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  MmHTMLc Merchant Fullfillment Module

MIVA®  MERCHANT:  MmHTMLc
HTML Formatted Email Customer Confirmation Module

by Ivo Truxa, 08/30/2001 (Change Log)

screenshot of an MmHTMLc customer confirmation e-mail
  1. Feature List
  2. Screenshots
  3. MmHTMLc fulfillment module
  4. Configuration Options
  5. Compatibility
  6. MmHTMLc Installation
  7. Buy the module
  8. Support
  9. Known Limitations and Bugs
  10. FAQ
  11. Troubleshooting
  12. Wish List
  13. Change Log
  14. Useful links
  15. User Comments

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Feature List

  • Optionally sends order information by HTML formatted e-mail, in plain text or in plain-text with an HTML page as a file attachment
  • Allows customizing of the notification format: header, footer, font sizes, colors, embeded images,...
  • Allows the owner to choose between sending the confirmation to the Billing and Shipping address or to both of them.
  • Adds the order ID number into the subject of the e-mail for better tracking
  • Customizable table design - free choice of fields/columns
  • Product thumbnails may be included in the invoice!
  • Long product descriptions may be used in addition to product names
  • Variable tokens available in subject, header and footer
  • Ordered products may be sorted by any column
  • NEW: Additional user-defined column may be inserted in the invoice (any position). Miva variables, functions or file calls may be used to generate values for the additional column. It may contain for example a download link, price in a second currency, tracking info, etc.
  • Several options for different ways of displaying product attributes (same line, new lines, autoselection)
  • Adds the order ID number or other variables into the subject of the e-mail for better tracking
  • Supports POP before SMTP - requirements at some secured mailservers
  • Can display additional form fields like those of the Addednum or some other third party modules
  • NEW: customized checkout on-screen invoice with all the additional features (headers, footers, formatting, additional expressions, additional column, sorting,...).
  • NEW: Delayed / manual confirmation e-mail may be sent or re-sent manually from the Ultra Batch Report.
  • NEW: Exclusion lists - recipients may be defined to receive the text-only version, by domain and/or browser version.
  • NEW: both succesfull and unsuccesfull e-mail attempts are logged. The log file may be viewed in the MmHTMLc Admin control panel and unsucessfull notifications may be re-sent in the Ultra Batch Report
  • NEW: optionally hides zero charges (tax, shipping,...)
  • NEW: optionally displays subtotals
  • NEW: time zone setting and user-defined date and time format
  • Supports Miva Merchant 2, 3 and 4 on Unix and Windows platforms
  • Both English and German localizations available (others may be done on request)
  • Does not require OpenUI. Works with both OUI and MMUI.
  • Very easy installation, plug&play, no coding, no programming experience necessary
  • No OUI hook conflicts - truXoft modules are 100% conform to the Miva Merchant API, they do not use OUI extensions and therefore never cause hook conflicts with other modules, otherwise common at OUI modules.

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MmHTMLc Screenshots

customized order confirmation e-mail



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MmHTMLc fulfillment module

Merchant users and owners often complain about the readability of the notification e-mail. They are not aware of the fact that classical e-mail protocol (SMTP) does not have any text formatting features. For these reasons, IT professionals use to set their mail clients to display messages in a fixed width font. That allows seeing formatting of such texts like Customer Order Confirmation E-mail, without any hassle.

There is also the possibility to send e-mail messages for example in the HTML format. HTML is supported by all current major mail clients. Among IT professionals, the HTML e-mail is not too popular, because of related security problems in some client versions, because of increasing the transferred data volumes, and maybe because of few other reasons.

However, HTML offers possibilities not available with plain SMTP and the formatting is often requested feature. The way MmHTMLc module implements the HTML format is secure for both sides and the transferred data is only slightly higher than at a plain-text message (in contrary to messages formatted within Outlook or other clients, where the volume may be easily the multiple of the original size).

The store owner may select between HTML, plain-text or a combination of both formats (Plain text in the message body and an HTML page in the file attachment.

MmHTMLc allows you to customize the look and feel of the notification message. You can change colors, fonts, sizes, add logos, images, formatted text and anything else you may need.

NEW: MmHTMLc can be now configured to display the customized invoice with all the additional features (headers, footers, formatting, additional expressions, additional column, sorting,...) also instead of the standard checkout on-screen inovice.


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Configuration Options

There are following configuration options available:


POP3 BEFORE SMTP
HTML FORMATTING
DATE & TIME SETTINGS
PAGE HEADER

EXTERNAL COMMANDS CONFIGURATION
PRODUCT FIELDS
PAGE FOOTER



configuration options

Send on checkout

If not checked, no Customer Confirmation Email is being sent during the checkout process, but if you have the Ultra Batch installed, you can view, display, print and send the confirmations manually from there.


configuration options


From

Sender e-mail address. Customers who will reply to the confirmation e-mail will be sending their replies to this address. Please note that some mail servers with relay / spam protection will not allow you using an address not originating on the same domain, in the From field. In that case you have to use an address that is authorized to send through the mail server defined in your Domain Settings or use another mail server.


configuration options


Send to billing address

You can select if you want to send the confirmation email to the billing address, to the shipping address or to both of them (if not equal).


configuration options


Send to shipping address

You can select if you want to send the confirmation email to the billing address, to the shipping address or to both of them (if not equal).


configuration options


CC

Copies of the notifications will be sent to an address defined in this field. If you need to send copies to multiple addresses, separate them with commas. Some mail servers will reject more than a single address in the CC field from Miva Merchant. In that case you may try using semicolon or a space as separators and also try disabling the Angle Brackets option in Miva Merchant Domain Settings.


configuration options


Subject

You can define the text that appears in the subject line of the notification. You can use plain neutral text, or insert tokens as described below, that will be replaced by the respective value related to that very order at the time of sending the e-mail.


configuration options


Use real name in TO address

When sending the notification e-mail, MmHTMLc can format the e-mail address so that the real name appears in the mail reader, instead of the raw address.

Please note that on some servers this feature may fail in some cases, so please be sure to test the notifications after turning the option on! Some mail servers will fail to send the real-name formatted address if the shipping and billing e-mail addresses differ and you have selected sending to both addresses.


configuration options


Request delivery receipt

MmHTMLc can request a delivery receipt. Please note that some mail servers or mail clients will ignore the read receipt requests, or send a receipt regardless if the end user really has received the e-mail or not.


configuration options


Request read receipt

MmHTMLc can request a read receipt. Please note that some mail servers or mail clients will ignore the read receipt requests, or send a receipt regardless if the user really has read the e-mail or not.


configuration options


Send receipts to

Specify the e-mail address where delivery and/or read receipts should be sent (if selected).


configuration options


Replace on-screen invoice

If you activate the option, the layout of the email notification replaces the standard checkout invoice - the very last screen of the checkout process, overriding so any settings in the standard Miva Merchant layout (no navbar, no global header, etc).


configuration options


Log file

If this option is selected, a record for each notification will be recorded into a log file, containing information about the result of the operation and eventual error messages.


configuration options


Failed messages

Number of messages that were not successfully sent.


configuration options


reset

You may reset the counter of the failed messages with clicking on this link.


configuration options


POP3 BEFORE SMTP


POP3 before SMTP

Some administrators protect their mail servers so that require authorization before allowing you to send e-mail. Because the standard SMTP protocol (sending e-mail) does not support the authorization as the POP3 protocol does (reading e-mail), the authorization is made with a short POP3 request before the using the SMTP for sending.


configuration options


POP3 user name

Your login for the mail box. Keep empty if you do not use the POP3 before SMTP option.


configuration options


POP3 password

Your password for the mail box. Keep empty if you do not use the POP3 before SMTP option.


configuration options


HTML FORMATTING


HTML formatted e-mail

By default, the notifications are being sent in HTML format, but if you for some reason do not want or cannot send HTML formatted notifications, you can still profit from numerous advantages of the module and send the customized notifications in plain-text.


configuration options


Exclude user-agents

Old AOL software is unable to read HTML formatted e-mail (with the exception of very few tags that are worthless for the notifications). If you use the multipart/alternative format, they would see the plain-text notification and below there would be the HTML invoice displayed again in HTML source. If you used just plain HTML format, they would receive only the HTML source not really well readable. The default setting of this option (AOL5, AOL4, AOL3) serves to exclude people accessing your store with this outdated software and send them always only plain-text notifications, regardless of your HTML format settings. Users of newer AOL software (AOL6 and AOL7) can read the HTML formatted notifications without problems. See also this topic in the FAQ. If necessary, other agent software (browser) IDs (or partial strings) whose users you want to exclude from receiving HTML formatted e-mail, may be inserted here, in a comma separated list. Note that the user-agent ID string usually also contain an OS identificator - if you find a common pattern for multiple user-agents, you can use the partial string (OS) in this option too and exclude so certain OS'es from receiving HTML formatted e-mail.


configuration options


Exclude hosts

In the same way as you can exclude users of certain browsers / user-agents / OS from receiving HTML formatted e-mail, you can also exclude domains. Use a comma separated list of full or partial domain names.


configuration options


Font

You can define the font face used on the notification


configuration options


Font size

Basic font size for address fields, order items, etc. You may use any CSS sizes and units: xx-small, x-small, small, medium,... pt, px, mm, in,...


configuration options


Header font size

Font size for the table header. You may use any CSS sizes and units: xx-small, x-small, small, medium,... pt, px, mm, in,...


configuration options


Small font size

Small font is used for example for attributes. You may use any CSS sizes and units: xx-small, x-small, small, medium,... pt, px, mm, in,...


configuration options


Body background color

The global body background color. You may use both numeric and verbose names. You may check the color definitions at Microsoft for details, but please note that some older mail clients may interpret some colors incorrectly.


configuration options


Header background color

Background color of the table header and footer. You may use both numeric and verbose names. You may check the color definitions at Microsoft for details, but please note that some older mail clients may interpret some colors incorrectly.


configuration options


Table background color

Background color of all tables in the notification. You may use both numeric and verbose names. You may check the color definitions at Microsoft for details, but please note that some older mail clients may interpret some colors incorrectly.


configuration options


Body font color

Global text color text out of tables. You may use both numeric and verbose names. You may check the color definitions at Microsoft for details, but please note that some older mail clients may interpret some colors incorrectly.


configuration options


Header font color

Text color of table headers and footers. You may use both numeric and verbose names. You may check the color definitions at Microsoft for details, but please note that some older mail clients may interpret some colors incorrectly.


configuration options


Table font color

Color of text in tables. You may use both numeric and verbose names. You may check the color definitions at Microsoft for details, but please note that some older mail clients may interpret some colors incorrectly.


configuration options


DATE & TIME SETTINGS


Date/Time format

With the help of this formatting string you can precisely define the appearance of date and time stamps apearing on the notifications. Please see also date and time tokens available for the use in the header, footer or the subject line.

  • dd - day of month (numeric)
  • wday - English name of the weekday
  • mm - month (numeric)
  • month - English name of the month
  • mon - abbreviated name of the month (3 characters)
  • yyyy - year (4digits)
  • yy - year (2 digits)
  • hr - hour (padded with 0)
  • mn - minute (padded with 0)
  • sc - second (padded with 0)
  • PM - if used, US 12 hrs instead of 24hrs time is displayed (12AM/12PM)
Some examples
mm/dd/yyyy hr:mn:sc PM 01/31/2002 11:23 PM
dd.mm.yy hr:mn31.01.02 23:23
wday mon dd, yyyy hr:mn AM Thursday Jan 31 2002 11:23 PM
It is just wday mn minutes after hr hours AM It is just Thursday 23 minutes after 11 hours PM

configuration options


Time zone offset

Unless you can change the system time on your server, standard Miva Merchant display everywhere GMT time, that may be difficult to read especially if you are located in the USA. With this parameter you can adjust the time zone so, that it displays the time values in the zone of your choice. You can use both negative and positive values to adjust the time so that it reflects your physical location.


configuration options


PAGE HEADER


The default header comes with a simple HTML formatted header containing a logo and a short text. You can edit it as needed, adding text, tables, images or any other HTML elements. You can also use variable tokens that will be replaced by their values at the run-time.


configuration options


EXTERNAL COMMANDS CONFIGURATION


External commands

If you need to use additional Miva Script code in one of the available locations, you may choose between entering the Miva Script code directly into a field on the Admin screen, or using an external file from where the code will be called by this module.


configuration options


disable Miva expressions

If the administrator of the store (in case of multiple stores in the mall) is not a trusted person, you should disable the use of Miva expression with this option and allow only use of external files. However, if the administrator has access to the disk and can install own modules or files, he would be able to access the data of other store owners anyway.


configuration options


PRODUCT FIELDS

With these options you can select which columns of the product list will apear on the notification.


code

Display / hide product or attribute codes


configuration options


name

Display / hide product or attribute names


configuration options


details

Display / hide long product descriptions


configuration options


thumbnail

Display / hide product thumbnail images


configuration options


weight

Display / hide product weight


configuration options


cost

Display / hide product or attribute cost. The cost field is usually used to keep your cost to produce or buy the product you are selling. In the notification it may be useful especially if you send notifications to your vendors or suppliers. If you do not want to show them your retail price, you can select to display the cost column instead and disable the price column. In such case, the total field will calculate the total price from the cost multiplied by the quantity. If you keep both cost and price columns, the total column will display values calculated for your retail price.


configuration options


price

Display / hide product or attribute single price


configuration options


quantity

Display / hide product quantity


configuration options


total

Display / hide product total price


configuration options


User-defined column

A user-defined colum may be displayd in different position right to a standard column or below it, depending on the selection of the two dropdown boxes right to the column definition. If Miva Expresions are enabled, you can enter a variable name or a full Miva Script expression that you want to execute for each product, into this field. If MvDO is selected in External commands, the function column() from an external script is called instead. If use at attributes option is checked, the expression is used also at attributes (when on a separate line).


configuration options


use at attributes

See above


configuration options


Product sorting by

By default, Miva Merchant orders contain products sorted in the order how they were selected by the customer during the shopping. If you want to have the products sorted by an other criteria, you may choose here among the following ones:

  • default (like in standard Miva Merchant)
  • Product code (alphanumeric sorting)
  • Product code (numeric sorting)
  • Product name
  • Product price
  • Product weight
  • Quantity

configuration options


descending order

When other than the default sorting is used, the products may be sorted in ascending order (by default) or, if this option checked, in descending order.


configuration options


Product attributes

In contrary to the standard Miva Merchant notification modules, that display product attributes always on a separate line, you can decide whether you want to do have them displayed in the same way (always on a new line), or always on the same line as the product name (with the total price product + attribute summed up) or let the module decide automatically - attributes without a price on the product line and attributes with own price on a separate line.

The displayed attribute text may be combined from the attribute code and the option code as at the standard Miva Merchant modules or with any combination of codes and the more verbose attribute/option prompts or data.

Attributes are displayed in a font defined in the parameter Small font size.


configuration options


Attribute prefix

Originally, attributes when they were displayed on a new line a "bull" sign (• •) was used to prefix the line. Some customers wished to remove the bull or use another prefix - that's why this option was introduced.


configuration options


Subtotals

When checked, the total price before shipping and tax is displayed above the charges and the total.


configuration options


Hide zero charges

When checked, the line of a charge (shipping, tax) is completely removed and won't be displayed if the charge is equal zero.


configuration options


PAGE FOOTER


The default footer comes with a simple credit note including a hyperlink. You can edit it as needed, adding text, tables, images or any other HTML elements. You can also use variable tokens that will be replaced by their values at the run-time.


Available tokens for subject, header and footer

In the header, footer and in the user-defined column, you can use tokens from this list. The tokens will be replaced with the values of the respective order in the run-time. Most tokens may be written in lowercase (values will be passes as stored in the database) or in uppercase (values will be displayed in uppercase too).

The list may vary depending on what other truXoft modules are installed in your stores. So for example, if you have the MmUSPS module installed, there will be tokens allowing you to display USPS shipping labels, USPS tracking Ids and barcodes.





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Compatibility

Customer invoice with product thumbnails

MmHTMLc was succesfully tested with following following Miva engines:

  • Miva Empresa 3.77
  • Miva Empresa 3.78
  • Miva Empresa 3.9107
  • Miva Empresa 3.9201
and with following Miva Merchant versions:
  • Miva Merchant 2.2x, 3.xx, 4.xx
  • MMUI, OUI, any UI

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MmHTMLc Installation

In Merchant Admin go to Modules/Add module/ click on the upload button, select the file on your local disk, upload and do not forget to click the Add button after you uploaded the file. That's all - the module will appear in your store. Set up the parameters in your store Fulfillment properties. When prompted enter the license key.


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Buy it

Following resellers are currently distributing the MmPGP and others may be available soon:

There is also a HTML Formatted e-mail merchant notification module available. A combo containg both notification modules is available for a discounted price.


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Support

We offer a  limited free suport  within 30 days after the date of the purchase for modules bought directly at  truXoft Co. or at affiliated resellers as written above. The support is limited to platforms from our compatibility list below and does not include any help with installation or configuration of payment modules, or other general Miva Merchant problems.

Some questions may be answered in the FAQ or may be solved with the help of other more experienced users on the Miva Merchant User List. I am monitoring all Miva lists and, if possible, will help with related problems posted to the user groups.


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Known Limitations and Bugs

  • ?

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Frequently Asked Questions

INSTALLATION
I have installed the module but nothing happens.
I don't know how to install the module and can't follow these instructions.
I want to add this module to another store, what do I do?
Why doesn't the module appear in my store?
How do I update the module?
I am getting error unexpected '<' and get no notification at some orders!

E-MAIL
No notification emails are being sent.
When I take out my address in MmHTMLc FROM field (so that when I receive the email, all I get in the from field is the customer's address), then hit Update, my address shows up again.

COMPATIBILITY / SECURITY
Does the Merchant notification contain the customer's CC number?
Is your module compatible with AOL users?
You mentioned that some e-mail software 'automatically chooses' which one to accept between plain text and HTML.
What can I expect on the Miva Merchant invoice page?
What are all the possible outcomes of the e-mail?

PRINTING
Why don't my customized colors and/or images print out correctly?
Why don't my customized colors and/or images print out correctly on my printer?
How do I change the font size on the printed invoice?
How can I block the Internet Explorer page header and footer from printing?

CUSTOMIZING THE LOOK
Why doesn't my logo appear in the e-mailed invoice?
How do I customize the invoice?
Why can't I see the images (or product thumbnails)?
How do I change the background color of my tables in the header or footer?
Will I be able to change preset column headings in e-mails?
Could the truXoft logo / url link removed from the notification?
How do I modify customer / merchant invoices?
How do I include background image in the invoice?
How do I change the date / time format?
How do I change the time zone?
How can I hide the Billing address?
How can I hide certain address fields (beg fax number, company)?
Is there a way to see my changes as I customize the layout?
How do I move the quantity column to the left, next to the part number?
Is there a way to add the payment type to the Customer Invoice / Packing Slip?
How can I remove the email address (phone, fax, company,...) from the address fields in the notification?
Is there a preview available?
How can I change the appearance of the attribute text?

ADDITIONAL FIELDS / TOKENS
How would I set up the module so the ADDENDUM message would be displayed?
Is it possible to have the SB21 / modStop OrderXtra (or another 4th party module) included in the notification?
I see the additional fields in Ultra Batch, but nothing comes in the notification.
The token %affil_code% does not work. What's wrong?
Can you provide more detailed information on how to use external commands?
Can MmHTMLc display pins or download info from VikingCoders' modules?

faq

INSTALLATION

I have installed the module but nothing happens.

Make sure that you have assigned it to your store as well as installing it with "Add Module"


faq

I don't know how to install the module and can't follow these instructions.

Read the Module Installation documentation at http://www.miva.com/docs/merchant/


faq

I want to add this module to another store, what do I do?

This module requires one license per use. You won't need to repeat the installation, but you will need a different license key to assign it to your new store.


faq

Why doesn't the module appear in my store?

Have you forgotten to hit the Add button after uploading the file in Modules/AddModule section?


faq

How do I update the module?

To update the module:

  1. In your admin.mv, click the update link in the header of the module's control panel.
  2. Follow the online instructions to download the updated module from the upgrade center. Remember where you save the file.
  3. Unzip the file you downloaded to a location on your computer.
  4. In your admin.mv, click the arrow next to Modules, then click on the module name (it's a link), then click the File tab in the right pane.
  5. In the right-hand pane, click the upload button.
  6. Locate the module file mmhtmlc.mv on your computer, click it once, then click open.
  7. Click the Overwrite checkbox, then click the Update button.
  8. Click back to the Information tab in the right pane and verify that the module was updated.
  9. In your admin.mv, enter the module's Admin screen under Order Fulfillment
IMPORTANT: The last step is necessary as it updates where the settings database structure has changed - the changes are activated only upon opening the Admin screen.

Please note that if you have bought the module at other reseller than MvCool, you may have to use the address of the reseller as the "e-mail address associated with the license" (for example sales@vikingcoders.com or info@mediasi.com). You should have received instructions from the reseller when purchasing the module. If in doubt, try your email address first.


faq

I am getting error unexpected '<' and get no notification at some orders!

Your product codes, names or descriptions contain forbidden characters out of HTML tags, such as <, or > instead of their HTML entities &lt; / &gt;. Either replace those characters in the text with their entities (but do not remove your HTML tags, if you have any in the product fields), or select the option "Don't parse HTML, show tags", MmHTMLc will then ignore the characters.


faq


E-MAIL

No notification emails are being sent!

Please have a look at: http://mivo.truxoft.com/mmfaq.htm#Q010


faq


COMPATIBILITY / SECURITY

Does the Merchant notification contain customer's CC number?

Yes, it does, but only if you have the MmPGP module (secure encryption) installed as well. Sending the data unencrypted would be a very serious security breach and a violation of the VISA policies. It could lead to immediate termination of your merchant account! The fine for the first violation is $50.000. You may want to read more at  VISA


faq

Some problems have been reported with AOL HTML compatibility. Has all this now been fully sorted out?

Yes, there were compatibility problems with old AOL 5.0 clients. The percentage of AOL 5.0 users is relatively low (the current version is 7.0), but it was an unpleasant glitch anyway. This was fixed it in three ways - exclusion by agent, exclusion by recipient's domain and with multipart/alternative protocol. There is still a small chance resting that an AOL user will access your store from a non-AOL computer and use a non-AOL address that redirects the e-mail to AOL, but the probability of such user is extremely low. If you use the multipart/alternative method for sending the e-mail, then the end-user is able to read the message even with an incompatible mail reader - the HTML source will be appended after the end of the plain text message.

You should not be too scared of the HTML e-mail format - many major online stores use HTML and no plain-text for their notifications.


faq

Does some e-mail software 'automatically choose' which one to accept between plain text and HTML?

All modern mail readers are capable of reading both formats. For compatibility reasons, an e-mail message may be constructed in such a way that it contains both format versions and only the one fitting the recipient's setting (usually HTML) would be displayed. However, with some old mail readers, the other part (at the old client it is usually the HTML) will appear as a file attachment.

I currently know of no mail reader that could be configured to reject one or the other format. Someone had claimed that some administrators restrict HTML e-mail, but I do not think he had seen some himself or knew of some filter doing it. As for the security - plain HTML is as dangerous as plain text. If there should be a security filter installed, then it would be enough if it removes active components (Java, ActiveX, JavaScript,...). But it is true that the viruses transferred by ActiveX components are becoming more usual now. I do not think it would lead to the elimination of HTML e-mail. More likely and hopefully it would lead to a massive wave of security updates and hopefully more people will get modern and more secure mail readers.


faq

What I tell customers to expect on the Miva invoice page? If I say "You'll get 2 e-mails, 1 HTML and 1 backup in unformatted, plain text", and then they only get 1 e-mail for whatever reason, that will look really bad. And if I say "You'll get 1 e-mail ONLY" and they receive 2 e-mails which look very different, that might also be problematic in some cases.

This is up to you. This module sends only a single message. Depending on the setting you choose, it may go out in plain-text (always) or in HTML (always, except < AOL5 users), or as plain text with an HTML file attachment, or as so called multipart/alternative version described above (on vast majority of mail clients it displays only the HTML formatted message). It never sends two e-mails, but if you decide to keep the original (Miva Merchant-native) standard plain-text customer e-mail module, you can indeed send them two notifications - one with the original module and another one with this module.


faq

It is likely that I would use the 'alternative HTML option' (not attachment). So I need to know all the possible outcomes you know about so that I can formulate the most helpful invoice page message.

So far, I can imagine these scenarios:

  1. It arrives alright, HTML formatted
  2. It arrives as a text message with HTML file attachment
  3. It arrives as a correctly formatted HTML message with a text only file attachment
  4. It arrives as a plain text message - the first part contains the plain text notification - and it continues at the end with its HTML source appended.


faq


PRINTING

Why don't my customized colors and/or images print out correctly on my printer?

If you use Microsoft Outlook, verify that MSIE is set to print the background: in MS Internet Explorer's menu, go to Tools/Internet Options/Advanced/Printing and be sure to check the 'Print background colors and images' option. With other mailers / browsers it should be similar.


faq

Why don't my customized colors and/or images print out correctly on my printer?

If you use Microsoft Outlook, verify that MSIE is set to print the background: in MS Internet Explorer's menu, go to Tools/Internet Options/Advanced/Printing and be sure to have checked the 'Print background colors and images' option. With other mailers / browsers it should be similar.


faq

How do I change the font size on the printed invoice?

You can set font size and face control in the module's Admin interface in Order Fulfillment Configuration - you can use also the px (pixels) and pt (points) units.

Additionally, you can make changes in MSIE / Outlook or other clients too. In MSIE, go to View / Text Size or define a User Style Sheet in Tools / Internet Options / Accessibility
In Netscape use Ctrl-[ and Ctrl-] and in Opera + and - keys to increase/decrease the font size.


faq

How can I block the Internet Explorer page header and footer from printing?

Go to File » Page Setup and delete the Header and Footer.


faq


EMAIL SETTING

When I take out my address in the MmHTMLc FROM field (so that when I receive the email, all I get in the from field is the customer's address), then hit Update, my address shows up again.

It is the default address and has to stay there, because it is used even if you do not see it in the e-mail. This is to avoid problems with certain mail servers. If you do not want to use it at all, you have to select the standard from only option.


faq


CUSTOMIZING THE LOOK

Why doesn't my logo appear in the e-mailed invoice?

Be sure to include the complete URL to the logo on your server, exactly as it is in the example IMG tag of the default header with the Miva Merchant log. Only remote images with a complete URL may be used. No images are being sent in the attachment of the notification, so you cannot use relative paths.

Optionally you can use the BASE HREF command in the HEAD content of the entire HTML content. You can see an example of this by viewing the source code for one of your Miva Merchant generated store pages. If you plan to do this, be sure to read important information on what you can and cannot include.


faq

How do I customize the invoice?

You can change the colors and fonts of the invoice through the Admin form and you can modify the header and the footer of the invoice as much as you want if you respect usual HTML standards. You can use tables, forms, images or any other HTML elements. Feel free to use Style Sheet directives within individual tags if you are comfortable with them.

Do not forget to close all open tags (font, table, etc..). Use of JavaScript, Flash, Active-X, Real-Audio/Video and other active elements may work with some e-mail clients, bit may be limited with others. Keep in mind that some users turn these options off in their email programs, which may result in the message being rejected.

A hacker-trick for advanced HTML designers familiar with CSS: the values of the Admin fields for the font parameters are being embedded into the style sheet of the message, so you can add any general CSS blocks here. Try to add a short string and look afterwards into the HTML source of the generated e-mail to see how it works. You are only limited with the length of the field. If there is enough interest I may add a fully editable CSS parameter block in one of the future releases.


faq


Why can't I see the images (or product thumbnails)?

HTML e-mail from the MmHTML modules contains only hyperlinked graphics and so the images/thumbnails are hyperlinked to your web site too. This means that the graphics are only visible if the recipient is online. A functionality to send the graphics together with the e-mail as an attachment was not made for two main reasons:

  1. It is not polite (although this point does not apply in the case of Merchant notification :)
  2. Technically it is more difficult. it is not possible with plain Miva Script, it would require an external program, such as my MimeConv v2 - but that would mean a lot of hassle with installations, because each platform requires another executable binary and individual setup, so the costs for such module, along with the support, would be multiple of the current solution.

faq


How do I change the background color of my tables in the header or footer?

You have to use styles to assign the color in the cells:
<TD STYLE="background-color:#DDDDDD">

Better yet, for keeping compatibility with older e-mail clients, use the HTML directive too:
<TD BGCOLOR="#DDDDDD" STYLE="background-color:#DDDDDD">

You can also add an additional Style Sheet into the HTML header in this way, to avoid repeating the color definition in each cell tag and to reduce the e-mail message size:

<STYLE TYPE="text/css">
 .myheader TD {background-color:#DDDDDD;}
</STYLE>
</HEAD><BODY>
<table CLASS="myheader">
Of course, you can also add any other CSS definitions, like font formatting. Please note that normally (when not inserting any code into the HTML header) you do not need to put the </HEAD> and <BODY> tags into the MmHTML user header, but in the case you do, they will be recognized properly by the module. Do not use  the opening <HEAD> nor <HTML> tags in the MMHTMLC header!


faq


I have already customized preset Miva Merchant column headings on my Miva Merchant pages by editing mmui.mv. Will be able to change these presets in customer/merchant e-mails?

Sure! Very easily. The texts are at the very top of the script in a single variable:
<MvASSIGN NAME="g.MHMC_prdEn" VALUE="Code,Name,Weight,Quantity,Cost,Price/Ea.,Total">


faq


On the screenshots at the bottom it says something like 'generated by Truxoft's notification module'. Could all these be removed?

Yes, of course! You can put whatever you want in this place. It is in the header / footer settings.


faq

How do you modify the customer / merchant invoices?

Through the settings of the MmHTMLc (truXoft Customer Email), and the MmHTML (truxoft Merchant Email) module in the Order Fulfillment Configuration.


faq

How do I include background image as in your demo in the invoice?

The simplest way is including a
<BODY BACKGROUND="http://yoursite.com/path/img.gif">
tag into the invoice header.
Note that you must not include neither the opening HTML and HEAD tags, nor the closing /BODY, /HTML tags neither in the invoice header nor in the footer. Only closing /HEAD and opening BODY tags are allowed (but not compulsory) in the invoice header.


faq

How do I change the date / time format?

In advanced settings, modify the Date & Time Format as needed.


faq

How do I change the time zone?

Go to advanced settings and change the time zone offset. Usually it will be either the difference (in hours) between GMT and your local time or the difference between your time and the time at the location of your server. Positive numbers increase the time displayed on the invoices.


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How can I hide the Billing address?

In Admin » Stores » your store » Customer Fields » Billing Information select Hidden. This will hide the Billing Section entirely for the Miva Merchant store.

Additionally, in MmPSLP you can hide the billing address in the advanced options independently on the global Miva Merchant settings.


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How can I hide certain address fields (e.g. fax number, company)?

In Admin » Stores » your store » Customer Fields select Hidden at the fields you want to hide. This will hide those fields for the store.


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As I customize the layout - is there any way to see my changes?

Open the Ultra Batch in another browser window and reload it each time you make a change in the settings. You may want to set a filter so that you see just a single order to make it faster.


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I want to move the quantity column to the left, next to the part number.

Disable the Quantity column in the advanced settings and put the following code into the User-Defined Column expression: OrderItems.d.quantity


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Is there a way to add the payment type to the Customer Invoice / Packing Slip?

Yes, insert the token %pay_data% to the HTML Header or Footer in the module settings. In the same way you can also display the Shipping Method - token %ship_data%.


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How can I remove the email address (phone, fax, company,...) from the address fields in the notification?

You can disable the e-mail, similarly as any other field in Admin » Stores » "your store" » Customer Fields, setting it as hidden.


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Is there a preview available, for testing without submitting new orders?

Yes, the preview exists - if you are owner of the Ultra Batch, you can open a short batch report in a separate browser window and can reload the page after each change in MmHTML / MmHTMLc to see the effect immediately without submitting any orders.


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How can I change the appearance of the attribute text?

Change the definition of the "Small font size" in MmHTMLc settings. You can change not only the font-size, but also font-family, font-weight or other CSS attributes of the font. For example for displaying product attributes in normal font instead of the default italic, you can add the following CSS definition:
font-style: normal;


faq


ADDITIONAL FIELDS


How would I set up the module so the ADDENDUM message would be displayed?

Simply put the field name variable into the 'additional form fields' list. So for example if you have an Addendum text area tag called 'question1' (<TEXTAREA NAME="question1"...), put the following text into this field:
g.question1

typing 'question1' without the leading 'g.' would work too, but using the scope is preferred.

If you need to add some text label in front of the variable, you have to quote it like in a Miva script expression:
'<BR><B>Your comment:</B><BR>' $ g.question1

You can also display more of them, in this way:
'<BR>Text1: ' $ g.question1 $ '<BR>Text2: ' $ g.question2 ....


faq


Is it possible to have the SB21 / modStop OrderXtra (or another 4th party module) included in the notification?

Yes, it is. See above for variables (form fields) available on the last checkout page (e.g. all Addendum fields). The values of some other 4th party module vendors have to be pulled out of the 4th party module data files. This means it must be individually coded for each 4th party module with additional fields. There are two ways available:

  1. If you are a Miva Script coder: You create a file called xmmhtmlc1.mv (containing the numeric ID of your store - by default 1) and put these three functions in it: column(), header() and footer(). You can use any Miva Script commands and functions to open the respective files and have them inserted in the respective places of the invoice - both for the notification and the batch reports
     . The file is to be place in the same directory as MmHTMLc.mv (...modules/fulfill/)
  2. If you do not want to mess with the coding, you can buy the MmEXT module that does it for you.


faq


I see the additional fields in Ultra Batch, but nothing comes in the notification.

Be sure that you have followed MmEXT installation instructions correctly, especially the part about the order of modules. You can change the expression to display both, the MmEXT generated variables (e.g. Addendum.var1) and the form field variables used on the checkout page (e.g. g.question1). This way, if the order of modules is wrong, the form field variables will be displayed in the notification and the MmEXT variables in the Ultra Batch reports. However, if the order of the modules is correct, the additional fields would display duplicated (use just the MmEXT variables in that case).


faq

Token %affil_code% does not work. What's wrong?

There is a small bug (or a forgotten feature) in Miva Merchant. It does not write the affiliate code to the respective field in the orders database. If you want to use the token for the affiliate code, you have to add the following code into the Merchant2/4.xx/lib/db.mv file. Open it in a text editor (such as Notepad) and search for the following block of code (in the v4.12 db.mv it is at line 6574, and a=it is the line 6591 in v4.13):

<MvIF EXPR = "{ g.Features:Affiliates:Enabled }">
 <MvDO FILE = "{ g.Module_Feature_AFF_DB }" NAME = "l.ok" 
       VALUE = "{ Affiliate_Create_Order( l.session_id, l.total ) }">
</MvIF>

Then insert the following modification:

<MvIF EXPR = "{ g.Features:Affiliates:Enabled }">
 <MvDO FILE = "{ g.Module_Feature_AFF_DB }" NAME = "l.ok" 
       VALUE = "{ Affiliate_Create_Order( l.session_id, l.total ) }">
 <MvCOMMENT> ### custom modification !!! ### </MvCOMMENT>
   <MvASSIGN NAME="Orders.d.affil_code" VALUE="{AffiliateSession.d.affil_code}">
   <MvUPDATE NAME="Orders">
 <MvCOMMENT> ### end / custom modification !!! ### </MvCOMMENT>
</MvIF>

Please note that the change will have effect only on newly submitted orders.


faq


Can you provide more detailed information on how to use external commands?

Create a file called ...modules/fulfill/xmmhtmlc1.mv (containing the real numeric ID of your store instead of 1) and put these three functions in it: column( ), header( ) and footer( ). You can use any Miva Script commands and functions to open the respective files and have them inserted in the respective places of the invoice - both for the notification and the batch reports. The functions have no parameters. They should return the text you want to display.

Pointers to the Order, OrderItems and many other databases are already set in the moment of calling the functions and you should not move them.

There is an empty skeleton of such file here:

<MvFUNCTION NAME="header" STANDARDOUTPUTLEVEL="">
  enter code to be executed in the header of the notification here
  <MvFUNCRETURN VALUE="{l.myText}">
</MvFUNCTION>

<MvFUNCTION NAME="footer" STANDARDOUTPUTLEVEL="">
  enter code to be executed in the footer of the notification here
  <MvFUNCRETURN VALUE="{l.myText}">
</MvFUNCTION>

<MvFUNCTION NAME="column" STANDARDOUTPUTLEVEL="">
  enter code to be executed in the user-defined column of the notification
  (will be executed for each product, or (if selected) for each attribute)
  <MvFUNCRETURN VALUE="{l.myText}">
</MvFUNCTION>

faq


Can MmHTMLc display pins or download info from VikingCoders' modules?

Yes, the module has a built-in interface to VikingCoders' VC_PIN and VC_SOFTGOODS modules.

Simply put the token %vc_pin%, resp. %vc_softgoods% into the Additional Miva Footer - Miva Expression field (not the HTML footer!)

Note: you can also use the xmmhtmlc00000001.mv external file for serving serial numbers or PINs from a flatfile or a database. Contact us if you are interested. Softgoods may be served with the MmPASS module for the best results.




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Troubleshooting

In case of troubles, before contacting the support, please be sure to:

  1. read the FAQ
  2. check the changelog and update the module to the latest version
  3. read known limitation and bugs

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Wish List

  • ?

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Change Log


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Some Useful Links

MmHTML - HTML Formatted Email Merchant Notification
MmPGP Secure PGP e-mail merchant notification module

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