Episerver’s continuous release cycle provides new features and bug fixes on a bi-weekly cadence. Each month, C2 will aggregate and highlight some of the bigger updates to Epi software. To learn more, or if you have specific questions, you can contact The C2 Group, an Episerver Premium Partner, here.
NOTE: In this last month’s bug and feature releases, we saw a lot of focus on preparing for Commerce 13. Keep in mind, you’ll most likely need to audit and update your system for it to get compiled before upgrading to the breaking change release.
Remove Obsolete APIs from Code
Release: EPiServer.Commerce 13.0.0
As Episerver regularly treats obsolete content, any APIs that have been obsolete for at least 12 months are being removed in Commerce 13. If you’re looking to upgrade to the latest release, start assessing and re-configuring your system of any references to APIs that are obsolete. See the following documentation for the steps needed to update affected code.
Exclude Catalogs, Categories, and Entries from Specific Promotions
Release: EPiServer.Commerce 13.0.0
It’s not uncommon for specific brands or categories to be excluded from a site-wide promotion. In this new feature, you’ll now be able to exclude certain catalogs, categories, and entries from being evaluated by a specific promotion with simple drag and drop functionality (see below).
You can also set specifics using APIs by using the new ‘ExcludedCatalogItems’ property:
<p> CODE: https://gist.github.com/thec2group-blog/61bf905f78fad2613d32b1bc1ca12ccd.js</p>
It’s important to note that exclusions are always recursive, meaning, if you add a category to ExcludedCatalogItems, all the subcategories and their subcategories will be excluded .
Create New Options for OrderStatus and OrderShipmentStatus
Release: EPiServer.Commerce 13.0.0
In previous versions of Commerce, there were limited predefined enums to choose from. In Commerce 13, if you have an order process that is unique to your site and integrations you can now register it as its own order class (enum).
Let’s say you’re an online retailer and a customer puts in a dispute for an incorrect order. We can add the new status, “InDispute”, by putting this in one of your initialization modules:
<p> CODE: https://gist.github.com/thec2group-blog/b938951497d1792aa07bdfe4f0bb7178.js</p>
It’s important to have this code in both your CMS and Commerce Manager sites. This will provide more control and flexibility for commerce sites with more complex processes.
Goodbye Legacy Promotion System
Release: EPiServer.Commerce 13.0.0
Be prepared for the old promotion system and other features to be obsolete in Commerce 13. The old promotion system has been gutted, limiting users to only using the new promotion system that was introduced a while back. The new promotion system provides an overall better experience for users. If you’re looking to upgrade, prepare for the time it may take for developers to remove references to any obsolete sources that your system won’t compile.
New Reworked Rounding Strategy for Calculators
Release: EPiServer.Commerce 13.0.0
In the latest version of Episerver Commerce, a new rounding method has been introduced to calculators which rounds only at the highest level (Order Group calculator) and now returns full precision values for discount amounts on line items and shipments. In Versions 12 and under, rounding occurred multiple times which introduced some error to the final number. If you’re already accounting for the way it used to work, don’t worry! In Commerce 13, you have the option to continue using the old method or switch over to the updated method.
Mark Notification Window and Individual Notifications as Read
Release: EPiServer.CMS.UI 11.19.0
With the mass amounts of unread notifications CMS users regularly have when they login, users would routinely mark all of them “read” without actively checking them. This update will allow you to clear that little red bubble and individual notifications as they’re read.
Get Parent IOrderGroup of an IOrderForm with New API
Release: EPiServer.Commerce 13.0.0
With the introduction of this new API, it will now be easier to perform complex logic on the individual components of shopping carts and purchase orders. It will allow for easier access and view of the IOrderGroup in an IOrderForm. The IOrderForm will also introduce the new property ParentOrderGroup which gets the parent IOrderGroup.
View Lead Status with New Marketo API
Release: EPiServer.MarketingAutomation Integration.Marketo 4.2.0
With the added API method in the service and connector, Episerver customers who use Marketo will now get the luxury of being able to view the membership status of a lead in a list. This will enable marketers to better personalize and/or segregate content for a group of leads based on their status.
<p> CODE: https://gist.github.com/thec2group-blog/8fa6d861c6d1e98fa74c15af1ac6f520.js</p>