I've made a few changes to Lettuceshare this morning that will be quite noticeable, so this is an update about them. A few people have asked for more space on the ordering page to view product names, so to allow this I've removed the supplier column. Also some people didn't want to see the supplier column at all, so this fixes both issues.
The grower information is still shown under the product field at the top of the page, when there's information available. Grower information is usually imported in stock lists, but it can also be added manually on the stock page. I've also updated the product field when viewing all products so that it searches for the product in the grid. It will now highlight the row, and if you use category tabs it will switch to the correct tab for you.
Lastly, to further highlight the growers our suppliers are buying from, I've switched the default format over to displaying grower information in invoices. If anyone would prefer to show the supplier name in invoices just let me know.
I love a co-op with a good name, so very happy to welcome Hairy Legs Organics to Lettuceshare!
They're based in Kuranda, which is just out of Cairns, and sounds like they have a great community established. If you live up that way I'm sure they would love to hear from you.
Lettuceshare has been going for nearly 5 years now, and the site wouldn't have happened without the wonderful co-ops and bulk buyers groups that use it on a regular basis. Thanks to everyone for your support and feedback over the years!
Despite what you may have heard, Lettuceshare isn't a big operation and software development has generally happened on a part-time basis. I've been chatting with different groups over the last year about how to best fund new software development, and am glad to say some groups have been enthusiastic about providing extra support. This basically means I can spend more of my time improving the software for all users.
Lettuceshare development supporters pay an extra $50 per month, and subscribe for the calendar year. This means some long term development can be planned, and these groups are invited to participate in the development discussion. All groups using Lettuceshare are welcome to join!
So a big extra thanks to the following supporters so far in 2018:
The Lettuceshare stock page went through some big changes last year, and I received a lot of feedback about it, which I really appreciate. Some of the feedback showed that a few of the changes made things harder to do, instead of easier, which obviously wasn't the aim! I'd like to thank everyone for their patience as we've worked out the best way to improve the stock page and Lettuceshare as a whole, going forward.
With that in mind, I've just rolled out another set of changes to the stock page which I hope addresses some of the issues. This change actually goes further than fixing a few problems, it starts a whole new way of interacting with the grid. The grid is an important part of many pages in Lettuceshare, and every page that uses it has now been updated. If you load a page expecting to see the grid and it's not shown, please reload the page to get the updated version.
The biggest change to the grid is that it no longer has a set height. The purpose of this change was to remove the double scrolling effect, which was the annoying behaviour of not knowing if the grid was scrolling or the browser window itself. Now it's just the browser window, which means the paging options at the bottom of the grid are no longer required either.
Back to the stock page, the biggest change you will notice there is that it now includes a filter. You will see input fields at the top of the grid, and typing in any of these fields will update the grid for rows that match the combination of filters you have provided.
Check box filters require 1 or 0, the others just match text. Clearing all the filters will return you to the full list. (Although there are a few column options that update what's shown in the grid - Supplier Availability and Hidden).
Unlike autocomplete fields found elsewhere in Lettuceshare, the grid filter matches at the start of the string. To match more rows, you can also start your filter with an asterisk:
I hope everyone is feeling excited about their co-ops and buying groups starting back up again for the year. Here's an interesting article that will hopefully provide some thought and inspiration for all of us coming back from holidays :-)
Great work from West End Bulk Buyers and Chewsday Food Collective last night at Wandering Cooks! Katy and Jessie shared how our community supports the local food movement, to a very receptive audience. Was a fun night, looking forward to the next one in the new year.
Do you want to see photos of the beautiful produce you're buying when you place your order in Lettuceshare? If yes, then talk to your group about joining the Lettuceshare Patreon page, because this is the first goal!
We're already half way towards meeting the goal, and buying groups who join Patreon as a developer will get a say in the future development of the software. Individual members are also welcome to join the page as supporters. Now is the perfect time to get involved in the project. More information and sign-up is available at: https://www.patreon.com/lettuceshare
Lettuceshare now only costs $2 a month for each member buying in your group, no more minimum hosting fee! If you know any buying groups that don't meet regularly, or just want to keep their group small, please share this post with them.
If you were thinking Lettuceshare is good value already, then there's another way you can help! I've just set up a page where groups can help support new software development for Lettuceshare: https://www.patreon.com/lettuceshare
The stock page has been rewritten based on lots of feedback, and hopefully makes the job of managing your stock list easier. If you've had a chance to play with the new members page it should feel familiar. The documentation for the stock page has been updated, but if you have any questions or feedback about these changes please let me know via the contact page.
Some of the major changes are: The grid is now editable inline, and will save automatically as you make updates. As with the members page, the columns displayed in the grid can be customised and can take up the full width of your screen. One extra feature on the stock page is that you can save your column and sorting preferences as profiles.
The default list of displayed products has changed too. When you load the page you will only see products currently available from suppliers. For more information on this and other new features please read the updated documentation.
This is an update to last week's post about the new members page.
I've added a new feature to the grid that allows you to sort by multiple columns. To use it, click the header row for the column you initially want to sort by. Then, hold down the shift key and click the header of the second column you want to sort by. You should see little icons in the header row showing the direction the data is sorted. To switch directions, hold down the shift key and click the column again.
You can sort by as many columns as you like using this method. Sorting will start again when you click a column without holding down the shift key.
There are a few extras along with this new feature, when you click download the data will stay sorted the same way you see it in the grid. Also, when you reload the page or come back to the members page later, it will remember the current sort order along with your other grid preferences.
Ordering page updates
The grower information is still shown under the product field at the top of the page, when there's information available. Grower information is usually imported in stock lists, but it can also be added manually on the stock page. I've also updated the product field when viewing all products so that it searches for the product in the grid. It will now highlight the row, and if you use category tabs it will switch to the correct tab for you.
Lastly, to further highlight the growers our suppliers are buying from, I've switched the default format over to displaying grower information in invoices. If anyone would prefer to show the supplier name in invoices just let me know.
Welcome to Lettuceshare
They're based in Kuranda, which is just out of Cairns, and sounds like they have a great community established. If you live up that way I'm sure they would love to hear from you.
Lettuceshare Development Support
Despite what you may have heard, Lettuceshare isn't a big operation and software development has generally happened on a part-time basis. I've been chatting with different groups over the last year about how to best fund new software development, and am glad to say some groups have been enthusiastic about providing extra support. This basically means I can spend more of my time improving the software for all users.
Lettuceshare development supporters pay an extra $50 per month, and subscribe for the calendar year. This means some long term development can be planned, and these groups are invited to participate in the development discussion. All groups using Lettuceshare are welcome to join!
So a big extra thanks to the following supporters so far in 2018:
Ipswich Good Food Group
Turnstyle Bulk Buyers
Midweek Members Market
Grid Changes
With that in mind, I've just rolled out another set of changes to the stock page which I hope addresses some of the issues. This change actually goes further than fixing a few problems, it starts a whole new way of interacting with the grid. The grid is an important part of many pages in Lettuceshare, and every page that uses it has now been updated. If you load a page expecting to see the grid and it's not shown, please reload the page to get the updated version.
The biggest change to the grid is that it no longer has a set height. The purpose of this change was to remove the double scrolling effect, which was the annoying behaviour of not knowing if the grid was scrolling or the browser window itself. Now it's just the browser window, which means the paging options at the bottom of the grid are no longer required either.
Back to the stock page, the biggest change you will notice there is that it now includes a filter. You will see input fields at the top of the grid, and typing in any of these fields will update the grid for rows that match the combination of filters you have provided.
Check box filters require 1 or 0, the others just match text. Clearing all the filters will return you to the full list. (Although there are a few column options that update what's shown in the grid - Supplier Availability and Hidden).
Unlike autocomplete fields found elsewhere in Lettuceshare, the grid filter matches at the start of the string. To match more rows, you can also start your filter with an asterisk:
I hope everyone is feeling excited about their co-ops and buying groups starting back up again for the year. Here's an interesting article that will hopefully provide some thought and inspiration for all of us coming back from holidays :-)
Snubbing the Supermarkets
Lettuceshare Development
Do you want to see photos of the beautiful produce you're buying when you place your order in Lettuceshare? If yes, then talk to your group about joining the Lettuceshare Patreon page, because this is the first goal!
We're already half way towards meeting the goal, and buying groups who join Patreon as a developer will get a say in the future development of the software. Individual members are also welcome to join the page as supporters. Now is the perfect time to get involved in the project. More information and sign-up is available at: https://www.patreon.com/lettuceshare
Lettuceshare Price Drop
If you were thinking Lettuceshare is good value already, then there's another way you can help! I've just set up a page where groups can help support new software development for Lettuceshare: https://www.patreon.com/lettuceshare
Stock page updates
Some of the major changes are: The grid is now editable inline, and will save automatically as you make updates. As with the members page, the columns displayed in the grid can be customised and can take up the full width of your screen. One extra feature on the stock page is that you can save your column and sorting preferences as profiles.
The default list of displayed products has changed too. When you load the page you will only see products currently available from suppliers. For more information on this and other new features please read the updated documentation.
Member page updates
I've added a new feature to the grid that allows you to sort by multiple columns. To use it, click the header row for the column you initially want to sort by. Then, hold down the shift key and click the header of the second column you want to sort by. You should see little icons in the header row showing the direction the data is sorted. To switch directions, hold down the shift key and click the column again.
You can sort by as many columns as you like using this method. Sorting will start again when you click a column without holding down the shift key.
There are a few extras along with this new feature, when you click download the data will stay sorted the same way you see it in the grid. Also, when you reload the page or come back to the members page later, it will remember the current sort order along with your other grid preferences.