Lulu Release 7.1

[jkomenda]

Lulu Release 7.1 went live today at 8:00am. Although this was technically a minor release, it has a very long list of features, updates and bug fixes. There are 4 major parts of this release:

Community
=========
We have been hearing our users ask for more tools for their storefronts for a long time, so in an effort to expand the control they have, and to expand our community, we have implemented Tiki. Our version is based on TikiPro, a web based open-source content management software application that offers a wide range of features such as wiki, articles, phpBB bulletin board, newsletter, blogs, image photo gallery, file sharing, link directory, poll/survey, quiz, FAQ, banners, webmail, calendar, category.. http://www.tikipro.org/wiki/index.php

Please note that we have not implemented all of these features at this time. :-)

All existing storefronts have been imported into the new Tiki system. We spent a long time trying to ensure that your stores retained the distinct look and feel that you wanted, but as with any automated import, some oddness may result. The good news is that Tiki has a vastly improved storefront management system, to include fully customizable Style Sheets and a multi column layout.

In addition, we have a new Community homepage, featuring the return of the LuluBlog.


Bulk Orders
===========
We have automated our bulk order system! Bulk order discounts start to kick in for books after the first 25, in a sliding scale; additional, more aggressive discount triggers are set at 26, 101, 251, and 500+ books.

Bulk orders take a few days longer to fulfill that standard orders - 6-8 days to print, as opposed to 3-4 days. Customers who prefer custom hadling of their bulk order can still use the bulk order form. Details in Help: http://www.lulu.com/help/node/view/14


Shipping Weights
================
We've re-written our shipping weight calulator to get a more precise estimate of the cost of shipping. This will generally result in much lower shipping costs. In addition, SuperSaver Shipping has proven to be quite successful, so we have decided to let it run indefinately. However, Lulu reserves the right to end SuperSaver Shipping at its
discression.


EZ-Checkout
===========
The background code for the EZ-Checkout tool was rewritten to enhance stability. This resulted in some minor changes to the flow of the EZ-Checkout.


Other Changes
=============
We're having a sale on Calendars! Up to $2.00 off on any calendar made through September.

Cool animation during the "We're genterating your cover" wait.

Various search engine optimizing

'Editing Services' is now knows as 'Publishing Services'.


Bugs Fixed
==========
- Some Low-dpi covers not importing from previous editions.
- Cover and spine options not showing up for some new editions.
- 'Add Proof to Cart' ISBN bug.
- Removed 'cancel order' links since we can't cancel orders.
- Adjusted international shipping time estimates.
- Removed 'Keep Shopping' button from cart
(caused redirect when changing quantities).
- PayPal payment for downloads was generating errors.
- Enable shipping to Puerto Rico and Australian PO boxes.

That's all. As always, we thank you for your hard work in reporting these problems, and appreciate your constant vigilance and support.

Regards,
Joe Komenda
Lulu QA Geek

[maxfield]

I don't know if you've heard about this yet but there's still a bug in collections where you choose the order of the things you've uploaded. Whenever I click on one of those little arrows to move an item up or down, instead it moves to the cover art page! suffice it to say this is frustrating... :? -max

[ragoodman]

Joe,

I seem unable to get as reply in any user forum or in emails to your help desk, so I shall post this here. When I upload monthly photos into my calendar, I get colors that look like Kodacolor negatives instead of the accurate colors I am supposed to get. I am uploading jpgs. Once and only once did this result in a photo with correct colors. Am I doing something wrong ? If so, what ?

[wheelmanpress]

My first suggestion to you would be to check the settings of whatever software you're using. Are you using the RGB color palette? Also, are the incorrect colors just on screen or in print too?

[ragoodman]

I discovered this morning that RGB color palettes seem to upload well, but CYMK, the color palette normally preferred by printers is what seems to be giving me the odd color appearance (like Kodacolor negatives). So that is probably the answer to the problem.

Thanks for the suggestion. I think it is the right one.

I guess this is somewhat like learnming to make and use a mailing list. The first time through is about as difficult and time-consuming as chiseling your work in stone. Once you know how to do what you want to do, it becomes easy.