Custom Vantage Web™
How to change settings in your website—Part 3
by Amanda Katon
Introduction
These past two months, we have dipped our toes into the settings available on your Stamp Shop Web website. This month, we continue our journey and look at the settings related to allowing and creating gift certificates, inventory notices, mail server settings and orders. Settings help you to create the best possible site that functions according to your needs. Let’s see what these sections have to offer you!
Steps to Follow
To view the settings available for your website, you must first be signed into the admin area of your Stamp Shop Web site. Once you are logged in, click the Settings Tab. Start by clicking on the Gift Certificates link from the left hand settings menu.
Gift Certificates
Within the Gift Certificates options, you will find the settings related to allowing and creating gift certificates on your site. Let’s look at them in greater detail (see Picture 1).
Gift Certificates Available?: this option, if checked, will make gift certificates available for purchase and redemption on your site. By clicking this box (and then saving the change using the OK button), customers will be able to purchase gift certificates. They will click on the Customer Service link and then the Gift Certificates link from the left hand menu (Picture 2). When this box is checked, your site will only be able to redeem gift certificates that were purchased on your site.
Minimum Certificate Amount: type in the minimum amount available for purchase in this field.
Maximum Certificate Amount: type in the maximum amount available for purchase in this field.
Gift Certificate Email: to edit the gift certificate email sent to the purchasing customer, click the Edit button next to this option. Once you click Edit, you will be brought to the Content Tab to edit the gift certificate email message. Here you can customize and design what your gift certificate looks like and what is sent to the customer (Picture 3).
When you have completed your edits to the gift certificates email, please remember to click the Save Changes button. After purchasing a gift certificate, the customer will receive this email with a gift certificate code, which is redeemable on your site (Picture 4).
Customers’ View when redeeming Gift Certificates: when customers redeem their gift certificates on your site, they simply copy and paste the gift certificate code (provided in the gift certificate email) in the gift certificate field (Picture 5) on the Ship & Pay page during the checkout process. Once they have typed in the gift certificate code, they will click the Go button directly to the right of their entered gift certificate code. The total amount due will refresh, showing a remaining balance after the gift certificate was applied.
Inventory Notices
Under the Inventory Notices settings link, you can configure Inventory tracking options. In addition to tracking inventory, you have the option to receive Low Stock Notices sent by email (Picture 6).
Low stock report last sent: learn when the last stock report was sent to the email address provided in the Email report to field. If any changes are made, be sure to click the OK button in order to save them.
Send Low Stock Notice Every __hours: set the number of hours between each notice when inventory stock is low.
Email report to: enter the email address(es) of staff members who should receive inventory reports.
Disable Inventory Tracking: check this box if you want to disable inventory tracking on your site.
Disable Strict Inventory: select this box if you prefer to disable strict inventory on your site. Strict inventory allows you to have SKU variances.
Mail Server
Within the Mail Server link, you will find options to adjust your mail server settings, which are used to send out emails from the system. If any changes are made to these settings, be sure to click the Save Changes button after editing the options (Picture 7).
Mail Server: type the address of your mail server here. If you are using the mail server provided through Connectweb Technologies, Inc., your mail server address will be: “mail.yourdomainname.com” (for example, mail.connectweb.net).
Use Basic SMTP Authentication: check this box if your mail server requires authentication. If you are using the mail server provided by Connectweb Technologies, Inc., then this box should remain unchecked with no credentials entered into the Username and Password fields.
Username: enter the Username for the mailbox account used for authentication.
Password: enter the Password for the mailbox account used for authentication.
Send Test Message: if you want to send a test message, enter the appropriate email address here. When you receive the test messages in your inbox, you can verify that the mail server was configured properly.
Orders
Within the order settings, you will find options to adjust your order preferences. The settings in this section play an important role in how order receipts are received by the site administrator, when carts and credit card information are cleaned from the system and more. Let’s take a closer look at each of these options (Picture 8).
Follow-on URL: this feature allows you to create a link to a page (HTML or a Category Page) on your site that is displayed on the checkout_receipt.aspx page. The Follow-On button will appear on the receipt page, and the customer can then click the button to go to your HTML/Category Page. To activate the feature, type the path to the page in this field. This would overwrite the default path, which returns the customer to the homepage after checkout.
Minimum Quantity: set the minimum quantity of products that can be ordered on your site. The default is set to 1.
Quantity Limit: set the maximum quantity of products that can be ordered on your site. The default is set to 9999.
Minimum Amount: set the minimum dollar amount of an order on your site. The default is set to 0.
Amount Limit: set the maximum dollar amount of an order. The default is set to 9999.99.
Allow $0.00 Orders: if selected, this feature allows you to accept orders of items that you have priced at $0.00.
Merge Identical Cart Items: this feature allows you to group identical non-customizable items in the cart as a specific quantity, instead of displaying the duplicate items individually.
Send Email When New Orders Arrive: check this box to receive notification when new orders arrive on your site. In the field to the right, type the appropriate email address(es).
Last Order Number: this feature displays the last order number used. This becomes the basis for the next order number.
Increase each order number by a random number between: this option lets you control how the order numbers will be generated. For example, the default is 1 and 1, so the order numbers would increase by one from the previous order number (in other words, 1001, 1002, 1003, etc.).
Show Special Instructions Field at Checkout?: check this box if you would like to display the special instructions field during the checkout process. This field allows customers to give special instructions for their order.
Allow Multiple Shipping Addresses?: choose this option if you want to allow multiple shipping addresses. By selecting this, each item in a customer’s order can be shipped to a different address.
Clean up was last run: the date and time of the last clean up will appear here for the following clean up options.
Run order clean up every __ day: set the schedule for cleaning up incomplete orders here.
Clean up carts older than __ days: set the timing of cart clean-up based on the number of days you want carts to remain active. The default is set to 1. If you leave it on the “1” default, a customer who adds products to the cart and returns the next day to finish the order would find the products removed. That customer would have to start the order process over again. We recommend increasing the number to three days to benefit your customers.
Clear CC numbers from completed orders older than __ days: set the number of days credit card (CC) numbers will be stored on your site once an order is marked as complete under the Orders Tab. We will discuss Orders in more detail in a future issue.
Send drop shipper notices on Authorization instead of on Charge: check this box if you want to send a notice to the drop shipper (the “Ship From” address inside the product) when you have authorized the order, instead of when the order has been charged.
Default Order Manager Date Range: you can determine what the default will be for the date range of orders displayed on the Order Manager page.
Order Manager—Order to Show per Page: set the number of orders that will be displayed when working in the Orders Tab under the Order Manager link.
Automatically Send Status Update Emails: this feature sends email messages to the customer whenever the order status is changed under the Orders Tab.
After editing any of these options under the Order link in the Settings Tab, be sure to click the OK button to save your changes.
Up to this point, we have covered half of the options available under the Settings Tab. Hang in there—we are almost through the vast amount of options available to you. Look for more discussion in future issues. All of these settings illustrate the many ways you can customize your site so that it truly functions the way you envision it will. That’s one of the advantages of a Stamp Shop Web website!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Amanda Katon is a member of the Connectweb Technologies, Inc. family, a software development and Web hosting company that specializes in software for the marking devices industry. Katon is a graduate of Mount Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts, with a Bachelors of Science in Graphic Design. Upon graduating in May 2010, she started out working for a marketing company. After eight months, she went back to school at North Shore Community College in Beverly, Massachusetts where she earned her certificate in Web design. She joined the Connectweb family in June 2011, focusing her skills on designing custom websites for Stamp Shop Web customers. As part of Connectweb, Katon enjoys helping customers and building lasting relationships with them by implementing one-on-one customer service. Outside of work, Katon enjoys outdoor activities and doing crafts. For further help, contact Amanda Katon at 800-556-9932; Email: amanda@cwebtechnologies.com