May 22, 2007

Today we have released an updated ROES Client that adds a number of new attributes and features, detailed below.  We expect this will be the last client update before the RUG Meeting.  As Java 1.6 has become more prevalent in Windows systems, please be advised that there are new ways to access the application cache viewer: 1) Via Control Panel, select Java Control Panel and then View.. at the lower right of the General tab; 2) Select Start - Run, type in javaws -viewer and press Enter/Click OK.  The current Template Tool launch has the new attributes listed below in the selection lists as well as the Help - Help window displaying definitions.   

Reminder: ROES USER GROUP (RUG) Meeting - June 18th and 19th, 2007 - Rochester, NY

Please be sure to let us know who from your lab will be attending this year's meeting if you haven't already.  The RUG will begin approximately 1PM on Monday, June 18th, 2007 at the Rochester Hyatt in Rochester, NY and conclude approximately 4:30PM on Tuesday, June 19th.  The current session plans are as follows (subject to change):

Monday:

1:30PM - Welcome/Keynote

2:00PM - ROES Retail with Get Web Images

2:50PM - Pro-to-Retail Integration and Workflow

3:35PM - New Report Macros and Conditional Tags

4:35PM - Client Configurability/Settings

Tuesday:

7:30AM - Breakfast

8:30AM - Records Demo and Update

9:20AM - Books Mode

10:10AM - Common Mistakes and Issues

10:50AM - Future Direction and Feedback

11:30AM - Lunch

12:30PM - Advanced Template Tool or Basic Template Tool

2:00PM - Server Report Building or Advanced Template Tool

3:00PM - DP2 Server or Stand Alone Server

4:15PM - Closing Remarks

The Client Configurability session will cover settings and options we can add into the ROES Client setup.  Tuesday afternoon will have sessions in 2 separate rooms, so you can attend Basic Template Tool and follow it with  Advanced Template Tool.  We look forward to seeing you there!

New/Updated Client Attributes and Features

New Attributes/Shipping Weight Calculation Function: weight and uses

Using these new attributes, the total of weight values can be used to apply a price based on a tiered format.  Each product and option can be given an attribute of weight with a numeric value as a weight measurement (.5 on a 4x5, 1 on an 8x10, 2 on a 16x20 for instance).  On an Order Option such as shipping, add attribute of uses and list weight as the value.  Then set a tiered price format and add tiertype set to graded, with the break points for each tier being the sum of the weight values added.  For example basic ground shipping might always be 4.50, then a next tier at weight value of 30 is 5.95, and weight value of 100 is 9.95, the shipping option for basic ground would have attribute of uses with weight as its' value and each product and mounting option would have a weight attribute set to a particular value for that item.  The price attribute of ground shipping would be 1,4.50,30,5.95,100,9.95 and keep going up from there.  If you offer free shipping after a certain order size you set the price tier to be 0.00 once it gets over that weight amount.  If you calculate shipping charges based on order price you simply use price as the uses value, and have the tiered pricing reflect the shipping on each order amount (Item options prices count while Image Options do not).

New Attribute: icon

The icon attribute allows you to specify a link to a small image on the Internet that can be used as the label of an option.  The label attribute should be left blank or with a single space entered into it.  Using small png files instead of HTML encoded labels for things like font types or color selection groups can greatly lessen the resources used  

New Attribute: combobox

The combobox attribute allows you to create a drop down list of options in lieu of radio buttons.  Add combobox with a value of true onto the non-multiple-choice parent option (i.e. Mounting) to make the selectable options in the group a drop down list.  This can be used to save real estate in the Options palette, where it is best used, or in Order Options.

Updated Function: Edit/Sort in Review Order

The ability to double click on the thumbnail of an order item in Review has been restored.  Drag and Drop to re-sort items still works as well, however the drag must start to the right of the order item thumbnail image.

New Attribute: disableu_idonorder

Using this attribute on a product and adding that product to an order you can disable another product or number of products.  Simply list the u_id's of the products to be disabled in the attribute's value and they will be disabled in the Sizes palette and menu upon adding the first product to the order.  This is useful in forcing customers to only order a single proof or print size per order or a single album cover page per order.

New Attribute: clearonaddtoorder

When added to a product, this attribute will clear the image(s) from the item when it is added to the order.

New Attribute: taxable

For use on Order Options, if set to true or false will determine whether or not the option should be subject to sales tax calculations.

New Feature: Local Fonts in Pager

Pager now offers a new font option!  If activated, Pager will show a Font button using local system fonts at the studio and render these as images, including the ability to shadow the text after selecting one of the available fonts for use.  The node will be transferred back as an image node and rendered in the ROES Stand Alone Server or updated version of the ROES DP2 Server, available at http://www.softworksroes.com/ROES/DP2_Server/SWROESServerSetup(v1.0.35b).zip (this is not a formal server release but will be shortly).  Please contact us to activate the new Pager Font button in your ROES Client.  

Credit Card Authorization in ROES

Customer credit cards can be authorized in ROES prior to order completion and transmission.  We have integrations with several authorizers in use already:  PayFlow Pro (PayPal.com, system formerly owned by Verisign); PayFuse XML (FirstNationalMerchants.com); Authorize.net; GoEMerchant XML (goemerchant.com); and USA ePay (usaepay.com).

Credit Card Window Configurability

The newer credit card window can be configured to alter field names, have an additional field added if needed for extra security codes, and/or remove the shipping address area along with the 'Use billing as shipping' checkbox.

ROES Records Add-On Module Video

Please visit http://www.screencast.com/users/karends/collections/ROES%20Pro%20-%20Records%20Module for a video of our Records module usage.

Reminders/Tips:

New Attributes/Function: promocode/code/discount - You can now have an Order Option that prompts for a promotional code to be entered in a needs_text line.  The u_id of the option used for entry MUST be promocode and there are 3 attributes needed: needs_text for the user entry, code for the value of the promo code(s) that the text entry must match exactly, and discount for the amount to charge, i.e. .90 for a 10% discount on the order.  To utilize multiple promotional codes, simply use comma delimited lists in the code and discount fields, where code could have value of 1234,2345,3456 and discount could have value of .9,.75,.5 for 10% off, 25% off and 50% off for the 3 codes respectively.  The number of delimited entries must match between the code and discount fields (5 in each, 10 in each, etc.).

New Attribute: pricemultiplier and priceminimum - pricemultiplier can be set on an option with a value of true along with a price attribute whose values can be used to add a percentage to the product it is being applied to (i.e., 1.20 in price to add a 20% increase for printing an item on metallic paper).  This allow you to only alter the prices of the products themselves and not additional options the totalpricemultiplier takes into account, like retouching services, mounting, or sprays.  The priceminimum attribute can be added onto options with pricemultiplier to set a mandatory minimum charge for the selected option and override the percentage calculation if greater.  Using the previous example, this would work as pricemultiplier set to true, price set to 1.20 for a 20% add-on to the product and priceminimum of 1.00 so that it will always add at least $1.00 to the item price if the option is selected and the 20% value is less than 1.00.

New Attribute: hidden - For use on an Option, this can be used to hide an option you have set to mandatory for the purpose of disabling another option.  For example, you offer an option set on an entire group to convert the image color, but one one template in the group you wish for there to be no color options.  On the one item, add an option set with mandatory and hidden attributes set to true on the parent, and disableu_id added on the sub or child option.  Add the u_id of the image color as the value, and when the one item is selected the image color option will be disabled without the new option showing as selected by default.

Drop Shadows of pre-existing nodes - Pager can now add drop shadows to pre-existing image nodes that are part of your templates in addition to Pager-added image nodes.  Please advise if you would like this feature turned on as it is optional.  You should also be running the latest version of the ROES DP2 Server, 1.034, or the newer March 2007 version of the Stand Alone Server, to properly process these.

Updated Attribute: totalpricemultiplier changes - The totalpricemultiplier attribute is added directly on an overridesadd off an Order Option.  This calculation will now be pre-tax and also can be before any shipping amount, if the u_id of the Shipping option being selected starts with shipping (i.e. u_id's of shipping_usps, shipping_ground, shipping_2ndday, etc.) .

Updated Attribute - needs_text - You can now require an entry in this field by leaving the value in Template Tool blank.  For template & item options, the Add to Order button will be disabled, just like when an image node isn't filled on a product. For an Order Option, the user is blocked with a dialog telling them to fill in some text.

Updated Attribute - needs_file - When an option with needs file is selected, the Client will not allow the order to complete unless a file has been attached to the order.  A dialog box informing the studio that a file is needed will pop up.

New Preference: Remember last folder between launches - This preference (selected by default), if unchecked, will clear the last used thumbnails folder for Presenter, Records, and main client. This is ideal for large proofing environments.  

Wider pane dividers - The pane dividers in the main client area and Presenter are wider now, allowing easier access to the collapse/expand arrows.

New Credit Card Window Report Macros - The ROES Pro and Retail Clients have a new credit card entry window across the board (for standard card data collection and immediate e-payments), with all fields required.  Selection of the Use Bill To Address for Shipping Address will collapse the shipping address areas, so no entry will be required.

This new window also has new report macros to be used:

[PAYMENT_CREDIT_CARD_NAME]

[PAYMENT_CREDIT_CARD_ADDRESS]

[PAYMENT_CREDIT_CARD_CITY]

[PAYMENT_CREDIT_CARD_STATE]

[PAYMENT_CREDIT_CARD_ZIP]

[PAYMENT_EMAIL]

[PAYMENT_PHONE]

[PAYMENT_SHIP_TO_NAME]

[PAYMENT_SHIP_TO_ADDRESS]

[PAYMENT_SHIP_TO_CITY]

[PAYMENT_SHIP_TO_STATE]

[PAYMENT_SHIP_TO_ZIP]

rotationallowed Attribute

This attribute can be added on a template and set to false to disable the Rotate Layout button. 

Attribute with Linknodes: stripextension

When used on a text node that has been linked to an image node node via Linknodes, the file name appearing in the image node will be listed without the file extension.  Remember when using Linknodes that all nodes in the product must have u_id's assigned

newlines Attribute

This attribute can prevent users from creating multiple text lines where a single line is desired.  Adding newlines set to false will force just single line entry into the node; coupled with the characterlimit attribute can allow you to control the amount of text each node receives for better rendering.

Change to autorotate Attribute

The autorotate attribute in Template Tool, when set to true, will activate the Autorotate button on the pro toolbar.  After being turned on, the button will remain selected until it is manually de-selected or a product with a false flag is chosen.

addenabled Attribute

Be sure to add the addenabled attribute on multi-image proof sheets (set to true) and informational/advertisement products used as the first template in a group (set to false).  For the proof sheets it will allow customers to add the item to an order with empty nodes (whereas before they had to hold the ALT or OPT key to Add with Empty).  For the informational items it will prevent the item from being added and causing an error upon receipt at the lab. 

Use tooltips on products

If you want to be able to convey additional information about a product to studios, try adding an attribute of tooltip to the item and enter text you want them to see pop-up when they mouse over the product in the Sizes palette.  This could be used to add reminders to look at mounting, sprays and other upsell options, to inform customers if an item is Pager editable, or available quantity discounts.

Image Names Can Be Linked Into Text Nodes

You can use Linknodes in a composite product to create a text entry of an image name into a text node upon adding the image to the matching image node.  For example, a 6 up proof sheet starting with node id/u_id of 10000 for the first image node and node id/u_id of 10006 as the first text node you would add Linknodes to the product for each pair of nodes to connect and enter the u_id's as 10000,10006 in the field provided.  If the nodes do not have u_id's, simply highlight all of the nodes in the product, then right-click and select Copy node id to u_id. Remember when using Linknodes that all nodes in the product must have u_id's assigned

Linknodes update: Linking text nodes

You can use Linknodes to duplicate text entered in one node to another text node(s).  This can be handy for trader cards where a player name, team or year may be entered more than once, especially when displaying the front and back of the card as one item via a DP2 Package.  Remember when using Linknodes that all nodes in the product must have u_id's assigned.