Living the 4-Hour Work Week

May

2010

Improvements and Fixes to WP E-Commerce

Posted by rexreed | Comments : (23)

Like many of you, I am a user of the WP E-Commerce plug-in for WordPress as well as a Gold Cart upgrade customer. While WP E-Commerce has many excellent features and does wonders for the WordPress-based e-commerce experience, the code is very buggy, full of flaws, and lacks documentation and support that is needed for those working in a fast-paced e-commerce environment.

Instead of just being frustrated, I decided to dig into the code and fix a few gnawing problems:

Authorize.Net fixes:

Fixed / Added Billing country and state to what is submitted to Authorize.net
Added additional configuration fields for Authorize.net Shipping info
Added Description field in configuration
Added Invoice # using the purchase ID / number # as the value
Added Customer # using the purchase ID / number # as the value
Added Shipping Information submitted to Authorize.net
Added Freight info
Added Tax info
Added full cart info to AuthorizeNet receipts

Email receipts enhancements:

fixed transaction_result_functions.php to put product list info in Admin report
Resend receipt will also resend the Admin report

Checkout Fixes:

fixed duplicated State information display when you check “Billing same as shipping”
Replaced UPS calculation module with the update from 3.8
Fixed erroneous tax calculation when a discount coupon is applied

Other fixes:

Added Facebook to the Share This list
Removed the random “alexking.org” listings in the email submission section
Share This email is now working!

SCREENSHOT

A screen shot of the new details in the Payment Options for Authorize.Net is shown below:

VERSION

These fixes have only been tested with WordPress 2.9.2 and WP E-Commerce version 3.7.6.2 and the Original Gold Cart files (from Instinct, not the latest from GetShopped.org). If you are using another version and these fixes don’t work, don’t blame me! I’m only verifying that this works with the above configuration.

FILES

* authorize.php
* transaction_result_functions.php
* ajax-and-init.php
* wp-e-commerce.js
* cart.class.php
* ups.php
* share-this.php

INSTALLATION
MAKE SURE TO COPY YOUR EXISTING FILES BEFORE REPLACING THEM IN CASE THESE FIXES DON’T WORK!

Copy authorize.php to /wp-content/uploads/wpsc/upgrades/gold_cart_files/merchants/ replacing the existing file
Copy transaction_result_functions.php to /wp-content/plugins/wp-e-commerce replacing the existing file
Copy ajax-and-init.php to /wp-content/plugins/wp-e-commerce/wpsc-admin/ replacing the existing file
Copy ups.php to \wp-content\plugins\wp-e-commerce\shipping replacing the existing file
Copy wp-e-commerce.js \wp-content\plugins\wp-e-commerce\js to replacing the existing file
Copy cart.class.php to \wp-content\plugins\wp-e-commerce\wpsc-includes replacing the existing file
Copy share-this.php to \wp-content\plugins\wp-e-commerce replacing the existing file

Once you have done that, you will have new configuration capabilities in the Payments section of the Settings for Authorize.Net to configure the Description field and other fields for Shipping and Billing info. Furthermore, the email receipts will now include product info in the Admin reports, and if you choose to resend a report to a customer, it will also resend the Admin report to the configured administrator

SUPPORT AND FURTHER WORK

Note that I have made these changes because, like you, I am frustrated with the quality and lack of responsiveness by the WP E-Commerce developers. However, developing is NOT my full time job, and I am assuming that many of you are downloading to help with your efforts, but are not paying me to do that.

Since I’m not getting paid to develop this and I have no financial interest in doing so, I am not supporting any of these fixes. I will not provide any installation assistance other than what is specified above and in the ZIP readme.txt file. If these fixes work for you, great! If not, make sure to copy your old files before you replace them. Any damage / trouble is not my responsibility, so please be careful!

If you like my work and want to motivate me to continue to enhance WP E-Commerce or otherwise improve the work here, I would very much appreciate donations. Your donations are indications that you find my work valuable and that you wish me to continue. Sending me harassing email, posting negative or hateful comments combined with lack of donations will not only cause me to stop working on this, but remove these files if they are more trouble than they are worth.

Help support the community by supporting those who are improving it!

DONATE!
Please donate by clicking on the Donate link in the right sidebar of the site at http://www.fourhourworkweekdiary.com or below:

Since I’m a long time Gold Cart user who purchased from the Instinct site and since you now have this absolutely terrible policy of not supporting any current Gold Cart customers (requiring us to pay AGAIN for our same functionality), I’ve decided no longer to contribute any of my Authorize.Net changes back to the community. My changes are probably making their way into the Authorize.net Gold Cart files, which ironically I no longer have access to unless I pay AGAIN for those files.

This is ridiculous. Until now I’ve been very generous in sharing the fixes I put in after many hours of hard work with the rest of the community, but looks like I, and others, are getting ripped off.

Farewell – I’ll keep the changes to myself and will never spend another dime on this joke of a “product”.

Sorry folks – it’s time to move on from this plug-in. I wish I could share my continued updates for you, but it seems that we’re all being taken for a ride. They’re taking my changes but not even granting me, or many of you, the proper respect and honoring or past payments as customers.

Good luck Getshopped.org. It’s time for me to work on a much better shopping cart plug-in. This one, and the company, is a joke.

UPDATE June 28, 2010:

Since I have not received any positive support from either users or the plug-in authors, and they’ve decided to screw over past customers, I’m pulling down the download for these fixes. If anyone is interested in these fixes, please make a contribution and I’ll email you the Zip file with the changes. Otherwise, sorry, it looks like it’s just not worth my time to continue with any fixes on this sorry excuse for a plug-in. I’m looking for better WordPress solutions now.

Jul

2009

Credit cards: a lifeline for cash

Posted by rexreed | Comments : (0)

Category : Uncategorized

Tags: cash, credit card, muse

Hi all. It certainly has been a while since I’ve last posted. That’s because in many ways the 4HWW concept has been shot given the urgency of making ends meet and scrambling to get whatever dollars are left to spend. One of the most important things for a small business is cash flow. If you can manage your cash flow effectively, you can weather any economic condition. However, if you are spending faster (and/or more) than you are collecting, you can be in a world of pain.

For my muse businesses, what I found most helpful was to accept credit cards. Credit cards provide a way of getting immediate access to cash at low risk. While cash is always better, credit cards provide the flexibility to accept orders world wide and get direct deposits within 3-4 days of the original charge at transaction fees of just a point or two in percent.

Some companies use Paypal or Google Checkout, but I prefer an actual credit card processing merchant. Some of you use services like Authorize.net or others that provide the payment gateways, but you still need to get the machines and software to make them work. One solution for companies that sell virtual or physical goods is Merchant Warehouse. MerchantWarehouse.com is the best place on the Internet to find the credit card machines you need to accept credit cards, debit transactions and checks. We have the guaranteed lowest prices on credit card machines, credit card software and all other credit card equipment.

I’d like to know what merchant account services and suppliers you use and what feedback you have, if any for those of us looking to make a cash-flow positive muse work in this economy.

Mar

2009

Version 0.2 of Show User Level Content Plugin Now Available

Posted by rexreed | Comments : (8)

Category : Uncategorized, life balance

Making an update to the Show User Level Content Plugin … finally on version 0.2

This version should allow multiple hide statements in the same post. This is a test of that functionality.

The first line below is going to be hidden for those below User Level 2.

Sorry, you can't see this unless you are at User Level 2 or greater

Here’s another hide statement:

Sorry, you can't see this unless you are at User Level 2 or greater

This seems to work! Download the new version of the plugin here (altho it might take time for the WordPress Plugin SVN to update):

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/show-user-level-content/

Enjoy, and provide feedback!

Jan

2009

More on Banking…

Posted by rexreed | Comments : (1)

Category : finance

Tags: finance

A while back I posted about business banking accounts, and asked the community what their thoughts were on the best ones for FHWW’ers. I never really did get a good response, but the post is out there, so I encourage people to respond with their thoughts! In the meantime, I ended up going with Provident Bank, which offered a $122 bonus for signing up, free business checking accounts with no minimums, a remote deposit system, and an adequate (but not the best) online banking system.

In the intervening months, Provident Bank, like many others, struggled in the new economic order. As a result, it was acquired by M&T Bank. Needless to say, I’m interested to see what will happen post-merger, but right now, things are still the same.

M&T’s e-Money Market Account

One of the things that does interest me the most is M&T’s e-Money Market Account. M&T e-Money Market, offered by M&T Online Banking is the newest in a line of high-yield online accounts. FHWWers should now be conditioned to look to make money while they sleep. To work for 4 hours a week requires not having to expend energy and effort to make money, and certainly interest-bearing accounts are key to making that a reality. What makes an online money market account valuable vs. a CD or bond that also makes money while you sleep is that money markets are fluid — your money is not tied up for a specific length of time, giving you convenient access to your funds.

The usual trade-off, however, is interest rates. As of the date of this post, M&T is offering 1.75% on their regular money-market account. I remember when I was getting 6.5% on MM savings, but sigh, those days are long gone. I hope to see them again soon!

Which online savings accounts are you using? Which would you recommend? Which are suitable for business accounts (versus personal)? Let me know!

Jan

2009

Is it time to buy a car?

Posted by rexreed | Comments : (2)

Category : DHFW Site

Tags: blog

Happy Inauguration Day!

For many of us who have worked hard to make this day possible, this is truly a day of celebration. I think for all Americans, regardless of your political persuasion, we should be happy to look forward to what the possibilities are for us in the years ahead.

In a bit of a spate of irony, I may be personally contributing to this economy. I have had to recently think about buying a new car. With the state of the US economy and in particular, the US automakers, the question is: should I buy a car from one of our troubled US automakers? I’m thinking so.

At The Car Connection, my most recent haunt for online car shopping, I’ve been looking at GMC cars. I like the Car Connection’s website since it makes it easy to locate the various models and features and has quite a bit of detail on the ratings. While GMC might have its share of financial problems (probably much more so than Ford and certainly Toyota), at the very least they don’t have as much of the significant quality woes as Chrysler. I once owned a PT Cruiser, and while it was fun for the first year or so, you could easily tell by the second that quality was not job one over there.

Anyways, GMC, like most automakers, are now producing Hybrids that approach the fuel efficiency of the Japanese automakers. I am hoping that they can power past that and work directly on Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), which would be my preferred mode of transportation.

Should I buy a car? Should I wait? What should I buy? If you were put in a position where your current car was no longer available, what would you do?

Jan

2009

Happy New Year! Lots of upgrades…

Posted by rexreed | Comments : (0)

Category : DHFW Site

Tags: 4HWW, blog, blogging, dfhw

Happy New Year DHFW Readers! It’s been about a month since the last post, since there have been lots of upgrades, both technically and in life.

First, the site is now upgraded to WordPress 2.7, and I’m looking at fixing a number of glitches in the site, including missing downloads, incorrectly functioning tickers, etc. If you spot a problem that needs fixing, please let me know.

Second, I’ve been making lots of progress on personal goals and especially around the FHWW. May “main job” has now been pared down to 4 hours a day (I know, not a week, yet), but this year I will be paring it down even more. I will spend more time thinking about and writing on muses and microsourcing, so if you have any thoughts, please let me know.

I have a few posts queued up, so I will be uploading them over the course of the next few days. Stay tuned!

Dec

2008

Working at home in style

Posted by rexreed | Comments : (0)

Category : time management

Tags: basement, work

One of the best advantages of the Four Hour Work Week lifestyle is that you get to work when you want, where you want, and the results or benefits are yours to gain or lose. Of course, for many that are used to a structured work day and work environment, this can be particularly challenging. Some have a hard time working at their own at their home because their personal lives merge too much with their work lives.

Well, I’ve done a few things to counter-act this potential downside of the work-at-home lifestyle. First, I’ve created a “work zone” for myself that is completely separated from the rest of the non-work home. I did this by finishing a basement that was unused. You’ll see a post or two about that coming up soon for those who want to learn how to really mold/waterproof a basement to make it work.

Another thing you can do is make your work environment really be a work environment. Don’t have clothes hanging around that need to be washed, or toys that need to be put away. Make the work environment one in which you can be productive and one that shouts “work” rather than “play” and you’ll be tempted to make your time efficient… not the opposite.

To do that, I’ve invested in some good quality office furniture. My source of choice is Henriksen Butler office furniture. This Utah office furniture design and supply house has some really interesting and work-productive furniture that will really help you make that work/life balance effective.

They even offer to help design effective workspaces for the design-challenged:

Henriksen/Butler brings a unique blend of knowledge and technology to solve workplace challenges for business. Whether you have one location or one hundred, we can help create workplace environments that solve problems and boost productivity. The technology we use helps — from initial design through procurement and well beyond installation. We can manage any and all aspects of your workspace transition to ensure everything goes smoothly. From space planning and design to installation, maintenance and on-going support, Henriksen/Butler is creating great places to work, learn and heal.

On their website, you can see office furniture examples and the sort of interior design work they do. The company has multiple locations, mostly in the Southwest / Rocky region, providing solutions for those looking for Nevada office furniture and locations in Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, St. Geroge, and Boise, Idaho.

And for companies larger than one, they setup cubicles, chairs, desks, meeting rooms, counters, etc. for medium to large corporations.

I’d love to see what sort of work environments you FHWW’ers have set up. Anyone want to share some photo galleries?

Dec

2008

Show User Level Content WordPress Plug-in Updated

Posted by rexreed | Comments : (0)

Category : Uncategorized

Update: The plug-in is now available for download from the WordPress.org Plug-in Director.

Read more about the plug-in here… and don’t forget to donate!

Oct

2008

More Muse Ideas: e-Commerce Web Sites?

Posted by rexreed | Comments : (4)

Category : muse

Tags: muse, revenue

A lot of us 4HWW’ers are searching for muses that are Passive Income Generators (PIGs) and also require little investment upfront or continued maintenance (to allow them to be true 4 hour a week exercises). Maybe it’s a panacea, since if there was truly something that can return income with little or no time investment, everyone would be doing it, which would then eliminate any of the financial benefit. Economic markets are efficient, right?

Or maybe there are such sorts of businesses, but they can never truly replace income by themselves. Perhaps the key to a good PIG-type muse is to have a collection of small businesses, each of which contribute a modest amount, but togethr contrbute a significant amount.

In that vein, I’m getting a few of my muses together. The first muse is this blog. But a blog isn’t truly a PIG. Indeed, a blog is really an Active Income Generator (AIG) because it requires continuous work on the blogger to allow it to derive value. Well, maybe not entirely… some blogs automatically parrot information available elsewhere. Those blogs then can truly be PIG-type muses. But it’s the one where new and fresh content is the draw that makes blogs AIGs.

Note: I really need better acronyms, since we like PIGs and the AIG acronym sounds too close to an existing, failing business entity. Anyone have any ideas that convey the same meaning but have better acronyms?

An e-Commerce site as a PIG

So, one of those modestly-contributing PIGs I am considering is an ecommerce site selling a specific niche of items. There is some set-up time involved in an ecommerce site, especially around the website development and selection of products. Also, there is the issue of dealing with customer support and shipping / packaging. But I have a feeling that e-Commerce has evolved so that it can be completely turnkey without requiring the user to do anything but generate traffic.

Here’s where I’m stuck. I need help here — has anyone recently put together an e-Commerce site with a minimal of money and time investment and managed to keep operations humming with little continuous money and time investment? If so, I want to hear about it! What tools did you use? What companies are you working with? Send me your advice, and we’ll keep it posted here.

See you around the 4HWW world!

Oct

2008

Yom Kippur and a Prayer for the Government

Posted by rexreed | Comments : (0)

Category : politics

Tags: peace

For those that don’t know, yesterday was Yom Kippur, which is the Jewish day of atonement. You’re supposed to fast and attone for your sins, etc. I’ve never really been a religious type, and I’m most definitely not observant. But I usually go to services more as tradition and something to do with family.

Anyways, at every service, whether for the High Holidays or not, there’s always a prayer for the government. I usually gloss that over, since it’s pretty vague. But this time, the words popped out of the page and struck a real chord with me. Somehow, this time, the words of the prayer seem quite relevant to the times.

As excerpted from the Jewish Virtual Library:

The prayer for the government is a biblical prayer, and is read during the Saturday morning service on Shabbat. The concept of praying for the wellbeing of the government was started in 586 B.C.E. by the prophet Jeremiah after the first expulsion from Jerusalem. Seeing as the Jewish people could not govern themselves, they implored God to guide their foreign rulers. David Abudarham first introduced this prayer into the modern siddurim (prayer book) in the 14th century. Jews have adopted different prayers for the governments of the countries in which they live. The prayer is read aloud after the Torah reading, but before the Torah is placed back into the ark. This blessing asks God to guard the proceedings of the government and the nation’s leaders.

Here’s the prayer as is usually translated:

Our God and God of our ancestors: We ask Your blessings for our country, for its government, for its leader and advisors, and for all who exercise just and rightful authority. Teach them your insights that they may administer all affairs of state fairly, that peace and security, happiness and prosperity, justice and freedom may forever abide in our midst. Creator of all flesh, bless all the inhabitants of our country with Your spirit. May citizens of all races and creeds forge a common bond in true harmony to banish all hatred and bigotry and to safeguard the ideals and free institutions which are the pride and glory of our country. May this land under Your Providence be an influence for good throughout the world, uniting all people in peace and freedom and helping them to fulfill the vision of your prophet: “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they experience war any more.” And let us say: Amen.

How can anyone disagree?

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Improvements and Fixes to WP E-Commerce

Credit cards: a lifeline for cash

Version 0.2 of Show User Level Content Plugin Now Available

More on Banking…

Is it time to buy a car?

Happy New Year! Lots of upgrades…

Working at home in style

Show User Level Content WordPress Plug-in Updated

More Muse Ideas: e-Commerce Web Sites?

Yom Kippur and a Prayer for the Government

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