BV Commerce Tips from clients

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Common HTML for everyone
2007-12-05 13:51:00
Every once in a while I'm asked how to do some simple changes in HTML. Not all administrative areas allow you to use that nice WYSIWYG editor. So, here are the most common requests:Text Color - red, green, white, black, etc common colors<font color="red">enter text here</font>Line break<br>Hyperlink<a href="http://www.bluecreekweb.com">www .bluecreekweb.com</a>Paragraph<p >Bold<strong>enter text here </strong>What to do if you want to unbold something? Well there are a couple of situations.If the text looks like this: hello joe, how are youThen the code would look like this <strong>hello </strong> joe, <strong> how are you </strong>OR the code can look like this:hello joe, how are youhello <span>joe </span> how are youBV Commerce, SEO, PPC www.bluecreekweb.com 866.630.9876 678.222.1758
More About: Common , Html

BVCommerce 5 Paypal expres error
2007-11-19 15:06:00
For anyone that has encountered this error, it was fixed in one of the newer patches. The message on screen is stated below:Since the site has changed and some forum information has been archived, the link has changed. Here is the new link to the fix:http://forums.bvcommerce.com/default. aspx?f=81&m=43087Page.IsValid cannot be called before validation has taken place. It should be queried in the event handler for a control that has CausesValidation=True and initiated the postback, or after a call to Page.Validate.[ at System.Web.UI.Page.get_IsValid() at BVModules_Controls_Paypal ExpressCheckoutB utton.PaypalImageButton_Click(Object sender, ImageClickEventArgs e) at System.Web.UI.WebControls.ImageButton.OnC lick(ImageClickEventArgs e) at System.Web.UI.WebControls.ImageButton.Rai sePostBackEvent(String eventArgument) at System.Web.UI.WebControls.ImageButton.Sys tem.Web.UI.IPostBackEventHandler.RaisePos tBackEvent(String eventArgument) at System.Web.UI.Page.RaisePostBackEvent(IPo stBackEventHa...
More About: Error

How to offer Free Shipping in BV2004
2007-08-14 18:58:00
Log into the adminClick the catalog tabIn the left hand navigation, click on "Discounts"Click on the New button in the upper rightOn the new page that appears, use the drop down for "Discount" and select "Shipping Method" and the page will refresh.Now that you have the new screen, you can select between which shipping methods you would like to offer the discount and, you can choose to give a 100% discount.BV Commerce, SEO, PPC www.bluecreekweb.com 866.630.9876 678.222.1758
More About: Free , Offer

Meta Tags (BV2004)
2007-05-22 20:37:00
For search engine optimization, one key component is Meta Tags . Below you will find ways and techniques on how you can edit those.Product Detail pagesLog in as an administratorClick on the Catalog tabDo a find all or search to show a listing of the productsPut a check in the box next to the product you want to editClick on the yellow edit button on the rightTowards the bottom, under other properties, you will see some bolded options. Click on the option that states Meta tags.Here you can edit the meta title, keywords and description.Category pagesLog in as the administratorClick on the Catalog tabIn the left hand navigation, click on "Categories"Search for the category you want to edit, then highlight it. (The page will refresh)Click on the yellow edit button above the list.Now, you will be on the category edit page. Look to the bottom and you will see some bolded options in gray. Click on the meta tags option.Here you can edit the meta title, keywords, and description for this cate...

How do I enter an email address if I place an order through the back end/ad
2007-05-08 15:16:00
Original question:Can you make it to where I make a new order on the backend there is a place for their e-mail address and then that e-mail address is automatically added to our mailing list? Right now there is not a place for their e-mail (only their website) and that is where I have been putting it.This is a good question because it's not obvious. You can actually do this now in BVCommerce 5.Here's how to do it.Log in as the administratorClick on the Order s tabClick on New Order in the sub navigation.The key to placing an order and capturing the email address is on the right hand side. On the right, you will see the options with the username and a blank box, as well as Browse and New buttons. As a default, always check to see if the customer exists by typing in their name and hitting the Arrow button. This will prevent any possibilities of duplications or mixed accounts. You may also want to choose browse. If you find the right person, their information will prefill in the addre...
More About: Email , Back , Place , Enter

Integrating Google Analytics
2007-04-29 22:19:00
To see the full discussion on Googl e Anal ytics into BVCommerce 5 and to receive the files, please visit: http://forums.bvcommerce.com/default.aspx ?f=79&m=42170&g=46508#m46508After installing the code, we were recieving security messages during the checkout. This occurs because the Google Analytics code uses a standard http connection instead of https. The simplest fix we found was introduced by Promotion Sickness. Instead of using the standard http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js to connect to Google, simply change this link to https://ssl.google-analytics.com/urchin.j s in your themes Default.master page.BV Commerce, SEO, PPC www.bluecreekweb.com 866.630.9876 678.222.1758

My product modifiers aren't recalculating the total
2007-04-27 03:34:00
Ok, this was probably my fault. We had added several product modifiers. We wanted to add items to this product that were options. These options added extra costs, and weight. When we went to test it on the site, the calculations weren't showing up. Thanks to Justin at BV Commerce we figured it out.Our specific find was found because the Your price did not change on the product detail page.We had upgraded from BV5 sp1 to sp2 V3. When we did this for some reason, the new anthem.dll did not pass through. If this happens to you, simply copy the new anthem.dll to your bin directory and all will work.BV Commerce, SEO, PPC www.bluecreekweb.com 866.630.9876 678.222.1758
More About: Product , Total , Prod , Modi , Modifier

How come I can't remove product upsells
2007-04-27 03:24:00
Here's some background. I went to my website and looked at one of my products. I saw "Customers who purchased this item also purchased these items:" Ok, I thought, this doesn't belong here. So, I went in to the administrator, and looked at this product. I went to look at product upsells and cross sells. Guess what I found, nothing. Don't be alarmed.Here's what's happening. BV Commerce 5 implements something called suggested items. Suggested items are items that are ordered more often. You don't have control over this, as it's automatic.If you don't want it to show up, here's what you do.Log into the adminClick on the Options tabOn the left hand navigation, click on PerformanceSet "Suggested Items Maximum Results" to 0Click Save ChangesBV Commerce, SEO, PPC www.bluecreekweb.com 866.630.9876 678.222.1758
More About: Product , Prod

How do I change my shipping options
2007-04-26 00:00:00
Ths shipping options are very important. Make sure you check these before you launch. Make sure you're not losing any money.Log in as the administratorClick on the options tabThen click on Ship ping BV Commerce, SEO, PPC www.bluecreekweb.com 866.630.9876 678.222.1758
More About: Change , Options , Ping

I can't save my product
2007-04-25 23:59:00
Saving a product depends on what information you have entered. The most common problem we have found is because of the SKU. Make sure the SKU does not have any special characters or spaces. Make this quick change and you should be fine. But, don't forget to make your SKU search engine friendly!BV Commerce, SEO, PPC www.bluecreekweb.com 866.630.9876 678.222.1758
More About: Product , Save , Prod

When I click on a link to my product, the page crashes
2007-04-25 23:57:00
This happens every once in a while. The problem here is probably the name of the product. Check for any special characters that are in the name. It is also possible that your product name is too long.BV Commerce, SEO, PPC www.bluecreekweb.com 866.630.9876 678.222.1758
More About: Product , Click , Page , Link , Prod

BV Commerce 5 Website Launch
2007-04-24 03:36:00
TheSmartFarmer.com launched their new BV Commerce 5 website. We're proud to be one of the first to launch.TheSmartFarmer.com was originally built with effortlesse software. As theSmartFarmer.com grew, they needed a more robust solution. If you're looking to switch hosting from another ecommerce solution, BV Commerce may be your solution.BV Commerce, SEO, PPC www.bluecreekweb.com 866.630.9876 678.222.1758
More About: Website , Launch , Merc

How to test your newsletter before you send it (BV5)
2007-04-18 21:11:00
(Revised for BV Commerce 5)I'm not sure about you, but before I send an email to several thousand people, I'm a little nervous. So, I always double and triple check. Here is a quick way to test it out.OverviewWe are going to create a test email list and send an email.Creating a new list Log in to the administratorClick on the People tab Click on Mailing Lists in the sub navigation Here you will see the page with all of your email campaigns. At the top you can add new lists. In the bottom section, you can click to edit or send your existing emails.Since we are creating a testing account, let's set up a new account. Click on the New button on the right. This will open up the details page for your email list. In the name box, enter something easy like Test Email List.Put a check in the box labled "Private". This will prevent any customers from seeing the list.Now, we have to add a member to the list. Click on the "New" button and enter your first name, last name, and email on the ne...
More About: Newsletter , Send , Fore

How to create an email template for your email campaigns
2007-04-17 14:30:00
Now that we know how to find the email campaigns (see post http://bvcommerce.blogspot.com/2007/04/ho w-to-edit-your-emails.html) we can create an email template for any emails, newsletters, etc.Here, we're going to take the simple route. A lot of clients do not have the ability to put together custom code. So, what I'm suggesting here is to use Microsoft Word. It's not the best solution, but for almost everyone out there it is a quick solution.We'll take this in 2 steps, namely:Creating your emailAdding an email templateCreating your emailOpen Microsoft WordCreate your email in your new word document. Don't use graphics for now.Click File Save As Web PageA new window will pop up.Name your new file.In the box below the file name is the Save As box. Choose "Web Page (*.htm, *.html)Click on the Save button.If you receive a message that says something to the order of, "This will remove Microsoft Word tags" click ok.Now, you have created an HTML page. This is how you can send your e...
More About: Email , Template , Campaigns , Temp

How to edit your emails
2007-04-17 14:24:00
BV Commerce allows you to create as many email templates as you wish. So, if you are going to use BV Commerce to send out your newsletters, updates, etc. it's a good solution.How to see your email templatesLog in to the site as the administratorClick on the "Content" tabClick on "Email Templates"Here you will see a list of all your email templatesTo edit an email template, simply click on the "Edit " link beside your emailBV Commerce, SEO, PPC www.bluecreekweb.com 866.630.9876 678.222.1758
More About: Emails

Making money while cruising the internet
2007-04-15 22:40:00
Ok, I've seen this before. A couple of years back, All Advantage did this and we all received small checks in the mail. Another company has started doing it again Agolco. Agolco has set up the same scenario. What you do is sign up, download a toolbar, and then go to work as normal. Each time you view pages, etc, click on advertisements through the toolbar, you receive money. It won't be a lot, but, hey it's free. I'm trying it out. I mean after all, my entire day is on the internet. If you are curious and want to try it out, please visit Agolco here.BV Commerce, SEO, PPC www.bluecreekweb.com 866.630.9876 678.222.1758
More About: Internet , Money , The Internet , Maki , Makin

Personalized themes for customers
2007-04-12 04:08:00
A lot of time is spent making sure your site looks good. Sometimes, there are so many changes that all of the themes may not work. So, you don't want your customer to see your site the wrong way.All customers can change their themes in the My Account area. If you want to make sure your clients can't change the theme, please follow these steps.Log into the administratorClick on the Options tabClick on the General option found in the left hand navigation.Look for the option at the bottom stating "Allow Persona lized Themes ". Uncheck this box and click the save button.BV Commerce, SEO, PPC www.bluecreekweb.com 866.630.9876 678.222.1758
More About: Customers , Custom , Sona

PDF Downloads
2007-04-04 22:29:00
For those of you that sell pdf's online, BVCommerce is an exellent solution. We did run into one issue in that when we tried to view the pdf's online, it was showing a document error, specifically: There was a problem reading this document (14)BVCommerce helped us work through this. This was a custom fix, I'm not sure when the rest of the users will have this information. If you are in need of help please let us know.We ran into the situation because a client actually didn't sell pdf's. But, they wanted to allow their customer to download pdfs with product specifications. So, we took the same look and feel and added it for every product.BV Commerce, SEO, PPC www.bluecreekweb.com 866.630.9876 678.222.1758
More About: Downloads

Paypal Websites Payment Pro
2007-04-04 22:20:00
Paypal Websites Payment Pro integrates seamlessly with BV Commerce 5. We just launched TheSmartFarmer.com using the system.When you are integrating it, follow the instructions here:http://www.bvsoftware.com/bvcommerce 5manual/How%20To's/PayPalExpress.aspxWe also ran into one other issue before launching. We were seeing the following error:Authorize Error: Paypal Express Payment Authorization Failed.10002:Security header is not validWe found out this was because we did not have SSL turned on. Also, there must be an SSL certificate installed for this to work.BV Commerce, SEO, PPC www.bluecreekweb.com 866.630.9876 678.222.1758
More About: Paypal

How to test your email newsletter before you send it (BV2004)
2007-03-30 20:47:00
I'm not sure about you, but before I send an email to several thousand people, I'm a little nervous. So, I always double and triple check. Here is a quick way to test it out.OverviewWe are going to create a test email list and send an email.Creating a new listLog in to the administratorClick on the People tabClick on Mailing Lists in the left hand navigationHere you will see the page with all of your email campaigns.At the top you can add new lists. In the bottom section, you can click to edit or send your existing emails.Since we are creating a testing account, let's set up a new account.In the top box labeled "List Name" type in the name of your list. Example: Test ingPlace a check in the box labeled "Private". This will make sure all of your customers will not see your testing area.Click on the New button. This will save the list and refresh the page. You will now see your new email mailing list below with an asterisk beside it. The asterisk notes that it's private.Click on th...
More About: Email , Newsletter , Send , Fore

How to view your orders
2007-03-28 22:06:00
One of the most common tasks is viewing your orders. There are 2 general ways to view your orders. You can see your latest orders on your dashboard OR, you can go to the orders page to view all other orders.Dashboard:This is my favorite. To view your dashboard, please do the following:Login as the administratorThe first page that shows up is your DashboardYou will see the Unpaid orders in the middle of the page. To view any order, simply click on the order number.Note: BVCommerce allows you to configure your dashboard easily. The default view allows you to see all unpaid orders. If you would like to see the most recent orders, please follow these steps:Login as the administratorWhile on the Dashboard, look below your "Unpaid Orders " sectionClick on the "Edit" buttonYou will now be taken to the screen where you can edit what shows in the middle column of your dashboard.In the drop down box, choose "Order Activity". Then click on the "New" buttonThe page will refresh. The new section ...
More About: View

How to add a downloadable file to your product
2007-03-19 16:03:00
Let's say you want to sell something that a customer can download, follow these instructions. Examples of downloadable things to sell would be pdf books, software executables, graphics, etc.Here's how to do it:Log into the administrative section of your websiteClick on the main tab "Catalog"Browse for your product and click the "Edit" button.On the left hand navigation, click on "File Downloads"Upload a new file to the site: If you are uploading a file, click on the "Browse" button to select your file. Once selected, it will show up in the window.Use a file that has already been uploaded: If you have just uploaded a file, make sure it says "File Above". But, if you are selecting a file that's already uploaded, use the drop down box to select your file.Short description: This puts a user friendly name with the file.Available for (leave blank for unlimited): Use this if you want to limit how long this file is available.Number of times file can be downloaded: Use this if they can on...
More About: Product , Prod

Showing your pdf's to everyone
2007-03-19 14:15:00
Within BV Commerce, you have the ability to add documents to your products. Typically, this is used for selling items like online books that you can download. Some clients will never do this, but would like to have the ability to show clients their pdfs. Well, now you can.We have put together some custom code to allow you to do this. If you are in need of this service, please feel free to call 866.630.9876BV Commerce, SEO, PPC www.bluecreekweb.com 866.630.9876 678.222.1758
More About: Everyone

How do I add a link to a custom page in my product description
2007-03-16 19:31:00
Ok, let's say you are in a situation where you want to show more detail about your products, but don't want to clutter up your page too much. For example, if your product has a warranty, you many not want to put the entire text of the warranty on your product page. Our suggestion is to make a custom page. It's a little tricky, but you'll get the hang of it pretty quick. This set of instructions
More About: Product , Page , Script , Link , Custom

How can I put my change the order of my products
2007-03-15 20:21:00
Yes, you can change the display order of products. Let's say you are selling DVD Publishers like NobleHouseCD.com. They have a category already set up for DVD Publishers. Their bestseller may be the GX-1 and they don't want it to be down the list in alphabetical order. They want it to be number 1. Here's how to do it. Log in as the administratorClick on the "Category" tabClick on the sub
More About: Products , Change , Product , Order , Prod

All inclusive BV Commerce package
2007-03-14 19:25:00
Ok, I hate to advertise but, here goes. This month, we are offering a BV Comm erce 5 package that includes the following: BV Commerce license (standard)InstallationTrainingDesignAll for only $4,750If you are interested, please call 866.630.9876!
More About: Pack , Package , Merc

How do you add special instructions for payment options?
2007-03-08 21:28:00
This question comes up in about 50% of projects. Some example situations may and include instructions for purchase orders, faxing orders, and snail mail orders. When entering instructions, you can not enter HTML tags. This will cause the page to crash. So, if you want special instructions to show up on the payment screen please do the following: Log into the administrator.Click on the green tab
More About: Men , Options , Special , Payment , Instruction

BV Commerce 5 Hosting
2007-03-05 03:48:00
So, how much do you pay for BV Comm erce 5 hosting? We charge our clients $65 per month which includes a leased SSL Certificate through GeoTrust. If you're paying more than this, you may want to think again. Of course, we would always want you to host with us. Also, we still host BV Commerce 2004. So, if you need hosting for BV Commerce 2004 we can still help you. Sorry for the ad. We have heard
More About: Hosting , Host , Sting

How to automatically add buyers to your mailing list
2007-03-04 03:52:00
Nick from theSmartFarmer.com recently asked us the simple question. "How come someone checks out, they aren't added to my mailing list?" Well, we're not sure why, so we went to figure it out. After some digging we have developed custom code to allow this to happen. If you are interested in adding this functionality to your BV Commerce 5 website, feel free to contact us.
More About: Mail , How To , Auto , Buyer , Automatic

How can I see all of the people in my mailing list?
2007-02-27 22:08:00
Your mailing list is one of the most important marketing tools you can use to resell to your clients. BV Commerce 5 is so big and is a learning experience, and some have difficulty finding where this is located. So, here is a step by step on how to see where your mailing list is located and how to see who is on your list. Log into your adminIn the top navigation, click on the "People " tab.In the
More About: Mail , List , The People