I wish downloads was a native part of commerce.

[SJ77]

I use downloads to sell stuff and It just doesn't work the same as products setup in commerce. There is less control over coupons, promotions and no shopping cart.

Would be so great if downloads was brought in and merged with commerce so all functionality was native to one another.

[bfarber]

I'm not sure I agree with the overall suggestion (many people use it as a file repository without selling anything), but perhaps you could outline exactly which features from Commerce you can't use with Downloads but would like to?

[MMXII]

7 minutes ago, bfarber said:

many people use it as a file repository without selling anything

Exactly.

[Adriano Faria]

...but there are those who sell something. That’s why it has settings, etc.

[SJ77]

2 hours ago, bfarber said:

I'm not sure I agree with the overall suggestion (many people use it as a file repository without selling anything), but perhaps you could outline exactly which features from Commerce you can't use with Downloads but would like to?

Hi Thank you,

There is no reason that an integration would have to interfere with file repository functionality. (It is downloads after all) It would be the same as now; simply not engage any of the "selling" features of the app.

For the rest of us that use it (as it's used on this site) for selling, it's currently like the red headed step child of the IPS suite with regard to commerce. Since it's not integrated with the rest of the commerce features it feels very disjointed.

ALL of the fantastic control of commerce (both current and future) does not work with items selling in downloads.  Why shouldn't a product in downloads be treated like a proper product?

Why isn't the market place treated like a store? Consider all the upcoming store filters and other commerce updates that will not work for products sold in downloads. (sadly disjointed and not working for downloads)

The customer thinks of paid downloads as a product! That much I can assure you. So why isn't the suite allowing me to manage it like a product?

Here are some specific missing things from downloads when used for commerce (as requested).

• Can't add a downloads product to cart (as you can with any other product) - I get asked for this VERY OFTEN
• Can't apply coupons to specific  downloads products (as you can with any other product)
• Don't get a nice clean store layout with downloads (as you can with other products)
• Can't set stock levels for downloads (as you can with other products)
• Many mods in the third party market designed to work with products fail on downloads products
• Upcoming filters for products will not work with downloads products.

I run ALL the commerce on my site through downloads and as a result I miss out on the neat stuff mentioned above. (and more,as that was only off the top of my head)

 

 

1 hour ago, Adriano Faria said:

...but there are those who sell something. That’s why it has settings, etc.

exactly, and right now those settings feel weak, and disjointed. They should be the same as any product in commerce but download products aren't.

[Aiwa]

Are you the only seller, or are you allowing your members to sell also? 

If the former, you can achieve what you're after with product linking in commerce. If the latter, your point remains. 

[SJ77]

3 minutes ago, Aiwa said:

Are you the only seller, or are you allowing your members to sell also? 

If the former, you can achieve what you're after with product linking in commerce. If the latter, your point remains. 

I allow members to sell. It's almost exclusively members selling.

[Aiwa]

29 minutes ago, SJ77 said:

I allow members to sell. It's almost exclusively members selling.

Not as helpful, then.... Since Commerce isn't open to 3rd party listings.

If it was just you, on the Downloads listing, you associate the file with a Commerce product.  So as long as the Commerce product has an active subscription or purchase, they'd be able to download. 

It also means you can effectively hide Downloads from the menu, still has to be available to view with direct link, and the file download would be available from the Commerce Manage purchase page.

I know this may not help you directly, but it may help others with a similar conundrum that can operate this way.

It's effectively an entire Commerce front end with Downloads simply driving the version control and file distribution on the back end.

[opentype]

14 minutes ago, Aiwa said:

I know this may not help you directly, but it may help others with a similar conundrum that can operate this way.

Wait, what? That is a feature? I had no idea. You helped me a lot with this. *mind blown*

[HeadStand]

I would argue that this is not specific to downloads, but more about custom items in general. I've done a LOT of custom development for commerce, probably more than most of the other contributors here. There is a big feature gap between commerce products and custom (and for the purposes of this conversation, downloads is custom. It's built the same way, after all). 

1. No coupons. 

2. No ability to add multiple items to the cart ( @Aiwa it actually is possible to handle multiple sellers; I know because I've done it).

3.no cart at all, we go straight to checkout. 

4. Checkout looks different. There is no easy way for me to use an icon or default image to make it look nice, everything just gets this plain black box. 

5. I can't put custom details on the invoices because they are limited to package fields. I have to write code that creates a dummy custom field and then magically populate it. 

And these are just the things I can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure I can find more if I put some effort in. 

[SJ77]

Well here you have it. Confirmed! 

More new store features coming that won’t help me one iota because I have a downloads store 

 

[Adriano Faria]

I guess we can expect a revamp in Downloads on IPS5.

[princeton]

Agree ... Store / Downloads disjointed ... not user friendly.

The normal way of selling (standard across the web) is to add all products into a Store. One UI - one central location for all sales.

With IPS...

If it requires a download (files, ebooks, magazine, etc) - use Downloads.

If it requires shipping (tshirts, posters, etc) - use Store.

Imagine explaining that to members. 😕 

(Make a right up ahead, then turn left, walk 10ft, turn right, when you see a tree - do a little dance, than crawl into the dark tunnel, once you get to the other side ... grab the ebook ... to get out jump over the hog that is eating the bacon, jump into the water - ignore the mermaids - swim about 3ft, make a left into the tunnel ... say hello to the unicorn, you are now home)

Of course, they don't care.

The onus is on us to provide a streamlined experience to purchase and manage orders. If confusing sales are stagnant. If easy sales increase.

UGH 😞

[christopher-w]

FWIW, my ten pennyworth etc - 

I'd like to see new feature dev slow down and be replaced with functionality consolidation. At least for the next few months. Makes little sense in my mind to build new on top of old - and sometimes infirm functionality.

[Aiwa]

4 hours ago, princeton said:

If it requires a download (files, ebooks, magazine, etc) - use Downloads

Not entirely true, see my post above. 

[SJ77]

15 hours ago, Aiwa said:

Not entirely true, see my post above. 

But true enough that the system feels disjointed and inconsistent.  Even if a bit of hackery can bring some relief, we have been begging for months years to have downloads noticed and receive some attention. As of yet, IPS doesn't even acknowledge that downloads needs any attention.

I think the bigger point is the onus should be on the software to provide a clean experience for the user. 

My users want a cart for their downloads. They hate having to purchase 1 by 1 and it's affecting my sales!

(PS with that being said, thank you for offering the ACP tricks. I am sure it will help some.)

[SJ77]

hum... Maybe there is some way to bridge commerce to downloads more efficiently with 3rd party apps?

[Mark]

On 11/10/2018 at 5:17 AM, HeadStand said:

4. Checkout looks different. There is no easy way for me to use an icon or default image to make it look nice, everything just gets this plain black box. 

You can add an image() function in your Item extension (Downloads shows the file's screenshot).

[HeadStand]

2 hours ago, Mark said:

You can add an image() function in your Item extension (Downloads shows the file's screenshot).

Yes, but that only works if the image is \IPS\File. It does not work if I have a resource. I also can't use, for example, a FontAwesome icon instead.

[SJ77]

Would love if the shopping cart worked with downloads. I am getting asked about this again from my customers.  It makes no sense to not have this functionality. 

[SJ77]

Is anyone at all explaining why shopping cart is not being added to downloads? 

Its starting to get real awkward seeing the great lengths that are being taken to avoid this topic? 

It’s basically a giant elephant in the room at this point

[Adriano Faria]

23 minutes ago, SJ77 said:

Its starting to get real awkward seeing the great lengths that are being taken to avoid this topic? 

It’s basically a giant elephant in the room at this point

IPS doesn’t reply to Feedback topics. Never did. 

Post. Wait. Maybe someday will be there.

And usually they don’t change something based in one only opinion. So it’s not necessary to bump this topic every week/month.

[opentype]

20 minutes ago, SJ77 said:

It’s basically a giant elephant in the room at this point

For you. Many websites don’t even have the Downloads app. Or they have it, but don’t sell with it. 

It’s a different elephant for everyone. My number 1 business problem with the suite is that the EU taxation in effect since 2015 isn’t available in Commerce even after 4 years. But I guess you wouldn’t care about this feature at all. 

[Stephen Bruce]

On 11/9/2018 at 4:57 PM, Aiwa said:

If it was just you, on the Downloads listing, you associate the file with a Commerce product.  So as long as the Commerce product has an active subscription or purchase, they'd be able to download. 

It also means you can effectively hide Downloads from the menu, still has to be available to view with direct link, and the file download would be available from the Commerce Manage purchase page.

It's effectively an entire Commerce front end with Downloads simply driving the version control and file distribution on the back end.

Could this be set up so the author of the file would still get their commission?

[opentype]

22 minutes ago, Stephen Bruce said:

Could this be set up so the author of the file would still get their commission?

No. It’s a Commerce sale, which just happens to grant access to a download. Commerce doesn’t allow user sales.