Continuing changes to the catalog

I am really looking forward to the changes planned for the catalog in 2003. All the work we have been doing for the last 18 months will really begin to bear fruit. Here is an example of some of the changes you can expect.

Categories. You have the ability to have a product listed in multiple categories. For example if you were selling books you could have categories for publisher, author, and type of book. You would have one catalog item for a book that could then be associated with the three categories. As a result, if you wanted to change the price, you will only have to update the information once. You could add products to a special or sale items categories while also leaving them in their normal category.

You will also be able to nest categories. That is, you can have categories within categories. For example you could have a category for clothing. Within this category you could have categories for men, women, and children. Within women's category you could have categories for blouses, skirts, dresses, and accessories.

You will also be able to upload category and product files independently. It will be possible to upload product files without disrupting the category information.

Attributes. Currently you can have up to two optional fields, which apply to all products in your order form. In the future you can have as many attributes (formerly called optional fields) as you want. Also, each product can have its own set of optional fields. For example, you could have optional fields for a shirt's neck size, sleeve length, and color. For another product you might just specify color. Another product may not require any attributes at all and so none would be displayed. We hope to make the attributes appear as a drop down list on the product page. (This capability has been available for six months for those who are using the checkout API, an advance feature requiring programming knowledge.)

You will also be able to specify valid values for your attributes by product. For example, you will be able to specify that a shirt is only available in blue, white and red. Another product may only be available in medium and large.

Further in the future, the base price of a product can be adjusted based on the attribute. For example, an larger version of shirt could be $1.00 more than the base price.

One potential problem that could result because of these new advanced features is that the import and export of the catalog could be more complicated for those who use these new features extensively. We are working on some solutions to make this easier to do.

Layout of category and product pages. We will be revamping how the category and product pages will look. The default look and feel will look more like contemporary catalog sites like Lands End and LL Bean. There will be an advance feature that will allow these pages to be customized. However, this customization will require the skills of a programmer with knowledge about XML and XSLT.

Global Header and Footer Customizable

We plan to upgrade the global header and footer so that they are customizable. Each will be like a mini Page Builder file. Thus, all the blocks that are available in Page Builder will also be available to design the global header and footers. This allows you to control the wording, color, and location of your contact information.

EZ-Calendar

We were disappointed that we were not able to make the upgrades to the calendar that we had planned last year. However, we anticipate that we should be able to revamp this tool in 2002. This new tools will look much more like a standard wall calendar with the ability to click to see details. There will also be multiple calendars available.

Update Dealer Locator

We will upgrade the Dealer/locator tool so that it is more flexible and feature rich. For example, you will be able to specify zip code and a radius. All dealers within that circle will be listed. It will also integrate with the directory as well as a list of dealers.

Fortify the E-Mail System

The traffic going through our email servers has steadily and greatly increased. We will dramatically change the architecture of our email servers so that we can handle many times the traffic that we do today. This will represent our largest capital expenditures for the year. Since e-mail servers are fairly resilient, you would not have noticed any problems in the past but would have in the future. This upgrade will not result in any change in the EZ-Online Mail Interface.

Underlying structural changes

In addition to the enhancements mentioned, we always have an ongoing program upgrading the underlying hardware and software upon which the EZ-NetTools software rests. While these changes are not usually visible to you, these changes are constantly improving the stability and the response of the system. An example of such a change would be the way global changes are made to all pages on a site. Prior to the fall of 2002, whenever you made a change to the global information such as your address or a new header, the system regenerated all pages upon submitting the change. If you had hundreds of pages in your account, this could take a minute or two. After the new update, this process usually only takes a few seconds regardless of the number of pages you might have. During 2003, we will be making a number of these kinds of changes.

For us at EZ-NetTools, 2003 will be an exciting year. We are pleased to be of service to you. Check the "Updates" page regularly for the status of these changes.