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Earlier this week I relaunched the Mijingo store using the Store e-e-commerce module. I do want to talk about that some more soon but right now I want to point out an article that covers some of what to think about when setting up an e-commerce site.
Justin Long wrote a good overview of what to think about when planning an commerce component to your site. He specifically talks about the Store module but most of the information is applicable no matter what tool you use.
This first article in a series that Justin is planning covers general information about:
- Payment Processors
- Accounts
- Account Management
- Products
- Checkout
- Shipping
If you’ve never done any e-commerce implementation work before this is a good place to start.
Read Justin’s entire article.
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After last Friday’s late round up post, I will continue posting a weekly collection of everything happening in the community. This is stuff that doesn’t otherwise get posted to the site throughout the week (site launches, add-on updates, etc).
Previously, people used the #frup hashtag to share news. You can still do that but please also consider using the #eenews hashtag. I’ll monitor both for my weekly post on Friday.
As usual, you can also send your news to info@eeinsider.com or send a message on Twitter.
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Nature abhors a vacuum.
Here’s this week’s weekly round-up of goings on in the ExpressionEngine community:
Have a good weekend and don’t frup around sitting on the sofa.
(How’d I do?)
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- VL File Generator ($) by Viget Labs
Need to load dynamic CSS or JSON faster? Let VL File Generator store your dynamic templates as flat files for quicker load.
- S3 Directory by Derek Hogue (Amphibian Design)
This simple fieldtype allows you to select an existing file from an Amazon S3 bucket, and then output useful info about it. This is not for uploading, editing, or deleting files in your S3 buckets. It’s essentially a simple file browser.
- Better Pagination by Brian Litzinger
This extension was created to replace the native pagination links e.g. /template-group/template/P1, with something… more usable.
- Channel Variables ($) by AutumnDev
The Channel Variables Extension allow you to run Snippets, Global Variables and user defined Global Variables from within channel entries.
- FI Cookie Purge (also for EE1) by Simon Jones
This extension destroys specified cookies that are automatically set by ExpressionEngine, unless the user has indicated their acceptance to receive them. It helps ExpressionEngine sites to comply with The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.
- MH Index by Mike Heavers
The Index plugin simply outputs the current index of an entry within the channel entries loop. This is the same as the {count} tag but starts from 0 instead of 1. Just surround the {count} tag with this tag pair.
- Login Count by Yuri Salimovskiy (IntoEEtive)
Login Count is the module and extension for ExpressionEngine 2 that counts how many times the user has logged in.
- Override_site_name by GDmac
Change {site_name} to the one you actually specified in index.php with assign_to_config
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Developer Phil Sturgeon has released his previously commercial Rest module as a free add-on.
I wrote about the Rest module a couple of years ago. Here’s what I said then:
My first reaction: this is great. A simple way to pull in external data without relying on a different add-on for each data source. Very, very cool. Some of this, of course, could be handled with other tools (like MagPie) or even with a wee bit of PHP in the template, but Phil’s module looks to be much more flexible.
Get the module now at Devot:ee or on Phil’s Github page.
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It’s been a while since anyone has written an updated tutorial on deploying ExpressionEngine site with Capistrano. Matt Fordham created a tutorial on just that topic.
Capistrano is a Ruby tool that makes deploying any kind of website (including ExpressionEngine) a piece of cake. Put simply, it allows you to run a simple command in your local dev environment that in turn executes a more complex series of commands on a remote server (via SSH), such as deploying a website. Capistrano also makes rolling back to a previous version of the site a relatively easy thing.
Capistrano’s rollback feature is what makes it so appealing to me (although I stopped using it in favor of the simpler deployment tools from Beanstalk).
Matt has a very detailed walk-thru, including a video and all of the configuration and commands you need to get started. Using Capistrano requires SSH access, so it might not be an approach for everyone.
Previous Capistrano/ExpressionEngine coverage: here, here, and here.
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Vim Interactive is hiring a senior CodeIgniter/PHP developer to work in their Baltimore office. Perks include free lunch on Fridays, collaborative work environment, benefits, and, of course, you get to work with ExpressionEngine and CodeIgniter.
Read the job listing.
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ExpressionEngine Pro Network member, Made by Hippo, put together a nice list of SEO Tips for your ExpressionEngine site. Definitely worth bookmarking for later reference. There might be something on there you aren’t doing.
I didn’t know about the Google Authors Tag and, well, excuse while me I’ll go implement that. While I’m gone, check out the entire article.
ExpressionEngine: from an SEO Point of View
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Posting notes from meetups is a great idea and I’ll try my best to collect as many of them as I can. Kristen Grote took detailed notes from the ExpressionEngine PDX meetup. Topics covered:
- Membership site functionality
- E-commerce techniques
- Planning and organizing your EE site
- Discussion of the current state of EE, EllisLab and EECI.
All of the details of the discussions are, of course, in her notes.
Do you post notes from your meetup? Get in touch and let me know!
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After some people on Twitter voiced their concern about no add-on developer talks at EECI in October, organizer Robert Eerhart listened and then made a change. He added 5 or 6 additional talks to EECI for presentations about ExpressionEngine add-on development.
From the EECI website:
The ExpressionEngine Conference 2012 will have its own Developers Track during the conference. On both days we’ll have a two track program scheduled for you in the afternoon. The Developers Track will feature in-depth topics targeted at Add-on developers. This is the track where you can learn about new ways to build an add-on, new frameworks, database techniques, security, and much more. This track will also future a debate about ‘The Future of EE Add-Ons’.
It’s going to be a nice addition to the conference.
But it’s up to you to pitch talks to the conference. Do you have an add-on development talk you want to give? Follow the instructions at the conference website to submit your idea.
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Need to know more about building a paid membership site with EE? Jon and Nate from FortySeven Media drop by the show to expand on their article, while Lea and Emily also add their membership site build experiences. We discuss planning considerations and concerns, why choose certain add-ons over others, limitations with EE membership options and solutions, as well as post-launch “gotchas” including user experience insights and eCommerce software hiccups! The show also briefly weighs in on the recent #eecms brou haha.
Tune in now!
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Based on a suggestion about last week’s post, we’ve removed the “for EE2” distinction from add-on listings. It’s safe to assume that the majority of add-ons created are made for EE2. We will leave in a note about EE1 compatibility in the rare event that a new EE1-compatible add-on hits the scene. The dollar sign remains to indicate a commercial product.
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A big part of the update to Solspace’s Freeform module was the revamp of the interface. All of the work was done by Eric Miller Design.
Eric shared some photos and sketches of the work on the Freeform user interface as it moved through the process. I spend my days working with really talented designers and I know a well-thought-out interface when I use one. Right away, when I started using the beta version a few weeks ago, it just felt right. And, as a result, it made making a video about the add-on even easier.
Very nice work.
Read Eric’s write-up of the design process.
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The two gentlemen at FortySeven Media recently created a business training membership site with ExpressionEngine. And they shared with everyone how they did it.
They set a budget of $1,000 to make this happen and using EE, some add-ons and a few services, they got it done.
Find out how they did it.
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For August, I have two open ad spaces on EE Insider. The ads run for an entire month and get half of the pageviews on the site. You get your product or service in front of a select group of web designers and developers who love ExpressionEngine and building things for the web.
Ready to make it happen? Get in touch.
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If you’re into things that never end, you might want to check out Justin Long’s write-up on how to implement infinite scrolling in ExpressionEngine.
Justin’s setup uses two turntables and a microph—sorry, “2 templates, a snippet, and a bit of jQuery goodness.”
Read Justin’s tutorial.
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In addition to having the coolest name in the ExpressionEngine community (find a cooler one, I challenge you), Bjørn is also one half of AddOnBakery and part of new a development shop. He was recently interviewed at ThemeSquirrel about his work converting and selling themes for ExpressionEngine.
My themes are just a side business, sort of a “trial” to see if there was a market for EE themes. Turns out there was, but it’s not a huge one like for WordPress. My other business is my addon business (which mentioned will soon be moved to wedoaddons.com) – my most popular addons are SEO Lite (free), AB Pagination (commercial) which makes it easier to implement custom pagination design in EE and Simple Registration (commercial) which makes it easier to create beautiful signup forms in EE.
Read the interview with Bjørn.
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EE Insider has an exclusive announcement of a big update to Freeform by Solspace. Watch the video to learn all about it:
Starting today Freeform 4 and their brand new Freeform Pro are both available.
Freeform 4 is a big update to the last version. Solspace rewrote Freeform completely and revamped the interface. Freeform Pro is the Freeform you love but with a lot of extra stuff built in. First, there are more field types available in Freeform Pro. Second, there’s the Composer. The Composer lets you create your forms inside of the Control Panel. As you can see in the video, I just dropped in one line of code and the form appears.
Freeform 4 is still free for everyone. Freeform Pro costs $79.95 per site license.
I’ve been using Freeform 4 and Freeform Pro a lot over the last few weeks. It’s a big, big update from previous versions. I hope you give it a try.
Solspace worked with EE Insider and Mijingo to put together the video, let me test a beta version of the add-on and gave me the opportunity to be the first to announce it.
Learn more about Freeform 4 and Freeform Pro.
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Between today and the EECI conference in October, Mijingo (my company) is offering a very, very special deal to all EECI attendees. You have to have already registered to get the discount. See below for all of the details.
Stock up now and get ready for October
First, you get 40% off any of our EE training materials in the Mijingo store. Yes, even the popular 4 hour ExpressionEngine video tutorial that will teach you how to build a website from beginning to end.
I also worked with the publisher of my ExpressionEngine 2 book to get you a 25% discount on the ebook.
The discount is only for attendees. To receive it, please send proof of your registration and I’ll send over both discount codes.
Registered? Email me now to get the discount codes. Get to learning and I’ll see you in Texas!
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Tickets for the EECI 2012 conference in Horseshoe Bay, Texas are now on sale.
For the two-day conference a ticket costs only $250. You also have the option of attending the third day EllisLab Campus, which costs an additional $700.
Get your tickets now.
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