Gower Fuchsias

[ideasguy]

PLEASE NOTE:
This topic extends onto a second page, and growing
Ive been working on a Catalogs on CD for Paul Fisher, the owner of Gower Fuchsias:
http://www.gower-fuchsias.co.uk/

All hsi plants have been imported into IG Pro, and the project is completed (my side).
I'm tidying things up before sending Paul the latest version of software, and his database.

I would like to ask for volunteers to "play" with the Catalog on CD, by making the Catalog available as a download.
The download version wont have photos, but, I'd like you to browse through the Catalog items and test adding selected items to a mail order.
Other than feedback (on how you get on with the revised GA040) theres no commitment, of course, but if you wish, you will be able to place orders using the printed Mail Order form, or by email. That, of course, is what the Catalog on CD is for!

Instructions on how to install the download, and how to "work" Catalogs to follow as soon as poss.

Paul will use the software to link his plants to photos, etc, then produce the finished article.

Theres another item of good news. As a professional propagator and grower, Paul has considerable expertise on labelling plants.
I will be working with Paul to develop the IG Pro labelling program GA048 to print his labels.
That then ties in with another running project - the development of GA048 for labels available in the US from US suppliers (e.g. Avery and Orion) - and as you may know, Toby (aka Bossgard on the forum) has been driving ME along on that project. His work on this has been invaluable.

Exciting stuff!!

[NightHawk]

As with volunteering for testing the Imberhorne Lane Nursery - Catalog on CD, we would like to volunteer for this one too. 

I'm sure we can find time to do this, before we fully get into our gardening projects. 

Look forward to getting more details when you're ready.
 

[ideasguy]

Thanks for the quick response, Kathy and Laurie!
It will be another busy weekend here - but now the members have a little preview of "Whats New".
I'll put a Google link, so users can do some surfing on each plant - (to find photos etc)

[ideasguy]

Gosh, time flies!
I'm still tying up loose ends on this massive project (Catalogs on CD)

I'm on it again this weekend, and hope to make it ready for downloading.
Weather forecast is not good for UK in the next few days, so hopefully volunteers will find this something fun to do as we look out at our gardens.

Ready to give it a go?

[NightHawk]

Yes, we're ready.

[ideasguy]

Thanks again, Kathy and Laurie. What would I do without you. Thank you for your support all week. I can see you visiting the forum regularly even though its gone very quiet.
This Catalog thing is interesting!

[NightHawk]

Well, the title of the Forum says it all George - "Ideas Genie Community".

The community spirit here is the common interest we all have for growing plants and/or vegetables, learning new gardening skills and sharing our knowledge with other gardeners, be they novices or experts.  We can all learn something new or different to try.

As with any community, either on the Internet or out in the 'real' world, there will be active participants and those who just 'drop in' from time to time, wherever the meeting place happens to be.  Many people have a heavy work schedule with limited free time, work away from home, share their computer with other family members and have other personal commitments.  All sorts of things can conspire against you, no matter how willing the spirit is to do other things.

However, the success of any community venture are the 'regular' visitors who give their input, no matter how big or small that may be. 

We think some people can feel slightly inhibited putting their thoughts into a Forum environment for everyone to see, and are afraid that their comments will be thought of as trivial, stupid or boring.  But if you don't participate then you never really get to 'know' other people, and the more you get involved then obviously you will get to know each other better.  The inhibitions will then go away.    A bit of jovial banter is a good way of lightening up people's moods, so there's nothing wrong with that either. 

As you have said previously, you can't force people to participate in the Forum, so it's really encouraging when more and more people log in and get chatting.

We can only really speak for ourselves here.  Our enjoyment comes with having the time to be regular Forum members, and posting new topics or replying to existing ones.  Our input may not always be filled with groundbreaking facts, but we like to acknowledge other contributors' thoughts, comments and photographs they submit.  It's human nature to be liked and we, just as anyone else does, appreciate acknowledgment of what we have to offer.

There are many categories on this Forum to chip in some personal 'stuff' as well, other than gardening, so there are plenty of opportunities to share our other interests to help 'break the ice.'

Okay, time to get off our soap-box now. 

Just let us know the details for the catalog test when you're ready, and just how far we can go with the 'testing' process.  For example, at this stage we obviously don't want to place 'real' orders, so would like to know how far this aspect can be tested.

Laurie.

[ideasguy]

That is a very well constructed posting Laurie!
I agree with everything you say, and you've said it very VERY well.

May I have your permission to use an extract from that on the ideasgenie.co.uk web site?

I was actually feeling a little embarassed by the lack of input last week, while you visited loyally and stayed logged in, responding to the few postings that came along - in this case, mainly about the website I did for Col on his Native plants of West Australia.
I'm pleased to note that you are patient - the main "ingredient" for a great gardener!

Its a good time to explain that most members have never been forum users before, so it takes time to get the feel for the spirit of a forum. That may visiting and reading, and then feeling confident to get involved. We regulars have to keep the banter going, in the hope of enticing those first postings from new members.

[NightHawk]

Certainly George, you can use as much or as little of the comments as you want.

"When the royalties start pouring in...."    

Laurie 

[ideasguy]

RE:

When the royalties start pouring in

Ah yes. Postings may be limited from this guy, but yes, I'll authorise the royalties from a beach on the Carribean 

[ideasguy]

It reads even better when published, Kathy and Laurie. I just had to get that up quickly.
http://www.ideasgenie.co.uk/userforum.html

I couldn?t have expressed this better!
Your writing skills are excellent.
Thank you for your valuable comments.

[NightHawk]

We've just had a look at our comments on your web site and would like to thank you for doing that. 

Let's hope that any new customers purchasing your software will read this first and be inspired to get involved in the Forum as well.

Fingers crossed - you never know. 

[ideasguy]

The thanks is all very much to you, Kathy and Laurie. I'ts a lovely article. I cant thank you enough (apart from Royalties, of course  )
Fingers tightly crossed! It would be fantastic to get the forum buzzing.

Getting back on topic, Ive spent this evening preparing the files for users to download.
So far so good with the testing! Be in touch soon with links, I hope.

[ideasguy]

At long last (fanfare) the first Catalog on CD is ready for action - albeit as a download!

Please download and give this a go. The Catalog on CD project has taken most of the winter of 2005-6 and same again for 2007-2008, so a LOT of effort went into this project.

There are 4 downloads. MAKE SURE they are 6th April 08 or later:

1) IDEAS GENIE PRO
Visit the product support web site:
http://www.ideasgenie.com/updates-igprox/
and download:
a) Catalog files
Download File name: catofiles-dl.exe
b) Latest File set (bottom of the page)
Download File name: igpro-fileset-ende.exe
c) GA040
Now start Ideas Genie Pro and run Supplier Catalogs-GA040 (Catalogs tab on the menu)
It should indicate Version 8 (or later)
You'll find a More Catalogs button on the initial screen of GA040
Click that, and read over the web page.
You'll find the download link for the Gower Fuchsias catalog.
By default, the download is installed in the correct folder. Dont change anything.
Its less than 1mb, so wont take up much disk space

Once downloaded, exit and re-start GA040.
The Catalog should show up in the List of Catalogs
Explore!!

The challenge:
Can you navigate it to:
a) Explore the Catalog sections
b) Create a mail Order header
c) Add plants to the Mail order
d) Add substitutes to the Mail Order
e) Send an email to Paul at Gower Fuchsias
You can edit the message before sending to Paul.
If you are simply testing the system, we will very much appreciate your time and effort.
If you wish to buy, Paul has indicated that he will give a discount to members.

Fingers tightly crossed here!!

2) FLOWER GENIE
Visit the FG product support web site:
http://www.flowergenie.co.uk/dl/fg_updates.php
and download:
a) Catalog files
Download File name: catofiles-dl.exe
During the download, When you get to the Dialog box: Select destination location
CHANGE ideas genie pro 5 to flower genie 3

b) Latest File set
Download File name: fg-fileset-en-por.exe
The program does NOT prompt you for a destination location.
It will install the files in the correct folder

c) GA040
During the download, When you get to the Dialog box: Select destination location
CHANGE ideas genie pro 5 to flower genie 3

Now start Flower Genie and run Supplier Catalogs-GA040 (Catalogs tab on the menu)
It should indicate Version 8 (or later)
You'll find a More Catalogs button on the initial screen of GA040
Click that, and read over the web page.
You'll find the download link for the Gower Fuchsias catalog.
By default, the download is installed in the correct folder. Dont change anything during the download.
Its less than 1mb, so wont take up much disk space

Once downloaded, exit and re-start GA040.
The Catalog should show up in the List of Catalogs
Explore!!

Now see The challenge under the Ideas Genie Pro section (above)

NOTE: GA040 is exactly the same for ALL systems. Its one and the sam,e program.
 

[NightHawk]

George, just to let you know I've downloaded and installed all the files for testing the Gower Fuchsias Catalog on CD for IG Pro.

I've opened the catalog just to make sure I had everything I needed and it was working alright.

I've had a quick look through the sections, and so far all seems to be okay. 

It's getting a bit late here so I'll have a more thorough look at it again tomorrow, when I'm not so tired.

After I've gone through all the test procedures you've outlined I'll let you know how we get on.

Great work George - a well deserved pat on the back. 

Laurie

[ideasguy]

Wow!!!!
That was real quick! 
You are well ahead of the posse on that one. That is incredible.
I will sleep much better tonight knowing it all worked (so far at least!)

Thank you so much for trying that so promptly. Good luck with "the challenge" 

[NightHawk]

I have just completed the 'challenges' set by George using both Ideas Genie programs - "Ideas Genie Pro 5" and "Flower Genie 3".

All the challenges were completed successfully for both programs. 

When you get to the point of adding 'substitutes' to the order and generate the email to send to Paul, the substitutes do not yet appear in the draft email.

I have spoken to George about this and he confirms that this feature has yet to be coded into the programs.  So don't panic, there's nothing wrong.   He also told me he has other tweaks to do yet, but all the 'challenges' he set have been successfully completed.

Brilliant job George.  I know you've worked so hard to get this project to completion, and is a masterful achievement.   

Laurie.

[ideasguy]

Excellent work, Laurie
I'm over the moon! Its such a relief that it works as designed.
I'll get to work on the Substitutes (adding to the email) later (and again - very well spotted!).

Yesterday was just frantic. I had it working in IG Pro. I then had to make it work with FG.
Then, I had to "distribute it" to the waiting masses 
I know its described as Catalog on CD, the main purpose being to present the potential customer with better quality photos than would normally be found on the supplier web sites (if indeed they have one)
The download doesnt have any photos (yet) but we can work on that.

I decided to create that web page,
http://www.garden-software.co.uk/SupplierCatalogs/suppliercatalogs.html
to advertise the Catalogs on CD, and to give the download link option.

Providing the actual data file downloads had an additional complication, since (as you know) data files are located under the user profile in FG3 and IG 5 series.
My old program for generating the download executable doesnt allow that flexibility.
I had to learn how to use another setup program by Inno (highly recommended by my fellow Visual Foxpro developer community)
http://www.jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php
After LOTS of trial and error, I managed to provide the parameters required and it seemed to work very well in my tests.
Its very flexible, I have to say
e.g.In the FG download for En-Por Filesets, Ive set it up so you can choose English or Portuguese text in the dialog boxes (click a pop-up).
Also, options to allow the user to change the Destination folder, which again you negotiated successfully.

So, as you see, apart from the months of development of the actual Catalog on CD project, there were lots of other things in that exercise where I needed user feedback, and I am very VERY grateful for your very speedy feedback comments.

Feedback from other members also required - please!!
In a behind the scenes email, Laurie informs me that he uses Outlook (so do I).
Please let me know what email client you use (e.g. Outlook, Outlook express etc)
If you use hotmail or gmail etc, I'd very much appreciate your feedback on sending email from the program (GA040, screen GA040S06)).

[NightHawk]

I've just tested the email formatting using Outlook Express 6.

The order displays correctly when viewed as both plain text or in HTML format.

As George has said, we would still like to know how it looks in other email clients, so please test this catalog as soon as you can.

Even if you have either of the email clients already tested, the testing of the catalog would still be greatly appreciated by as many members as possible, and the feedback would be much appreciated. 

Laurie.

[roiphil]

After recently purchasing IG PRO and still getting used to it i played with the catalog section and gower fuchsias, worked ok, email order looked ok in windows mail

Phil

[ideasguy]

Thats great Phil.
I spent a lot of time on developing the Catalogs program, and the programs you find under the Nursery tab on the IG pro menu.
It will be useful for you and the business you are developing.
Looking forward to working with you on that.

[ideasguy]

The Catalogs program has been updated once again to complete some of the outstanding things you seen above e.g. substitutes.

Volunteers to give this a test run would be much appreciated.
Fist download the latest versions:
1) GA040 (Catalog Program)
http://www.ideasgenie.com/updates-igpro/GA040-dl.exe

and
2) The 2009 Gower Fuchsias Catalog. (Note that its now on a different server)
http://www.cultivars.co.uk/Catalogs/GowerFuchsias-dl.exe

The challenge:
Can you navigate it to:
a) Explore the Catalog sections

b) Create a mail Order header
c) Add plants to the Mail order
d) Add substitutes to the Mail Order
e) Print your Mail order

f) In GA040S06, use the Send email button and send an email to Paul at Gower Fuchsias
You can edit the message before sending to Paul.
If you are simply testing the system, we will very much appreciate your time and effort.
If you wish to buy, Paul has indicated that he will give a discount to members

WHATS NEW
When you get to the screen GA040S14, all the plants have WEB photos.
In this case the web photos are actually on the Gower Fuchsias website.
It was important to protect the copyright images, so I spent a lot of time disabling the right click function when you click on the image.
When you display the image, have a look at the little text field in the bottom left order of screen GA040S12
Its left in from my testing session.
It should always show the value 1. If it is 1, then right click is disabled.
If you ever see it is NOT 1, or if you manage to get an instance where right clicking on the image is NOT disabled, please let me know.
As before, you can right click on the plants in GA040S14 to get quickly to web photos, and right click on GA040S12 to close the screen (but not on the image, of course)

[Lyn and Malcolm]

Downloaded and testing

a ok
b ok
c ok

The long tube ones are our favourites,

Will continue test after had me dinner 

Edit Back again

d an e work fine

The no right click is working as well

Malcolm

[ideasguy]

That was real quick, Malcolm, and good news! Thanks for you fast response.

For (f) the program should open your email client (if not already open) e.g. Outlook, and fill in all the details ready for you to to send the email. You can cancel the email at that stage if you wish.
I'd like some feedback from members on how that worked for them.

[roiphil]

a) OK
b) OK
c) OK
d) OK
e) OK

f) OK IN WINDOWS MAIL

In GA040S06 My mail orders I get a white line appear downwards when i run my curser in the coloured section near add item to this order i also noticed this in the chiltern catalog

pleased to be of assistance