Best way to review/search old orders?

[dsiomtw]

We've had no real reason to batch our orders, so we've just been letting them all pile up in one huge batch. This obviously isn't ideal because when we want to view a prior order we go to Open Orders and it takes forever and a day to load.

On top of that I assume that there are much better ways to review and search prior orders, etc. Maybe some other module? I am envisioning something that allows you to easily search for old orders based on customer name, address, product code, etc. that also lets you run various reports based on certain time periods, etc.

Can anyone point me in the right direction here? Thanks ...

[Vic - WolfPaw Computers]

First off, you should be removing those orders off the server regularly for security purposes.

Batch your orders, then use the utility under Export to export your orders to a file, download the file, then delete the file, then the batch.

Dont forget to delete expired baskets and pack your databases regularly as well.

This is part of your basic store administration.

If you need a more robust searching/batching/exporting utility, then invest in Truxoft's UltraBatch (http://www.mivacentral.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=m&Product_Code=TRUXOFT-MMUBAT&ref=wpaw) (Highly Recommended). You can even have the exported report emailed to you.

[cgbonner]

Good luck if you get the Ultra batch mod..........I can't get it loaded.

[dsiomtw]

Thanks for the reply. What do people do if they do NOT use something like Ultra Batch? I mean, how would you lookup an old order once you've deleted everything off the server? Manually open the exported text file using NotePad and try to search for it in there? That seems crazy?? Am I missing something? I can't imagine anyone does that.

Since we've never used batches really I don't know much about how it works and I have to be careful here. If I go ahead and do something that can't be undone, and it isn't right, we'll be in trouble. So I have a few more questions ...

We currently have 1006 open orders - basically all our orders. I figure tonight would be a good time to batch them since it's the end of the month. Then maybe going forward we'll batch at the end of every month, or maybe every week. I guess daily would be best? Is there some way to automatically batch every night at midnight etc?

Once I put all these orders in a batch, can we still view/search that closed batch, or once you close a batch the only way to view those orders is to export it as a text file and manually search through that text file?

If we were to get the Ultra Batch, how does that work with the standard batches. Do we still need to go into Miva and close batches manually, export and delete the Miva batches, etc. ... or does Ultra Batch somehow handle all of this? I'm reading through the Ultra Batch info but I'm a little confused.

Sorry for all the questions and thanks for the help!

[Bruce - PhosphorMedia]

That's a pretty disingenious comment seeing as how your attempts don't even indicate whethe or not you have contacted the developer. Ultra-batch is a very popular module, installed in hundreds of stores...so your issue with being unable to install it is probably a simple one to circumvent.

[Vic - WolfPaw Computers]

You import your exported file into Excel, not notepad.

Batching is an important part of order and store management. Again, keeping all those orders on the server is a security risk. Should someone guess your username and password to your store admin, you have personal information and potentially credit card information for over 1000 orders now compromised. Would you want the responsibility of notifying all those customers that their information was compromised?

Yes, batching can be done as often as needed. How often? That would depend on your organizational needs and volume of orders. There is no need to ever keep more than 2 months worth of orders in the store. Most banks only give you a 45 day window to refund a transaction, so keeping the data longer than that on the server is a poor business practice. Storing the order history offline is a much more secure method.

You can also look into Truxoft's MMTicker (http://www.mivacentral.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=m&Product_Code=TRUXOFT-MMTICKER&ref=wpaw), which will allow you to schedule automated batching and many other tasks.

Ultra Batch allows you to manage your batches. Yes, you will still have to create the batches, and delete the batches, but Ultra Batch makes this process MUCH easier.



Thanks for the reply. What do people do if they do NOT use something like Ultra Batch? I mean, how would you lookup an old order once you've deleted everything off the server? Manually open the exported text file using NotePad and try to search for it in there? That seems crazy?? Am I missing something?

Since we've never used batches really I don't know much about how it works and I have to be careful here. If I go ahead and do something that can't be undone, and it isn't right, we'll be in trouble. So I have a few more questions ...

We currently have 1006 open orders - basically all our orders. I figure tonight would be a good time to batch them since it's the end of the month. Then maybe going forward we'll batch at the end of every month, or maybe every week. I guess daily would be best? Is there some way to automatically batch every night at midnight etc?

Once I put all these orders in a batch, can we still view/search that closed batch, or once you close a batch the only way to view those orders is to export it as a text file and manually search through that text file?

If we were to get the Ultra Batch, how does that work with the standard batches. Do we still need to go into Miva and close batches manually, export and delete the Miva batches, etc. ... or does Ultra Batch somehow handle all of this? I'm reading through the Ultra Batch info but I'm a little confused.

Sorry for all the questions and thanks for the help!

[apanda]

I use UltraBatch - It's a great module and I've never had any problems with it. It's an essential module in my opinion. :)

[dsiomtw]

Thanks guys. I installed UltraBatch and it rocks.

FYI we don't store any credit card numbers on the server at all.

To the person who had trouble installing it, did you read the readme.txt that comes with it? It specifically says you have to install it a certain way or it won't install properly. Maybe you didn't do that?

Anyway, thanks to all!