Local Food Cooperative Software

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The Jist: This software operates on an order cycle instead of an “always open” system. Producers/farmers can log in and add products to their product catalog at anytime for sale. During a designated time, cooperative members place orders.

Always make back-ups before applying changes.

v1.5Pre Configuration Consolidation Release

Contributors to this Release

Brandon Burnett - many bug-fixes from prior versions

Jeff Etling - solving the timezone problem

Jeff Farbman - extraordinary help with configuration and code formatting

Roy Guisinger - lead developer

Please note: Some of the features listed below may not be completely implemented in this pre-release package. Please notify software@localfoodcoop.org of any failures you discover.

Installing vs. Updating: This release includes changes to almost every file in the codebase. Consequently, updating from previous versions that have been modified will be difficult. This pre-release version is intended to be used only for new installations. For updating existing systems, there will be additional notes provided with the full 1.5.0 version that will help smooth that process (including modifications to the database), though it may still be difficult for heavily-modified installations.

v1.5Pre Changes

1. Consolidation of configuration files
   IMPORTANT: Most of the configuration information has been consolidated into the single new file (config_foodcoop.php) so that the following old configuration files may someday be eliminated:
   
   

   config_connect.php

   config_foodweb_orders.php

   config_foodweb.php

   config_members.php

   
   Be sure to keep these files for now, but they will eventually be eliminated. They no longer actually contain configuration information, but are mostly just placeholders for the code that still looks for them (Special thanks to Jeff Farbman for all his work on this consolidation).
   
   An optional config_override.php file provides the ability to override configuration parameters such as when maintaining mirrored sites with slight variations in configuration settings. For normal installations, this file will be empty and may be safely removed.
   
   Database configurations and certain variables no longer need to be searched out and hard-coded into place throughout the code.
2. Conversion to use include path
   IMPORTANT: In prior versions, each file explicitly included the configuration files by relative reference. In this version, the configuration files are referenced by configuring an include path in the .htaccess file in the DOCUMENT_ROOT, which is soft-linked from .htaccess files in each other directory. This allows greater freedom in directory structure.
3. Master-password option
   A configurable master-password can be set up that will allow access to all user accounts (not the admin area). The value for the passord is stored in its MD5 form in the config_foodcoop.php configuration file. The value to use is the same as the equivalent encrypted password stored in the database. Leave the value empty to disable the feature.
4. Timezone setup
   Time zone can now be set to correspond to the actual location of the local food organization, rather than some offset based on where the server is hosted.
5. Configurable routing codes
   The routing code format can now be changed in one place in the config_foodcoop.php configuration file. The routing codes are the ones displayed on product labels for tracking to destination sites such as "LNC-348-AUB H-BTH".
6. Change of "authorization" logic
   The database schema has been modified so that member authorization is not exclusively one type or another but may be multi-valued. For example, a member may be authorized as a "producer" and as an "administrator". This feature is not yet utilized, but is preparatory for future enhancements.
7. Pluralizer function
   There should no longer be instances when the items are listed with weird plural forms. These errors should no longer occur: "1 box" → "3 boxs" or "1 bass" → "2 basss" or "1 ox" → "4 oxen".
8. Modification to shopping cart function
   Shopping cart function has been reformatted to be more concise.
9. Paypal surcharges
   Paypal as a payment option can be configured to generate extra charges or not.
10. Auto-focus login field
    When accessing the main shopping page (usually located at http://yourfoodsite.org/shop/), the member login field is auto-focused to enable easier login.
11. Product list image display
    Images in the product list are now "Click to enlarge" and "MouseOut to restore" instead of "MouseOver to enlarge" and "Click to restore".
12. Changes to producer list and product editing
    • Producers may now classify products as "Listed", "Unlisted", or "Archived".
    • Producer editing screen now returns to the proper classification list being edited rather than the "All Products" list.
    • There is now a "Save as new" option for cloning products without re-entering all information again.
    • Products may now have a negative price (useful for such things as refunds or deposits).
    • Modified some product-entry fields for easier data entry.
    • A brief alert displays after updating products to indicate successful processing of the product.
13. Reformatted code
    The codebase was reformatted to GNU standard indentation style and SQL queries have been reformatted for easier readability.
14. Removal of dead files
    Miscellaneous files that are no longer needed have been removed from the distribution.