Update: 3.8.9.2 has been released.
WP e-Commerce 3.8.9.2 is available to download. Please make sure you have backed up your database before upgrading. We highly recommend Backup Buddy for the job.
The following issues have been fixed:
* Fix: Admin cannot download file from product edit page. * Fix: Compatibility issues with Jetpack. * Fix: Google Analytics is printed out even when it's not active. * Fix: Make sure PayPal Standard works with 100% discount. * Fix: Product page title is not properly replaced with the category or tag title in WP 3.5. * Fix: Products are sometimes displayed even when products page is set to only display list of categories. * Fix: Products thumbnail sizes are inconsistent with the settings. * Fix: Properly flush outdated customer meta from the transient table. * Fix: Typo in wpsc_cart::update_location(). * Fix: Wrong class attribute for price display.
Update: 3.8.9.1 has been released
The following issues have been fixed:
* Fix: Fatal error in Shipwire. * Fix: Fatal error with customer meta on multisite. * Fix: Fatal error with get_the_product_tags(). * Fix: Pagination in admin product list doesn't work. * Fix: Permalinks are incorrect when products page is set as home page and permalink scheme is set to %post_name%. * Fix: Rewrite rules are not regenerated correctly when switching from "Default" to "Post name". * Fix: Shipwire and Google Analytics are not working properly. * Fix: Shipwire request is sent even when Shipwire is not active. * Fix: States are displayed as numbers in admin purchase report. * Fix: Transaction results displaying cart content twice as well as "Oops, there is nothing in your cart". * Fix: Use customer meta instead of $_SESSION for eway and payflow message. * Fix: Variation pagination doesn't work.
We’re happy to announce that WP e-Commerce 3.8.9 is now officially available for download. This release contains 144 enhancements and bug fixes, so we are proud to say this is a great leap forward from our last major release and brings us one step closer to the always looming, ever-epic and long awaited WP e-Commerce 4.0.
Here are the highlights:
Variations UI enhancements
In 3.8.9, we have revamped the Product Variation metabox in the Edit Product page. Variations, if you haven’t used them before, offer shoppers a way to select options of a product, such a sizes on t shirts, different styles or scents of products.
- All variation details are now modifiable from within their product setup, just like categories or tags. You won’t have to travel to another page to set up these variations, they can be done on the fly, remaining on the product edit page. Make changes to tax or shipping, even add variation thumbnails, all in one easy place.
- Variations can now be bulk edited.
- Variations can now be marked as draft (to hide from the front-end), or trashed (rather than being deleted permanently).
Scroll down to see a demo of the new variation setup
Fix compatibility issues with $_SESSION
This could easily be the most extensive change in our API in 3.8.9.
Prior to 3.8.9, WP e-Commerce relies on $_SESSION to store customer data between page load. However, because WPEC is used on literally thousands of different server configurations, there have been reports about incompatibility with $_SESSION. Moreover, hosting services (such as WP Engine) that use static caching systems (Varnish) usually have very limited options when it comes to configuring their caching system to accomodate WP e-Commerce.
In 3.8.9, we have decided to move away from using $_SESSION and converted to using a combination of cookie and transients to manage customer information. This proves to be more reliable than $_SESSION. Furthermore, it is now much easier to config WP e-Commerce to work nicely with static caching system.
For 3rd party developers, if your plugin uses any $_SESSION variables, you will need to update your plugin’s code to take advantage of our new customer metadata API. Documentation will follow soon.
Google Analytics
This is a sorely missed feature in our 3.8.x series. WP e-Commerce used to integrate nicely with Joost’s Google Analytics plugin. As compatibility depreciated during our code upgrades, we’ve heard our users’s cries to make it part of core. In 3.8.9, you’ll be able to configure the integration with ease and track your sales data conveniently with Google Analytics.
Shipwire Integration
Tired of having to pack and ship each order from your WP e-Commerce store? Consider order fulfillment. You work with Shipwire to store your goods in their massive warehouses. They handle shipping and packing and you can stick to the business of making money.
Over the last few months, Shipwire has been getting a big overhaul. Some of you may have been following the issue on our Google Code tracker. Shipwire now has full integration allowing you to hook your WP e-Commerce store into the following Shipwire services:
- Inventory Updates
- Tracking Updates
- Order Fulfillment
- Shipping Rates
Important: before upgrading
If you’re currently running a live site using previous version of WP e-Commerce, please set up a test site (or staging environment) where you can upgrade to 3.8.9 to make sure your theme and all other WP e-Commerce related plugins are compatible with this new release. In 3.8.9, we have major changes in certain components, especially customer data storage and transaction results and notifications. Therefore, some existing plugins might need to update its codebase to work with 3.8.9.
As for Gold Cart, we’re going to follow up with an updated release, which will address all compatibility issues with 3.8.9. So if you’re using Gold Cart, don’t upgrade to 3.8.9 just yet and stay tuned for our Gold Cart release due out this Friday.
If you find any plugins that used to be compatible with 3.8.8.5 but not compatible with 3.8.9, please notify the plugin developers and report to us as well.
It also goes without saying that before you upgrade to 3.8.9, please back up your files and databases. Backup Buddy and VaultPress are our top two choices for making backup simple and effortless.
How to upgrade
You can simply use WordPress automatic update feature to download and install WP e-Commerce 3.8.9.
If that doesn’t work for you, try the following steps for a manual upgrade:
- Download WP e-Commerce 3.8.9 from here and save it to your computer.
- Extract the downloaded package to a folder on your computer.
- Upload the contents of that folder to this path on your server, overwriting all existing files: wp-content/plugins/wp-e-commerce
If you find any issues with 3.8.9, feel free to post it in the comment section below. We’re always happy to help.
Using Variations in WP e-Commerce 3.8.9
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