The Kartris News Feed

Kartris 1.4 released

Sun, 20 May 2012 13:13:00 GMT

It's been a while, but we've finally got there!

The latest Kartris (v1.4) was released with a host of new and improved features:

Upgraded to ASP.NET 4.0
Back end graphing
Object config system - framework for extended configuration of products
Can now set qty selector, unit-size and $POA at product level, rather than globally
Canada tax support (beta)
Tax/regional setup wizard in back end, simplifies setup for various tax regimes
Markup prices improved; can now mark up RRP and qty discounts
Support for setting specific option combination prices (rather than derive prices from selected options)
Support for completely custom product controls, configurators for items whose price depends on height/width, algorithms, web-services, spreadsheet lookups, etc.
Show supplier name in order summary
Shipping price estimate in basket (optional)
Option description shows under labels for each option
Logging option for callback page
Delete option groups and attributes
Support for HTML templates for payment gateways that support injecting HTML to success page (Worldpay, etc.)
Can now link promotions and coupons, so a coupon code activates any promotion that is set to be not live

We've also upgraded our own site to the latest version and given it a facelift.

In order to provide more ways to keep up to day, we've added Facebook and Twitter links on our site, which are the recommended way to get more regular minor updates (nobody wants stream-of-consciousness by email).

To celebrate the new version, and the coupons-promotions linkage feature in particular, until 1 June 2012, you can enter K120 as a coupon code during purchase and get 20% off a full Kartris license, or discounted subsequent license.

As always, we appreciate any feedback on the new version.

best regards,

the Kartris developers

Kartris 1.3 - source code, improved skins and improved performance

Mon, 02 May 2011 09:32:23 GMT

Over the past few months we've worked hard on a major restructuring of the underlying code, and the result of our efforts is the new 1.3 release.

Kartris now features a small lightweight compiled core to provide underlying functionality, while the pages, controls, masterpages and BLL are now provided in full source code form. This opens up Kartris to developers in a way that was not possible before. Best of all, source code is available with all versions including the free one.

We've not stopped there though. We've restructured the skin system so that each skin is self-contained with a masterpage and the various CSS and image files all within a single parent folder for each skin. We've also introduced simply support for having an alternative masterpage for the home page, and a 'Skin.config' file that lets you specify alternative masterpages for certain categories, products, customers (when logged in) and customer groups, as well as for any page itself. So for example, if you want to lose a side menu on the product page and have the product full width, it is now simple to do by simply setting an alternative masterpage (and CSS) for it.

Another major underlying change is the ability to edit orders from the back end. If a customer changes their mind, or a particular item is returned, you can edit the content of the order, effectively creating a new order, cancelling the old one and linking the two for audit trail purposes. Kartris will also track the customer balance that results - overpayments if an item is removed, underpayments that need to be offset if an item is added or upgraded. This functionality is presently 'beta' but we hope to refine it further with customer feedback.

There are a host of other bug fixes and minor improvements, as well as some database tweaks to improve speed and performance.

The new version can be downloaded for free from our downloads page.

Kartris v1.2 introduces video and audio support and gives the admin section a usability overhaul

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 06:53:25 GMT

The web is now brimming with a richer experience than was possible just a few years ago. Kartris now supports video and audio, making it simple to showcase your products better than ever before. The back end admin section has also been completely redesigned for improved usability.

Kartris now featured on the MS Web App Gallery

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 08:35:47 GMT

Kartris has completed the approval process for the Microsoft Web App Gallery, and is now featured in the 'latest additions'. The MS web server IIS7, the MS Web Platform Installer and the new MS Web Matrix tool integrate with this gallery, making installing Kartris simpler than ever. Just select Kartris from the listed applications and follow the prompts to install Kartris on your machine ready for use.

The syndicated gallery is also widely used by web hosts, offering many users a way to install fully-functional apps quickly and without fiddling manually with code.

So from now on, you don't need to download Kartris directly from our web site, configure permissions, setup databases and fiddle with code. Just download one of the official Microsoft products if you don't have one already, and install directly from there. Of course, we'll continue to provide the latest downloads as a zip directly from our web site for those who prefer to do things the old-fashioned way.

Kartris-powered million-item site goes live

Sun, 09 May 2010 05:21:38 GMT

The new Miles Tools and Machinery Centre web site, powered by Kartris, features over one million items. Powerful relevance searching ensures that every single item is right at your fingertips, and extensive use of caching and optimization reduces load on the database and results in a snappy response time, even during busy periods.