Easily and quickly extend the Miva Merchant 5.x store morph technology (SMT) coding system. The tool kit function library fills in many of the gaps in the SMT coding system by using the module's item tags, similar to those you are familiar with in your page templates. You can even use the mvassign and mveval functions to run mivascript functions and expressions right in your SMT pages if you are familiar with the mivascript language or you look them up in the mivascript reference manual. It also contains many functions for extending the capabilities of your store without additional modules.
Store developers, who were used to the tokens used in 4.x, will find this addition to Merchant 5.x to be very useful. New Merchant users will find the use of item tag tokens to be straightforward and a great addition to the already extensive capabilities of Merchant. Touted by developers and store owners alike as a must have module.
Below is a list of the dozens of features currently in the tool kit. Included in the tool kit is example "how to" code for each function. By copying and pasting the example code, you can quickly enhance your page templates with features you thought were not possible without extensive coding or over-priced modules. Study the examples and create your own customizations of the page templates.
Store Morph Language Extensions
Mivascript expressions. Dramatically extend store morph. Run almost any mivascript simple or complex
expressions and save the result to a variable using the mvassign function. You can also use the mveval function to do the
same thing except it displays the result without having to save it to a variable first.
String. Several low level string functions can be used to manipulate string values. These are for those who
are not familiar with the mivascript language or when you have a simple expression to process.
No html. Strips the html tags from strings.
Math. Several low level math functions can be used to make computations involving numeric variables. Display
price savings. Consecutively number products on the product list pages. The uses are endless. These functions are
for those not familiar with the mivascript language.
Elapsed time for page render. Calculate the time it takes to load a page. Great development tool to see how
each feature you add to a page effects the load time.
Currency format. You can format a number to the currency format used by the store.
Time/date. Several time/date functions can be used for displaying the current date or some date in the future.
You can display the date in the format you want.
Arrays. Create single dimension arrays from string data separated with a delimiter or from a variable, e.g. in a
custom product field. You can further sort that array alphabetically.
Counter. Implement a counter for use within foreach loops. For example, display the incremented product number on the product list pages next to each product.
Product Extensions
Products in category list. List one or more products from any category in the store on any page in the store.
Product find. Lookup the details of any specific product in the store and display that data on any page in the
store.
Custom product fields. Display the value in any custom product field.
Featured products. Create an easy to change list of product codes which can then be displayed on any page in the store.
Best sellers. Retrieve and display the best sellers in the store or in specific categories. The list changes automatically since it is based on actual sales.
New products. Retrieve and display the most recently added products in the store.
Related products. Display related products of a specific product at any location.
Recommendation engine (suggested products). Using prior purchase history, display products which were bought
when a specific product was also bought. This is similar to related products but is determined by the actual purchases
made by your customers.
Product in categories. List all the categories a product is in. Useful in breadcrumb navigation when the category code is not passed in the url.
Next/Previous buttons. Display links for the customer to go to the next or previous product in the same category.
Random product display. Display a specified number of non-repeating random products from the entire store or a specified category on any page in the store. You can also display a random image from the list of products on a specific page, e.g. the product list page. The automatic rotation of products and images keeps your pages fresh, keeping search engines interested. The random display respects availability group settings.
Header/footer text. Read and display the contents of the header and footer.
Meta tag text. Read and display the meta tag keyword and description without the meta tag formatting.
Category Extensions
Category lists. List parent categories and subcategories at any location. Great for subcategory navigation.
In addition to the category names, you can display their images.
Category pagination. On the category pages include links to all of the pages in that category along with
the page and product totals for the category.
Open (expanded) category tree. You can build a category tree that remains expanded at all times.
Breadcrumb navigation. Display breadcrumb trail to guide the customer to higher level categories from a subcategory.
Header/footer text. Read and display the contents of the header and footer.
Meta tag text. Read and display the meta tag keyword and description without the meta tag formatting.
Tool tips. Include tool tips on your category pages.
Basket Enhancements
Basket thumbnails. Include the product thumbnails in the basket.
Basket weight. Calculate the total weight of the items in the basket.
Basket subtotal. Display a subtotal of just the products in the basket.
Basket clear all. Empty the basket with a single button click. You can also use it to empty the basket when
a customer logs out.
Basket one click update. Replace the remove and update buttons on each product with a checkbox and quantity
input for each and a single basket update button that updates all changes at once.
Update basket with cookie. Using saved cookies, insert first name, last name, state, zip, country and other
non-sensitive data, you can automatically update the basket database. This is great for stores which have a shipping
calculator module which displays shipping rates before logging in and checking out.
Continue shopping. Put a continue shopping button on the basket page that takes the customer back to the
Miva Merchant category, product list, or search page they were last on before putting a product in the basket.
Order subtotal. Calculate the subtotal of products in the order, less shipping, tax and other charges. This
is useful for analytic programs that can only use the subtotal.
Mini-basket. Abbreviated basket count and total. Create a miniature basket listing products and totals and insert on any page.
Attribute prompt vs code. Display the attribute and option prompt in the basket instead of the non-descriptive code.
Order History
Order history. Display all of the logged in customer's orders with links to redisplay the invoice of each.
Reorder. Quick button click to insert all of the products into the basket that were in a past order.
Printable Invoices. Redisplay past invoices so they can be printed.
Customer Enhancements
Custom customer fields read. Display the contents of any custom customer field.
Custom customer fields write. Insert data into a custom customer field, e.g. tax ID, addr2, sales rep.
Force login. Force the customer to login/create an account before they can view any page in the store.
Keep customer logged in. Upon order completion the customer is usually logged out. This feature can keep them
logged in for a specified period of time up to the basket timeout limit.
Price/Availability Groups
Price/Availability Group Insertion. Automatically insert customers, e.g. new customer, into a price or availability group.
Membership. Determine if a customer or product or category is assigned to price/availability groups.
Page Includes
External file insertion. Insert an external file (txt, html, jpg, etc.) directly into your page template. You can
also run an external program (php, etc.) to perform a function or return data to display in your page. You can even
check for the existance of the external file or program before running the call functions.
Mini-page insertion. Insert the contents of any page template directly inside another page template. This is
handy for displaying a specials category on your storefront or a minibasket at any page in the store.
Email Features
Send screen snapshot to a friend. This is the ultimate tell a friend email module. Send a snapshot of any page in your store to a friend. The snapshot can include
a message to the friend along with a link to the actual page. You can also include a math challenge question to cut down on automated form spammers. You can even specify the character encoding of the email if your store uses other character sets so the page will look correct.
Unlimited contact us forms. Create as many contact, inquiry, support, etc. type pages in your store as you want.
Each page can have a distinct layout page to receive and validate the inputs. That receiving page is then emailed to your
store staff. You can include a math challenge question to cut down on automated form spammers.
File Export/Import
Flat file export and import. You can export to a flat log file any variable on any merchant page. You can also read in and
display the contents of the flat file.
Real time export order to XML file. Export order data to an xml file as each order is completed.
State List
State alphabetical list. The built in state list is not entirely in alphabetical order. It is alphabetized on
state CODE so Virginia comes before Vermont. This function sorts the list by state NAME.
If you have questions or want to see example code or examples of function/token usage before purchasing the module license, contact the developer above. The examples will get you started. Once you get a couple functions under your belt, you will find this module has many unique features that are fairly easy to implement.
