From XU Magazine, 
Online News

Feature Updates: October 2023

October 18, 2023

This article originated from the Xero blog. The XU Hub is an independent news and media platform - for Xero users, by Xero users. Any content, imagery and associated links below are directly from Xero and not produced by the XU Hub.
You can find the original post here:
https://www.oncord.com/resources/blog/updates-oct-2023/

Check out our latest updates and new features below.

In This Update:

  • A UK Server Has Launched.
  • A New Method To Filter Contacts & Sales.
  • Status Page: Check Status & Uptime.
  • Discover New Icons.
  • Sync Oncord Products with Google Merchant Centre.
  • E-mail Invoice Editor.
  • Recurring Sale Schedules.
  • GoSweetSpot Shipping Integration.
  • New Video Courses & Updated Help Articles.
  • Developer Documentation Overhaul and New Tutorials.

A UK Server Has Launched

We're excited to announce the addition of a new hosting cluster, situated in a cutting-edge data center in Coventry, United Kingdom.

This newly built, state-of-the-art facility boasts impressive features including advanced liquid cooling, top-tier physical security measures, redundant power systems, and robust fire suppression systems. Dedicated staff are on-site around the clock, ready to help troubleshoot promptly during emergencies.

Did you know - Oncord is powered by dedicated, privately owned servers. No expense was spared investing in enterprise-grade hardware to ensure that Oncord powered websites load quickly, and the application feels responsive to use. Our servers are co-located with reputable data centres which provide physical protection, and a high speed network connection.

The launch of our third hosting cluster marks a significant milestone, and will deliver performance improvements and reduced load times for Oncord clients located in and around the United Kingdom.

A New Method To Filter Contacts & Sales


We've completed a long-term project to enhance the "Filter By Conditions" system. This system appears throughout Oncord where you need to query Contacts (or Sales) that meet a set of conditions.

The most recognizable places where Conditions are used:

- Defining an audience for an e-mail or SMS marketing campaign.
- Searching all contacts who meet a certain set of conditions.
- Testing whether a condition is true, before proceeding with an Automated workflow.

With the latest update, Conditions are easier to comprehend at a glance, and easier interact with.

Before The Update:


After The Update:

A New Commerce Page: Sales Items


Alongside the new Conditions system, we've also introduced a new Sales Item page for users of Oncord's Commerce features. This page lists all items sold, with a wide range of new filters to help locate the data you're looking for.

Search Sale Items:

  • By field.
  • In Product Categories, or of Product Brands.
  • Of Products.
  • Sold between dates.
  • Using Discount.
  • Within price range.

To view the new page, navigate to Dashboard > Commerce > Sales, and select "Sales Items" in the menu located at the top of the page.

Status Page: Check Uptime & Service Status


Alongside the rollout of our latest UK Cluster, we've introduced a new "Status Page". This page allows you to check the real-time status of Oncord's hosting clusters, and view uptime over the past 30 days.

What happens during an outage?

A third-party monitoring service constantly pings Oncord servers for a response 24 hours per day, and immediately notifies key members of our team in the event of a service disruption.

While software developers begin troubleshooting the cause of the disruption, Oncord's servers automatically run a series of processes to attempt to self-repair.

Network engineers are also on-site 24/7 at the data centres where Oncord servers reside, ready to assist where necessary.

Check Oncord Status Check Oncord Status

Discover New Icons


The collection of icons available with Oncord's visual page editor has been expanded, with 1500+ new icons.

Explore the newly added "Feather Icons" Library, alongside some new additions included with a recent update to the Font Awesome library.

The icon search function has also been updated, to make it easier for you to find the perfect icon amongst the larger range available between the two libraries.

To explore the new icons:

  • Edit a website page, and click the "Insert" button in the left panel.
  • The "Icon" element is sorted under the "Common" heading. Drag-and-drop the icon element onto the page where you would like it positioned.
  • Edit the properties of the icon element to change the icon, or its size / colour.

Sync Oncord Products with Google Merchant Centre

Google Merchant Centre is an essential tool for e-commerce businesses to promote their product listings on various Google services, including Google search results, Google Shopping, Google Ads, and other Google properties.

We've now added a configuration method that will automatically sync your product data with Google Merchant Centre.

We've also developed comprehensive instructions for this configuration process:

Setup Google Marketing ToolsSetup Google Marketing Tools

E-mail Invoice Editor


Oncord's visual editor is now shown when manually sending a sales invoice to your customers. Invoices were previously sent as-is with preset text, however you can now customize the e-mail sent to the customer with your own note, or any other important details.

Recurring Sale Schedules

The Oncord Recurring Sales App allows you to charge customers on a recurring basis, and is often used for paid memberships, recurring donations, or subscriptions.

We've made a noteworthy improvement to the Recurring Sales App, to offer greater flexibility when configuring recurring plans.

Rather than selecting pre-defined time intervals such as "monthly" or "fortnightly", you can now specify your desired time unit. For instance, you can set intervals like "3 weeks" or "2 months," giving you more precise control over recurring schedules.

GoSweetSpot - A New Shipping Integration for New Zealand Clients

As New Zealand's largest courier and freight aggregator, GoSweetSpot provides access to a wide range of domestic and international shipping services, showing aggregated pricing for comparison.

With the GoSweetSpot integration enabled, during the checkout process your customers will be able to choose from a list of available carriers and services, and compare pricing.

Orders placed via your Oncord website can then be pushed to GoSweetSpot, ready to be processed. Use the GoSweetSpot app to print shipping labels and book a pick-up, and the selected courier will collect the order.

Click here to review the Help Article for more information and setup steps.

New Video Courses & Updated Articles

We've further extended the Help Articles section of our Learning Center with some new content:

New Tutorial Video: Oncord's Form Builder
We've updated the Form Builder tutorial with some new information, including a new video.

New Article: Generating a Website Design
We've added a tutorial that covers how to generate a new website design and some example pages.

New Article: Setting Up Microsoft Marketing Tools
We've added a tutorial that covers how to set up Microsoft Marketing tools.

Updated Article: Optimizing Images For Web
We've updated this tutorial, to include information about the WebP image format.

Explore The Learning Center Explore The Learning Center

Oncord Developer Updates

We completed a comprehensive review of Oncord's Developer Documentation, which included making some display changes, and adding more information and examples for UI controls.

Oncord DevelopersOncord Developers

New Developer Tutorial: Using AJAX With Forms
We've added a new tutorial that covers how to use AJAX with forms. AJAX provides the ability to update parts of a website page or form, without reloading the entire page.

New UI Control - AJAX Navigation:
We've introduced a new UI control <ajax:navigation>, which triggers an AJAX region/s to be updated, rather than fully reloading the page. Click here to view the API reference.

Updated Developer Tutorial: User Interface Controls & PHP API
We've updated the developer tutorial that introduces UI controls, and the PHP API.

Updated Developer Tutorial: Calendars
We updated the developer article that covers calendars, to include a more advanced example and some tips on CSS styling calendars.

Why leave it there?

To find out more about Oncord

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