Spinsoft Website Builder. Version 1.03.03


1.03.03 is Live!


Version 1.03.03 of Spinsoft Website Builder introduces new base module features, the Form Builder, Site Administration, and also makes the Membership Module available, along with a host of other improvements.


There were some more features that we wanted to get into this update, but simply didn't fit in with the release schedule.  So there will be another small update in a couple of weeks with these changes.  Of particular note in these changes is Member Group emails and Pulldown Menus for your website.  We have the new features all planned out and it shouldn't take too long to put them in.


On a side note google seem to have updated their toolbar recently, and since then we have been having some problems with our pc's in general, even effecting other programs.  Since we turned the google toolbar off we have had no problems.


*This update features new graphics, please clean out your cache*  Click here for instructions



What's new in 1.03.03


Important Changes: 

The structure of the administration now requires login to use an email address and password as opposed to the old username system.  Users on the old system will have their new login details emailed to them, the password remains the same.


The new administration system is now active.  You can create as many administrators as you like, and you can run in Open Admin or Policy Mode.  See the new Admin Menu Section for details.


Base Module:

  • We have added a question mark icon next to the information icon (up near the house!) which will open up the new official help site.
  • Some users were having problems with their resolution causing some of the window to be cut off.  If this happens you can press the orange minimize button on the top right of your screen and it should be corrected.  We are working on a new layout to get rid of this problem in all situations.
  • All sections are now using the infobar.  Save results, errors and tips will all be displayed on the infobar at the bottom of your web builder.
  • The settings sections now have a new toolbar at the top just below the save button, all of the operations will be displayed here, and along the side next to any relevant items.  (E.g, the change category button will be display in the toolbar and next to the item category details).   This should make some things clearer and more friendly.
  • All settings are now scrollable, and the new toolbar and save button will remain at the top!  This is very handy as you no longer have to scroll up to save.  In addition to this using the new saving method means less reloading.
  • More Infotips have been added and the response improved. 
  • SEO Tip (Search Engine Optimisation) buttons have been added where relevant, click on these buttons and a special tip will be added to the infobar with full details.
  • Improved error handling, and notification.  The support team gets emailed any internal errors so that problems can be fixed with a rapid response.
  • Security has also been improved to reduce the possibility of session hijacking and database injection.
  • Site loading has been improved and optimised, it now works in conjunction with the administration module and only loads the allowed sections and modules for the current user.  
  • Site switching has been improved along side the site loading.
  • Image and File Library
    • You can now upload images up to 10mb and files up to 25mb in size.   Uploading is now more responsive with a scrolling message during the upload so you can easily tell when it is complete. (If you have a very slow internet connection you may timeout before large files can be uploaded)
    • You can now preview images live on your site from the image library with one quick button.
    • Both libraries now show some better information for the items, such as image dimensions and file size.
  • Pages and Content
    • When selecting templates for your pages, the list will be shown in a proper parent/extension format.
  • Template Design
    • When creating new templates they are now automatically saved with the default values, previously they were not and fell back to a default stylesheet instead.
    • A new button has been added to the setup tab to 'Edit Template Layout' .  This makes it more obvious that the feature is there.
  • Rich Text Editor
    • You can now switch between white,  black and default backgrounds in the Rich Text Editor - helpful for those with white text on black background websites.   These buttons are found to the left of the save button.
    • The rich text editor now includes a form builder, you can build completely custom forms that can be emailed to address of your choosing.
    • Templates should no longer be cached by your browser, meaning if you make a change to your template then go and open a page in the rich text editor, the style changes you made should be shown without having to refresh.
  • Administration Sections
    • The base modules now features full Administration control, you can create as many users for the website builder as you like. 
    • You will start of in Open Admin mode so that you can login, and most sites will remain this way if there are only a couple of administrators.
    • Includes full Policy, Role, Group permission system. 
    • For simple setups simply apply Polices for Groups
    • For advanced setups you can create Roles with Policies and assign them to groups
    • Two modes of operation, Open Admin (all aministrations have full access) and Policy Mode (policies are used).  This means you can keep it super simple if you don't need to use policies.
    • Create, edit, remove, and group your users in List Mode.  Includes full filtering support as well.
  • The Form Builder
    • The form builder is integrated into the Rich Text Editor.  There is a button to the right of the table buttons which toggles the form builder open.
    • You can create multiple forms per page if you desire.
    • Create a form with any form element including, text inputs, text area, checkboxes, radio buttons and drop down lists.
    • Text inputs can be required.
    • Forms can be sent to multiple email addresses (separated by commas) or even sent to a custom script.
    • Forms can be built in any area that uses the rich text editor.  Yes, this means you can build forms in panels or in your page footer if you desire!
    • We would like any feedback you have about the form builder.  There are some additional changes we already have planned to improve it in a future update, that time did not permit.

 

 

Membership Module:

  • Now Available!   Contact us for pricing.
  • Members can sign up to your website
      • Either with full membership registration (name, country, email etc)
      • Or with email only mode, which is useful if you only want members to sign up with an email so you can send emails to them.
  • The Website features a set of tools for your users
      • Reset password
      • Resend activation email
      • Remove from administrator mailing list
      • Remove from Newsletter mailing list
      • Remove Account
  • Control how your website is viewed by your visitors and restrict access to areas of the website and many other things including:
      • Restrict website pages based on membership.
      • Restrict downloads based on membership.
      • Template redirection depending on who is logged in.  Give a different look to different members.
      • Index redirection depending on who is logged in.
      • Give discounts to members.
  • Control is done with a policy > role > group system giving incredible flexibility and power.
  • You can use the user list from any site that is active in your website builder - this means you can have users register once and be able to login to different websites!
  • Powerful member list that allows you to filter my various critera and do operations to many users at once.
  • Setup Autoresponders to send emails to your members at a specified time after your members sign up.
  • This module paves the way for the upcoming Ecommerce, Newsletter, Subscription and Feedback modules.
  • Note: There will be another update shortly which will be adding the ability to send emails directly to your member groups.  Unfortunately this was delayed due to time restrictions.  Mail autoresponders are in and working however!

Product Module

  • You can now preview your live product with the quick preview product button.
  • Products will no longer show an error message if you have not selected an image for the product.
  • Products can now be put 'on sale'.  You must enter the sale price and tick the box as a confirmation. 
    • Sale prices override all other discounts
    • If a product is on sale, no member, coupon or class discounts will be applied.
    • Sale prices only affect the BASE price of a product.  Attributes and modifiers are not discounted, but get put ontop of the sale price.
    • Products on sale will have the original price crossed out and the sale price shown in red on your website.
    • Products can go on sale even if the 'can be discounted' box is not ticked.
  • Product Classes are now working correctly and fully implemented on the website.
    • Class discounts are applied only to products that have their 'can be discounted' ticked.
    • Class discounts are applied on the FINAL price.  Meaning your base price and any attribute/modifier prices will be calculated and the total result will be discounted.
    • Products that are discounted will have the original price crossed out and the discount price shown in red on your website.
    • Class discounts will be added on top of any other discounts if this option is selected.
  • If you have the Membership Module, there is a policy to give discounts to your members
    • Member discounts are applied only to products that have their 'can be discounted' ticked.
    • Member discounts override class discounts unless the class discount is set to stack.
    • Products with member discount on your website will have the original price crossed out and the member price shown in red on your website.


Bug Fixes

  • Fixed some formatting issues in mac browsers.   
  • Pressing the 'Enter' key in Template Design will no longer try and save the template with the old system.  (This bug didn't cause problems, it was just an annoyance)
  • When first visiting Template Design the top of the template list 'Templates' will now be correctly selected. (It was working fine before, but it wasn't bolded showing it was selected)
  • Template extensions should now correctly inherit their parent layouts.
  • Fixed a bug that was causing the paragraph 3 style to incorrectly use the paragraph 2 style.
  • Fixed a formatting issue with dashes being converted to the incorrect middle dash character.
  • Updated the Rich Text Editor to better handle the paypal code which is given to be pasted when you want to add paypal buttons to your site.
  • The italic style formatting was incorrectly being removed on the front end website, this has been fixed.

Known Issues

  • The usage data at the top of the program is not entirely accurate. It is currently shows LESS data (in some cases up to 20mb) then you have actually used, this issue is under investigation. This has been removed and will be added back very shortly.
  • Currently you can only upload gif, jpeg and bmp images into the image library.  We are trying to get tiff and other image support but it has become more difficult with recent security changes common accross many servers.  At this stage we need to wait for updated versions of the imaging software.  (Note that our desktop application the Image Uploader can upload tiff files, just about any type of image infact).
  • There are some issues with the rich text editor that need to be ironed out.  Nothing that causes any errors, but some things that cause the window to scroll up and other annoyances.
  • Some people with lower resolutions are having parts of the window cut off, as windows automatically resizes some things.  This will be fixed in the next update.  For now the orange minimize button in the top right corner will hide the menu and allow you to see everything.
  • Using the & symbol in the name of your buttons is causing problems, this will be fixed.


Known Annoyances

  • If you find anything that annoys you while using the website builder please be sure to let us know.  We use the system for our own websites and occassionally come accross things that could be simpler or are just plain annoying, so they go on the list of things to fix!
  • When double clicking on an image in the rich text editor it should load the settings, tooltips and image that was clicked.  This will make it much more efficient in making changes to existing images.

Coming Soon

  • Ecommerce Module
  • Newsletter Module