Updates!

Hello, everybody! It's Paul, your friendly Co-op Tech Guy.

You may have noticed a slightly different look on the home page today. This refreshed look was wrapped into our version 1.2 software update.

We've done a lot of work on the back-end of the software (the database things you don't - and don't want to - see). Hopefully, this in addition to some changes to the look and organization of the site will help you get shopping faster.

This also puts a stronger foundation in place for us to add new features, and further organize the current ones. Our software has been in a constant state of change with our continuing growth - we appreciate your patience as there have certainly been growing pains at times!

If you notice any errors today, go ahead and email questions@westmichigancoop.com. I've added myself on to that list for this cycle so that I can get a handle on any bugs that crop up with the new software - and there's sure to be some!

Finally, it might be interesting to note that we have also open-sourced our software. Information is available at http://code.google.com/p/online-co-op/. What this means is that other people can now start the work of opening their own online co-op in their area - and they have a head-start by downloading and using our software.

Thanks everybody - shop early, shop often!

Reviewing your order...

Hey - quick tip from the Tech Guy!

Did you know you can review your order anytime - even after the cycle closes? Just log in, and click "My Basket." It's right by the search box, on the right hand side of the page.

Here you can see what you've ordered, and even print off a copy for your records. Don't worry - the printed page won't have any of those heavy graphics. Just a basic, black and white table of your order, and your totals.

Rock and roll, and thanks for supporting your local producers!

Doors open!

Hey! You! Not a member yet because you haven't got an invite?

Well now you don't need one. That's right, the doors are open, and everyone's invited! Just click the "New User?" link on the front page of westmichigancoop.com, and get started!

Bonus: prices are now listed between cycles. Previously, this information was hidden as the producers may be changing that information between cycles. Now, however, there are disclaimers (everywhere!) declaring that the prices are subject to change until the order cycle opens. Once the cycle opens, prices are locked, until the next cycle begins.

Shop away, happy Co-Operators!

A few new features...

Hi, everyone!

I've been introducing a few new features over the past few weeks, and I thought I'd take a moment to highlight what we're doing to try to make your shopping experience on the Co-op a nicer one.

First, there is now a "New" and "Changed" product section. When we add new producers, or when new products get added by existing producers, they will be highlighted here each month. Check them out - we might be carrying what you were looking for last month! The Changed section highlights products that have been changed - description, name, or price. So check those out too! The New and Changed sections are available from the Front Page, as well as from your menu when you log in.

Second, product information is now available at any time during the month. Though we don't publish prices in between ordering periods, we do now make the extended description and producer information available at any time. Now, you can "pre"-shop in your spare time between cycles, and new members can see what will be available when the ordering starts up. You can also add items you want into your favorites, so that come ordering time, you surf to your fav's and start loading up your basket!

Finally, and the biggie, is product pictures. Producers: this one's for you! It's now possible to add pictures of your products for all to see. You do need a Flickr.com account - that's where our pictures are hosted. This significantly reduces the storage and bandwidth requirements for the Co-op server, keeping our upkeep and maintenance, in a word, sustainable. You can get all the gory details on the wiki, and you can see an example here.

If you have a great idea for a feature you'd like to see on the site, don't hesitate to write me - paul@westmichigancoop.com.

Thanks all!

Your browser is...

Hi all!

This isn't a typical coop-related post, but I'm "the tech guy," so I thought I'd geek out for a moment and get you all up-to-date on what your computer is running.

Lots of you out there are Windows users - in fact, if you follow the statistics, 19 out of 20 of you use Windows rather than an alternative like Mac OS X, or Linux. It's a Windows world out there. It's likely the vast majority of you are Internet Explorer ("IE") users as well, because it comes with Windows, and it's made by Microsoft. If you're not particularly keen on running your updates, you may even still be using IE version 6 - if you don't know, go to the Help menu, and choose "About Internet Explorer."

If you are using version 6, and you're on Windows XP, before you read anything else, at least update to version 7. Run Microsoft Update, and just let your computer get download-happy for a while. Trust me, IE 7 is important - it's much more secure (leading to fewer viruses), and as a bonus, it renders pages better as well. While you're there, just tell your computer to auto-install updates. If it's online all day, it needs them to stay secure, and to prevent nasties from crawling onto your hard drive.

That said, I don't really believe that IE is the best browser out there. Version 7 is much better than 6, but it still pales, in my opinion, in comparison to the (free!) alternatives. Those alternatives are:

Firefox (www.getfirefox.com)
Safari (www.apple.com/safari)
Opera (www.opera.com)

Firefox is a free, open source browser from the Mozilla Foundation. Free as in costing nothing but the time to download. Open Source, meaning not only can you install and run the program, but you can also download, edit, and modify the code that creates the program - with the stipulation that you give your changes back to the community. I'm guessing that almost nobody reading this blog really wants to do that, but it's good to know that there's a worldwide community of people maintaining this program, not because they make money at it, but because they use it.

Safari is a free browser from Apple. Today they announced that the new version (Safari 3.0) will be available for Windows as well as OS X - and there's a 'beta' version of the program available for free download. It's not particularly stable, so I wouldn't recommend it as your main internet program just yet. But it's exciting that there's more competition out there. Safari, like Firefox, has an open-source core which handles the rendering of the pages - in fact, the main core of the browser comes from the KDE project on Linux. But unlike Firefox, the program is not entirely open source, so only the core can actually be tinkered with.

Opera is another browser that's been out for a while. They have a paid version, and a free version, but in the free version you have to put up with ads. I don't really like it that much, but it has a good size following, and there's lots of work being done on it - in fact, Opera's software is in many mobile phones, as well as the Nintendo Wii's internet browser.

These alternative all have a little different feel, but they all have the same advantages: they render pages faster than IE, and because they aren't directly tied into your system files, they are far more secure. They still have issues - there are security patches for each of these browsers on a regular basis - but a security issue in Firefox will generally only hurt Firefox, while a security flaw in IE can more often than not do damage to Windows itself!

As a web designer, it's also far easier to develop a web page for any of these other browsers, because they closely follow the World Wide Web Consortium's standards for web page rendering - essentially, they show pages as they are meant to be shown. IE has several 'quirks' in it's display (though IE 7 fixed quite a few of them), so as a designer, I have to make lots of exceptions and code changes - which ultimately slow down the site, so it can play nicely with all the browsers.

So hey, give one of these alternatives a try; see if you like them. I personally use Firefox on my PC and my Mac. It's got some great features and extensions, and it's very snappy showing pages.

-Your Tech Guy

March Run Success!

Hello, all!

Well, I've tried to get my cohorts to post on here as much as possible, and still, I blog alone. *Sigh.*

But all is well; this month your participation rocketed us to a new record: over $3600. Very well done, and we thank you all.

I wanted to take a moment to tell everybody that I have heard your suggestions, and I've been slowly trying to implement a few:

- Favorites
Favorites have been implemented. Hopefully, you noticed, and marked a few products that you enjoy. Next month, when shopping begins, you'll be able to go into your favorites, and click one button to add all the products available in your favs to your basket. One-click shopping. Then, just go to your basket and update quantities. If you do nothing else on the site for the rest of the week, at least you can get your favorite items every month, easy as pie.

- Invoice/Basket Printing
You've always been able to print your basket & invoice, but today I did a significant amount of work on the appearance of the invoices. This was a request from a producer, so I took some time and fixed some printing issues all around the site.
I also hope to add the ability to view past invoices soon. We do keep that information for record keeping, but it's currently just buried in the database, with no fleshed-out way to view it. I hear you and it's coming ASAP.

- Weight clarifications
During this lull, I hope to work on the view of the products. We do track information on weights, and I hope to make that info available to the membership, so that as you shop, you'll be able to better understand what size your items will be. I want to implement a weight-request slider as well, so you'll be able to ask the producer for a certain weight of item (when it makes sense to have that available).

I'm happy to announce that I now have a few database-savvy volunteers who are going to become the "tech team" here at the Coop. This should help me get these features onto the site as soon as possible!

I thank you all again, and I'll try to get on here and post more often. Stay tuned, and we'll see you soon.

Progress!

The last week has seen a few new abilities for the Coop site. The first is invites - our administrators can now simply invite members via email, and the new member fills in their relevant information. This is more secure for everybody, because the personal info doesn't have to be hand-written, verbalized, or emailed. And it's much more convenient for us as admins.

The invite system will eventually be opened up to general membership. Members will have a set number of 'invites' they can give out, and those invited will have the opportunity to join the Coop. This has the advantage of managing our growth these first few months - we've been getting LOTS of positive feedback, and many, many requests to join.

Adding on to the Invite system is the Producer Request system. Members can simply click a button and enter their business name, and a request for producer abilities is sent to the admins. Once approved, that Member becomes a Producer, and has the ability to list products on the site. This again saves the headaches for our admins of having to coordinate with producers on their company info, and hopefully gets the membership aware of their abilities as producers.

And on a final note, our schedule for the January order cycle is finalized. As follows:
Jan 5-9: Producers can add/edit/delete items from their product lists.
Jan 10-13: The membership can shop.
Jan 13-19: Producers review and fill orders.
Jan. 19 from 8-10 & 4-6: Producers drop off at Alger Heights Foods.
Jan. 20 from 2-5: Members pick up and pay for their orders.

Stay tuned for more, and post below or email questions@westmichigancoop.com with feedback!

-Paul D.
WMCoop "Tech Guy"