2019 has been a massively important year for Punchmark, our team, our clients, and the Version 6 SiteManager platform.
We launched Version 6.3 with all e-commerce and product management tools to better help our clients dominate in the digital space. We released Front End Editor so that our clients are able to build their own landing pages and inner pages. And finally, we created an educational Livestream webinar series to teach our clients how to better leverage the tools available to them.
Most exciting to us is actually what you are reading this blog article on! We completely rebuilt punchmark.com on the Version 6 platform. We created it using the exact same code framework that every one of our new client sites is built on.
Why did we want to do this? A few reasons. First, Version 6 is a robust, highly scalable platform, and we wanted to utilize its power. We built Version 6 to have all the coolest new features for our clients, and selfishly, we wanted to have the opportunity to take advantage of these features ourselves. Conversely, having our codebase on Version 6 gives us a place to put all the innovative ideas that we want to use for our own website. And as soon as we deploy them into the platform architecture, our entire clientbase will benefit by also having access to these features.
Next, but equally important, by having punchmark.com on Version 6, it gives us an added sense of accountability. Our clients' pain points become our own. If there are any bugs or errors in the code, we experience them too. In essence, our own website will be a user testing and development ground, which will make for a more robust platform in the end. Plus, we wanted to be able to say, "I'm not only the president, but I'm also a client."
Last but not least, Version 6 is just so much easier to manage. We built our old website on a custom architecture. If we were to take the advice we give, we know that anything built as its own entity becomes an island. And in the same sense that it's very expensive to try to deliver food and supplies to an island, the same goes for codebase. So by having our website on Version 6, we will be able to keep up with the latest in technology, and evolve with our clients, not away from them.
A few examples of this already taking effect is ease-of-use mechanics to the Blog Editor, the ability to create Event Categories, and coming soon will be even more upgrades to the Event Manager.
Upcoming
We can brag until we are blue in the face about the massive strides we’ve covered, but let's set our eyes on what’s coming in 2020 with the new momentum we’ve gained from this year’s success.
EDGE EDT - Estimated Q1
This will be a bi-directional communication system between The EDGE point of sale system and Version 6 websites. This includes everything from customers, wish lists, products, repairs and even transactions. Previously we only had uni-directional uploads for products and repairs. With this new two-way communication system involving customers and their preferences, retailers will be able to truly harness the power of an omni-channel solution—with their website experience being that much more connected to their in-store experience.
Knowledge Base - Estimated Q1
SiteManager’s platform expands very quickly on a weekly basis. The more features that are included, the steeper the learning curve, and we have plans on how we can help mitigate that learning process. We are now actively creating a technically written How-To section for step-by-step training behind every single page, every section of every page, and every tool within every section.
This knowledge base will act as a written user's manual and will answer any questions you may have when attempting to do something for the first time. Conversely, it will provide some inspiration for new ways you can improve your site. Outside of this knowledge base, our customer success team is available to help, and you can still attend our weekly Livestream webinars, kicking off again in January.
More To Come In 2020
Livestream S2
After the success of our educational Livestream Season 1, we are coming back at you with more! We are going to be bringing you a more professional setup, rotating between website features, Edge POS topics, digital marketing advice & techniques, and Design-Build-Alongs.
We will also be sprinkling in some additional recorded content, like sneak-peeks of new release roundtables with the partners, and presentations at trade shows where we will have speaking engagements.
Navigation Editor
With the new Navigation Editor, you will finally be able to edit your navigation links, create mega menus, and add in landing pages yourself! The biggest challenge behind building this feature was that in Version 5, everything product category, brand, and certain pages would automatically be included in your navigation. This posed a major issue because when we would first launch a website, it would be considered easy to navigate. Then as time went on, every website would become cluttered with the expansion of content.
During the rebuild of each new client website on Version 6, this gave us a chance to revisit the navigation hierarchy with each client, and we would be able to simplify it again, making it easier for customers to find products and content. The new Navigation Editor will take many factors into consideration, and each client will be able to ultimately decide what will be included and what won't, with an easy way to consolidate links to prevent the menu from being cluttered.
Form Editor
One of the most important aspects of a website is its interactivity, and forms are one of the biggest components for a customer to connect with a store. In Version 5, there were some pretty nifty features in the form editor, but it had a few drawbacks. One was that each form tied into a specific page, which made it so that you couldn't use the same form dynamically in a variety of outlets. Another drawback was the speed in which you can create form elements, add dropdown options, and ultimately manage your form with efficiency. Our plans for the Version 6 Form Editor are taking all these challenges into consideration, and it will be much more robust than before.
Page Builder 2.0
Editing page content is one of the most essential parts of managing a website. When you break a page down to its core elements, you have sections, rows, columns, widgets, and the content itself. We've been working around the clock on an editor that is easy to use, yet complex enough to handle any type of page you could imagine. Pair this with the page templates we've created and the front-end editor and you have a powerful way to communicate, and to tell every possible version of your story.