Promotions

[kate]

Hi,

Hi Kate, if the app does read the lib directory and its jar files

This is standard behaviour for a webapp

why do I have no shipping,payment or promotion functionality in the web site

Most likely because you haven't configured it correctly.   Check the steps carefully http://www.konakart.com/configurationfaq.php#How_can_I_activate_a_promotion_

I had assumed the selection of a module in the admin app would mean it would read the lib/*.jars, find the relavant classes and insert them into the classes directory

This is not what happens.  They are the same class files so this would be pointless.

Trying a fresh install on a laptop using the default db didn't help- I got different errors

What errors?  There should be an explanation for all errors.  No-one can help you if you just say "I got different errors"

using jdk1.5 instead of 1.6

KonaKart works fine with both

Kate

[Steveinjava]

Kate, I didn't bother the forum with the laptop errors as I prefer to fight on one front at a time. I know webapps look at the jars but as I can't 'see' the modules I was trying to find a cause no matter how unlikely. (Same goes for Jdk1.5- the UI does mention 1.5 specifically so might be worth changing to '1.5 upwards')

I will do as you suggest and repeat the activations: I am sure the problem is going to be something dumb my end but luckily I am stubborn as well as dumb 
Steve

[Steveinjava]

I have got part way to solving my problems & report them so others can benefit if they make the same
mistakes.
I only have the paypal module and I hadn't worried too much about the parameters assuming I would be able to do that once I had seen the paypal screen. The field named "PayPal Payment Zone" didn't make a lot of sense to me so I put in my 'EU' zone. By reverting to -none- the payment option 'paypal' appears!
The shipping module (Zone) now appears after I realised the ISO-2 code for United Kingdom is GB.
I had tried other countries for test orders but, whatever, it appears now.
Even more bizarre, a product discount now appears on the checkout screen. But there is no warning/advert to show it exists before the checkout screen...The whole point from a marketing perspective is encouraging customers to buy more so that can't be right?

I haven't looked into this yet but maybe its obvious? I have the postage and totals shown twice! (Not added to the cost twice though) as below:

Sub-Total:   £41.33
-14% Vittoria UltraLight Innertube 700x19/23:   -£3.18
Zone Rates (Shipping to GB : 1.40000 lb(s)):   £8.50
Zone Rates (Shipping to GB : 1.40000 lb(s)):   £8.50
Total:   £46.65
Total:   £46.65

BTW, thanks everybody for help so far. Much appreciated.

[ryan]

a product discount now appears on the checkout screen. But there is no warning/advert to show it exists before the checkout screen...The whole point from a marketing perspective is encouraging customers to buy more so that can't be right?

If you want to automatically (without customizing anything) show a discount for a product then you must set the product special price. A discount module can be very complex and we'd expect you to publicise it using your own wording somewhere on your web site. i.e. It may only come into effect if you have bought at least $50 worth of goods or have bought a set quantity of a single product or have bought a product from a certain manufacturer or have inserted a coupon code etc. This is why the promotion is always calculated on the contents of the basket rather than at the single product level. You may also want to publicise the duration of the promotion.

-Ryan

[Steveinjava]

Ryan, I had wondered if this might be the case. I think anybody using product discount would benefit from having a description field displayed under the product description.
The overall discount at least appear in a 'special offers' column or page as well.
Otherwise by requiring it hard coded it removes the benefits of db update.
I do not even see the discount(s) applied in the shopping cart- Is that how it should be? On good sites (eg Amazon) you see lines like "You have spent £90, if you increase your order to £100 you will have a discount of 5% applied."
I know you can't have everything (And I don't mind doing it for my site then passing it on) but the promotions ought to be shown before the checkout & be linked to the db.
What do others think? Am I being fussy

[ryan]

I think anybody using product discount would benefit from having a description field displayed under the product description.

If your promotion lends itself to doing this, then you can certainly achieve this. However a promotion such as a 10% discount that only applies if you make an order of $100 isn't specific to any single product.

I do not even see the discount(s) applied in the shopping cart- Is that how it should be?

If you want to show the promotion at the shopping cart level you just have to customize the struts action to calculate it at this point and then visualize it as you see fit.

On good sites (eg Amazon) you see lines like "You have spent £90, if you increase your order to £100 you will have a discount of 5% applied."

I agree that this is a good feature and it is easily achieved by customizing KonaKart. It isn't something that we can deliver out of the box because it only applies to certain types of promotions and the wording can change dramatically between different types of promotions.

[Steveinjava]

Ryan, yes it will be easy enough to change the JSP to make things as I want but I see it as a worthwhile option for most promotion users. A new field called Promotion description could be shown on the products that it applies to (For users that it applies to etc). The overall total discounts would instead have a mention on the home page in a prominent position: The home page is a bit lame via the templates - being a mix of products when most custom sites have more general info on it.
Anyway, I will do it for my own use and see how it can be used by others afterwards. While I can see a few such features I would like to see the rest of KonaKart is mouth warteringly good- Well done everyone involved