to be the prototype of how I create VM sites from now on. Certainly, my mindset is different.
Combine the power of Joomla with VM’s back-end cart specialty (warts and all) to execute a real e-comm business plan. JoomlaMart!
Bookmark my blog, or subscribe to my RSS feed, or subscribe to email updates (Feedburner does the emails, I don’t touch it), for updates on our JoomlaMart development.
-Bob
P.S. I know there are problems with managing tons of products, products with attributes, etc. I’ll figure a way to bring some VM into Joomla.
Topics: JoomlaMart, Virtuemart | No Comments »
Joomlify Virtuemart!
By Bob Bloom | May 15, 2008
Remember this: when you install Virtuemart, you still have Joomla.
All to often, once VM is installed, Joomla plays second fiddle. After responding to requests to jazz up VM’s browse and fly pages, I beseech thee: take back your Joomla!
(continue reading Joomlify Virtuemart!…)
Topics: JoomlaMart, Virtuemart | 8 Comments »
Discount For My Clients At Azrul.com
By Bob Bloom | May 13, 2008
My clients get a discount on MyBlog and JomComment. Also on NiceTalk, which I’ve not installed.
Instead of participating in their affiliate program, I asked if I could offer my clients a direct discount instead. Why, yes I can!
I advise my clients, I don’t sell products to my clients. I recommend what is best for my clients, not what puts commissions in my pocket. So I’m happy that Azrul.com offers my clients a discount because MyBlog & JomComment are native 1.5 components, and there aren’t many native 1.5 blog components; and, I often recommend MyBlog to my clients.
MyBlog + Community Builder 1.2 (progressing) + Virtuemart 1.1 + RocketWerk’s phpBB3 bridge (in RC4 now) + phpBB3 = awesome!
MyBlog is the only commercial component, and now my clients pay less.
I suggested to Azrul.com that they incorporate podcasting into MyBlog, but it does support Feedburner.
-Bob
Topics: MyBlog | No Comments »
Free JCS-VM Integration Files
By Bob Bloom | May 9, 2008
My JCS 1.5.10 - VM 1.0.14 integration files are available for free download on my forum.
I had a request today for my integration files, and JCS & VM now have new versions for Joomla native 1.5. So I am finally releasing them.
Please read my forum write-up, and my readme file, before downloading.
-Bob
Topics: JCS, Virtuemart | No Comments »
Virtuemart 1.1: PayPal Pro
By Bob Bloom | April 30, 2008
I had to make modifications to the modifications of the original PayPal Pro add-on for VM 1.0.
So here it is: the PayPal Pro payment method that does not come with Virtuemart 1.1.
Y’know, this one really ought to be in a core payment method, not an add-on.
Grab it at http://www.southlasalle.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10.
-Bob
Topics: VM 11, Virtuemart | No Comments »
Virtuemart 1.1: Fedex
By Bob Bloom | April 30, 2008
Just tested the Fedex shipping module that comes with VM 1.1, using Fedex’s test server.
Works! And I did not have to fish for the VM forum post that has the mod to the FedEx — what a relief!
-Bob
Topics: FedEx, VM 11, Virtuemart | No Comments »
Over Extended Virtuemart Extensions
By Bob Bloom | April 26, 2008
The new Virtuemart came with a brand new website: http://extensions.virtuemart.net/.
The purpose:
The “VirtueMart Extensions Directory” is a Collection of Links for Modules, Modifications and other Scripts that extend, improve or modify VirtueMart.
What is the difference between this and the VM Forum’s “Development Projects, Modifications, Hacks & Tweaks (For VM 1.1)“?
These new extensions mimic Joomla extensions. They use the Joomla installer. This new site mimics Joomla’s extension site.
Most notably, under the “Listing Rules“:
Hacks which alter VirtueMart source code must do so through the standard Joomla! install and uninstall process. Uninstalling should revert any changes made to VirtueMart source code.
Joomla extension developers are not supposed to touch the Joomla source code. Joomla is the development platform and developers build from there.
(continue reading Over Extended Virtuemart Extensions…)
Topics: VM 11, Virtuemart | 5 Comments »
Free Shipping Bypass for VM 1.1.0
By Bob Bloom | April 24, 2008
My free shipping bypass add-on for Virtuemart 1.1.0 is now available.
My demo site is at http://shippingbypassforvm.com.
Download it from my forum.
The problem my add-on solves is: the shipping steps display during check-out when downloadable products are the only products in the cart; and, you have the shipping method enabled since you also sell physical products.
My add-on allows Virtuemart to automatically determine when the shipping steps display during check-out.
-Bob
Topics: Shipping Bypass, VM 11, Virtuemart | 5 Comments »
New Virtuemart 1.1: First Look
By Bob Bloom | April 23, 2008
The new stable Virtuemart 1.1.0 for native Joomla 1.5 was released today.
I installed it on my evaluation site, http://giftwrapforvm.com/vm11_j152, with Joomla 1.5.
After taking my first look, I recommend it to my clients.
(continue reading New Virtuemart 1.1: First Look…)
Topics: VM 11, Virtuemart | No Comments »
Potent Joomla Potables For A Thousand
By Bob Bloom | April 19, 2008
I think Joomla 1.5 represents an improved “value proposition” over Joomla 1.0.
I anticipate that as I get deeper into Joomla 1.5, and as native Joomla 1.5 extensions are released, I’m going to discover that Joomla 1.5 offers much deeper value to site owners.
(continue reading Potent Joomla Potables For A Thousand…)
Topics: Joomla | No Comments »
Joomla: Control Freak’s Dominion
By Bob Bloom | April 19, 2008
“So, Bob, what’s the difference between Joomla and this guy’s content system?”
Earlier this month, my friend comes over with a print-out of a company that does websites in Toronto. They sent him a junk fax, which triggers his interrogation.
“You do Joomla? This company has his own system he sells? Why should I bother with you and Joomla?”.
(continue reading Joomla: Control Freak’s Dominion…)
Topics: Joomla | No Comments »
My New Forum is Launched
By Bob Bloom | April 19, 2008
My new forum is at http://forum.southlasalle.com.
I received a question via Virtuemart’s site, which became the perfect excuse to finally install phpBB3. (continue reading My New Forum is Launched…)
Topics: Joomla, Virtuemart | No Comments »
HostGator.com: My Host of Choice
By Bob Bloom | April 18, 2008
I just finished a quick on-line chat with HostGator.com support.
Another question posed, another question answered (why doesn’t my Apache .php5 handler work?).
Which reminded me that I wanted to post about HG. They are terrific!
As a freelancer, I’ve worked with the main Joomla webhosts, but I never think to move my own reseller account.
(continue reading HostGator.com: My Host of Choice…)
Topics: Joomla | 2 Comments »
My Add-ons Are Now FREE!
By Bob Bloom | April 9, 2008
My add-ons are FREE. They are here.
Virtuemart 1.2 for Joomla 1.5.x is on the way, despite its one month delay.
JoomSuite’s Member for Joomla 1.5.x is also on the way.
So my add-ons have a limited shelf life!
I think its time to give away my add-ons.
If you are comfortable performing surgery on Virtuemart, you’ll be fine.
If you are *not* comfortable performing surgery on Virtuemart, well caveat emptor!
As always, I urge/beg/cajole/emphatic-arm-waving you to back up first. I copy the files I’m going to mess with and rename them to filename_ORIGINAL.php. How you do it is less important that you do it!
And please backup your database first as well. Ok, you’re right. If you see in my readme that I have not modified the db, then you really don’t have to backup your db. Although, in general, you should be backing up your database anyways.
Please-oh-please take extreme care when you have already modified a file that I myself have modified for my add-on.
You cannot simply overwrite your file with my file because you will lose your mods. I don’t want that to happen.
Backup your file first.
My files are commented so you can see where to copy-paste.
Do note that my add-ons do work. If you are experiencing problems, do what you can from your end first before emailing me.
Thank you very much for your interest!
My free add-ons are here.
-Bob
Topics: Virtuemart | No Comments »
I’ve Been Flocked!
By Bob Bloom | April 6, 2008
I was wondering today what would be a great way to post to my blog without logging in.
Then, I came across the new Flock browser, “The Social Web Browser”.
Voila! I can post with this browser. Excellent! What a nice alternative to logging in.
This will be great for RadioLightStream.com.
To use WordPress’s advanced features and plugins, we must actually login.
Flock is my feed reader now. It’s the Firefox browser displaying my feeds in a desktop-app type of presentation. It’s terrific!
If you do not have a feed reader and are pulling (what’s left of your) your hair out with all the sites you visit, this is the one to try.
Now, I have to find out where my profiles are stored so I can back them up. (It would be nice if programmers everywhere just hardwired into their thinking to let us poor users select which folder we want to store our data). Ok, here’s the FAQ and the answer: “C:\Documents and Settings\[your login profile name]\Application Data\Flock\Browser\”
-Bob
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Topics: Wordpress | No Comments »
Dangerous Bedfellows
By Bob Bloom | April 4, 2008
Based on a recent client experience…
You MUST NOT register your domain with your webhost.
You MUST NOT register your domain with your web consultant.
You MUST have YOU as your “administrative contact”.
(continue reading Dangerous Bedfellows…)
Topics: General | No Comments »
WP Theme for $$: Mimbo Pro
By Bob Bloom | March 25, 2008
No doubt about it: I see Wordpress through Joomla coloured glasses.
Especially the themes. So Joomla calls ‘em templates and Wordpress calls ‘em themes.
I bought the “Mimbo Pro” theme from ProThemeDesign for RadioLightStream, and I’m loving it.
Commercial templates — er, themes — are a new thing for Wordpress; although old hat for Joomla. I’ve yet to see anyone charge for Wordpress extensions — er, plugins — which surprises me because commercial Joomla extensions have been around forever. It looks like, for some, charging for any Wordpress template/theme or extension/plugin is an act of betrayal. I also think that the pressures have been building for commercial Wordpress themes/plugins, and now the cat is out of the bag.
(continue reading WP Theme for $$: Mimbo Pro…)
Topics: Wordpress | 2 Comments »
Top Traits of Toxic Clients
By Bob Bloom | March 21, 2008
My experience: a toxic client makes me work for my money three times:
1) Grinding negotiations that seem to take forever;
2) Tons of small minor innocuous beyond-scope requests that taken together really add up;
3) The sine qua non of toxicity: a grinding time-consuming collection process.
(continue reading Top Traits of Toxic Clients…)
Topics: General | No Comments »
Your Joomla Is In My Wordpress!
By Bob Bloom | March 19, 2008
I’m deep into Wordpress due to RadioLightStream.com.
Wordpress is a blogging platform, built specifically for blogging.
And what is the trend with Wordpress? Have Joomla features!
Have content management-ish features. Have Joomla Administrator-ish features.
I welcome these Joomla-ish features. But at no time will Wordpress ever be confused for Joomla.
Joomla is getting decidely more Wordpress-ish with more blogging extensions being released. The most intriguing extension is Mojoblog, an “integrated joomla 1.0.15 blogging component developed loosely around … WordPress”. Well, I need the real thing, not an ersatz version of the real thing, for RadioLightStream.
Mojoblog with iJoomla’s RSSFeeder (no, I’m not an affiliate) looks like a very intriguing combination. For those that need a little Wordpress in their Joomla.
-Bob
Topics: Joomla, Wordpress | No Comments »
RadioLightStream - My Ongoing Gig
By Bob Bloom | March 19, 2008
I’ve been busy putting together the site for RadioLightStream.com.
What is unique about this site is I am launching and growing it. It is an ongoing gig.
I am having a blast. And I am not using Joomla!
(continue reading RadioLightStream - My Ongoing Gig…)
Topics: Wordpress | No Comments »
Joomla 1.5 and Virtuemart 1.1 on March 31st
By Bob Bloom | March 11, 2008
****UPDATE: Ok, so it’s 10:17pm on Tues Apr 09th and the new version is supposed to be released. Now it says “Wednesday April 23, 9:00pm”. I’ll tell you what: when it’s released, I’ll announce it here with my first impressions.
****UPDATE: Aha! VM “2.0″ delayed to April 09. I think it’s “we’ll get there when we get there” all over again, like it’s always been. That’s fine with me. If you’re going to make the bold statement that you are launching something at a certain hour on a specific day, then make sure your Gantt chart is bullet-proof first.
No sooner than I post my “belt and suspenders” post about delaying using Joomla 1.5 than I see that Virtuemart and Community Builder are coming out with native 1.5 versions.
Virtuemart added a menu item that says that Virtuemart 1.1 production version’s release date is March 31st. Between 9:00pm and 10:00pm, no less!
Well, I’m going to install “2.0″ with “1.0″ and take it on a test flight.
Community Builder has this tidbit in their forum that CB 1.2 is in beta and will be released within weeks “hopefully”.
Naturally, since my “2.0″ post, I’ve seen a pickup in the number of Joomla extensions rewritten for “2.0″.
So my official date to start recommending “2.0″ is 10:00pm on March 31st.
-Bob
Topics: Joomla, Virtuemart | No Comments »
Joomla 1.5: Evil Temptress
By Bob Bloom | March 6, 2008
It should be version 2.0, not 1.5!
Clients think it’s a maintenance release due to the version numbering.
Oh no! Joomla 1.5 is a profound change from version 1.0.x.
(continue reading Joomla 1.5: Evil Temptress…)
Topics: Joomla | No Comments »
Joomla as a Hub
By Bob Bloom | February 29, 2008
Have Joomla at the hub of your website.
Use “best of breed” apps for functions that are not Joomla’s specialty.
My epiphany comes from three simultaneous experiences:
- huge frustration with Virtuemart;
- blogging with Joomla;
- phpBB3 is now Joomla.org’s forum.
Hey, Virtuemart is my sub-specialty. So what’s with my frustration? Surely I can overcome what VM throws my way? Shipping, that’s what! There are a lot of little frustrations with VM — but real-time shipping rates is in a class by itself. Time for alternatives.
(continue reading Joomla as a Hub…)
Topics: Joomla, Shipping, Virtuemart, Wordpress | No Comments »
Fixing Problems for Panicked Clients
By Bob Bloom | February 26, 2008
Most of my clients find me in various stages of panic after something goes wrong with their current Joomla consultant. Clients have told me that they’ve already gone through three or four consultants already.
Clients emailing me in a panic after x number of people have left them hanging are in no mood to discuss deposits, let me tell you! They need to get over the hump last week, and feel forced to gamble on me because they are stuck, and I “seem” like I “could” actually accomplish something. They need me to fix something.
Many times it’s technical people or project managers contacting me and, believe me, they clearly understand the technical issues. They’ve been up late trying to hammer out their problems, and they are more intimate with Joomla than they realize. They want straight answers to hard specific questions. Just answer my questions and we’ll talk money later if you’re worthy!
I get so many enquiries to fix something that I should change my tagline to a Home Depot-ish: “They can’t do it, I can help!”.
These fix-it engagements are mostly in the $300-$500 range, and usually take one week (give or take). I waive my deposit most of the time and I rarely get stiffed.
Speaking of getting stiffed, here’s my experience: people who milk me hard for my Joomla smarts don’t pay. When someone starts interrogating me about Joomla, I move on. Been there, done that.
So if you need help getting over the hump, are wary of consultants, and refuse to give the next guy a plugged penny until he does something real, then contact me.
Next up, I want to talk about Virtuemart̷