GrandNode 4.70 is officially released! We're happy to announce that the newest version of the e-commerce platform is ready to download from our site. As always incoming version contains a lot of changes, features, improvements. The current version comes with a detailed performance test. We've made several stress tests and we can tell you a little secret. Fantastic performance for us means that GrandNode can handle easily 500 concurrent users per second - 30 000 customers online - without performance tweaks. More details you will find in the article which we are creating for you. The incoming version contains a lot of improvements related to multi-vendor support, our platform became more friendly for sellers and marketplace owners. As always, our developers were focused on refactorings, we've made a lot of changes in a codebase. Modern developers for sure will be satisfied and impressed!
Advanced Multi-Vendor Features
During the last three months, our efforts were focused on the vendor's functionalities. We've tried to react fast to the world lockdown and to help the community, we've decided to improve the implemented features. As we described in the previous beta blog post, we created some fantastic features.
First of all, your customers can see the vendor name in the shopping cart. With a little programming knowledge, you are able to divide the shopping cart section and make the cart personalized.
Two-factor authentication implementation
We've also revised the security of the GrandNode and we've decided to implement the two-factor authentication methods. Out of the box, you can three different types of authentication. Email verification - during the login you will get a digital code to your inbox. App verification - a digital code will be generated on your smartphone with the authenticator application. SMS verification - if you develop a plugin for example Twilio integration, you can use the SMS verification to use the SMS digital code to authenticate in your store.
Seo Friendly URLs for specification attributes filtering
The changes covered also the UX parts of the platform. To provide the better user experience, we've decided to make some interface changes. We implemented the SEO friendly URLs for specification attributes filtering, instead of older
https://demo.grandnode.com/computers?specs=5e3d3055f9274c0b8c76f2e3,5e3d3055f9274c0b8c76f2e8
you will have the following address:
https://demo.grandnode.com/computers?cpu-type=intel-core-i5&memory=16-gb
To provide better content marketing, we changed the SEO Friendly URLs for blog categories. Instead of weird GUIDs in the category URL, you will have a search engine friendly name. As you probably noticed, we've gone further with this feature and you will be able to apply filters on the vendor details page, manufacturer details page, search results page and share the results with friends!
Simplified checkout and shopping cart
It's a change that we've already implemented in the grandnode.com marketplace. You can find the simplified checkout process. We've removed all unnecessary elements from cart and checkout page to help you avoid situations where customer will abandon the purchase process because of some kind of distractors.
Code refactoring
As GrandNode is a developer-friendly e-commerce platform, we had to implement changes to the code base. To avoid the generalities, below you can find the changes, that are included in 4.70 version:
- Remove UseMvc and implement the new approach - UseEndpoints
- Remove distributed Redis cache
- Implement Message bus to manage cache by Redis (pub/sub)
- Implement IRequestHandler
- Add more Unit Tests
Amazon Cloudfront
In the past few versions, you were able to use the Amazon S3 integration out of the box. At the request of our platinum partner, we implemented the improved integration to support the Amazon Cloudfront. For us it was a simple change, but we are pretty sure that it's a very important element for many users.
Add your own code, custom JS or CSS
Directly from the admin panel, you can add your own parts of code. You can insert the custom CSS or JS code. You've sometimes asked about that and we've decided to implement the possibility to insert own styles or scripts from the panel, without access to the FTP.
Hidden changes
As always, we've implemented some hidden features as cherries on a cake. In this version, we can point out the possibility to show product attributes on catalog pages. On the product boxes visible on category, manufacturer page you can show the available colors, sizes, or any attribute you want.
Of course, it's not the end of the changes, our list is always longer than we expected during the planning phase:
- Extend the API - add support for product attribute mapping,
- Extend the Orders - add a new field - Order Code (Random 8digit code),
- Include blog posts and images in the sitemap,
- Bundle products (Product Kits) - add support for product attributes,
- Allow to select attributes on the product by URL address, the user will be redirected to the product which will have already selected attributes values listed in URL.
You can find the detailed and full release notes for GrandNode 4.70.
Of course don't forget to download the newest version of GrandNode.
We would love to see your feedback about the changes in GrandNode 4.70, you can share it on the official forum thread.
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