Order Email Modifications

-- Browser(s) name and version -- : Chrome
-- Error-message(debug-mod must be tuned on) -- : none

HikaShop Business, Is there a way to view changes to the order email templates without actually going through the order process and having the system send me an email? Also, I have been trying in vain to figure out how to view the template editor for the Order Emails. I found the documentation on how to modify them and it looks like there is an editor? I am not sure if this is an editor or just a different screenshot of the screen where all the email templates are listed for HikaShop Business. ( www.hikashop.com/support/documentation/i...entation/25-hikashop ),I noticed that under System/Emails, there are 3 version of a template, HTML / Text / Preload Version. I assume what I need to do is take the template, modify it accordingly, then upload it as a new template. What I would like to do is have an template that uses my Company Logo and has the appropriate wording. So if I upload a new template I believe I will need one for each of the different emails my customers may receive. The emails that I am focusing on are the emails send after the order is paid which I believe is the "Order Confirmation", The email sent once an order is Shipped (need to add a tracking number to the order and I believe this is under the "Order Modification" and one if the order is Cancelled which is the "Order Cancellation" emails? Would this be correct?

I apologize for some of these questions but I am still very green to HikaShop and all my Google Searches keep bringing me to these forums rather then the documentation. I want to be sure that I modify the correct code and upload properly without the template being over written.

Also, Could someone point me to the proper forum for the USPS Plugin? I don't want to ask my question in the wrong place. Thank you!

Thanks very much that was very helpful. However, if I wanted to change the actual text of the email, I found a post that stated that in order to change that the translation or the expanded text of the placeholders (or macro's, not sure what they are called in HikaShop) such as the "HI_CUSTOMER" this is handled here:

"Texts are process in the "XXXX.preload.php" file, you will find the code which make the translation for the HI_CUSTOMER and you will see that the $customer->name or the $order->billing_address->address_firstname are used to fill the customer name in that place."

An example of what I am looking to change, I would like the email to read

"Hi John,
Thank you for your order at Eutopian Trader Online Store ." or similar instead of

""Hi John,
Thank you for your order at www.eutopiantrader.com/ "

But I am unable to find where on the server where this gets exampled from. I don't think it's in the HI_Customer, and its not in the template itself (and if it were one of those i would need access to the XXXX.preload.php which I don't believe I have access to.

I appreciate all your help. You guys have been fantastic with your support, especially with us new guys. I appreciate the extreme patience, it really means the difference between a good product and a great product when you have people such as yourselves that take the time to help the new guys learn.

Cheers!

Hi Nicolas,

Would your advise assume that I know the name of the variable that i need to translate in the override?

Example: if I want to change the email to display "Hi John" instead of "Hi John Smith".
HI_Customer is defined in the text version here in the preload version:
'HI_CUSTOMER' => JText::sprintf('HI_CUSTOMER', $customer_name),

I looked further and only see the $customer used one other place which is here in the preload,
$customer_name = @$customer->name;
if(empty($customer_name))
$customer_name = @$data->cart->billing_address->address_firstname.' '.@$data->cart->billing_address->address_lastname;

However,if I set this to
$customer_name = @$data->cart->billing_address->address_firstname;
if(empty($customer_name))
$customer_name = @$data->cart->billing_address->address_firstname.' '.@$data->cart->billing_address->address_lastname;

And I tried this:
'HI_CUSTOMER' => JText::sprintf('HI_CUSTOMER', $address_firstname),
and this
'HI_CUSTOMER' => JText::sprintf('HI_CUSTOMER', $data->cart->billing_address->address_firstname),

Well that doesn't do anything to get just the First Name shown in the email. So forgive my complete niavity but I can't figure this out to save my life...

I also need to change the line in the email that says "Thank you for your order at www.eutopiantrader.com/ ."

Which is URL appears to come from HIKASHOP_LIVE which is not defined in the preload. I have no idea how i would make that show a linked
text of Eutopian Trader with www.eutopiantrader.com .

So what I am confused about is when do you create an override, and when do you modify the preload? And if you modify the preload, do you have to modify the HTML and TEXT versions or do the HTML and TXT used use preload to define the variables?

Please bare with me but I really need to understand this..

Thanks

Well what I was hoping for was to make the %s a hyper link and not straight text which if I understand it is all the override would do. if I enter what you put

THANK_YOU_FOR_YOUR_ORDER_BEGIN="Thank you for your order at www.eutopiantrader.com/ "

Yes Sir, That is exactly what I did and it's working great! I have been running into some area's where overrides are not working and I haven't found the right file to modify, but I will not bother you guys with those until I have exhausted all my thoughts first.

I am working on adding the Tracking Number, to the order status Little did I know what I got myself into there. lol

Cheers!

Yes, I actually found out that the USPS Tracking Number does in fact display wonderfully in the Order Notification Status, however, my current problem is that while that was very well thought out and looks great, there are 2 very important paces missing, and sadly, I don't think I have the coding expertise to add them (though I am desperately trying with little luck.

The two areas that I am referring to are having the Tracking Number (and clickable link to the USPS Webtools to look up the Tracking Status in the Front End "Order / Show.php" so that is displays on the Order Details Pages for those orders that have USPS Tracking, and creating a Clickable Link to the USPS Webtools within the Order Status Notification Emails.

I have been researching and I have found some snippits that you and Mohamed assisted other with, but doing it that way seems like reinventing the wheel because there is obviously core code that already grabs the usps_tracking data from the order table (usps_tracking is the custom field I created in the order table. The code I found goes like this.

Your Example Code to the person you were helping.

Tracking Number: <a href="http://wwwapps.ups.com/WebTracking/track?track=yes&trackNums=<?php echo $this->element->usps__tracking; ?>"><?php echo $this->element->usps_tracking; ?></a>

Hello,

If I were to use the method you suggested by writing the php code, well, that is a bit more involved then my skill set sadly, so I might just be out of luck there unless someone feel reeeeeeeeeeally generous. The problem is that my site can not go live until i have an easy solution for my customers to get, see, and tracking there packages with the USPS tracking number and having it on the Order Details Front End is my priority number one (along with adding the product thumbnails to the same same front end.

Disregard my last msg if anyone saw it, I deleted it because I figured it out and it was a mistake on my end, not worth keeping here. Thanks