It’s mainly bug fix release. Update is STRONGLY recommended.

Changelog:

• Changed file name of includes/auto_loaders/config.utis.php.php to includes/auto_loaders/config.utis.php
• uti_install.sql missed some inserts
• Fix to: [DELETE FROM uti_attributes WHERE uti_row_id = ? AND name IN () ]
• UTI tables now use DB_PREFIX

You can download it from: Current version of UTI.

It seems that I’ve forgotten to add installation commands to the sql installation file and there are no options under ‘UTI Variables’ in Configuration Menu. To Go to Admin->Tools->Install SQL patches and execute following commands:

This module allows You to perform experiments on Your website. You can test for example how Your new ‘Add to Cart’ button performs compared to old one.

I don’t have much time to write long post, so I’ll cut it to most important things. You can download the module here. This module requires UTI to work properly (download it here ). Installation instructions are in .zip file. Here’s how You can use it.

To create experiment follow these steps:

1. Go to Admin->Tools->[RT] Groupsets.
2. Create groupset (it’s set of groups). Call it ‘Basic Test Groupset’.
3. Click on Basic Test Groupset – You will be forwarded to page where You can edit it.
4. Each groupset must have EXACTLY one control group. I usually call it ‘Control Group’. Create two groups (you can create as many groups in groupset as You want, but for simplicity We use 2 now):
5. Control Group – with id ‘cg’ (as ControlGroup). Check ‘control group’ checkbox
6. Test Group – with id ‘tg’. DO NOT check ‘control group’ checkbox.
7. Go to Admin->Tools->[RT] Experiments.
8. Create Experiment ‘Exp #1′ using groupset ‘Basic Test Groupset’.

Click on Exp #1 – You will be forwarded to its stats:

• Impressions - in this version of Randomized Tests its simply number of visitors in each group
• Customers Registered – (visitor to customer conversion rate) / (change in regard to control group) / (total count of newly registered customers in this group)
• Orders Placed – (visitor to order conversion rate) / as above / (total number of orders visitors in this group placed)
• Items Bought – (avg. size of order) / as above / (total number of items bought)
• Orders Value – (avg. order value) / as above / (total orders value)

Ok, You’ve created experiment, now You have to create two versions of Your page. Let’s assume that You want to change ‘Add to Cart’ button on product_info page. Edit includes/templates/your_template/templates/tpl_product_info_display.php.Find code responsible for displaying ‘Add to Cart’ button – in my case it’s:

Change it to:

$exp is global variable (it’s instance of ExperimentManager defined in includes/classes/randomized_tests.php) and holds basic information about experiment and group to which has been assigned current visitor
$exp->groupID is ‘id‘ of group that You assigned in step 4. You can use it to detect in which group is current visitor and perform custom action.

You’re done. Wait until experiment becomes statistically significant ( >2000 visitors in each group, many orders ) and check results.

UTI is tiny module that tracks visitors to Zen Cart site even if they aren’t logged in or even never created any account. It allows developers to keep in UTI memory small amounts of information about each visitor. For example, UTI can be used to store list of recently viewed products by any particular user. UTI will remember this information and when the visitor will come back to Zen Cart store week later UTI will recognize him and present list of previously viewed products.

UTI takes care of:

• recognizing visitors – even if they never created any account
• storing and retrieving information about them in database

UTI does not store any personal information in visitors browser.

How to use UTI

UTI is very simple class. It creates global $uti object that contains all information about current visitor. From developer point of view UTI class has four methods:

• $uti->set($name, $value) - stores in database $value as value for attribute $name
• $uti->get($name) – retrieves from database value for attribute $name. If there’s no such attribute method returns FALSE.
• $uti->has($name) – checks if current $uti object has attribute $name set
• $uti->delete($name) – deletes attribute.

$uti is automatically instantiated through auto_loaders/ mechanism. Developer can use it in any function/class since it’s global variable.

To show how easy it is to use UTI and what it can be used for I’ve created simple contributions that:

• records and displays in sidebox list of products visitor viewed recently.
• records and displays in sidebox list of searches visitor performed recently.
• records when visitor changes currency and saves it as his/hers default. When visitor comes back to Zen Cart contribution automatically switches currency to most recent one.

Example contributions are included in UTI package. You can download it here: current version of UTI.

In next blog post I’ll describe how I’ve created one of those contributions using UTI.

I’ve created User Tracking Interface (UTI) module for Zen Cart v1.3.8 which recognizes visitors (even if they are not logged in or don’t have account) and stores simple bits of information about them in database. You can use UTI to store such information as favorite currency of each visitor, recently viewed products by particular visitor or recently searched products. The best thing is that even if the visitor will leave Your site and will come back later UTI will recognize him/her and will set site to his/hers preferences.

You can test it Yourself on demo store here:

www.data-diggers.com/contribs/uti/demo-stores/with-uti/

How to test it

1. View some products (4-6). The module will remember which items You viewed and will present them in sidebox.
2. Search for some stuff like “mouse”, “unreal”, “mary”. The module will remember what You searched for and will present links to previous searches in sidebox.
3. Change currency. The module will remember Your last currency and when You’ll be back next day/week/month the site will display with Your currency set.
4. Close down Your browser and switch to different one. Visit above site again. The system will recognize You and adjust site to Your preferences.

What UTI is really for

Recently viewed products, recent search terms and user default currency are nice features, but they are just examples of use of UTI. UTI is simple class which developers can use to make user aware contributions. UTI takes care of recognizing users and storing/retrieving information about them in/from database. UTI attaches itself to Zen Cart on each request and creates $uti variable which developers can use to store simple information about visitors in database.

How to use UTI

UTI has very simple interface. Developer should use only two methods:

• $uti->get($attribute) - retrieves visitors value for $attribute from database
• $uti->set($attribute, $value) – store visitors value for $attribute in database

Developer does not have to worry about creating $uti object. $uti object will automatically recognize user and will retrieve all information about him from database.

What UTI can be used for

UTI is tool which can be used to create very simple contributions, for example:

• remembering language of given visitor. On his next visit site can be automatically switched to preferred language.
• presenting recommendations to visitor based on his previous purchases (even if visitor isn’t logged in).
• many more.

What I need from You

Please test above site and report any bugs. You can also install current version of UTI on Your site and report any bugs. You can download current version of UTI here:

www.data-diggers.com/contribs/uti/downloads/uti-current.zip

Installation instructions are in uti-current.zip