x items remaining - really useful feature

[jxm28788]

ok, I ordered 1 ketostix from my site, automole downloaded and processed this. I then went back to the site and added 100 ketostix to my basket - but there are only 52 in stock and it let me add them...?

[Jan]

Did it upload the site?

Regards,

[jxm28788]

ok, I'm back and it works now (I didn't change anything).

I've modified the message a bit and that works well. Now to try and get tha java script working from the begining of this thread!

[jxm28788]

oh, and in the automation mesage screen I think there is a bug...

I have set it to go off every 10 mins, and every 10 mins it checks the website for orders. That all works ok, but I don't think it is supposed to say "no orders were received between 16:09 and 16:10" - shouldn't it say "between 16:01 and 16:10"?

[jxm28788]

I've just noticed on the 'general' tab for my products that there is a 'max qty' entry. I was scrolling through my products wondering why some were 0 (presumably default) and some had seemingly random numbers in - it took a while before it clicked that this was the field that your program updates!

Just a few questions though...

if I fill this in manually will it stick to that particular figure or will your program change it next time someone order something?

also, any reason why the max figure should be higher than the number in stock...? (assuming it's not been changed manually) - my ketostix, to use an earlier example, had about 30 left in stock but the max qty was 45...?

[newshopbloke]

Not a happy bunny

Hello all,

I have read this entire thread with interest as I am one of many ? people who purchased Actinic catalog under the impression it performed realtime updating of stock levels. Obviously it does not and thats why im here.

So it looks like I can have javascript to issue a warning, a mole that updates on a regular basis but I have to pay for it, or just update as often as possible and pray that I do not upset too many customers.

What I need is for Actinic itself to update the stock in realtime so that "out of stock" is displayed automatically without my intervention.

I have been very impressed with Actinic so far but this is a real let down as I wanted a shop where customers can only buy whats in stock

Regards

Mick

p.s. I think Actinic should have a 'warning' label next to every mention of "stock monitoring" on their website and literature.

[cdicken]

One of the main reasons we have never implemented stock control in the way you describe is that if you got twenty small business owners in a room you would probably get twenty different opinions about when a product is 'out of stock'. For some, Actinic woks exactly as they need it, for others (like yourself) it falls short of the ideal.

After a lot of discussion in house we decided the we should have the default operation of the store as 'always being able to take orders' as we decided that orders are the important thing (though, of course, this is a problem if you are selling one-off items as a lot of our customers do).

The other problem is we were uncomfortable with building a feature that actually made it possible for people to come along to your store and place a fraudulent order for everything in it - thus taking your store down for a while until you rectify the problem.

I do take your viewpoint on board though, and have added your comments to the wish list.

[newshopbloke]

Mole end software

Thanks for your reply cdicken.

You have mentioned some very valid reasons for 'not' introducing realtime stock control.

I have just downloaded the mole end software "one stop automation" for actinic and im impressed so far. Do Actinic see any problems with catalog after using OSA or does it integrate without affecting the Actinic software at all ?

Regards

Mick

[cdicken]

I have every faith in One-Stop Automation - Jan used to work for Actinic after all...

[Jan]

Thanks Chris, what a nice thing to come back from holiday to read.

The Stock control part of OSA was the first product we produced and has been installed in live sites for over 12 months now without any major problems (we have had some minor bug reports most of which have been fixed). It is in use on all major operating systems and most versions of Actinic as well.

You have to bear two things in mind when using it

1) Backup options, by default Actinic overwrites your backup file when you close it, so you should switch off the automatic backup option or your backup will only go as far back as your last run, then you should use the manual backup facilities to keep safe copies of the database

2) Order processing, pause the mole when you are actually processing orders or it will try to run when you are working.

Regards,