A few cpshop users have reported the sudden disappearance of all their products. This update is primarily for those users, though everyone should benefit from it.

The biggest thing is support for CafePress' switch to a new server setup. (Warning: Technical jargon follows.) They've basically stopped supporting the HTTP 1.0 protocol, which has caused problems for folks without Perl-LWP installed. To counter that change, I've added internal HTTP 1.1 support with the IO::Socket module, which should circumvent the issue.

In other words, it should work now, I think. :)

The other big changes are the addition of the cpshop instance selector, and admin screen data protection.

changes in cpshop 1.4c.a

• fixed CafePress changes
• added cpshop instance selector to admin screen
• added admin screen data protection
• added simple zoom-in popup option
• added <[alias]> tag
• fixed 2x2 additional product photos change
• added backup code for servers misreporting LWP access
• fixed IO::Socket setup for HTTP/1.1

how to upgrade

1. Unzip the contents of cpshop1.4c.a-update.zip. Be sure you use the "update" zip file -- and NOT the "full" zip file -- to upgrade!
2. Upload the contents of the zip file to the cpshop directory on your server.
3. Test your store.

added cpshop instance selector to admin screen

From now on, you should be able to just access your admin script directly, like this:

http://cgi.marty.net/cgi/marty/cpshop/cpadmin

Notice the selector at the top of the screen? If you have multiple cpshops, this should make accessing them much easier.

One of the biggest complaints I've heard in the past has been when people suddenly find all their data missing. The most likely reason for this is due to pressing the "save all changes" button before the admin screen has fully loaded. In order to combat this, I've added code that disables the "save all changes" button until the admin screen has finished loading. Hopefully this will minimize those data losses.

Select this option to let your users see the "zoomed-in" version of a design in a popup window. Note that the "back" links in the popup are unavoidable, for the moment.

A new tag for templates -- the <[alias]> tag can be used to identify a category by its alias, which is extra-handy for categories comprising more than one store ID.

There's lots of big news in my life, and I guess there's no time like the present to share it.

I'm almost done moving from my old place in Los Angeles to my new place up near San Jose. I'm in the new house now, with my girlfriend, and once the boxes are out of the way, it should be a great place. I don't have a stable internet connection yet, and I've just installed a $20 modem as a fix until DSL is installed. I'd like to apologize to those folks that have patiently waited a day or more for me to respond to emails. Hopefully I'll have better access to a computer now.

By the way, did I mention that my new place is only a couple of miles away from CafePress? And you see, that's good news, because in a few days, I'm going to start my new job as a CafePress developer.

*pause for collective gasp from reading audience*

I'll answer each of the most common questions now:

• Are you excited? Yes, I'm excited!
• When do you start? Probably right after Thanksgiving.
• What are the people like? I've only met a few folks there, and they've been great. I'm hoping to meet many others some time this week.
• What will you be doing there? I'll be programming in new language, which I've been trying to digest in between furniture lifting, box packing, and plaster-filling. It's tricky, but I'm getting there. As for what I'll be working on specifically, I'm not sure yet. I'll find out soon enough.
• What's going to happen to cpshop? It's going to continue as it currently does. The main difference will be my response time. I'm not planning on working on it at all while I'm at work, so emails and messages probably won't be answered until I get home, unless it's an emergency. They're not "acquiring" me, and they're not demanding I stop working on it. Now, that's not a guarantee that cpshop will last forever, but I don't think it's in any immediate danger. And I should be able to solve some of those nagging problems that I've yet to figure out.

And finally, the biggest news of all: I found my suit. It was in a bag with a bunch of other clothes, all ready to go to the dry cleaners. I guess you really do find everything when you move. :)

As always, let me know if you have any problems with this, either via or posting on the message board.