Sorry for the daily updates recently, but the new Ajax mode had some teething problems (this is why I declared it beta 
). With this update the Ajax mode should finally work for not logged-in users too.
Additionally I added two more placeholders: {$Prime} and {$PrimePic} If a product is a prime product, {$Prime} shows “AmazonPrime” and {$PrimePic} will show a small icon. Thanks to Markus L. for the idea and implementation.
Here is the official changelog:
* Bugfix: Ajax mode did not work for not logged-in users
* Bugfix: Removed double usage of Amazon price formatting function
* Added: Placeholders {$Prime}, {$PrimePic}
Please share your thoughts about the new version in the comments or forums.
There is a new version out: 0.9.11.1. It fixes a bug with the functions asa_item und asa_get_item. They resulted in an error when used with custom templates (file_get_contents warning).
Additionally the placeholder {$PercentageSaved} now shows “0″ if nothing is saved instead of it being blank.
And I added a dynamical CSS class for the Ajax container (if Ajax mode is activated) called “asa_async_container_[templatename]“. So you can add an individual Ajax loading image for each of your template.
faqHi ASA users!
I am proud to announce that I just released the new version 0.9.11
Next to some fixes and improvements I added one major feature: the AJAX mode. Please keep in mind that it is still beta. It will boost up your page load time noticeable. You can activate it in the new options panel you’ll find in the ASA config menu. Besides you can manipulate how a single products gets loaded with these new parameters: force_ajax, no_ajax
With [asa force_ajax=1]ASIN[/asa] you can tell ASA to load this product in AJAX mode even if it is not activated in the settings. And the other way around you can tell ASA to load a product in default mode even if AJAX is activated globally with [asa no_ajax=1]ASIN[/asa]. I hope this gives us enough flexibility with the new AJAX mode.
Here is the complete list of changes.
Please let me know how the new version works for you.
In the last few days I got several requests about a not working plugin status. The error message always is “Request from blacklist_[xyz] is throttled” where [xyz] is a individual ID.
I did a lot of research on the official Amazon associates/developer forums. Amazon tries to split the API users in associates and sellers. For both sides there is a separate API. AmazonSimpleAdmin uses the Associates API. If you have a valid Associates account there will be no problem, as this API will continue working after August as usual. But if your account is somehow connected with a sellers account then Amazon will block your access to the Associates API after August 2012 as sellers must use the MWS Product API (Marketplace Web Service).
If you receive the blacklist error message, it indicates that you use the seller version of the API. Then you must react and contact Amazon to resolve this. If you are not a seller you should migrate to the Products Advertising API for Associates. Please log into your Amazon account and get in contact with Amazon. Or try contacting mws-level2-eu@amazon.com as one ASA user got a reply from there with this content:
“I’m glad to hear that you have completed your migration to the Products Advertising API for Associates. I have removed your ID from the blacklist, which should allow you to access the PA-API for Associates as normal again.”
In a few words: Take care that your Amazon AWS account is authorized to use the Products Advertising API for Associates after the end of August 2012. This is the API version that AmazonSimpleAdmin always used and which will unaltered continue working for valid accounts. This is a problem of your Amazon account and not a plugin error. AmazonSimpleAdmin will not support the Seller API MWS Product API (Marketplace Web Service) in the near future.
To my knowledge the reason for the error message is, that your account is not yet
registered to continue using the PA-API (Product Advertizing API). You should have gotten a mail regarding this case with the subject: “Action required: Register to continue using PA-API for your seller account”
Here are some informative extracts from the Amazon forums:
Continue reading
After several nights of hard work I finally updated the ASA homepage. The facelift is nice, but the real new features are the german translations and the forums.
Constantly receiving mails from the german speaking part of the world (what is where I am coming from too by the way), I decided to start this page multilingual. As of now I will post the news in english and german. You can switch the language with the language selector on top of the sidebar.
Another step forward is the launch of the forums. Writing some lines in the comments is nice, but if a discussion goes into detail it gets kind of cumbersome. Extensive discussions fit better into a forum I think. So I hope we will have a lively exchange in the forums.
Today I released a new update to version 0.9.10.2. In the main, this version brings a better error handling and a debug mode. This can come in handy when it comes to errors with your connection to the Amazon webservice. When the connection to the webservice results in an error, it will be shown on the plugin’s setup panel. A list of common errors can be found here: http://www.wp-amazon-plugin.com/faq/#setup_errors
The debug mode can be activated on the setup panel by clicking the option “Activate debugging”. The debugging information will be shown in the textbox below this option. Do not forget to deactivate debugging when you do not need it anymore.
After the update you will find the option “
Some minor bugfixes round up this update.
faq
One week after releasing version 0.9.10 I committed a new bugfix release 0.9.10.1 today. It fixes a bug when a PHP error occured (Class ‘Asa’ not found in …/AsaCore.php on line 384). This could happen on auto-updates through your WordPress backend.
(Thanks to Axel for the screenshot)
If version 0.9.10 works fine for you already, you do not necessarily need this update. The backup mechanism for custom templates, which came which the last version, should now work if you auto-update. But to be completely sure, please backup your files anyway.
Please let me know, if you have any problems with this plugin.
A new version of AmazonSimpleAdmin is online! This one is ready for the upcoming changes in the Amazon webservice API which was tested today and caused some errors with the old version.
The feature description from the official Changelog:
The new backup mechanism of your custom templates will first take effect after this update, so you should backup your custom files for one last time.
Please let me know what you think about the update. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Another advice: If you update the plugin manually (by uploading the files via FTP), be sure to empty the cache. It could be that the faulty content is still cached.
Hi Asa-Users,
due to some changes in the Amazon API, you could discover some problems on your website where the Amazon products should show up. I am working on a new update of AmazonSimpleAdmin to support the new API. I will hopefully release it within the next couple of days. This new version also will support the Amazon stores Italy, Spain and China and comes along with some other bugfixes and a solution to keep your custom templates when updating. But for this next update you still have to backup your templates once again.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.