vBShop v2.0.0 Beta 1 Released!

[Fillip H.]

After a long time of development, we're finally able to present vBShop v2.0.0 Beta 1!

As the name indicates, THIS IS BETA SOFTWARE. DO NOT INSTALL ON A PRODUCTION BOARD UNLESS YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF ERROR MESSAGES AND WITH RE-UPLOADING FILES ON A FREQUENT BASIS.

With the legalities out of the way, here's a brief run-down of what's new in vBShop v2.0.0 Beta 1:

• Multi-Currency Support
  Those of you interested in selling real-world items should find this a welcome change - you can now have a "special" currency that can only be used for purchasing your special items.
• "Custom Field" Items (w/ purchase & configuration notification)
  A new item type has been added, "Custom Item", which allows admins to define up to 5 fields to be filled out by the member upon configuration of the item. You can be notified either when someone buys the item, or when they actually fill out the fields (or both).
• Revamped Shop Layout
  One of the main problems of vBShop v1 was that the layout wasn't exactly stellar, and having Gifts and Items separate was confusing to members. Both these problems have been corrected for v2.
  The layout uses AJAX for adding items to the shopping cart.
• Revamped Purchase Process
  It is now possible to buy more than one item in one go, via the use of a shopping cart. For that reason, we've split the "configuration" from the "purchase" process.
  What this means is, say a member buys "Username Change". Upon completion of their purchase, they will be redirected to their inventory, where they can click "Configure" for the newly purchased item. This is the page that lets them actually change their username.
  The main reason why we implemented this change is that it is now possible to set items to be re-usable. To follow up on the above example, a member may use the item to change their usernames multiple times (either infinitely, or until the item expires.)
• Expiring Items
  Items can now have a duration (in days).
• Stock
  Each individual shop can have its own individual stock (and price / currency) of an item.

Of course, being Beta Software, there's some caveats. The following features are missing from vBShop v1.x and will be restored over the course of the Beta process:

• Lotteries
  • No data from existing lotteries will be carried over to the final incarnation of vBShop 2.0 lotteries due to the vast differences in data storage and functionality.
• Transaction Logs
  • It is important to note that every single action taken in vBShop 2.0 that influences a member's points is thoroughly logged. It is merely the display that is missing.

Additionally, the following features were originally planned for vBShop v2.0 but have been delayed and will be added either over the course of the Beta period or for the v2.1 update:

• User Shops

For those of you brave enough to install the Beta version, we hope you enjoy it and we look forward to hearing your feedback
Only the Pro version is available for testing at the moment.

Discuss this news here.