IndexU Support

May was a very active month for us here at Nicecoder. IndexU is undergoing a huge bugfix workout and we released WPDirectory Pro version 1.2.

IndexU has had it’s ups and downs lately but for the past month we have been in bugfix mode and have almost every single reported bug fixed. Look for a new release within the next two weeks.

I’ve personally tested the latest version and am unable to find any issues with it. I invite everyone to have a look at our project tools and to report any bugs that you have found there. The project tools can be found at http://www.nicecoder.com/community/project.php

For those of you that are not aware of what WPDirectory Pro is, it is a plugin for WordPress that allows you to have a fully functioning directory. It looks similar to IndexU but does not have all of the same functionality.

WPDirectory Pro costs $39 and can be purchased on the nicecoder site at http://nicecoder.com/order/browse_products.php?category_id=16

You can view a live demo of WPDirectory Pro at http://www.wpdirectorypro.com

And to get things going a little, here’s a coupon code for 15% off the purchase of WPDirectory Pro. The coupon code is “wpdirpro” (without the quotes) and is good for 15% off the purchase price. The coupon expires on June 15 2009.

May also saw one of our programmers, Fahrul, leave for personal purposes. We wish him the best of luck in the future.

The Nicecoder Team
Bruce (co-owner/support)
John (co-owner)
Dody (co-owner)

April was an interesting month for Nicecoder and we have a brand new product I’ve very excited to introduce to you. It is called WPDirectory Pro and it’s a plugin for WordPress that allows you to run a directory within the WordPress CMS.

If you would like more information on WPDirectory Pro you can visit http://www.wpdirectorypro.com

A demo of WPDirectory Pro is available at http://wpdirectorypro.com/demo/directory/

And the best news of all is that there is a coupon for WPDirectory Pro. The coupon code is “wpdir” without the quotes to receive 25% off your purchase of WPDirectory Pro. You can purchase WPDirectory Pro at http://nicecoder.com/order/browse_products.php?category_id=16

WPDirectory Pro currently has one free plugin and that is for creating a Tag Cloud. Upcoming plugins are;
1. Rating plugin
2. Feedback plugin
3. Review plugin

WPDirectory Pro does not replace IndexU. IndexU is designed to be the CMS while WPDirectory Pro is a plugin for a CMS.

IndexU was recently updated to 1.3.3 and 1.4.0 will be released shortly. Currently we are working on bugfixes and adding some security features. After the bugfixes and security features have been added we will resume adding new features and functions!

As a special note, support will be delayed from May 15 to May 18 and responses may take longer than normal.

There isn’t much else to report to you at this time. See you on the forum!

The Nicecoder Team
Bruce (co-owner/support)
John (co-owner)
Dody (co-owner)

Nicecoder March Newsletter

February was a short month, and we missed the release date of IndexU Deluxe 1.31 by a few days but it was still released. Here are the details of version 1.31

IndexU Deluxe v1.31 is a bugfix release and contains the following fixes and updates
- Bugfix – Fixed admin menu not staying open after clicking on a link
- Bugfix – Fixed an issue with the sitemap when run by crom
- Bugfix – Fixed an issue with the sitemap using $date instead of $last_mod
- Bugfix – Sitemap on admin panel and cronjob
- Bugfix – Upgrade links
- Bugfix – Moneybookers payment
- Bugfix – Minor Security fix
- Bugfix – cronjobs
- Bugfix – Admin menu active state
- Bugfix – Email template import

- Feature – Recaptcha
- Feature – Update many plugins Indexu 1.3 compliant
- Feature – Update Admin menu on Admin Panel template
- Feature – Update Admin menu for indexu plugin
- Feature – Update browse
- Feature – Add facebook bookmark on Social bookmark plugin

The major new feature for 1.31 is the use of Recaptcha which wil lhelp for those directories that find themselves being hit by spambots.

Our plans are to release 1.32 by the end of March.

Congratulations to mpdaddy for winning the Mod Of The Month contest in February. mpdaddy actually submitted three new plugins for IndexU Deluxe! No specific plugin won as they were all great and extend the functionality of IndexU. You can find them on our forum or on his website at http://www.scriptdragon.com

Starting in March, the Mod Of The Month contest has been suspended wile we run a new contest for a while. Here’s the details of our new contest

Our new contest is a video contest. All you need to do to participate is to create a video showing a tutorial or “how to” about something with IndexU. This could be as simple as how to add a listing, or as complex as showing how to write a plugin. We’re leaving the ideas to you. Then you need to post your video to Youtube. In order for your video to qualify you must post the URL of your video on the forum at http://www.nicecoder.com/community/f57/video-contest-submissions-8283/

The best part is, two winners will be selected each month and each person will receive $50.00.

More information can be found at http://www.nicecoder.com/community/f15/new-video-contest-8284/

We also have a new team member. I just learned about the him a few hours ago so I don’t honestly know very much. His nickname on the forum is pungky and he will be helping to do helpdesk support and working on a new product which is very exciting. I can’t tell you anything about the product yet but as soon as I can, I will.

For the rest of the month I am also offering a special on custom templates for IndexU Deluxe. If you are interested please send me a message on the forum (Bruceper) or send us a support ticket.

That’s all for this month.

The Nicecoder Team
Bruce (co-owner/support)
Dody (co-owner/lead programmer)
John (co-owner)

Nicecoder February newsletter

Nicecoder missed it’s release mark by a few days last month, but we are still proud to announce the release of IndexU Deluxe 1.30. Below is a list of fixes and changes in IndexU Deluxe 1.30. I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s a great step forward.

IndexU Deluxe v1.30 is a major release and contains the following fixes and updates
- Bugfix – idx2phpbb plugin (error checking)
- Bugfix – Database import (error checking)
- Bugfix – Cronjobs
- Bugfix – .htaccess (commented out Options which causes issues on some servers)
- Bugfix – sestat plugin (yahoo links were not being counted)
- Bugfix – handle links in ANSI and UTF-8 format
- Bugfix – added default page rank image if no PR has been fetched yet
- Bugfix – Small fix to Moneybookers payment module

- Addition – Ability to block web sites by their name server domain (to eliminate “parked” web pages from being submitted)
- Addition – New admin panel (really nice looking!)
- Addition – New languages – Portuguese and Danish

Changes were also made to the following items
- Checkurl for bad links
- Discount Coupon Payments
- Select option of category link on add, modify, upgrade
- Plugin class
- new hooks on filter.lib.php

You can download 1.30 from the client area at http://www.nicecoder.com/order/client_login.php

Nicecoder also has their premium plugins available for sale individually on the Nicecoder site now! Many users had requested this and we’ve made it happen. You can see the premium plugins available for purchase at http://www.nicecoder.com/order/browse_products.php?category_id=2

Now if you remember last month I wanted to shake things up and offer a sale. I’m going to continue to shake things up because of the release of IndexU 1.30.

How about a coupon code good for 25% off your purchase of IndexU? The coupon code is onethirty.

Or maybe you need a little assistance in your help desk? How about a coupon goof for an amazing 40% of your purchase of iDesk or NiceTalk? The coupon code is helpme (ironic isn’t it?)

And to top it all off, the prices for access renewals and copyright removal are still at last months lowered pricing. I’ll probably get in trouble for that, so hurry up and make your purchase soon!

Purchase any of our products at http://www.nicecoder.com/order/browse_products.php

The Nicecoder Team
Bruce (co-owner/support)
Dody (co-owner/lead programmer)
John (co-owner)

Unsubscribe at http://www.nicecoder.com/mailing_list.php

Nicecoder January newsletter

As reported last month, December and January are cleanup months. We plan on going through all of our programs, plugins and templates and fixing any known issues, bugs, old code and things like that so there were no releases of software in December. You should see a lot of releases from us at the end of January!

We did however, re-release all of our premium templates at indexutemplates to include xhtml/css validity and now include version numbers with all of our templates so that you can know if you have the most recent template or not. We are still working on the free templates and will have those re-released by the end of January.

Nicecoder has also introduced a beta testers program where users can participate in beta testing various software. To qualify for the beta tester program you must meet the following requirements

1) Test and reply to active beta submissions within the time limit
2) Hold a valid IndexU license
3) Be an active user of the forum

You can read more about the beta tester program at http://www.nicecoder.com/community/f57/beta-testers-8056/

And just because I’m all about shaking things up and making it interesting, for the ENTIRE month of January iDesk and IndexU are on sale! The coupon code is shakeitup and is good for 35% off the retail price.

And just for good measure, the price of copyright removal for the month of January is going to go from $30 all the way down to $10. For users with multiple licenses the fee is normally a maximum of $99, for the month of January that fee will only be $49. To purchase copyright removal for multiple licenses please contact me at support@nicecoder.com because we must do this manually.

The Nicecoder Team
Bruce (co-owner/support)
Dody (co-owner/lead programmer)
John (co-owner)

November was a good month for Nicecoder. There were a few releases and a few things in the works.

IndexU Deluxe v1.21 was released. Version 1.21 was a bugfix version to correct a few minor issues with 1.20. Fixes include
- Invoice bug fix
- German language files
- Spanish language files
- Youtube video plugin
- new payment modules (AlrtPay and Moneybookers)
- dozens of new hooks added to php and html pages including in the admin area
- enhanced sendmail function
- three new plugins (contact us, latest searches, power_search)
- improved user control (inactive and suspended users)
- updated and fixed sitemap
- auto update category path urls in admin area when admin changes or adds a new category.
- various bug fixes

With IndexU Deluxe 1.21 we are almost at the point where upgrades will no longer affect the templates. We’re working really hard on this ability so that upgrading your site in the future will be as painless as possible.
http://www.nicecoder.com/indexu.php

NiceMember v1.1 was released. New payment gateways were added which are 2Checkout, Alertpay and Moneybookers. Recurring payments are available for Alertpay, 2Checkout and Paypal. Fixes in this version include fixing payment currency, invoices, exporting the mailing list and discount coupons.
http://www.nicecoder.com/nicemember.php

IndexuTemplates.com had two templates released and now adds premium plugins. The two new templates are called Tool Shop and Temper and are both excellent templates that are easily customizable.

The premium plugins now at IndexuTemplates are
Banner Ads Plugin – Five locations to place ads
Page Rank Checker Plugin – Can restrict submissions to a minimum page rank
Yahoo Map Plugin – Display yahoo maps based on address
http://www.indexutemplates.com

Nicecoder has also been working on some new projects as well. These include
NiceBackup – Backup cpanel accounts from your desktop automatically
MegaRapid Search – Search for files on Rapidshare and Megaupload
NZB search – Search for binaries on usenet

These products will be released soon. NiceBackup v0.9 RC2 can be found on the forum today. It’s very stable and has been tested extensively. Give it a try today and let us know what you think.

Congrats to echo@ for winning the mod of the month contest! echo@ submitted Link Back Plugin and wins $100
http://www.nicecoder.com/community/f71/link-back-plugin-7776/

The Nicecoder Team
Bruce (co-owner/support)
Dody (co-owner/lead programmer)
John (co-owner)

October was a month of numerous changes and a lot of development. Some of the products we are working on did not see a release in October so November will be one very busy month. I hope you had a great Halloween and we’ll see you soon!

IndexU
The release of IndexU Deluxe v1.2 was delayed due to two factors. The first is the addition of more hooks for our new plugin system. This was a user requested feature and are more than happy to add these hooks so users can build on IndexU. The second issue was a bug with the sitemap which has been resolved.

IndexU 1.2 will feature many new tools as well. One of the biggest changes is in the user administration area. We have added new functions for admins to view inactive and suspended members and also the ability for users to resend their lost activation e-mail.

We have also added two new payment modules to IndexU which are Alertpay and Moneybookers.

iDesk 1.6.4 Released
iDesk version 1.6.4 was released in late October with numerous improvements. The following is a list of changes.
- The addition of translations (english, german and polish come pre-installed)
- Categories for the downloads sections (requested)
- Collective ticket previews (a really neat new feature!)
- Download comments and ratings
- Implement captcha on new tickets and on comments for downloads
- A quick search box
- Numerous small bug fixes

Nicemember
No updates were available for Nicemember in October, however Nicemember 1.1 was released on November 7. While this news should be in next months newsletter I figured I would include it here because of the major changes that have been included. New features in v1.1 are
- New payment gateways added
2Checkout
Alertpay
Moneybookers
recurring payments available for Alertpay, 2Checkout and Paypal

- Fix payment currency
- Invoices
- Export mailing list
- Discount coupons

NiceBackup
As many of you are aware I spoke about a program we had in development called NiceBackup. It is a windows utility used to backup cPanel (TM) accounts. I’ve recently had the pleasure of beta testing version 0.9b. Everything seems to be working very well.

As you can tell by the version number (0.9b) it is almost ready for release!

Details have not been worked out exactly, but at this time we plan on having two version of NiceBackup. One version is absolutely free, but does not have the ability to have backups run on a schedule (manual backups only). The paid version would include the scheduling feature. Pricing for the paid version will be under $20.

If you would like to join the mailing list to receive notices when NiceBackup is released please visit http://www.nicecoder.com/mailing_list.php and join list (5)

The Nicecoder Team
Bruce (co-owner/support)
Dody (co-owner/lead programmer)
John (co-owner)

September was an excellent month for Nicecoder. We saw the release of IndexU v1.1, iDesk 1.6.3, the opening of Indexutemplates.com and we had our first one day sale!

IndexUTemplates.com
Indexutemplates opened in September and it is a success! Many users have signed up for an account and are enjoying the templates we have available. There will be at least one new template added monthly. At a cost of only $99 for a full year of access this is a bargain. Many template sites are selling templates for IndexU for $45 to $60 each.

Visit http://www.indexutemplates.com and join today!

NiceMember
A new product this month is called NiceMember. Nicemember is a membership management script. It will enable you to offer unlimited number of paid membership for your website visitors. It will handle everything from taking orders, product delivery, billing reminders, expiring orders, and a lot of more.

IndexuTemplates is using Nicemember as it’s sales engine so you can check out the possibilities by visiting there.

The one day sale
Our first one day sale was a huge success! Our plans are to have another one day sale again at some time in the future. An email will be sent to users the day before the sale.

IndexU News
What’s happening with IndexU? It’s going monthly! By releasing IndexU monthly you can be assured that bugs are fixed quickly and there will be new features all the time.

IndexU also has an amazing new feature that many users will enjoy and get a lot of use from. Many times a directory is jump started by simply adding a large number of URL’s, typically from a DMOZ slice or a purchased database. Having all these URL’s in your database makes your directory look like it is active, but that doesn’t always mean you have the most current keywords or description of the site. IndexU now has a built in function to fetch the meta description, title and keywords from every site in your directory and it will enter them into the database automatically!

This feature is available in the SVN (beta) version and will be available in the next release to all users. If you just want to take advantage of this new tool now without upgrading your IndexU you can download the SVN version and simply upload the /admin/ and /admin_tpl/ directories to your site. Now you can use the fetch meta tools!

Sneak Peek!
In October Nicecoder should be releasing NiceBackup v1.0, which is a Windows based desktop tool designed to run a full backup of your cPanel powered website and save it to your computer. NiceBackup runs in the background on a schedule and minimizes to the systray to keep out of the way.

No more need to worry about your host going down and not having a backup. Now if you’re on a cPanel server you have no excuse for not having a daily backup.

NiceBackup will be available soon, and the best part of it is? It’s free! Since NiceBackup is free we will not offer any official support from our helpdesk but you can get community support on our forums and a full manual will be available. Of course I will be there on the forum to offer help and guidance as well.

The Nicecoder Team
Bruce (co-owner/support)
Dody (co-owner/lead programmer)
John (co-owner)

NiceCoder September Newsletter

It’s back to school time and the summer has been very busy for us here at Nicecoder. I hope everyone had a great summer!

Lets jump right in and tell you everything that’s happened over the summer.

1) IndexU 1.1 was released which offers the following new features and functions
New Features
vBulletin forum integration
SMF forum integration
WordPress integration
New sitemap generator for google, ask, yahoo and Live
Ability to disable fields (url, description etc)
Built in cronjob support
iFeedback Plugin (Allows users to leave feedback)

Plus there are dozens of bugfixes. I recommend to everyone that they upgrade their Deluxe v1.0 to 1.1 as soon as they can. IndexU Deluxe v1.1 can be downloaded from the client area

2) A new manual was released for IndexU. This is a comprehensive manual that details installation, usage and modification of IndexU. You can download this manual from http://www.nicecoder.com/community/showthread.php?t=7433

3) iDesk 1.6.3 has been released with a ton of bugfixes, changes and additions from previous versions.

This version gives staff a new look in the back end which makes iDesk easier to use! iDesk 1.6.3 can be downloaded in the client area. A trial version is also available.

4) We launched a new look for our website, come check it out and let us know what you think!

5) With the launch of our new site we also launched a blog which we will use to give insider information on upcoming projects, free utilities and tips and announcements

6) All of our free templates were re-released so they would work properly with translations.

7) IndexUTemplates.com was announced and should be open within a week!

IndexUTemplates will be a membership style site where users will sign up for a period of time and are able to download and use as many templates as we have available. Every month we will add more templates to the site to keep it growing.

8) NiceCoder released a new program called NiceTalk Messenger. NiceTalk is a livechat system with some excellent features.
Front End User Interaction
Chat with staff of your company with a specific department
Visitor can leave a message when there is no staff online

Administration
Staff can monitor web visitor and initiate chat with him
Staff can show a promotional text message in livehelp online status
Staff can transfer his visitor chat with other staff during chat session
Staff can read offline message
Staff can manage user with specific group department
Staff can monitor chat online
Staff can manage history of chat
Staff can generate code for appearance web that use Nice Talk messenger
Staff can view statistics of Nice Talk users for a year

NiceTalk is available in our client area and a trial version is available as well.

9) Lastly is some news that personally affected me. Dody and John have both recently made me the general manager for Nicecoder! Along with that position comes part ownership of the company.

I am very pleased and proud to have been given this opportunity and I wish to thank Dody and John for their belief and support in me.

So drop by the website today, start up a livechat session and you can get a coupon for 10% off your next order!

The Nicecoder Team
Bruce (co-owner/support)
Dody (co-owner/lead programmer)
John (co-owner)

Nicecoder May Newsletter

April brought us a lot of new releases and bugifxes and kept us all very busy. So here we start May with a very large newsletter.

iDesk 1.5 Released
Nicecoder has released it’s long awaited update to iDesk. For those that do not know, iDesk is a helpdesk script that is very simple to use and yet has amazing features found on much more expensive software.
With iDesk simplicity is the key. iDesk does not require users to create an account to create a ticket. Users simply need to submit a ticket via the web interface or to send in an email.
Features include spam filtering, multiple departments, knowledgebase, downloads area, pre-defined responses and much more.
http://www.nicecoder.com/community/showthread.php?t=6535

Nicecoder is proud to announce IndexU Deluxe v1.00 and IndexU v5.41

IndexU Deluxe v1.00
The demo for IndexU Deluxe is now available and fully functional. All pages and files can be viewed but the templates cannot be edited simply to prevent spam/abuse. The demo refreshes itself automatically. You can find the demo at http://www.nicecoder.com/demo/indexu/

IndexU Deluxe v1.00 contains all bugfixes up to and including http://nicecoder.com/svn/ r798

Some of the new features of IndexU Deluxe are

Plugin system:
The plugin system allows users to add modifications to their IndexU without having to edit the actual code. This makes it easier for non-programmers to customize their site.

Web search now uses Yahoo, no more need for the Google SOAP seach api key which is no longer available

Payment history:
Users can now view the payment history of listings right from the control panel all in one convenient location.

Discount Coupons:
Users can offer their visitors discount coupons on any or all levels of listing types (basic, sponsored and premium) and may set an expiry date for coupons.

Category suggestions:
Category suggestions can now be approved/denied right in the control panel without the need to manually add them.

v5.41
IndexU V5.41 contains many bugfixes from v5.40 and contains all bugfixes up to and including http://nicecoder.com/svn/index2.php r785

Why two versions?
Users had issues with our recent decision to move forward with only a new product and a new license. Now users are able to choose which version they would like to proceed with.

New Users
Users who purchase a license as of today will only be eligible to purchase IndexU Deluxe and will not have access to v5.x.

Existing Users
Users that already have an existing license have two choices to make

a) Continue with the v5 trunk of IndexU
b) Agree to the new license and proceed with IndexU Deluxe

Existing users who choose to upgrade to IndexU Deluxe
You will receive access to IndexU Deluxe in the client area and still have access to IndexU 5.x in SVN to maintain any old sites if you so choose.

IndexU Deluxe licenses must be renewed yearly at a cost of $30 per license up to a maximum of $99 for multiple license owners. If you do not renew your license your site will still function normally, however you will no longer have access to the files in the client area or SVN and may have limited access on the forum (to planned license owners only area).

Existing users who choose not to upgrade to IndexU Deluxe
You will continue to have access to v5.x and related files in the client area and will receive bugfixes and security updates. You will also have access to the v5 trunk of SVN.

What happens if I upgrade?
When you upgrade to IndexU Deluxe all your current v5 licenses will be suspended. You will then have access to new licenses in your client area. You will need to replace your old licenses with the new licenses.

If you ordered Indexu over one year ago, we will add one month (from the date you fill out the form) to your license and you may download IndexU Deluxe and any updates for the next month. After this time you must renew your license at a cost of $30 per year per license or a maximum of $99 for multiple license owners.

If you ordered IndexU less than one year ago, we will add one year to your existing license. After that time is up you must renew your license at a cost of $30 per year per license or a maximum of $99 for multiple license owners.

How to upgrade your license from 5.x to IndexU Deluxe
Visit this http://www.nicecoder.com/indexu5todeluxe.php URL and complete the form.

Please see http://www.nicecoder.com/community/showthread.php?p=32605 the discussion thread for any questions you may have.

Mod Of The Month contest
The winner for the mod of the month contest for March was mpdaddy and his Improved Link Validation Mod. This mod makes it easier and faster to validate a large number of links.
http://www.nicecoder.com/community/showthread.php?t=6551

The winner for the mod of the month contest for April has not been announced yet. That winner will be included in next months newsletter.

Recent mods & fixes
esm has written a mod that adds a link submitters IP address to the submission
http://www.nicecoder.com/community/showthread.php?t=6425

With the release of iDesk 1.5 a new theme was released by idesksupport.com. You can view the theme at the URL below
http://www.idesksupport.com/2008/04/07/blue-theme/

The Nicecoder Team
Bruce (support)
Dody (co-owner/programmer)
John (co-owner)