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Using Sitelink Without the Sitelink Plugin in MOM


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#1 dpn

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Posted 21 January 2004 - 09:57 PM

Has anyone created or can anyone recommend a windows based application to manage the prducts for the website? Currently you have to pay for Sitelink to unlock the Sitelink part of Mail Order Manager.

Thanks,

Dana

#2 Guest_Freeportway_*

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Posted 22 January 2004 - 05:00 PM

Feeportway has a great solution that essentially replaces SiteLINK. Not only is it a better solution, its far more reliable and has MUCH better support.

You can visit them at : http://www.freeportway.com

#3 dpn

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Posted 22 January 2004 - 10:38 PM

Do you know if they offer just the windows part of the system so a person could build their own catalog? I'll probably email them about it.

If anyone else has any recommendations I would appriciate hearing about them.

Thanks,

Dana

#4 Guest_Windows Client and Web Client_*

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Posted 23 January 2004 - 08:25 AM

yes.

They have a windows client which works with MOM, and they also have a web based client. These folks own this space now, they have a lot of customers and are giving Dydacomp a hard time because they have a better solution than dydacomp.

i would e-mail them and ask them the questions. we've been using it for two years and its a "no brainer".

#5 Guest_BK_*

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Posted 07 February 2004 - 11:46 AM

You may also want to check out AbleCommerce. AbleCommerce has many features SiteLINK doesn't. Their site is at http://www.AbleCommerce.com. Web 2 Market (http://www.Web2Market.com) offers modules for bi-directional integration with AbleCommerce.

#6 Guest_MOM e-commerce opinions..._*

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Posted 14 February 2004 - 06:19 PM

When you say "bi-directional" do you mean uploading inventory and downloading orders? I'm pretty sure that nothing beats a "synchronization" with BizSync. One click and our inventory is updated on the site... done.

This is important to us as our prices change daily.

I thought with AbleCommerce (we looked into it) you had to purchase R&R Report Writer? With that tool, you generated "reports" which essentially needed to be read in by the Web Site. To us that was a little cumbersome.

Also, you needed to purchase the MOM plug-in or something, then you had to get something else (something for order status). It got confusing.

The deal breaker for us was that it was around $7K to even start the project...

Too expensive for our business, we're a small parts company and our margins are low. I can't afford to be shelling out $7,000 upfront to some interim consulting company to build my site.

We went with Freeportway because they had a product that was affordable, and would grow with our business. They also had us up and running in 2 days -- (we have over 10,000 items in our inventory).

Also, they are a software company -- one company to deal with, they own the shopping cart, they own the software -- they support it all. On the other products I was afriad of the "blame game" where someone would say "well, thats a problem with the plug-in, we don't deal with that you'll have to call...". Ummm, no way.

One of the main reasons we didn't go with Web2Market or the others is that they use 3rd party products and they are "consultants" building sites for people. There is no real support behind the product other than to say "yeah, we'll help if you something breaks." Been there, done that, no thanks.

With the Freeportway folks, you call the 1-800 number and you get a CSR.

We were on SiteLINK (or what we now call SiteStink) since 1996. It was a miserable experience. Then we took a look at 3 or 4 other companies out there. Finally, we settled with them and haven't looked back. Great folks. Highly recommended.

Look, they have bugs and problems just like everyone else. But they are very responsive and are updating and enhancing the product(s). What's scary to us is the dedication: these folks never sleep. I called them at midnight on a saturday during christmas and got through to someone and they fixed my problem within 10 minutes... Scary. I don't the phone company would do that...

I'm gonna sing their praises because they have made my business more profitable!

#7 Guest_Nathan Focht_*

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Posted 14 June 2004 - 10:47 AM

I would like to add my company to that list.

www.commercev3.com

Nathan Focht

#8 Guest_Long time MOM User_*

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Posted 26 July 2004 - 11:21 AM

I'm sorry, but the Freeportway "Testimonial" seems a little too much like a marketing pitch to be a 3rd party "Testimonial". Come on folks, this is supposed to be a place for people to come to get honest advice, not a sly way of marketing your product by appearing to be a MOM user.

#9 Guest_Mike_*

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Posted 09 August 2004 - 10:39 AM

>>I'm sorry, but the Freeportway "Testimonial" seems a little too much like a
>>marketing pitch to be a 3rd party "Testimonial".


When you like a product and it saves you money, don't you talk up the product to other people?


If it sounds very "over the top", its simply because the freeportway guys have been great to us and I told them we would promote them with other MOM customers. What I wrote happened and was a "testomonial". So, if you don't like it, I'm sorry. I wanted to make sure people here knew of our exeperiences.

I think this is exactly the place to publish your experience.

We had so many problems with the Dyda folks over the years which costed us thousands, we always like to to help freeportway out because they are the underdog and a small company that has always cared about us, therefore, we want to return the favor.

We did a LOT of research when selecting a new vendor and I wanted to share our experience.
What we came up with was pretty clear, none of the other folks out there are doing the right thing, or had a solution that was basically "worked" out of the box.

I guess i'll stop sharing.

#10 Guest_curious customer_*

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Posted 12 August 2004 - 09:04 AM

hi, can the guy giving the glowing freeportway review post the URL for his company's site? I'd like to see the look and feel.

thanks!

#11 Guest_Mike_*

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Posted 06 October 2004 - 12:39 PM

Sure:

http://www.cloudveil.com

#12 Guest_phoxxy_*

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Posted 19 October 2004 - 01:03 PM

Actually a client of mine uses Freeportway for a SiteLINK alternative. They love it. I also love it from a standpoint that it is easy as a web developer to use and it works pretty seamlessly with MOM. It also has a solid backbone to the shopping cart because it is run on Linux. The shopping cart is far easier to customize because it is modular/template based using Smarty code.

I've worked with my fair share of e-Commerce solutions. However, if you are going to use MOM for inventory/sales management, Freeportway, I believe, is a better solution than using SiteLink. They also have outstanding tech support if you encounter any problems.

While the link provided above is a fancier website and if you have the big bucks to pay a developer to to incorporate flash and other fancy gadgets, then it can look like that. However my client has a limited budget, but has a very clean website. You can check it out here:

Snaktime.com

It is very basic by the standards with I create most of my websites, but it is what my client wanted. It is possible with the Freeportway cart to create a clean layout. The important thing is to get a site online that is functional and clean. The "wow" eyecandy can come much later.

I know there are a few soltuions available as a SiteLink alternative. I think it boils down to cost, functionality with MOM and your own personal preference of who you go with.

#13 freeportway

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Posted 13 December 2004 - 11:13 PM

Hi Folks,

I'm, Gary MacDougall, CEO of Freeportway.

One of our customers e-mailed me this forum thread a while ago, and I've finally been able to reply and comment on things that people have been saying about us -- which have been very kind. Thank you!

Our product, Freeportway BizSync for Mail Order Manager is a combination Windows software product and hosted e-commmerce shopping cart system that is compatible with MOM and is considered a superb alternative to SiteLINK. We offer a wide variety of features and functions that you would expect to find in a high-level shopping cart system. We also have an Order Status product called "Visibility" which is also a MOM based product and can work on any Web site or shopping cart. This product allows your visiting customers complete order status from Mail Order Manager regardless if the order was placed online or offline -- this is very help if you have a large call volume looking to obtain order information.

All of our products are backed by a great staff who is helpful, knowledgable and extremely customer driven. We also have a Professional Services team which can service customers looking for Web Design, consulting (custom programming) and SEO assistance.

Our BizSync technology is based on Open Source (namely PHP, Smarty and Linux). All of our products are created and supported by our corporation, meaning that we own all of our products and are not resellers or distributors of 3rd party products -- This is good news, as customer, you are dealing with only one company for all your needs (software, hosting, support etc.). Our goal is to become your one-stop provider for your on-line business.

Our packages include 24/7 emergency support and 9am-5pm technical phone support, we also have e-mail and a Help Desk system.

I'd be more than happy to to answer questions here about our products and services in more detail if people are interested. Otherwise, If you'd like to contact our sales office and talk to me personally, I'd be happy to take your call.

Regards,
Gary MacDougall
Freeportway
1-800-377-4074

e-mail: gary [at] freeportway [dot] com

#14 SiteLINKTeam

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Posted 14 December 2004 - 08:23 AM

Of course, if you truly want a one-stop provider for your business needs, you need to look no further than Dydacomp, since Dydacomp created both M.O.M. and SiteLINK.

If you use a third-party shopping cart program, you'll already working with a least 2 companies (Dydacomp and whoever else you use). SiteLINK is the ONLY true 2-way e-commerce store designed by Dydacomp exclusively for M.O.M.

Dydacomp has all you'll need for all your company's Mail Order and E-commerce needs.

And remember, there is no alternative to SiteLINK! The new SiteLINK 5.0 boasts over 100 standard features (many of them M.O.M./SiteLINK exclusive features), excellent hosting, the highest level support, and the backing of a 15+ year old company behind it.

Please feel free to contact me at any time, as I look forward to discussing how SiteLINK can help your company grow.

Sincerely,

Neal Wexler
Director of SiteLINK Sales
Dydacomp Development Corp.
'Software Solutions for Direct Marketers'
11 D Commerce Way
Totowa, NJ 07512
800-858-3666 x260
[email protected]
www.Dydacomp.com
SiteLINK Support: 973-774-4100
SiteLINK 24/7: 973-641-0901

#15 Guest_garrett_*

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Posted 02 March 2005 - 06:00 AM

Hi,

What are your experiences with MOM? To be honest I have found it very frustrating that a mail order software company does not provide instant information with the combursom need for multiple screens.

We too have over 10k part numbers and require loads of price changes with dealer multiple levels that take WAY too long to do.

My son purchased mom (he like to take over the company when we retire) so I let him make this mistake. I'm depressed but it was my decision to let him do his thing. Is there any solution to fixing the things that are not intuitive as they should be. He is committed but mom helpers is way too expensive to make all the mods we require that should have been part of the package from the getgo

Hope to hear back

Regards

Marino

#16 Guest_George_*

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Posted 24 March 2005 - 01:39 PM

I'm currently searching for a 3rd party cart program, so I can continue using our well-placed static HTML site. I signed up for SiteLINK, and spent two months working out the kinks. While Neal Wexler was very nice to work with, and did the best that he could, we just found that the SiteLINK customer interface couldn't meet our expectations, and the server side was verrrry slow. The design possibilities are very limited. I had to pull the plug just before implementation.

I realize that using a static HTML site means double and triple the work, but it would be suicide to give up our free search engine listings in the top 20 to take a chance on the SiteLINK pages.

Just sharing my experiences!

#17 SiteLINKTeam

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Posted 25 March 2005 - 06:25 AM

Hello George,

Have you looked at the SiteLINK Basket Only option which is now available. It's a new option we have for SiteLINK, which wasn't available last year, so you may not have looked into it.

This is designed specifically for customers with HTML sites that they don't wish to change, but still want to take advantage of SiteLINK�s unique 2-way integration with M.O.M.

All you need is a little script we provide that you put on your site for each item's Buy buttons. This script is the same for each item, only the item number changes.

http://www.bradbury.com/ is a good example of a site using SiteLINK basket only. The site is static HTML, but when you add an item to the basket, you'll be in the SiteLINK part of the store. You'll notice the URL change to http://www9.mailorde...bury/basket.asp.

Notice how the layouts match each other, so it's practically seamless integration. We're able to match your site's layout, and can build almost any non-standard feature your store requires.

However, standard with basket only SiteLINK you get Address Book, Coupon Redemption, Multiple Ship-to Addresses, Order Status, Quick Order Form, 1-click order import, along with many other features.

Let me know if you would like to discuss this option in more detail.

Sincerely,

Neal Wexler
Director of SiteLINK Sales
Dydacomp Development Corp.
800-858-3666 x260
[email protected]
http://www.dydacomp.com
http://www.dydacomp.com/sitelink
SiteLINK Support: 973-774-4100
SiteLINK 24/7: 973-641-0901

New SiteLINK Blog: http://www.livejourn...users/sitelink/

New Dydacomp Marketing and Graphic Design Services
* * * * Affordable marketing and graphic design! * * * *
We can assist you in creating advertising banners for link exchanges, graphical designs for postcards, designs for HTML email blasts, advertising for print or web, pamphlets, product literature, company logos, or complete corporate image design.

#18 interwoven

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Posted 26 March 2005 - 02:53 PM

Neal,
To bad you didn't let existing MOM customers know about Site Link basket while it was in progress and then when it was released. I like the MOM software and am pleased with it for the price (I personally think it is a great value) but I am sometimes baffled with the lack of communication. Here you have a product that would have worked great for us, as a matter of fact our site uses that same type cart from another source, www.retailcart.com , it's just a code snippet and it does exactly what you say Site Link basket does. I just finished switching to it and it was a month long process. Why don't you keep existing customers more informed of this information? E-mail is virtually free. An hour putting together an email about Site Link basket and a click and it's off to all the MOM customers. I personally am happy with the MOM software but find it unnerving to hear about a new service in a 3rd party message board than from Dydacomp themselves. Good chance you could have sold me on at least trying the basket as I also do not want to lose my search engine rankings by switching to a database driven application. Wish I would have known about it so I could have at least taken a look at it. I just looked at the Site-Link web site and saw no mention of it either although I could have missed it. I usually don't waste my time responding to something like this but I am hoping you will take this for what it was meant for, good, honest, constructive criticism. Good luck and perhaps down the line I will take a look at the Site Link basket. Thanks!

Brian Needels
Hanks Clothing

#19 SiteLINKTeam

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Posted 27 March 2005 - 12:34 AM

Hello Brian,

Thank you for your post.

Actually, I've sent out at least two emails with information about the Basket Only Version of SiteLINK. I sent out an email blast the second week in January introducing SiteLINK 5.0 and the different options that were available.

Also, information about this version of SiteLINK has been on dydacomp.com since January ( http://www.dydacomp....INK/hosting.asp ):

<<SiteLINK's Basket Only Hosting

Plug SiteLINK's basket technology and M.O.M. integration right into your current site no matter where your main site is located. A short script added to your current site adds items purchased to the SiteLINK basket every time the 'Add to Cart' button is hit. Import orders directly into M.O.M., publish order status and customer history, taxes, shipping charges, pricing levels, cross-sells/up-sells and much more. >>

I feel bad that for some reason you weren't able to get this information, perhaps we have the wrong email address in our records. I can update them on Monday when I get in.

I'll continue to try and make SiteLINK information as available as possible, which is why in addition to the email blasts I occasionally send out, I'll continue to update dydacomp.com and also the new SiteLINK blog: http://www.livejourn...users/sitelink/

We've actually just started a new phone campaign to introduce our new Marketing and Graphic Design Services. Our graphic artist, Diego, is calling every MOM customer to introduce himself and the services he offers.

New Dydacomp Marketing and Graphic Design Services
* * * * Affordable marketing and graphic design! * * * *
We can assist you in creating advertising banners for link exchanges, graphical designs for postcards, designs for HTML email blasts, advertising for print or web, pamphlets, product literature, company logos, or complete corporate image design.

Sincerely,

Neal Wexler
Director of SiteLINK Sales
Dydacomp Development Corp.
800-858-3666 x260
[email protected]
http://www.dydacomp.com
http://www.dydacomp.com/sitelink
SiteLINK Support: 973-774-4100
SiteLINK 24/7: 973-641-0901

#20 freeportway

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Posted 30 March 2005 - 12:03 PM

Brian,

We have a "basket only" solution which you were seeking.

You can check that out at : http://www.freeportw...ync_pricing.php

With our product, you have a couple choices about how to develop your store.

You can certainly use the "dynamic" method, which is Smarty and PHP based.

OR

You can use a more traditional approach which will allow you to place
"snippets" into existing HTML pages on your site and press a button to go to a
hosted basket -- which is what I believe you're asking for. I like to call this the
"PayPal" approach to things.

This is a great solution for folks who don't want to migrate to an integrated solution
where you'll lose your static pages, but clearly need MOM compatibility. Coupled with
our Bizsync product, everything works the same way.

It's just a design decision.

If you have questions about this, just give us a call.

We have a great Professional Services team here that
does SEO, Web design, graphical design and print layout as well as
custom programming.

If you interested in that service or any of our products, you can always call
us toll-free @ 800-377-4074.

Regards,
Gary MacDougall
Freeportway




Neal,
To bad you didn't let existing MOM customers know about Site Link basket while it was in progress and then when it was released. I like the MOM software and am pleased with it for the price (I personally think it is a great value) but I am sometimes baffled with the lack of communication. Here you have a product that would have worked great for us, as a matter of fact our site uses that same type cart from another source, www.retailcart.com , it's just a code snippet and it does exactly what you say Site Link basket does. I just finished switching to it and it was a month long process. Why don't you keep existing customers more informed of this information? E-mail is virtually free. An hour putting together an email about Site Link basket and a click and it's off to all the MOM customers. I personally am happy with the MOM software but find  it unnerving to hear about a new service in a 3rd party message board than from Dydacomp themselves. Good chance you could have sold me on at least trying the basket as I also do not want to lose my search engine rankings by switching to a database driven application. Wish I would have known about it so I could have at least taken a look at it. I just looked at the Site-Link web site and saw no mention of it either although I could have missed it. I usually don't waste my time responding to something like this but I am hoping you will take this for what it was meant for, good, honest, constructive criticism. Good luck and perhaps down the line I will take a look at the Site Link basket. Thanks!

Brian Needels
Hanks Clothing

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