This morning we pushed a couple new features out to DPD. We’re working hard to make DPD the best we can. Please let us know if there is a feature you’d like to see in an upcoming release.
Key Code delivery
DPD now supports delivering key codes (serial keys, product activation keys). We support three generation methods:
Bulk upload Upload your codes into DPD and we will deliver them.
Single key Use one code for all deliveries.
URL Setup a URL on your server and DPD will request a new code for every sale.
We’re also evaluating adding some of the more popular key generators. Let us know which one you use.
Fixes and tweaks in this release
You can now activate a pending purchase.
Added an alternative uploader for customers unable to use the Java uploader.
We allow recording a price for all products. Previously, products in websites that used Clickbank or PayDotCom as the payment processor did not include a price in DPD since we are unable to control the product’s price. You can now store a price for reporting purposes. DPD does not validate this price as with other payment processors.
Fixed a bug that caused the dashboard sales graph to report low numbers.
Fixed a bug that caused the free vs paid purchase stats to be incorrect.
This morning we published a minor update to DPD that added a few new features and tweaked a couple of improvements made in the last update.
New features and tweaks included in this update:
DPD now displays product images on an improved delivery page designed to give your customers more info about what they’re downloading.
If there is no product image uploaded, DPD will display a file type icon to give buyers a better understanding of what they’re downloading.
Here is an example from the DPD Demo Store:
The delivery page now shows product type icons if no product image is uploaded, or the product image is one is provided for the product.
If you’ve uploaded a product image it is now displayed in the DPD product list.
We’ve digitally signed the DPD product uploader for enhanced security.
We corrected the button image alt text on free buttons.
Revamped sales site to include new features in last update.
Automatic subscription emails for failed payments, cancellations, and credit cards that are expiring soon.
Fixed problem with language selector on delivery page.
Fixed a bug that caused the “remove” link to revert to the non-lightboxed cart.
ClickBank purchases now record customer name so they can be used with AWeber integration, etc.
Fixed a PayDotCom activation issue that affected a couple accounts.
During the last update we also upgraded the PayPal checkout process to include individual items and discounts, so your customers will get an itemized PayPal receipt. We just forgot to tell anyone we did it.
PayPal Checkout is now Itemized with each item and any discounts
Compared to the last update this one was relatively minor- just a few new features and tweaks. As always, if anyone has any questions or comments please submit a support ticket and we’ll get right with you!
New Interface, Google Checkout Support, Customizable Websites / Emails, and multiple price levelsDPD always strives to make things easier. One of the things that’s always bugged us has been that there were two product lists- one for instant and one for cart. That’s not easy. It’s kinda confusing. It makes features like custom emails and delivery pages nearly impossible.
So in this update we set out to fix that and ended up making the largest change in DPD history. This update is five months in the making, with over 125 new features, bug fixes, and tweaks, and over 335,000 new lines of code!
So, starting early Wednesday, May 12, you will see a few changes at DPD when you login. We’ll start with the major changes.
New Product / Website User Interface
The product list has been completely overhauled. Gone are the days of two product lists. Everything is now on one page. We’ve added filters to help you find the product or website you’re looking for in a jiffy. We think this will make using DPD even easier.
Speaking of the product list, we’ve renamed “storefront” to “website.” We feel this is a better description of how you use them. We’ve also added websites to all products; they’re no longer limited to just cart products. This allows all products to be customized in the same way. Which is a nice segue into the next feature…
#1 Requested Feature: Email Customization
Email customization is here! This was the #1 requested feature in the feedback forum, and we just had to add it to this release. From your product list, click on Edit Website and then click on the Emails tab. Edit to your heart’s content. If you mess up, click on the reset link and start over. Look for pre-made themes in the near future.
#2 Requested Feature: AWeber Integration
Since we tackled the #1 requested feature, we decided to tackle the #2 most requested feature- AWeber integration. Click on Edit Website from your product list and fill out the Notification Email and then follow the Learn More link for how to setup AWeber to parse the emails.
We’d also appreciate it if you would contact AWeber and request that they add a global email parser for DPD. They’ve promised us one if we can get 10 people to ask.
The Notification Email can be used with any service that can parse emails.
#3 Requested Feature: Google Checkout Support
With #1 and #2 added, we had to add #3: Google Checkout. Add your Google Checkout merchant information to your website profile and Google Checkout will be automatically be presented as a checkout option. You can use it with PayPal, instead of PayPal, or not at all- it’s your choice.
Product Images and Descriptions
Next up, we’ve added product images and descriptions to the product setup. This is a 100% optional feature but we highly recommend you take advantage of it. We don’t use the image or description anywhere your customers see… yet. Look for some sprucing up of the checkout process and delivery pages in the near future. We’ve also got some other big features planned that will use the image and description.
New Button Creators
We’ve made creating add to cart, view cart, and buy now buttons even easier. And we added even more button styles to choose from. You can create buy now buttons for any product in the website, even if the website was cart-only before!
Multiple Prices per Product
DPD now supports multiple prices per product- no more uploading duplicate products if you want to run a special or offer a resale version- DPD accounts are still based on product slots, not prices, so create as many as you need.
Completely New DPD Affiliate System
We’ve added an all new Vendor control panel for better control of your affiliate programs. New features include multiple payout levels, better affiliate management, a new news system that lets you post affiliate news for your affiliates, and more.
We’ve also added an all new Affiliate Control Panel where your affiliates can log in to a custom branded “mini-site” to view their stats, generate hoplinks and buttons, view program news, and lots more.
And More…
We’ve done so many small fixes and tweaks throughout the site its hard to remember them all:
We’ve added payment history to your profile.
We’ve totally redone most of the forms on the website to be easier to read and easier to use, with context sensitive help that pops up when you need it.
The support ticket system / helpdesk has been replaced with a far better system.
Documentation has been updated throughout.
We’ve switched email services to improve deliverability to your customers.
We’ve put a ton of time and effort into this release, and it’s just one of many to come. We hope you enjoy using DPD, and as always we’re standing by to help if you need it!
One of the things that people like most about DPD is how it looks and how easy it is to use. We’re always trying to improve on that, so we’ve upgraded many form and tool elements in the next DPD update.
Here is a preview of the new setup page style (this is from the Vendor Profile page):
When you select a field, tool tips pop up to give you additional information
We think it improves the look and feel of DPD greatly- as a matter of fact, we get mad when we have to use the live DPD site after working with our development version. We hope you’ll agree!
Just a quick post to let you guys know whats coming in the next DPD update. This is the largest DPD update in the history of the company with a complete overhaul of the existing code and a whole mess of new features. Over 334,000 new lines of code!
Check out a brief list of some of the major new features:
AWeber / 3rd party mailing list integration – #2 Requested Feature
Google Checkout processor support – #3 Requested Feature
Products and customizations grouped by website
Unified product list- no more “instant” and “store” products
DPD affiliate program overhaul / upgrade
User interface improvements throughout
New and improved support system and knowledgebase
New and improved DPD button generator
All these features and more are already in and the update is currently being tested and documented internally. Once testing and documentation is complete we’ll be releasing it to the live site, hopefully in the next week or so.
Here at DPD HQ we type in the www.digitalproductdelivery.com URL about 2 million times a day. It’s one big honkin’ domain name, and it’s been bugging us for a while. That, and because its so long its prone to typos when someone is trying to enter our URL. To remedy that, we’ve switched DPD to use our new getDPD.com domain.
All joking aside, we hope this shorter URL will be easier to type for everyone involved.
There is no need to update any already placed cart buttons or instant checkout buttons- through the magic of the internet they are automatically redirected to the new domain and vendors don’t need to update anything. We’ll still maintain the www.digitalproductdelivery.com domain until around the time the sun burns out.
As always, if anyone discovers any problems with this domain change or any other DPD feature please let us know– we’re here to help!
Just a quick note to let everyone know that the DPD migration to new servers is complete- everything should be faster for everyone!
If anyone has any questions or comments please post them here or send us a support ticket- we’re keeping a close watch on the new servers through the weekend to make sure no major issues arise.
Through March 25th DPD will be completing a migration to newer, more powerful servers. This is in response to the growth of DPD and to maintain a high level of service to all vendors, affiliates, and buyers.
With the exception of a 10-15 minute time period during changeover, all carts and instant checkout buttons will continue to work normally during this migration. The 10-15 minutes of downtime will be done at non-peak hours to prevent adverse loss of sales to vendors, but during this downtime period all buttons will be inactive.
Vendors will still be able to log in to their accounts, however when a vendor’s account is moved the following will occur:
Vendors will be locked out from creating new products or uploading / updating product data files for existing products during the period of time their account is migrating. This is to prevent the possibility of new products created on the old servers during the migration not being copied to the new servers.
During the migration, vendor accounts may respond slower than normal.
Once the account is completely migrated these locks will be removed and you will then be able to create new products / upload files on the new DPD servers. We expect that the total “lock out time” during migration will be only a few hours for each vendor and the total “downtime” where buttons are not available will be from 10-15 minutes during off-peak usage hours. We appologize for the temporary inconvenience this may cause, but we think you’ll enjoy all the enhancements to DPD this upgrade will allow.
The New DPD Interface- Coming Soon!We’re hard at work adding new features and improvements to DPD. We wanted to give you guys a little teaser preview of what we’ve been working on, so check out the screenshot for a sneak peak of the coming user interface overhaul and new features!
Multiple sales methods per product- add as many buttons with their own checkout method (storefront or instant) and price
Better product inventory management and lookup tools
redesigned user interface to handle all the extra information
DPD is an all-in-one shopping cart and digital fulfillment service for downloadable products. Serving thousands of stores, DPD processes and delivers millions worth of downloads each year.
