$7 Tools | Make $7 Secrets Do More

Changing My Web Host

2011-08-26T05:12:46Z

After my web host, 100 Megs Web Hosting, once again brought my website down, I'm switching hosting companies for 7dollartools.com. Let me gripe just a little bit and tell you the story.

[Let me be clear that I've been a customer of 100MWH for since early 2003 and I've been greatly satisfied with their exemplary service for most of that time. That's why my conversations with them over the last three days and this post don't convey how ticked off I am at them over these events; I'm attempting to moderate my tone.]

Tuesday afternoon I received a support ticket from a potential customer for Expansion Pack, letting me know that they were getting a SourceGuardian error when they loaded the web page. Indeed, when I checked the server I found that SG—which I use to protect my products and use on this site—wasn't present on the server and thus somewhere around 95% of my site was inaccessible.

This was odd. I asked 100MWH to re-install the extension, just as I had back in November 2010. But this time they refused to install SG. After 11 hours, someone from support told me that they had moved my account to another server (unannounced) and would not be able to reinstall SG.

This was not what I expected. After all, SourceGuardian is a common piece of software; it's similar to Zend Guard and ionCube, and web hosts often install it by default on shared servers. I've only heard of one host that wouldn't install it for my customers upon request. And, of course, they'd already installed previously it at my request.

But, as the owner explained (19 hours after my "That's not acceptable" response)...

"...it's just hard to compile custom things for people in a shared environment. We kind of have to get things standardized here. Otherwise we end up in a situation where we have 30 different clients with 30 different customized items on a server, and it just isn't possible for us to keep track of that sort of thing and keep it all upgraded and in line over the years and upgrade cycles."

I guess I can understand. Except that they had it installed already. Along with ionCube.

Such news, of course, would alone be enough to cause me to move 7dollartools.com to another server. However, I chose to move all four of my accounts with 100MWH and a number of my customers' accounts to a different web host for different reasons.

Did you notice my first statement, that 100MWH brought down my site again? And that the change they made was unannounced? In the last year or so they've made changes to their servers on 5 different occasions that were detrimental to my sites and they failed to warn their customers about the upcoming changes.

That's unforgivable. I understand the need to make changes to hardware and software. Or networks. But to do so without notice to your customers, to prepare them for changes that may affect the software that they're running, is inexcusable.

I can't continue to leave my sites at the mercy of a company doesn't respect their customers enough to give them a "heads up" regarding upcoming changes. 7dollartools.com has already been moved; if you see anything broken as a result, please let me know.

Why An Installer?

2011-05-04T00:21:46Z

I love programming. I won't say I hate providing support, but I'd rather program. That's why I created an installer for all my Expansions.

The only problem users seem to have when installing is in ensuring that the Source Guardian loaders are installed. The installer checks out the server and gives easy-to-understand instructions if the loaders aren't available. This should eliminate 90% of my support requests. (The remaining 10% are actually now directed to the forum, where users might find their questions already answered.)

The installer also makes sure the user is actually using $7 Secrets Scripts, and I can require a minimum version be present for a specific Expansion. And the installer looks for the files that are required for each Expansion, too.

The user is given a choice to manually enable Admin Expansion Lite (included with each expansion) if it isn't already (a process that involves editing 7DSS's index.php by hand) or allow the installer to do it. Very cool!

Finally, the installer creates default settings files, etc., for the Expansion before it deletes itself (with the user's permission).

Now that I think about it, I may eliminate the installer. Users are encouraged to ensure that Source Guardian is installed before they purchase, so the (same) code in the installer is redundant. And the other functions of the installer can actually be built into the Expansion—each Expansion already creates its default files.

Hmm, back to the drawing board…

Announcing Social Proof Expansion

2011-03-25T16:16:31Z

One of my newest Expansions came about as a result of seeing AWeber's "recent orders" widget (at the moment called "Who's Joining AWeber?") on their site. My first thought was, "How much would my sales increase if visitors saw that $7 Secrets was being purchased by others?"

So, I quickly whipped up some code to display my own "Recent Orders" widget, pulling in data from my purchase file to show not only names and relative dates, but also where the customer was located. And Social Proof Expansion was born!

I really had a lot of fun with this Expansion, since it was the first to have the in-place configuration feature that's now standard across my line of products. Tying in to an external service for location data and caching that data was new to me. And putting in some nice touches like hiding the "time since" if any sales were over a week old really gave me some pride in my work.

Social Proof Expansion is $7 and can be used in unlimited $7 Secrets Scripts installations. And, yes, I've seen a bump in conversions as a result of using it.

Announcing Landing Page Expansion

2011-03-25T14:41:34Z

Back in 2008, I was asked by a 7DSS user about using multiple sales pages, or landing pages, to funnel traffic from different sources. I offered a suggestion which involved pasting some code and which didn't track the page for conversion purposes. But it was the start of a new Expansion which has finally been released.

Landing Page Expansion gives you the ability to display multiple sales pages for your front-end product and define custom actions to show specific sales pages. Configuration is easy and takes place right in your browser.

Conversion data will be reported by 7DSS for each additional sales page you use with Landing Page Expansion, just as for your other sales pages. And affiliates will receive credit if they promote a specific page, too!

Landing Page Expansion is $7 and can be used in unlimited $7 Secrets Scripts installations.

Announcing Checkout Expansion

2011-03-24T23:42:40Z

You've spent a lot of time getting your site just right, but you probably haven't given any thought to the payment process other than "Okay, 7DSS sends the buyer to PayPal and then they come back after paying."

Depending on who's being paid for the sale and the type of PayPal account you or your affiliate has, though, the buyer can see a number of variations in the checkout pages, most of which don't have any relation to your site or product. It's understandable that the customer would have some hesitation in paying for your product when they've been taken to a completely different site that seemingly has no connection with yours.

Checkout Expansion has been released to combat the lost sales you've been experiencing. This Expansion for $7 Secrets Scripts provides customization settings for PayPal checkout, allowing you to define a custom logo, banner image and background color that display when your customer goes through the payment process. This adds credibility to your business and helps prevent order abandonment. And the branding appears on affiliate sales, too!

Checkout Expansion is $7 and can be used in unlimited $7 Secrets Scripts installations.

Announcing Expansion Pack

2011-03-22T20:39:00Z

If you've been with me a while, you may remember that my first Expansion for $7 Secrets Scripts was called Expansion Pack. Eventually, I renamed the product Giveaway Expansion—first, because I decided to limit the scope of that product to a single set of features relating to the giveaway function in 7DSS and, second, because I had plans for reusing the name for what I'm finally announcing today.

Expansion Pack is (now) a bundle of all the Expansions I've released up to today: Admin Expansion (the full version), Giveaway Expansion, Sell-Out Expansion, and The $7 Blacklist. But in and of itself that wouldn't really be anything new; I didn't want to release Expansion Pack until I had something more to give you.

So today, while these aren't yet individually available, I'm including three new Expansions in Expansion Pack, making it a real bundle: Checkout Expansion, Landing Page Expansion, and Social Proof Expansion. Briefly (you can click the links for more info), the new products offer some cool, new features for 7DSS:

Checkout Expansion: brand PayPal's Checkout pages with your logo
Landing Page Expansion: create multiple, targeted sales pages
Social Proof Expansion: configurable Recent Orders widget

But wait (I feel like a late-night infomercial announcer), that's not all! Also included are two more Expansions that you can only get with Expansion Pack:

Template Expansion: create additional, optional pages that tie into 7DSS actions
Snag Plugin: display purchase record data on any 7DSS template

If you've been keeping score, that's a total of 9 Expansions, with a total (counting released, soon-to-be-released, priced-as-if-it-were-released-separately products) retail value of $96. And, as you'd expect, Expansion Pack will be offered at a significant price savings. How much?

$67.

That's 30% off the retail value of the whole package!

But wait, there's more! (No, better than free shipping.)

Bonus #1: Instead of my standard free-updates-for-two-years policy, purchasers of Expansion Pack get all updates to these Expansions for life (the life of the Expansion).

Bonus #2: When (not if) I create additional Expansions, those products will be added to Expansion Pack and previous purchasers will get the new products for free.

I've pretty much rehashed the same deal over at the Expansion Pack sales page; feel free to investigate further there and by using the links above.

Operators are standing by.

The $7 Blacklist 1.1 Released

2011-03-22T17:34:03Z

Version 1.1 of The $7 Blacklist for $7 Secrets Scripts has been released. The Expansion, which combats affiliate fraud, now supports the in-place configuration feature of Admin Expansion. Setting options for The $7 Blacklist is now handled in your browser.

The $7 Blacklist is free for all users of $7 Secrets Scripts.

Sell-Out Expansion 1.2 Released

2011-03-22T16:57:02Z

Sell-Out Expansion, which builds upon $7 Secrets Scripts' "max sales" feature, has been updated to version 1.2.

The Expansion, which allows you to limit your front-end and OTO product sales by number and time, now takes advantage of Admin Expansion's in-place configuration. Configuration of Sell-Out Expansion now takes place in your browser.

Updates to Sell-Out Expansion are free to all users who have purchased in the last two years.

Giveaway Expansion 1.3 Released

2011-03-22T16:25:46Z

My very first Expansion, Giveaway Expansion, has been updated to take advantage of Admin Expansion's new in-place configuration feature. Configuring Giveaway Expansion now takes place in your browser.

The "affiliate link with giveaway actions" feature which premiered in Giveaway Expansion has been moved to Admin Expansion, so that any Expansion (and 7DSS itself) can take advantage of it. Other minor changes are noted in the change log.

Updates to Giveaway Expansion are free to all users who have purchased in the last two years.

Admin Expansion 1.4 Released

2011-03-22T03:33:28Z

$7 Tools' flagship product, Admin Expansion, has been updated to version 1.4. This new version adds several features, most notably in-place configuration of $7 Secrets Scripts itself.

It's no longer necessary to edit an arcane text file, all the while worrying that you'll bungle the job, drop a semi-colon and leave your site high and dry. A simple web form, secure within your password-protected admin panel, allows you to quickly and confidently change product and system settings.

Admin Expansion also supports in-place configuration of all $7 Tools Expansions. Again, no need to fumble with a text editor.

Additional features include allowing an affiliate ID with any supported 7DSS action (order, giveaway, etc.) or those provided by another Expansion and a reorganization of the admin menu. Admin Expansion now supports five new Expansions—Checkout Expansion, Landing Page Expansion, Social Proof Expansion, Template Expansion, and Snag Plugin—as well.

Upgrades to version 1.4 are free to all users who have purchased in the last 2 years.

Easier Downloads

2011-02-19T00:29:15Z

Isn't that a mess? All those links for one product? That's what nearly every product download page on 7DollarTools.com looked like until today.

By eliminating support for old versions, I was able to remove three of those links. And the documentation link I was able to remove by putting all the documentation for my products on the website. (Why I didn't do that before, I don't know. It makes updating the instructions for all existing users very easy.)

Lastly, I eliminated any choice for new and existing users of my products--that was just confusing for most people. I was trying to keep users who were already using my products from downloading SourceGuardian loaders and another copy of Admin Expansion Lite, but by asking new users to check for the loaders before buying I am able to avoid providing the loaders at all.

(Admin Expansion Lite is now always provided as a separate download, which allows me to update it without creating new packages for the other Expansions.)

Once all that was done, here's what the same download page looks like:

Lesson to learn: make things easier for your customers and users.

Support For Older Versions of 7DSS Ended

2011-02-18T05:24:51Z

Back in 2007 when I started $7 Tools, I was supporting $7 Secrets Scripts version 2.6; in fact, Admin Expansion was specifically written to fix bugs that were present in that version.

When I took over $7 Secrets, I corrected those bugs and I removed the bug fixes from later versions of Admin Expansion, but I kept available the version (1.1.2) compatible with 7DSS 2.6. Versions of other Expansions dependent on AE 1.1.2 also remained available.

As of today, though, I'm no longer supporting any Expansion that doesn't work with 7DSS 2.8. Older versions of all Expansions have been removed from the site and users are strongly encouraged to upgrade to 7DSS 2.8 and update their Expansions. And new users won't have the confusing choice of download options when they reach the download page.

Are We Compatible?

2011-02-17T05:28:59Z

Most products available through $7 Tools are protected by a tool called SourceGuardian, which I use to encode my PHP scripts. Every once in a while I'll get a refund request from someone whose hosting company won't install the SourceGuardian extension and, as a result, the purchased Expansion won't run. I think it's a poor provider that won't install this common software (particularly since they usually have Zend Optimizer and ionCube installed -- two extensions that have a similar purpose), but I'm stuck giving the refund.

To prevent these requests in the future, I've put a link on each Expansion's sales page indicating there are some system requirements. There's also a reminder after the user clicks the order link. The requirements are simple:

You need to be running 7DSS
You need to be running SourceGuardian

Buyers are encouraged to download a test script to make sure their server supports SourceGuardian. If the loaders aren't already installed, the user is given a link to download them or, if the server doesn't support user-installed loaders, instructions are provided to pass to the hosting company.

I've been working with Inovica (the publishers of SG) the past couple weeks to make the test script more user-friendly, by clarifying various messages and adding additional logic. I hope you find it useful; please let me know if you have any issues as you use it.

Additional reading:
Installing the SourceGuardian Loaders
System Compatibility

Admin Expansion 1.3.1

2011-02-17T02:03:11Z

Admin Expansion and Admin Expansion Lite have been updated to version 1.3.1. The most significant change is the destination of the "Fix" links in the 7DSS admin panel: since $7 Secrets Forum moved from the YaBB platform to Simple Machines, those topics have new addresses.

Additional reading:
Admin Expansion Change Log
Admin Expansion Lite Change Log

Get Your Tickets Here

2010-11-08T17:48:42Z

Today I'm announcing that I'm a licensed developer with Maian Support, arguably the best, free PHP support ticket system on the planet. I've been using Maian Support since 2007; I had tried a number of free alternatives and found MS to be the easiest to use.

In 2008, MS became a commercial project, Ticket Desk Pro, through a partnership between the developer and an established Internet marketer. However, due to some differences between the partners (as I understand it), the product languished and eventually the partnership dissolved, returning MS to the developer, David Bennett.

In 2010, David released Maian Support 2.0 with both a free and a paid version. Most of my customers will be satisfied with the feature set of the free version; the paid version removes limits on various features, which will be important if you're providing support for more than just a few products. More importantly, the paid version permits the removal of some fairly blatant copyright/advertising notices and links, which will be important to many users.

As I licensed developer, I am able to install either version on my customers' websites and I will offer some compelling prices to do so. In the coming weeks I'll set up a sales page for the service; in the meantime, if you're interested, fill out a support ticket and set the category to "Installation Request."