Zen Cart and WizTech News
Lots of important news so this is long newsletter - don't delete, read!
Recent Module Changes/Updates of Note
UPS: new module required but even that is dicey. As a January 2019, UPS changed some things on their servers and Zen Cart released a new UPS module. I have found that this is not a fix on all websites - some have switched to the UPS XML module instead due to intermittent problems with normal UPS. Either is fine but XML requires a free UPS account.
USPS: Some of you may have noticed the module announcing a new version available. The last change was March of 2018 but most folks are probably using the Sept 7, 2017 version. Another was released days later but staying with the 9/7 is probably fine when set up properly. The March update does not trigger the warning in admin and both of the two last ones were technical details that don't affect most customers.
Contact Us: I'm sure you've noticed the rise in spam from your contact form and maybe even from spam account creations. The contact form was overcome early last year by spammers. Finally, I have a solution. It's a mod that is still under development but available now. I have created my own version and it seems to work with both 1.5.4 and 1.5.5. DrByte (Zen Cart's Big Guy) oversaw a recent version of that which is more 1.5.6 oriented.
Create Account Spam: I've seen a rash of sites dealing with spam account creations - that seem to overcome the captcha boxes and most attempts to stop them. I may have a possible working solution for 1.5.5 and definitely have some code if the spam accounts appear to have links as the name. There's a quickie facility as well to delete those specific accounts. Understand that no one on my server is having this issue and it does not seem to be a lot of websites who are dealing with this so far.
Authorize.net: Changes announced long ago went into full effect last week. More about that is available here: https://wiztech4zc.com/blog/authorize-net-changes-in-effect/ Let me know if you need my help.
Hack? Well, there is a bit of weirdness going on which has affected one customer of mine. No one is sure how this happened but it injects code into a database field in attempt to capture and send cc info to other realms. Easy to check - configuration > minimum values > credit card number (or other cc fields there). The credit card number field should be just a number. Anything else in those minimum fields is not correct and you should restore the numbers. CC number should probably be 10 for most customers. Anyone that does find that nasty code should contact a Zen Cart professional. One fellow has been working on this trying to figure out how it's happening so the more reports and look sees will help all of us. Due to this I did make some changes to my ReadyToGo template - that info is below.
Is It Time to Upgrade?
1.5.4 Carts: Um, maybe. If I installed your 1.5.4 cart, I did apply patches. If someone else installed yours, those patches may not have been applied. But the truth is that one piece of hidden code may be need to be upgraded in addition. Zen Cart includes a type of code called jQuery (as do most websites nowadays). The 1.5.4 version still calls for a older version (so does 1.5.5) but as far as I know calling for the more recent version should work fine and adds a layer of security that is a bit of security enhancement. So yes, I can fix that for you but really, if you are thinking about any work right now, upgrading to 1.5.5f is probably best instead.
1.5.5 Carts: I still would not upgrade to 1.5.6 yet. Two versions so far and I don't know if they are going to release another. I always prefer to wait until the newest version has been out a year before upgrading. One issue though is that pesky jQuery as discussed above. Upgrading one file on your site should happen now so contact me for that fix or if your version is not 1.5.5f.
1.5.6: If you have upgraded to this version, the most recent is 1.5.6b. 1.5.6a had a couple problems and you should probably get the fixes in place.
An additional note: I think we are looking at an accelerated schedule for new versions. Things are moving faster in general for websites and many folks are wanting this. I feel like it makes working on sites harder but I'm not in charge! Also, mods are now being created only for the more recent versions with no previous versions. This is also going to get worse as time goes by. That certainly complicates matters and changes a key procedure for mods at Zen Cart.
Templates
Remember that having a responsive template is just required nowadays with the move to phones and tablets. Though ecommerce customers are still primarily buying on their desktop computers, those mobile customers are becoming a big part. So make sure you have something in place so you don't lose those customers. And know that this will become continually more important.
Choosing a decent template is really hard though - there's so much technical info you need to look at. I can tell you most of the templates (especially on the large template sites) are just pretty dang bad. First of all because many do not have the most recent zen cart version. Those templates are created by large firms for many ecommerce solutions and not well integrated with Zen Cart and always say they work for 1.5x but in reality have never been upgraded past 1.5.4.
You can read more about Zen Cart templates in general and my version in this long, wordy post on the blog:
https://wiztech4zc.com/blog/the-state-of-zen-cart-templates/
Delia's ReadyToGo Template
My ReadyToGo template is the base template for all my template upgrades. I now offer it only as custom work, not as a purchasable package and only for 1.5.5. Anyone on 1.5.4 really should go ahead and upgrade first.
This template is customized for you specifically with a fully branded theme and your logo. The cost includes some logo work if what you have needs altering. If you want to adapt your present template to responsive, this is one way to do it without shocking your customers with something totally new. Of course, a complete update to your website might be a good idea, too. Even big corporations do it!
I have updated it recently so if you have my template now, I have a few files changes for you. I also have removed the COWOA, checkout without account, because it changes core files. The template no longer has any core changes. So contact me to get your bits fixed, free for maintenance customers and really cheap for everybody else.
I've updated my template demo site as well. If you are thinking about a new template you can see some examples at https://deliatest.com/readytogo. More examples taken from finished projects can be seen in the portfolio: https://wiztech4zc.com/portfolio/zen-cart-responsive
Ready to buy? You can pay for it here: https://wiztech4zc.com/hosting/cart.php?a=add&pid=57
From the WizTech Blog
Recent posts include some of the news in this letter but the most recent posts are:
Authorize.net changes
https://wiztech4zc.com/blog/authorize-net-changes-in-effect/
Aging and Ecommerce
https://wiztech4zc.com/blog/aging-and-ecommerce/
How to Secure Your WordPress Site
https://wiztech4zc.com/blog/how-to-switch-wordpress-to-ssl/
Delia's ReadyToGo Template Updated
https://wiztech4zc.com/blog/delias-ready-to-go-template-updated/
The State of Zen Cart Templates
https://wiztech4zc.com/blog/the-state-of-zen-cart-templates/
WizTech Hosting
Now available for all customers - free SSL certificates! In fact it won't be too long that I make the switch so that the default is SSL instead of non-SSL. I'm converting Zen Carts to this as I go along and all wordpress sites will need a change as well. Google is demanding websites be all SSL now so this is simply accommodating that which the all-powerful wizardly Google requires. One of the great things about these certificates is that they work for both www and non-www urls.
I will be migrating sites to a new server in the near future. I sent out emails to most of my present hosting customers but I know not everyone got that email. Contact me to make sure your site migration will go smoothly. If I don't hear from you, there's a change your site will go down.
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