Customer Service Self Service
Main->Housekeeping->Create Self Service Site
This feature is NOT the current myinfo features. This Self Service customer site is a depreciated feature that will be removed from the ProfitSystem in a future version. It is still available for backward compatibility for existing users. Self -service web site: (Why would you use it?) ProfitSystem© creates a web site that customers can access to view their balance, status of orders, request receipt copies and other details of their event. This could save the shop a lot of time answering simple questions concerning a customer's account. Just direct customers to the web site to review their information.
Information found on the web-site is:
- Current Event date
- Balance
- List of Sale items and pickup availability. Availability is determined by it's scheduled notification date found within Pickup Inventory. The date must be the same or a date prior to the date the site was generated.
- Member list with individual total spending & Balance (for bride customers who access their event)
- Ability to request their receipt to be emailed to them in PDF format
Each ProfitSystem customer ticket contains a web key, which is a ten character unique code the customer can use to access their self service page. This key will automatically start appearing on receipts once the Self Service setup form is completed with the necessary setup data.
To generate and publish the information on the World Wide Web. 1. Go to Housekeeping->Create Self-Service Web Site. 2. Make sure the fields are filled out with the URL to the web site, etc. 3. Click Build and Publish Web Site. 4. Copy or FTP all the generated pages to the web server. Link to the self service Home Page name (supplied in the dialog below) from your existing store site. 5. It is a good practice to update the self service website via Publish Web Site once a date to update customer information.
ProfitSystem© will display a dialog form that will need to be completed once the Create Self Service Site function is clicked.
Web site HTML templates folder... Specifies the directory where the web templates are located. Should be C:\TPSWINS\WebTemplate\ by default. URL to shop home page... The URL for the web site for your store. A link is included on the main page of the web catalog site to go to your main site. For example: http://thebridalshop.com) Shop name on web site... The name of your shop. This is included on the main page. For example: The Bridal Shop Web site title... The name for the web catalog site. For example: The Bridal Shop Customer Service Home page file name... The filename to use for the main page of the web site. If the web catalog is a sub-part of a bigger site, then typically you will already have a default.html or index.html as a main page. In this case, you'll want the web catalog main page to have a different name, and the main web catalog page will be linked to from your main site. For example: INDEX.HTML URL to web site... The full URL to the web site where it will be hosted. For example: http://outlet.thebridalshop.com Terms button... The document terms that will be included on the generated receipts. Many shops use special document terms for PDF receipts, instead of the standard terms used on printed receipts.
Create web site
Option 1: On my computer... The site can be created locally on a computer or on a computer in the local network. Create web site in folder... Specifies the directory where the web site will be created. For example: C:\INETPUB\WWWROOT\
Option 2: The information it can be created and automatically uploaded to a web server at BBL Systems, Inc. or FTPed to any remote site.
Hosted at BBL Systems Inc... Select when BBL will host the customer data Upload to FTP site... Select when the data will be hosted at a remote locations web server.
FTP Server, Directory, Username and Password... This information will be provided by the location that will be accepting your customer self serve data.
Note on data transmission
The data to be transmitted could be a large volume of data and thus be time consuming to transmit. The more customers the more data. A fast internet upload connection is desirable. Example, 100 megabytes of data uploaded on a 512kb line would obtain approximately 50,000 bytes per sec of upload speed which would equal an approximatel33 minute upload time.
Note on search engine crawlers It is HIGHLY recommended that a special self service folder is created on your web-site and that customer self-service info is placed there. Then instruct web search engine crawlers to skip those folders/pages. This can be accomplished via the ROBOTS.TXT file, Google Web Master tools and SITEMAP.XML file.
Buttons
Save Settings... Saves the settings typed into this dialog for later recall. Build/Publish Site...A page is generated for each ticket that is active, or has had some activity in the last 6 months. If the customer on the ticket is a bride, a special page is generated. Remember, a page is generated for each ticket, so a single customer can have more than one page if they have multiple tickets. Each page will have a different web key, since each ticket has a different web key. Cancel...Cancel the operation & do not create the site. Returns to previous menu.
Templates
The web site is created by combining templates with the ProfitSystem ticket data. The process is similar to mail merge. There is a set of template files that contain the HTML for each page on the web site, such as the home page and the page showing the details for a customer.
These template pages contain merge codes (such as <%CUSTNAME%>) When the web site is created, ProfitSystem© processes the template file by substituting the correct HTML code for each merge code. The end result is a page that contains the default template HTML (layout, formatting, etc.) with the information specific to that page merged in.
These template files can be modified to change the layout of the web site. If the template files need to be restored to their original state they can be found on the ProfitSystem distribution CD in \SERVER\TPSWINS\WEBTEMPLATES
Font and color changes should be made to the DEFAULT.CSS cascading style sheet, instead of making changes directly to the template pages. Font and color changes made there affect all the pages automatically.
Web Site Creation Process
- The destination directory is created if it does not exist.
- All the JPG files are copied from the webtemplates directory to the destination directory.
- The DEFAULT.CSS file is copied from the webtemplates directory to the destination directory.
- The homepage is created by processing the DEFAULT.HTML file.. Any merge codes are also processed. The file is created in the destination directory using the Home page file name specified.
- The tickets file in ProfitSystem is scanned and each ticket with a balance, or any activity in the last six months is processed. If the ticket does not have a web key, a web key is generated and assigned to the ticket.
- If the customer is a bride, then the SSBRIDE.HTML page is merged, creating a page named the same as the customers web key. Also, a PDF version of the receipt is generated, using the web key as the file name, and a link to it is placed on the web page.
- If the customer is not a bride, then the SSCUSTOMER.HTML page is merged, creating a page named the same as the customers web key. Again, a PDF version of the receipt is generated, using the web key as the file name, and a link to it is placed on the web page.
Layout of Created Web Site
- DEFAULT.HTML is the home page. It introduces the site and prompts the user for their web key. The page contains a short javascript program that takes the web key and navigates to the correct customer page.
- Each ticket has a page called [web key].HTML This page displays the details for the customer ticket. The page also contains a link to a PDF version of the receipt. The receipt is named [web key].PDF.
- DEFAULT.CSS is a cascading style sheet used for the colors and fonts on the web site.
Templates
By default, these templates are stored in \TPSWINS\WebTemplate\ folder. The templates may be edited using a HTML editor.
The template files contains merge codes, as outlined below.
The HTML files are located in \TPSWINS\WebTemplate\ The files are as follows
- SSBRIDE.HTML... This page is displayed for a customer that is a bride for an event.
- SSCUSTOMER.HTML...This page is displayed for a customer that is not a bride for an event. Remember, a page is generated for each ticket, so a single customer can have more than one page if they have multiple tickets.
- SSDEFAULT.HTML... This page is the initial site page. It contains a form to prompt for the web key and a short javascript program to navigate to the correct page.
Merge codes used within the template HTML pages
Code - Inserts into the web site