ECMS Module
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Connecting CMS to Your Website(s)
CMS’s optional eCMS module is used to connect CMS to the website(s) of your choice. eCMS uses “Plug-ins” to support specific carts. Plug-ins are available from NewHaven Software (one comes with your purchase of the eCMS module) or we can provide API documentation if you’d like to write your own.
The eCMS module provides a single and simple interface in which you can control and schedule the communications between CMS and your sites. Here is a list of the high level capabilities of the eCMS module.
- Settings - CMS can store login credentials and assorted settings to facilitate communication directly between CMS and your cart.
- Order Downloads - CMS can connect to the web service hosted with your cart to download orders directly into CMS’s database.
- Download Confirmations - CMS will communicate a list of successfully downloaded orders to the cart so the orders are flagged as downloaded (for carts that support this). Regardless, controls are in place in CMS to protect against processing of duplicate orders.
Status window is displayed during site communications to show the progress of each action and notify you of any processing or connection errors. Even for large amounts of data, this view is scrollable and exportable. Text effects like colors and bold are used to help attract attention to processing exceptions and more noteworthy events.
- Product Uploads - Product information including
- product code/sku
- pricing (normal, sale/scheduled)
- descriptions
- size/color attribute options
- active/discontinued status
- availability, stock levels, date expected back in stock
- weight
This includes both the creation of new products as well as updating existing. In this way you can use CMS to be the master product list for all channels although some cart specific information, such as categories and images, will need to be maintained in each cart. This upload system prevents the need to dual enter product information both in CMS and on your site(s).
- Order Status Uploads - Updating the cart with information about status changes to the order including tracking numbers for shipments.
- Catalog Requests - If you accept requests for a physical catalog on your site, these can be imported into CMS as part of the eCMS communications. Once imported they flow into CMS’s robust catalog fulfillment system making the management of mailing catalogs a breeze.
- Scheduling - You can configure CMS to automatically connect to your carts at the interval of your choosing (in minutes.) You can set this connection interval both for order downloads and a separate interval for product/inventory uploads.
- Timeout controls - You can tell CMS how long to wait for a response from your site before it reports it is non-responsive and times out.
- Products Assignments to Stores - You can choose which of your products should be available online and, if you are running multiple stores, which stores the product should appear on.
Supported Plug-In's
CommerceV3 (CV3)
This was the first plug-in built for eCMS and we have a long standing relationship with CV3 and were their first integration partner. This CommerceV3 Plug-in allows CMS to communicate with your store on order downloads, product/inventory uploads, and order status uploads.
Magento (beta)
We have also written a Plug-in for Magento that works with our eCMS module. This Magento Plug-in allows CMS to communicate with your Magento store for order downloads, product/inventory uploads, and order status uploads. (Catalog requests do require that a third party extension be added to Magento.)
Magento is an open source solution available in different editions to suit your needs and budget. You can host it on your own web server and use the free Community edition or use their more expensive Enterprise hosted edition. Which ever edition you choose, the CMS Magento Plug-in will handle the communications with your Magento site. NewHaven Software is a Bronze Magento partner.
Generic File Based
If your eCommerce solution does not provide a web service that CMS can connect to, you may still have automation options available to you. With our generic file based plug-in, CMS can connect to FTP to download a file of your orders and import them if they are in our XML format. If they are not in our XML format, a custom transform can be written to convert their file format into ours and it will work in conjunction with the plug-in so the import is a one step process (and can be scheduled). Likewise, the same can be done for posting order status updates back to FTP, for example.
Custom
If you wish to have your site connect to our API (Plug-in not listed above) you may pursue develop a Plug-in in-house, with your own contractor, or contract with us. This API is a published specification, really a programmer's guide, of how to design a Plug-in (.dll) to handle eCommerce communications with CMS via our eCMS module. This Plug-in sits between CMS and your site and manages not only URLs to connect to and logins but also translation of data to ensure both CMS and your cart are getting what they need and in the right format. Please contact your Account Manager for more details.
From there you can assess whether the development of the Plug-in is something you would like to pursue in-house, with your own contractor, or contract with us. Please keep in the mind that our API specification was designed for a programmer, not a web developer. To clarify, the plug-in is a compiled .dll file used by CMS locally on the Windows operating system.
Order Importing with CMS
Orders imported into CMS, from any source (eCMS or a file), flow into the Verify Orders section of CMS. This temporary holding section for imports is used to allow an operator to review the order for completeness and accuracy before committing stock, issue drop-ship purchase orders, and/or processing payment. For most orders this is a matter of just two clicks and thus can be very efficient (unless modifications to the order are needed.)
The Verify Imports section is multi-user so if you have a large volume of orders you can have any number of operators verifying them simultaneously. CMS will maintain locks on orders that are currently being reviewed to prevent the same order from being opened by more than one operator. Also see the Automated Imports Module below for additional information on how to streamline high volumes of order imports.
Orders can remain in the Verify Imports section until any problem is resolved. Alternately, the order may be saved as a proforma (quote) or placed on Hold using any one or more of predefined and user-defined hold reasons.
CMS employs [sophisticated logic] to both determine if the imported order is for a customer already in your list and if the recipient is the purchaser. This helps CMS match orders to existing customers when it should and know when the order should be processed as a gift order.
Options for Further Efficiency Gains
CMS also offers two additional modules to improve the efficiency of your import order processing:
- [Automated Imports Module] - Setup validation checks to determine which orders should receive manual review. Those passing your checks are allowed to automatically convert to real orders and will enter your fulfillment processing.
- [Address Validation Module] - This module is used to validate the deliverability of the addresses on your orders. This is done by CMS communicating with Endicia’s web service of all USPS addresses in the United States. You can validate either manually as you enter or review orders or this can also be automated for orders as they are imported.
