Every month we publish our upgrades, new features and improvements that have been going on behind the scenes at CirclePOS.


2024 Updates, Improvements and New Features

System Updates and Development History

2024 will see the continuation of updates to the next version of our software framework. Regular housekeeping and tidy-ups are concentrating on Rails 6 and 6.1, Vue 3 Upgrade and Cypress Integration, Vue 3 & Ruby 3.0 and 3.2

New Features
At the start of the year some of our new features include: Loyalty Dollars and Promotions, General Ledger, Webhooks and Commands

Improvements continue in the website with: Click and Collect Modal, Footer, SEO and Category. Other improvements have focused on Follow-up Orders, Webhooks and Stripe. In particular the Strip refund process. Along with Feature Flags, Reports, CSV Export, Onboarding and Site Feature Names API.

System Updates 1 – 30 September 2024

System Updates 1 – 30 September 2024

October 2, 2024

In September we worked on:

New Features:
• Introduced a General Ledger feature for better tracking of customer transactions.
• Enhanced visual and usability aspects of the Web/Mobile POS system.

Improvements this month concentrated on:
• Enhanced visibility of item availability in Layby transactions.
• Improved matching of invoices with credit notes in the Xero webhook.
• Created a Recurrent Expense Config table for easier reporting.
• Upgraded the author filter in best seller reports for greater accuracy.
• Simplified login process for the Web/Mobile POS.
• Real-time recalculation of loyalty points during checkout.

Housekeeping & Updates included the upgrade of Sidekiq and the resolution of test failures in Rails 7.1 for improved performance, alongside the deletion of duplicated payment records during Xero migrations and enhancements to app reliability with Vue upgrades.

System Updates 1 – 31 August 2024

System Updates 1 – 31 August 2024

September 6, 2024

In August we worked on:

New Features:

• General Ledger: Added tests for sales, payments, and allocations, expanded loyalty reward tracking in the ledger, and improved loyalty management by preventing duplicates and ensuring accurate liability and store tracking.
• P&L: Created a new Profit & Loss interface with Vue 3, enhancing data display, API metrics, and adding a mobile view for easier financial data access and analysis.
• Web POS: Set up a workspace to organize apps and reuse packages, improving back-office system management.

Improvements this month concentrated on:

• Shipped Items: Improved data consistency across environments.
• Web Order: Cancelled pre-authenticated VII when order changes occur during checkout to prevent overspending.
• Quick Search: Added a 250ms debounce feature for better performance.
• Referral Program: Developed backend for store onboarding referral data and restarted self-onboarding/admin dashboard projects.
• Cash Up Report: Simplified page layout by removing the previous week’s column.
• Gift Card Payment: Removed the option to select “gift card” for manual payment to streamline the General Ledger.
• Loyalty Redemption: Improved data accuracy by preventing use of ‘Loyalty’ as a reference on invoices.
• P&L: Adjusted interface to display previous month’s data for easier financial analysis.
• Font Awesome: Updated to support new icons, including Twitter ‘X’.
• Checkout Loyalty: Enhanced checkout by dynamically updating loyalty points used in orders.
• Returns: Improved loading speed by displaying only recent data by default on the “Awaiting Credit Notes” page.
• Stock Take Scanner: Increased efficiency by removing unnecessary ‘info’ function.

Housekeeping & Upgrades concentrated primarily on Rails, Depreciate Feature Flags, Customer Orders and Vue 3 Upgrade

System Updates 1 – 31 July 2024

System Updates 1 – 31 July 2024

August 15, 2024

In July we worked on:
New Features:

• The General Ledger now includes services to populate and validate basic accounts, improve payment accuracy, support gift card redemptions, and refine invoice translations
• A new filter was added to Best Sellers, allowing users to sort by author
• Additionally, a search endpoint for monthly stock cache was created to enhance the accuracy of profit and loss data

Improvements this month concentrated on:

• Elastic & Elastic Search: Enhanced stock log tracking, reporting, and quantity accuracy
• Sales Report: Refactored for accurate cost-price reporting
• Inbox Category: Ongoing item mapping improvements
• Pre-orders: Improved performance and user experience
• Circle Gift Card: Added pagination for better loading times
• Customer Orders: Developed a more efficient shipping API
• BackOffice: Enhanced community comparison feature
• General Ledger: Simplified ledger process by removing “undrop” feature
• MailGun: Updated email handling for better accuracy

Housekeeping & Upgrades concentrated primarily on Rails, Elastic Search and Vue 3

System Updates 1 – 30 June 2024

System Updates 1 – 30 June 2024

July 1, 2024

In June we worked on:
New Features:
• In General Ledger we made significant progress by adding validations for ledger accuracy, implementing tax-exempt handling, and simplifying the process by removing the ability to un-drop payments and invoices.
• In Stock Valuation Cache we created a P&L cache database to track and analyse monthly stock values.

Housekeeping concentrated primarily on Rails, Vue 3 and Deadlocks

Improvements this month concentrated on:
• External Services
• Settings
• Pre orders

System Updates 1 – 31 May 2024

System Updates 1 – 31 May 2024

June 11, 2024

In May we worked on:
New Features:
• In General Ledger we progressed Layby and tax-exempt items
• The Gmail Mailer was improved and now complies with DMARC rules.
• We have enabled seamless integration and improved product visibility in the Google Merchant feature.

Housekeeping concentrated primarily on Rails and POS. We also addressed Flaky Specs, Feature Flags, Vue 3 and Ruby.

Improvements this month concentrated on:
• Stripe
• Pre Orders
• POS
• Spreadsheet Deals
• MailGun
• GiftCard Load
• SEO & Social Media

System Updates 1 – 30 April 2024

System Updates 1 – 30 April 2024

May 24, 2024

In April we worked on:
• Load Stock & Search & Update: Improved feedback during stock searches to reduce user confusion; locked the “Search & Update” button after clicking to ensure stability; automated updates to the “Reg Price” field for accurate pricing information.
• Core Code: Optimised the codebase to improve performance and maintainability.
• Association Portal: Added a flag to identify second-hand books for better categorisation.
• Deals Interface: Implemented a responsive design for better accessibility on smaller screens; added features for marking deals as done or in progress; supported timezones; improved pagination, filters, sorting, and deal product views.
• General Ledger: Implemented functionality to handle CREDIT & DEBIT special items; allowed for slight deviations in amounts when creating new transactions; developed handling for Non-Tracked Items and introduced a method to translate Shipping into the Ledger.
Housekeeping concentrated on: Flaky Tests; Deprecate Feature Flags; Switch to BETA; Rails; Ruby; Core Code; Gems & Vue 3

System Updates 1 – 31 March 2024

System Updates 1 – 31 March 2024

April 26, 2024

In March we worked on:
• Deals API and Deal Interface:  – We worked a lot on improving the functionality of discounted prices
• Website – We have upgraded to ES 8.0 (Elastic Search); this app is responsible for the quick search box and reports pages. Main benefits include speed, reduced memory usage) and security
• Self Onboarding – More improvements to to improve user experience to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of the onboarding process
• Housekeeping – Bug Fixes, Github CI, Vue, Site Settings, Rails, Ruby, Codecheck, Gem Deprecation, Vue 3 Cypress Integration, Webhooks,
• Upgrades – We have now completed the R6 upgrade rollout! This has been an enormous task that delivers improved security and performance. The rollout has been gradual so we do not expect too many issue but email support if you strike any. (Now we start on R7 🙂

System Updates 1 – 29 February 2024

System Updates 1 – 29 February 2024

February 29, 2024

In February we worked on:
• General Ledger – a new general ledger feature; gift card and credit note improvements
• Webhooks – We created a CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) interface for managing webhook statuses using Vue
• Website – Pre-Order functionality added to group websites
• Self Onboarding – More improvements to to improve user experience
• Housekeeping – Rails 6 & 6.1, Vue3 Upgrade (& Ruby) – continuing upgrades, Ledger, Website SEO and Gems

System Updates 1 – 31 January 2024

System Updates 1 – 31 January 2024

February 26, 2024

In January we worked on:
• General Ledger – a new general ledger feature; gift card and credit note improvements
• Stripe – further enhancement of the refund process
• Website – SEO, Footer, Category and Click and Collect features
• Self Onboarding – We introduced a user-friendly dashboard on the sys-admin page to track user signups and progress, enabling sales teams to follow up on potential clients and reduce abandoned signups
• Housekeeping – Rails 6 & 6.1, Vue3 Upgrade (& Ruby) – continuing upgrades

2023 Updates, Improvements and New Features

System Updates and Development History

2023 saw the continuation of updates to the next version of our software framework. Regular housekeeping and tidy-ups concentrated on APIs, speed and bug fixes. Gift Cards were a highlight of 2023.

New Features
Discounts applied to a whole category (perfect for promotions); Integration of book2look service; Purchasing added an inwards goods history; Web checkout supports selling Vii Digital Gift Cards.
A new customer in Switzerland prompted offering an alternative currency display in website cart.

Improvements
Self Onboarding; Updating System core code; New vertical panels in Vue; Gift Cards; CSV Exports, Xero, Purchase Order pop-up, Separate customer ref field in invoices; Two-factor authentication.

System Updates 1 – 31 December

System Updates 1 – 31 December

January 26, 2024

In December we worked on:
General Ledger – a new general ledger feature; gift card and credit note improvements
Stripe – enhanced the refund process by linking Stripe payment data with local payment records
Website – SEO enhancements
Self Onboarding – API, ABA Deals and Managing Member improvements
Housekeeping – Depreciate Feature flag, Bin Management Settings and website SEO
R6, Vue3 Upgrade (& Ruby) – continuing upgrades

System Updates 1 – 30 November 2023

System Updates 1 – 30 November 2023

December 15, 2023

In November we worked on:
• General Ledger – a new general ledger feature and credit note improvements
• Stripe – finessing the live connection, improving refund process.
• Website – improvements to the website carousel and mobile views
• R6, Vue3 Upgrade (& Ruby) – lots of upgrades this month in preparation for a smooth December

System Updates 1 – 31 October 2023

System Updates 1 – 31 October 2023

November 15, 2023

In October we worked on:
•. Self Onboarding – the process of getting started with Circle continues to improve
•. Stripe – this connection is very close to being ready
•. General Ledger – a new feature to increase reporting and tax management
•. POS – A customer payment surcharge is now available on the Tyro integration
•. Help – The new and improved help teb is worth having a look at in the back office
•. Website – Book selection now opens in a new tab
•. Performance – Continuing backend and front end upgrades to stay current and improve security and performance

System Updates 1 – 30 September 2023

System Updates 1 – 30 September 2023

October 25, 2023

In September we worked on:
• Self Onboarding – the process of getting started with Circle is coming together really well. New sites will now be populated with stock that has a price value
• Stripe – this connection is getting closer to being ready
• Stock – out of stock ordering improvements
• Credit Notes – POS issued credit notes can now use the value of the credit note first (followed by other payment types) this way change is created for the transaction
• Continuing backend and front end upgrades to stay current and improve security and performance

System Updates 1 – 31 August 2023

System Updates 1 – 31 August 2023

September 21, 2023

System Updates August 2023 Continuing backend and front end upgrades to stay current and improve security and performance. Self Onboarding process improvements to make it easier to get started on Circle Bin shipping improvements around part shipping Flagged exchange gift cards Improvements Customer Order>Bins The ability to print the Bin Slip when partially shipping an … Read More

System Updates 1 – 31 July 2023

System Updates 1 – 31 July 2023

August 4, 2023

System Updates July 2023 Continuing backend and front end upgrades to stay current and improve security and performance. Added the apply discounts to a whole category for promotions. Many improvements around bin fulfilment and bin reporting in the back office   New Features Payment Kinds Users can add or delete the different payment types accepted … Read More

System Updates 1 – 30 June 2023

System Updates 1 – 30 June 2023

July 17, 2023

System Updates June 2023 Completed the integration of book2look Continued working on updating Web Order API improvements Added Data feed source tracking Gift card improvements   New Features Website We’re thrilled to announce the integration of book2look service! Explore books like never before with immersive previews, interactive content, and more. Get ready to dive into … Read More

System Updates 1 – 31 May 2023

System Updates 1 – 31 May 2023

June 28, 2023

System Updates May 2023 Added an inwards goods history export Housekeeping and tidy-ups concentrated on APIs among other things.  Added a central group sales report Improvement to self onboarding, Vii, store transfers, Returns search and customer orders.    New Features Purchasing Added an inwards goods history export – 184086237 Improvements Reports Reports] headoffice websites show … Read More

System Updates 1 – 28 February 2023

System Updates 1 – 28 February 2023

March 22, 2023

Circle System Updates for February 2023 Improvements to Gift Cards, Speed, Self Onboarding, purchase orders, financial Settings, CSV Export – gift cards, stock and customers. Added an option for an alternative currency to display in the website cart. Test video here Added “eDahab Payment Option Group/Assn sites added A closest to me sort button R6 … Read More

System Updates 1 – 31 January 2023

System Updates 1 – 31 January 2023

February 8, 2023

Circle System Updates for January 2023 Improvements to speed, xero integration, association Category mapping, Click and Collect, Agency & Distributor, Forgotten password link and more. Added a separate “Customer Ref” field in invoices two-factor authentication; have a look at the video here. Vii gift cards; the web checkout now supports the selling of Vii digital Gift … Read More

2022 Updates, Improvements and New Features

Work in 2022 focused on Circle Gift Cards and Xero Integration. The team continued with the System R6 upgrade along with bug fixes and general housekeeping.

New Features
Promotions Module; Online discount code for promotions; Association Portal; Printable pick lists; Shareable customer wishlists; Bin fulfilment - added a link to supplier order

Improvements
APIs can now handle product types other than books. Accounts payable consignment invoices synced to Xero; Customisation of delivery time messages; Credit Notes - alterations and or refunds can now be made in the new credit note system, and you can now generate cr notes from the POS to apply to unpaid invoices; “$” currency symbol removed to make the site work better in other currencies; Product Field - we've made it possible to add any selected special fields to the advanced search. Other improvements were made to deals, bin fulfilment, accounts payable and purchasing.

2021 Updates, Improvements and New Features

A substantial amount of time was spent on the R6 upgrade and Web POS this year, along with Circle Gift Cards and Xero integration. We also completed the server move to Sydney.

Speed and SEO improvements were also an important component of work in 2021.

New Features

WebPOS; Self-onboarding, Group/association portal; Bin fulfilment. New checkout system deployed. Customer order fulfilment and Starshipit Integration – starshipit.com is a shipping management system.

Improvements

A number of improvements were made in 2021 including:

  • Improved stock exports, returns and inwards goods. 
  • We continued work on the web POS which will offer a phone/tablet POS option;
  • Improved how costs populate in inwards goods for new items, added options so that you have control over when web orders are invoiced, added links to stock logs
  • Improved threshold report speed and added automatic cost calculation to the deals system
  • Standardised how web orders are handled
  • Added back office interfaces for the new gift card system;
  • Improved the mover’s time stamp system and changed the deal expiry to happen in the shop’s time zone.
  • Increased cart load speed, split out cash accounts in aged receivables and improved deals expiry time
  • Improvements to the pacstream implementation and Titlepage integration
  • A number of improvements were also made to catch and prevent transactions getting stuck in the POS along with customer order picking