5/21/13: Site Builder (CoolTools) update 4.6 is fully deployed. » Read more.

3/7/13: Site Builder (CoolTools) update 4.6 is available now. This was a BIG update with tons of wonderful new features, emphasizing general usability, graphics, and e-commerce. It includes the following updates and system enhancements. 

Feature Overview

• User interface adjustments
• Section slider component
• Updated text editor
• IE 10 multi file upload
• Image tools
• Footer columns
• Simplified design options
• Site style configuration
• Font styles
• Font families/selection
• Color
• Advanced page background settings
• Advanced css
• Page editor
• In page image tools
• Component alignment changes
• Misc updates
• Ecommerce Updates
• Product edit page updates
• Product images
• Product detail tabs
• Dynamic pricing page updates
• Product options
• Product skus/advanced options
• Inventory tracking for options
• Inventory import/export
• Shipping weight for options
• Change product image based on selected options
• Color swatch option type
• Copy options
• Quantity based pricing setup
• Shipping integration​

To find out your current Site Builder version number, log into your web hosting account and look at the right-hand side of the page for the "System Update" graphic, which shows the update number and installation date, along with a summary of the most recent features (the sample at right illustrates System Update 4.6).

More details are below.

User interface adjustments

Several minor user interface adjustments have been added. These include hover/rollover effects and counts added to the main editor icons. Ex. The admin home page now displays the number of outstanding orders, number of users/customers as well as your default mailing list size.

Section slider component

With the section slider component, you can setup content sections using the page editor. A section menu is displayed on the left side. When a menu button is clicked, the content section associated with the menu button slides into view. Using the page editor you can add any component type into the sections. The section slider works like the tabbed content and accordion components.

Updated text editor

The text editor has been updated. The updated includes many miscellaneous enhancements as well as a new style. The text editor is also more optimized for tablets.

The new format option makes it easier to style your text. Click anywhere in a paragraph and set the paragraph/line style (heading 1, heading 2, heading 3, normal). You do not need to highlight text and select a style.

IE 10 multi file upload

Support has been added for multiple file upload on Internet Explorer 10.

Image tools

The image tools have been updated to provide quicker access to resize functions. Standard image sizes have been setup to help adjust images and keep image sizes consistent throughout your website.

The system automatically detects when uploaded images are too large and gives you the option to adjust the size.

Footer columns

With the new footer columns feature you can setup multiple columns in your site footer area. Create up to 5 columns. Easily add text, images, links and social networking icons. To enable the feature, view your website, click settings and then set the number of footer columns.

Simplified design options

The new design page now displays the most commonly used options. There is a link on the left side of the page for more advanced settings.

Site style configuration

The new site styles area provides an quick preview of how all of your site styles look together. Click on a area of the page to select new style options (font, buttons, links, groupboxes, page titles and more).

Font styles

New title/default font combinations have been added. Go to the design area and click the text/styles option.

Font families/selection

Many new fonts have been added to the system. The new font browser makes it easier to view font previews and make font selections. The new default title option makes it easier to create a consistent look throughout your site. You can set the logo builder, menu, groupboxes and titles to use the same setting. When you update your title style to use a new font, all the other areas are set to use the same options.

Color

The new color area includes preset color schemes to choose from and updated color selection/color scheme generator options.

Advanced page background settings

With the advanced page background settings you can choose customize the positioning and alignment of your main site background image. Choose to have a fixed (non scrollable background) or set the background image to always cover the full screen size.

Advanced css

If you are familiar with web design and style sheets (CSS) it is now even easier to make custom adjustments to your website. To access the custom CSS area, go to the main design page, click the advanced button and then click the advanced css link.

Page editor

Move components in and out of groupboxes, column groups and tabs. To move a component into or out of a page section, edit your page. Click the green box to the right of the component edit bar and then click the "move to" drop down menu. Select where you would like to move the component.

In page image tools

When you move your mouse over an image while editing a page, you can click the image tools icon to open the image tools window. Resize and rotate images.

Component alignment changes

The component alignment option has been moved. To align components, click the small green down arrow box above the component. Then click the alignment option.

Misc updates

• Links list component allows you to use the default menu or submenu style

Ecommerce Updates

This update includes many enhancements in the ecommerce area. These enhancement are designed to make it easier to manage products, provide more ecommerce display options and allow better integration with other systems.

Product edit page updates

The main product edit page has been reworked to be more streamlined. The description, short description and text description are now displayed in tabs. This helps make the page shorter and easier to read. For many cases the short and text descriptions are not needed or used. These fields no longer take up extra space on the page.

The edit product list in the store manager now displays your small product image making it easier to manage your products/see your product entries.

Product images

It is now easier to manage your product images. Set the default sizes for the overview and detail images. Your uploaded images will be sized to match your settings. If you want to adjust the image size, just change the settings and the images will automatically be updated to match your settings.

Product detail tabs

If you have a lot of information about a product you can now display the additional information in tabs that are displayed at the bottom of the product detail page. Create up to 5 custom tabs with additional information about your product.

Dynamic pricing page updates

The pricing page will now update the product price to reflect the price for the currently selected set of options and addons.

Product options

The product option features has been reworked to provide for more flexibility. All of the same option types are available, but it is now easier to edit and organize your options. Use drag/reorder to organize your options list and option values.

Product skus/advanced options

The new advanced options area gives you more control of your option settings and display. When you add an advanced option, more management features will be available for the product. These advanced features enable you to set the image, manage inventory, configure the weight, and modify the price for a set of options.

Inventory tracking for options

With option based inventory tracking, you can track multiple inventory levels for the same product. Ex if you sell tshirts that come in red, blue and green as well as three sizes SM, M, LG - It is now easier to track the inventory for each combination of options.

• red - SM
• red - M
• red - LG
• blue - SM
• ...

Inventory import/export

Use the new inventory data options to import and export product inventory levels. This feature also works with SKU based product options.

Shipping weight for options

If you have products with options that change the weight of the product, you can use the advanced setting to set the shipping weight for a set of options.

Change product image based on selected options

The product image on the detail page can now be configured to change based on the selected set of options. Many customers like to see what the product looks like after their option changes have been made. Ex. If you sell tshirts, you can now set the product image to change to the red tshirt when customers select the red tshirt option. Advanced options must be enabled to use this feature.

After setting a SKUID for each option set, go to the more images area, upload your images and set the SKUID that is associated with each image.

Color swatch option type

The color swatch option type lets users click a color box to choose the color that they want instead of selecting the color from a drop down menu.

Copy options

Setting up product options is now even easier with the copy option feature. When editing a product, choose the copy option menu and select a product to copy options from an existing product.

Quantity based pricing setup

It is now easier to setup quantity based pricing by using the quantity pricing entry screen. To set,up quantity based pricing, click the quantity table icon next to the pricing field. Enter the quantity amount and the unit price for that quantity.

Shipping integration

You can now configure your website to integrate with ShipWorks and ShipStation for enhanced shipping management.

1. When announcing events, include detailed date, time, and location info. This will help a global audience keep their bearings. If you say "yesterday," "tomorrow," "next Sunday," etc., it's more difficult for people to know what's when and where. Example: 
   Come to our Grand Opening on Sunday, February 10, 2013 from noon-3pm at 4747 Pacific Highway, YourCity, YourState, USA. Details at [link to a web page goes here].
2. Include full links to specific web pages if you want people to visit those pages. (Facebook will make your links clickable after you post the message.) Example:
   Instead of writing: 
   "See our Free Trial page to sign up for your 10-day Free Trial Website",
   try something like:
   "Visit our Free Trial page at http://pcartsonline.com/fastwebdev/no-risk-trial to sign up for your 10-day Free Trial Website". 
3. If your site has multiple administrators, always sign your posts with your name or initials. Examples:
   your post goes here -- EO
   your post goes here -- Elizabeth O
4. Pin To Top any important upcoming event. And, for those whose Facebook pages have multiple administrators:
   1. If you notice a past event still pinned to the top, feel free to unpin it.
   2. Do not unpin events that are yet to occur unless you feel the new event is much more important. 
5. Try to keep sentence and paragraphs short for people who prefer to skim rather than read every word and have trouble with long passages of very small text. You can easily create line breaks while composing a message by pressing the Shift+Enter key. Press Shift+Enter twice to create a blank line.

9/14/12: Site Builder (CoolTools) update 4.40 is fully deployed now. It includes the following updates and system enhancements. 

Feature Overview

• Button component (also available for page group links)
• Updated links list component
• New layouts
• New Google fonts
• IPAD text editor (be sure to enable pop-ups in Safari)
• ReCaptchaTM setting - enhanced form spam protection
• Ecommerce updates
• Popup overlay window support (click here for instructions)
• Mobile site enhancements
• PREVIEW: optimized checkout (single page)
• Miscellaneous corrections

To find out your current Site Builder version number, log into your web hosting account and look at the right-hand side of the page for the "System Update" graphic, which shows the update number and installation date, along with a summary of the most recent features (the sample at right illustrates System Update version 4.40).

For more details on all the features, please visit http://updates.bizsiteservice.com/sysblog.

Unwanted bulk email — also known as "spam" — is a serious problem throughout the Internet. But what if you want to send a message to a large group of recipients? How do you avoid spamming them? Here are some tips:

1. Do not send bulk emails if you have purchased the addresses rather than collected them with recipients' permission. This would violate the CAN-SPAM act, which sets the rules for commercial email, establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have you stop emailing them, and spells out tough penalties for violations.
2. Carefully follow guidelines given in the following publications from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) about the CAN-SPAM Act:
   • http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus61-can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business/ for specifications of this act
   • http://business.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/bus61-can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business.pdf for a very readable PDF version of this information.
3. Send only to a list of users who have specifically requested to receive emails from your company.
4. Use our SiteBuilder web hosting system's mailing list manager or a similar system such as Constant Contact that:
   • Enables recipients to opt-out, as per the CAN-SPAM act.
   • Enables you to create both HTML and Text email (which is required by some email systems), and to send yourself a test message.
   • Provides templates that you can use for the HTML email message, and/or enables you to create your own templates.
5. Do not use a standard email client to send out bulk emails (again, because it typically does not enable recipients to opt-out).

Failure to adhere to the above will irritate email recipients and, much worse, may get you kicked off your email or web hosting system as a spammer.

Upgrading SiteBuilder Mailing Lists
All of our SiteBuilder (Cool Tools) plans offer a mailing list manager. If you are using our SiteBuilder system, you may upgrade your mailing list capacity. Simply log in to your site editor, click the purple Mailing List button, click the Upgrade Mailing List button (right-hand side), scroll down to Add-Ons & Upgrades, and select the Mailing List upgrade that you want. You may select 1000 - 5000, in increments of 1000. Click Apply Changes. 

If you need more than the 5000 maximum, the upgrade charge is $2.50 per 1000 emails per month. Please contact us if you require an extended upgrade and tell us how many thousands of emails you need per month; we will contact our web hosts to upgrade for you.

A recent article by Jennifer Kyrnin asked and answered the question "Is Duplicate Content Bad for SEO? (The Short Answer is Yes)". We've summarized key points below, but encourage you to read the source article about duplicating content and its effect on SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

When is Duplicate Content Bad?

• When the main purpose is to have your content display higher in search engines or you want to manipulate search results. (Your site may be viewed as spamming.)

When is Duplicate Content OK?

• When the search engine indexes multiple URLs separately, but all URLs point to the same page.
• When the duplicated content is created for platform- or function-specific versions of your site such as mobile or printer-friendly pages.

What Can You Do to Reduce Duplicate Content?

• Avoid posting duplicate content (obvious).
• Use permanent 301 redirects, which will tell search engine spiders to stop indexing the old page and replace it with the new one.
• Link to home pages the same way every time. For example, http://precisioncomputingarts.com/ rather than http://pcartsonline.com/fastwebdev/home.
• Use "noindex" on syndicated content (pages that you have duplicated from another source), which prevents the search engines from indexing the content on your site.
• Avoid repeating boilerplate content on your site. Instead, move it to another page and then link it as needed.
• Expand similar content pages (such as a travel site that has boilerplate content but just small amounts of unique information about multiple cities). Instead, provide more unique information on each page; or, combine the pages.
• Provide more unique product content rather than simply copy/pasting product details from the source, such as Amazon.com or a manufacturer's website.
• Use "rel=canonical" link relationships, which Google and some other search engines use to determine the preferred version of content.

• Content rotator based on the day of the week (use Design/Layout Components > Content Rotator; see example)
• Updated admin pages
• Updated file upload user interface
• New layouts/design options
• Date formatting for blog comments
• Image resize - the source image is saved for a period of time after upload so the size can be adjusted more easily
• Content slider - easier navigation between slides when editing  (see Design/Layout Components > Content Slider; see example)
• Mobile settings for redirecting directly to mobile site (see Site Editor > Settings > Mobile Website)

• New shopping cart buttons (see Design > Text & Styles > Shopping Cart)
• Pinterest support (see Site Editor > Settings > Social Networking)
• Australian tax display updates (see Store Manager > Advanced Settings > Shipping)
• Reward editing add/modify/delete (see Store Manager > Advanced Settings > Shopping Rewards)
• FedEx Web Service Freight (see Store Manager > Advanced Settings > Shipping)
• Shipping add on pricing options - a flat charge added to the shipping, most useful if you are using an automated shipping calculator such as built-in UPS calculator (see Store Manager > Setup Store > Shipping > Handling Fees (under Additional Settings) > Additional Handling Charges) 
• PayFuse Gateway, NAB Transact (see Store Manager > Setup Store > Payment/Gateway)

Creating an online presence with useful content is key to a successful presence on the Internet. The following summarizes an article about how to improve your company's overall Internet marketing strategy (The Costco Connection, May 2012, page 22-23). 

1. Offer information to consumers

Many people prefer to search online to learn more about a product or service seen in ads elsewhere. Your company's website should focus on helping visitors make smart buying decisions, educating consumers even before they call you or speak to a salesperson.

2. Make it easy to find

Use good keywords in your website's home page, title tag, and page content so that search engines will find your website. Be sure to interview your current customers to find out what keywords they would use to find your company. And, if you provide local services, be sure to include keywords that mention your geographic zone, such as "website design in Tigard and Portland, Oregon."

3. Focus on content

Good content is essential to Internet success! In addition to providing frequently-updated, fresh content on your website, you should seek quality links from other relevant websites as well as blogs of your own, links from other related blogs, and educational online videos that you create to help customers get the most from your products and services. 

4. Incorporate social media

Combining a quality website with a YouTube channel, Facebook fan page, online press releases, blog entries, Twitter, and other social media will round out your Internet marketing strategy and tie everything together to increase awareness of your company among consumers.

Other resources

• Google Adwords Keyword Tool (free tool for researching keywords and phrases tailored to your website)
• Wordtracker (free trial of subscription-based tools for finding good keywords and phrases and identifying websites that would be good candidates for a linking campaign)
• Ezine articles (free tool for posting informational articles that are offered free to websites and email newsletter publishers)
• SES (conferences about Internet marketing and search engine strategies)

Blogger platforms

• Blogger.com
• WordPress
• Technorati
• Cool Tools blogs (like this one)

» Read entire article in The Costco Connection 

Google recently has introduced SEO and spam penalties that can hurt SEO focused sites in Google's rankings. The best way to keep your site performing well in search engines is to add more content rather than over-adjusting the content you have.

Key do's and don'ts include:

• Avoid repeating the keyword phrase more than 10-15 times in your article or putting too many keywords on a single page
• Avoid titles that are stilted and repetitive
• Avoid multiple headlines using the keyword phrase
• Avoid including the keyword phrase in additional, less visible locations such as image "alt" text
• Write and expand content regularly to ensure:
  • Relevance and focus on delivering content to customers
  • Website provides expanded information on a topic
  • More of your pages found in search results
  • More linking opportunities within your website
  • More frequent visits by search engine spiders (they remember if your site is updated regularly)

» Read complete article by Jennifer Kyrnin

System Update: 4.20- [01/31/2012]  [02/15/2012 update]
System Update 4.20 is available to all Precision Computing Arts/Fastwebdev web hosting clients, and it's chock full of useful and fun features, which are summarized below. If you have any questions or would like us to help you implement these features, please don't hesitate to contact us!

Design Explorer (preview)

The design explorer preview is now available.  The design explorer preview is built to allow customers to easily try out different design options.   Customers can make design changes and then apply the changes once they are ready to make their changes live.

Access the design explorer through the design manager. 

Edit current design: Click the Design Explorer link on the design manager page.

Edit a saved design: click the "Edit" link next to a design in the design manager.

IMPORTANT: Design changes must be saved.  When customers want to save their current progress, they can click the "Save" button located in the top right of the design explorer window.  Customers can save their current progress, or save changes and apply them to their live website.

Please give the design explorer a try and give us your feedback.  This is an early access feature so we planning on making updates and enhancement based on your feedback.

Design system speedup

We have made several modifications to the design system that should speed up the process of generating design changes for many of the system layouts.

Ecommerce order processing

Several enhancements have been made to ecommerce order processing.  These enhancements are designed to make the order processing features easier to access.

Quick access menu.  Each order in the order manager now has a small drop down arrow that provides quick access to common order processing functions.  Store owners no longer need to view the order to access functions like email notifications and order printing.

 - View order
 - Send email to customer
 - Order notes/status
 - Print invoice
 - Print packing slip

Order status icon
From the order notes page, store owners can now set an order status color.  The status color is displayed on each line of the order manager.  The order status color can be used for any purpose.   Ex. a store owner may set an order to "blue" to indicate that they need to follow up with the customer.   

When the order status icon is clicked the order notes are displayed.  This allows store owners to see order notes directly from the main order list.

Customer email quick messages
Using quick messages, pre defined (stock) emails/messages can be sent to customers.   These stock messages make it easy for store owners to send order status updates or other information to customers.

Instead of typing a new message for each email, store owners simply select a message from the list and click send.

To create a new message, go to the email page for an order.  Select a message from the drop down list or select the option to create a new one.  Each message can be customized with the customer name, address, order number and order date.

Design

• 20 new layouts added
• New background textures
• More color options for new designs
• Larger design selection window
• Adjust quicklinks bar font size
• Enhanced design drop down menu for quicker access to design features
• Default styles for blog and image galleries
• CSS submenus now default to use menu slide animation
• Default groupbox spacing/padding
• New google fonts added

Header/banner

The header/banner settings area has been updated to let you use a content slider or custom HTML in the banner area. The system will now auto adjust to automatically use the width/height of upload banner images.

Design menu

The design options popup menu has been enhanced to provide direct links to more design areas (design library, design settings, design manager, web developer tools...). The menu is also available by clicking the right most design tab ("..."). This menu allows you to easily navigate between design areas.

Design manager - Design Explorer (coming soon)

The design manager explorer allows you to edit and customize your design before making the changes live on your site.

Content slider

The content slider has been updated with direct links to edit the slider text.

Photo gallery

The photo gallery has been adjusted to allow you to upload photos directly from the page editor. Edit a page with a photo gallery on it and click the upload button above the gallery display.

Google maps

The system has been updated to use the new Google maps API/service. You are no longer requied to user a developer key when setting up your map.

QuickEdit bar

A new QuickEdit bar option is available. The QuickEdit bar is positioned at the top right of your website. It allows to you easily scroll up and down the page as well as toggle between edit/view modes.

Ecommerce group coupon support

Automatically generate sets of coupons for group based coupon promotions such as GroupOn.

Ecommerce administration

You can now set up admin user accounts and give the account access to manage your store products. To configure admin access, go to the user accounts - administration users area.

Misc updates

• Page properties : advanced settings - set the page url (page name)
• Design manager enhancements
• Ecommerce - Canada post shipping