The Cartooga platform is constantly evolving.  Here's the latest!

As new features are introduced or any other industry-related stuff that we consider noteworthy happens, we'll write about it here. So when you've got nothing better to do than read release notes on hosted shopping carts, return to this page and catch the latest buzz.

New cartooga.com Website

May 21, 2010
We've redesigned the Cartooga website, and thought to ourselves "What better way to demonstrate how flexible the new version is than by hosting our own site in the platform?"  That's right - the site you're viewing right now is actually a Cartooga store itself, and we're using some of the new Cartooga-exclusive features to automate the signup and new store creation process, and tie back into our accounting system.  Take a look around and you'll find everything from detailed descriptions of our features, a showcase of some of our favorite customers, and video content that demonstrates some of the capabilities of Version 2.0.

Version 2.0 Launched

May 3, 2010
The long-anticipated new version is here! Packed with cool new features, Cartooga 2.0 is sure to please everyone from the most tech savvy webmasters to the complete novice who just wants to start selling online.

Old News

The reference material below pertains to earlier versions of the platform.

Subscriptions and Split Payments

August 28, 2009
Ever watch those annoying late night infomercials where they say "Just four easy payments of $19.95"? We are pleased to announce a new subscription/split payment feature that's been built right into the Product Editor. Configure for a finite number of payments (great for splitting up a large item into multiple payments), or an ongoing subscriptions. Set whether or not the customer can cancel themselves in the My Account area, or if only you can do it. Set whether an item will be shipped upon each successful payment or not (great for 'product of the month' clubs!). Set whether shipping is included, actual shipping charges are calculated, or flat-rate it. So many options... Now this great functionality can be yours - just pay shipping & handling! Just kidding. It's already built in, you'll see it when you log in.

Members-Only Access

August 26, 2009
A few of our wholesale-only type of customers wanted to have a store that was only accessible to people they allowed in, so we added it to the platform. Now you can run a members-only store, where every average Joe off the street can't just make an account and buy from you, they have to be a member. This operates in two ways: one way your entire store is hidden and members must log in to even browse your products. The other way, members can browse, add to cart, etc. but when they go to check out the signup form is actually an APPLICATION instead. They apply for a membership and can only check out after you've approved them.

HTML Editor Revised

August 24, 2009
Web design-savy customers are always telling us how much they love the fact that they can just code in straight HTML right into Cartooga, but they were always complaining about the way they had to do it, because the HTML textarea was always wrapping their text. So we mixed it up a little bit - now you can toggle whether the HTML Editor wraps your text or not (if not, you just get the right scroll bar while editing), and you can resize the area (Firefox only right now - we're still working on this in IE) by grabbing the bottom of the text box and dragging it to make it larger or smaller.

The API has been launched!

August 12, 2009
If you're among those customers who have been looking for a way to integrate their stores with their existing accounting software or third party fulfillment companies, and now you can! The Cartooga API lets you access order information, modify order status codes (in bulk or individually), and read customer and product data via an XML interface! And this is just the beginning - eventually all back-end functions will be incorporated into the API. A handful of customers have already started taking advantage of this by writing their own scripts that access the API and reformat the data returned for a variety of applications. One such example exists with Odyssey Marine's Shipwreck Store. As the TV show's popularity grew and treasure sales increased, the folks at Odyssey needed to be able to start having their shipments handled by a third party fulfillment company. Through the API they were able to write a simple script that downloaded their orders once a day, marked them all as Processed, and sent them off to the packer to be shipped - all without ever having to log in or do anything! Another customer wanted to have their orders and customer info automatically loaded into Quickbooks. Once again the API came to the rescue. Contact our Implementation Team for assistance.

Add Customers From Login Area

August 11, 2009
Customers can now add accounts from the customer search page in the login area. We are expanding this area greatly for more accounting-style user control, and this is the first step of that expansion. This will allow you to create customer accounts yourself instead of requiring the user to sign up from the signup page.

Bug Fix: Payment Selection Type

July 28, 2009
Fixed a bug that sometimes caused none of the radio buttons to be selected for stores that accept both credit cards and PayPal. Now one option will always be selected, allowing a one-click-checkout for repeat customers. Selection isbased on the following rules:

1. If the customer already has a credit card in the system, the SELECT BOX showing their card will be the default option.
2. If the customer does not have a credit card in the system, the ADD NEW CARD dialog will be the default and the text fields for entering the card info will show up without any additional clicks.
3. If your store only accepts PayPal, only the 'Pay Using PayPal' button will appear.

This should eliminate any confusion your customers may have experienced before.

Performance Upgrade for Image Rendering

June 21, 2009
Customers should notice a significant speed increase - as much as 3,000% - in the way product images are rendered in the various sizes. This update results in a noticeable difference on category pages, search results, or any page where you're showing multiple products and their default images. We won't go into details on how we were able to pull this off, but the redesign paved the way toward another feature that customers have been asking for: FTP access to their media folder. Yes, it's coming - stay tuned!

Deal of the Day

June 17, 2009
The 'Deal of the Day' feature has been completed. Want to offer a woot-styled "one day deal" for your customers? Now you can, with a single code tag that can be placed on any page! Simply set up your discounts in the Deal of the Day calendar and the one day deal goes into effect until either the day is over or you sell out. Details Here.

Gift Card Support, Plus Plastic Card Printing

May 18, 2009
Cartooga now includes the option of creating gift cards, and we'll even create the plastic cards for you! Now you can sell gift cards from your web store to be redeemed later, or use them as a promotional tool. Either way you just specify how many cards you want, what the amounts are, upload your front artwork, and we'll make them and drop them in the mail to you! Details Here.

Ajax Search Tool Added to Custom Page Manager

May 13, 2009
Another little "makes my life easier" update for sites with a lot of custom pages. Now when you go to the Custom Pages section, instead of having to drop down the appropriate area to find the page you want to edit you can just start typing the name of the URL and a list will appear below (just like the product page). No more waiting for the list of pages to load, then scrolling down to find the one you want to edit!

Quick Upload Box Added to CSS & Page Editor

May 11, 2009
Nothing big, but we noticed that sometimes when you're working on a page or editing your store's CSS you may want to throw in an image or two real quick. You used to have to navigate over to the Files & Images section and upload, now there is a link on the bar to do a quick upload without leaving the editor screen. You're welcome.

Product Ratings & Comments

April 15, 2009
A much-requested feature, customers who have purchased a product from your store can now rate it one to five stars. The graphics for the star are customizable, so you can swap them out by uploading new sys_ images.