To Infinity & Beyond-Here we go 2012

Well 2011 has been a tough and challenging year for everyone involved in the launch of Helloturtle.com,I think everyone will agree that the speed with which the development of the site has evolved has been outstanding...

Let's hope 2012 lasts a little bit longer than 2011 but brings us greater rewards, next month will see a huge change again on the site with Valentines Day & Mothers day both around the corner.

Well done team...

Happy New Year from HelloTurtle.com

Happy New year to all of our clients from Helloturtle.com, i'm sure most of you will be in recovery mode by midnight tonight, I know I've had my fair share of alcohol & food over the past week so bring on the New year so i can get back to work and stop drinking and eating during the day...

Happy New Year

Sam@Helloturtle

The site has had a few updates over the past few days! As you can now see helloturtle has got in the christmas spirit by having a complete makeover of the homepage, don't forgot to go check out our christmas card range!
We have also made some changes to the basket making it easier for you to add extra gifts to your basket. Adding more than one gift to your basket, means that all gifts that fit in that packaging get 10% discount, also any additional gifts that fit in your packaging wont add anymore delivery charge!

Alex @ Helloturtle

Been busy working on giving users the ability to attach gifts to gifts, Currently users can only attach gifts to cards (to do with how the whole site was made). New function is coming on well so shouldnt be too long before it can be tested and live for the world to use!

Alex @ HelloTurtle

Hope everyone is enjoying the new gifts site - been a hectic fortnight making that all ready!
Been busy sorting out an "upsell" function with Sam - it tells you what will fit in your box - giving you 10% off every item when you buy multiples in a box - and keeping those postage costs the same!

Alex @ HelloTurtle

A hectic couple of days of photography and finishing touches to the code (and fixing some bugs found in testing) and the Gift site is almost ready to go! Unfortunately we arent despatching gifts until next week - but you will be able to order once we put everything live (possibly tomorrow morning!).

Alex @ HelloTurtle

With the gifts side of the website about to be released we have been very busy here at helloturtle!
Lots of testing (and bug fixing) has been happening this week. We have some image and layout issues left to resolve but the software is almost ready to go!
A busy day tomorrow and the possibility of some of us being back here at the weekend aswell - but by the middle of next week the gift site should be live, mail merge will be live and our advertising campaigns will really kick off! 

Sam & Alex@helloturtle

Todays activities have included helping out Darrel create the code required to display the cards on Google shopping. This process has been automated so that when any new cards are added to the site they will automatically be added to the list.

Sam & Alex @ Helloturtle

Today we have worked through the process of referring a friend to helloturtle! The process is as follows: When you go to the refer a friend page, you can add as many friends emails as you like to an email list then when your finished click 'send' and the referral emails will be sent to your friends email address. The email will include a unique code that only they can use. Once they have signed up to helloturtle.com and purchased their first card you will recieve some prepay added to your account, so the more friends you refer the more money you will get!!! They will also get some discount of their first purchase! This still needs to be fully tested and once it has gone live you'll be able to refer friends to your hearts content!......Happy emailing!

Alex @ helloturtle

Fixed a bug with the Registration system today, also added some failsafe code into that script so similar issues should not arise...
Also did some bug fixing on the dev system - it is no longer possible to send a gift with no address!! It was only possible by creating a new account - not adding an address to it and sending a gift directly to yourself... It seems a silly thing to miss - but I use a development account on the development site - that has a full set of details to do the majority of my testing - only more thorough and random testing finds these bugs!

Sam@Helloturtle

Today i've done some small bug fixes to the reminder emails, that now include gift details. Me and alex spent the afternoon starting to create the refer a friend feature that will add an amount onto your prepay for every friend you refer!

Alex @ HelloTurtle

Updated the Login system again today, Some of you may have noticed that logging in - whilst in the card system - would result in the "mini basket" bar being removed - this is because that bar is updated on a refresh and refreshing those pages takes you back to the beginning! So we had used a little bit of code to remove the "login/register" buttons, so that it was obvious you were already logged in (and could not try to login again). Well I have updated this system to search for the basket values in a different way (as the old way had a couple of bugs in it) and also display these values (and the little blue basket logo) where the login button was displayed. This change is LIVE now!

Alex @ HelloTurtle

Done some code tidying today - made a neat function that lets you click a card to add a gift. You choose your gift and quantity, it then takes all the details from the card and takes you straight to the basket, Simple!!

Alex @ HelloTurtle

Spent most of the day at the prints - "training" the staff on how to use our bespoke software (they didnt need much training) and setting up more machines to handle the despatch side and gifts. They are a way off being able to do that - but at least they are there and semi set up. Also fixed the login system on the development site - will be on the live site soon, it just calculates the basket totals in a different way now

Alex @ HelloTurtle

Been working hard to make sure the gifts section is ready to be tested...
Functions sort out the packing, cards and gifts are set to "courier" for delivery. Gifts are always sent by courier - and cards are sent by courier with gifts - otherwise they are sent by the mail... This is now reflected in the code!
Many other little things have been changed - making the whole system much better. There is still a long way to go before release though... Expecting busy days in the coming weeks - especially Monday and Tuesday next week when Sam is on holiday!!
Hoping to do some testing at the prints for despatch notes on Monday. So for a good relaxing weekend!! Updates probably on Tuesday.

Sam@Helloturtle

Today me and Alex have been testing some aspects of the gift section to ensure it all works, i have also been updating the emails that are sent out, with the new gift information!

Alex @ HelloTurtle

Fixed a bug with the epic function written over the past couple of days by Sam and I. Was a nasty one to track down!!
Also updated the basket view for gifts (to show the packing your gift will arrive in!)
A few other background functions added in - such as updating the tables when gifts are bought.
Edited the Order History AGAIN to include gifts sent with cards. Needs a separate section adding for gifts by themselves. I will also change it to give a short gift description and show a picture (provided one is available) this will probably be another fancy box. (Although that page does have a few already... its either cluttered - or you click anywhere and we are going to show you something... or could do one item per page and it would be very impractical...)
Also added a new banner to the development site (courtesy of Jade) that will be rolled onto the live site with the gifts section! All in all << quite a busy day!

Alex @ HelloTurtle

Busy Busy week here at HelloTurtle - been busy writing the packing functions with Sam again today - fixed a couple of bugs also;

Alex @ HelloTurtle

Spent this morning adding in google analytics code - much of it was not working previously!
Developed a function to choose the correct packaging for gifts with Sam this afternoon - not terribly exciting - but needs to be finished this week!

Alex @ HelloTurtle

So its Friday once again - and I am off to watch England (hopefully) qualify for the Euros!
but not before a quick update on the days activities! Working quite closely with Sam building the Gifts section at the moment and its starting to take shape - infact for certain instances you can choose a gift - and get it all the way to the basket - adding it to be sent with a premade card or sending on its own directly to a recipient or back to yourself (trying to cover every eventuality).
Hoping to write a function that deals with packing grouped items into a box. Or picking the relevant box/boxes to deal with any combination of gifts ordered. Thats a job for Monday - and thinking about how complex its going to be - probably Tuesday aswell!

Alex @ Helloturtle

Working hard on the basket functions.
Functions set up to edit gifts with artwork and delete unwanted gifts from the basket
Also added in ability to see the gifts in the first place - as well as showing gifts joined to cards as such.
Lots more updates to come!

Sam@Helloturtle

Busy as ever at helloturtle!
The number 1 priority at the moment is to get the gift section of the site up and running so me and alex are working together to get it working asap!

Sam@Helloturtle

As Alex has stated in previous post we are currently creating the gifts section. While Alex is hard at work on the basket, i'm creating the gift pages that will link to the basket once you have selected something!

Alex @ HelloTurtle

So a big think about how the gifts are going to work took place today. (Such a mental strain infact that I now have a slight headache!). It was decided that I would start work on the basket integration for gifts, adding in all manner of extra functionality such as;
>>displaying gifts linked to cards with their relevant card
>>displaying gifts not linked to cards in their own seperate section with buttons to link them to cards.
>>ability to take a current card and add a gift to it through the gift system.
So far I have added in some code for gifts attached to cards, hoping to get most of the functionality inside the basket completed tomorrow, and add the relevant code to other files on friday so I can be ready to start something else on Monday. Arent plans fantastic?

Alex @ HelloTurtle

With the release of HelloTurtle gifts getting ever closer, I have finally started turning my attention to the gift section of the site - and I am quickly realising the complexities of what I am about to undertake. Lots of fun things to figure out / decide upon - for instance - how do we hold stock for peoples basket orders? The database is ready to tie gifts to a card and detail the packaging.
Now we need to write a function that determines which packing to use (could be quite fun/challenging) as well as an ajax handling system to guide users start to finish through the gift system.

Alex @ HelloTurtle

As always plenty to be getting on with here at HelloTurtle.
Almost got the Order History page to satisfaction now, users can edit their cards if they havent been printed yet - and they can edit which recipients address they are sending to - provided they are sending the card to recipient. (Also must be done before card printing - as the envelope needs that information!!)
Also had a few other little bugs to look into today, will sign off the order history page tomorrow and make that "fully live" and get around to signing off mail merge with a little hand from the boss.

Sam@Helloturtle

Been working hard on the 'reminder' emails, which should be all finished first thing in the morning, then once they have gone live, you will recieve a 'reminder' email if you leave something in your basket, add an event to your calendar, or a year after you purchase a card for an anniversary!

Alex @ helloturtle

So the "Indian Summer" in Radcliffe is in full swing and the office is almost unbearably warm.
Changes keep be rolled out though: The promised ability to view your full card has been rolled onto the live site.
 The ability to edit your cards prior to them being printed is being modified, some of it is ready to go, but I wouldnt like to send it out with it only half completed.
Hopefully it will all be sorted monday and online then!
Until then - Have a good weekend!

Alex @ HelloTurtle

I know most of you will still be massively impressed by the improvement in the Order History page that happened yesterday. Well today, I improved it further - want to see the personalisation you made to the inside of a card that you sent many many months ago? I knew you would. Well if you click on the thumbnail image it brings an "oh so lovely" box with the entire card (except the back page - but you couldnt have edited that!).
 Another change almost ready to go - if you order a card, and decide its not quite right!? you can edit the card from order history, provided it has not yet gone to print. This needs a bit of testing and tweaking...
  Hope to put these changes live very soon!

Sam@Helloturtle

Have been working on email reminders today, which will remind you if you leave an item in your basket, and when its getting close to an event in your calendar reminders!

Alex @ HelloTurtle

Today I updated the Order History page!
 Further improvements are coming to this page in the next few days, however I am so proud of the work so far that it is already on the live site! check it from the Accounts section!

Sam@Helloturtle

More progress was made on the new stock control system, had a problem where the information was being added twice.
Now moved onto creating an email so if you leave an item in the basket, in the morning an email will be sent to you to remind you!

Alex @ HelloTurtle

So some of you may have noticed one or two broken links on the homepage.. Well thanks for telling me!!! Anyway they are all fixed now.
Mail Merge can now deal with XLS files < I have been busy!
A bit more on the despatch manager and I can start something new!

Sam@Helloturtle

Nice short and sweet post today!
Been working hard to complete the back end system for the new gifts section, which controls ordering the stock etc!

Alex @ helloturtle

With the release of our gifts section growing ever closer excitement is growing here at HelloTurtle.
Today it reached the level that we thought > Lets tell all HelloTurtle users - Exclusive Personalised gifts are coming! Check out the lovely "button" on the right hand side of our Homepage.
I have spent some more time today tidying the mailmerge function - adding in some new options and completing the paging system for addresses I started to add on Friday.
I even found a couple of minutes to correct a grammar issue on site!

Sam@Helloturtle

Exciting news! The new payment gateway went live on friday afternoon! Me and Richard spent all morning and most of the afternoon testing every possible outcome, so hopefully there won't be any bugs! The reason for the new payment gateway is that it allows us to customise the page so that it fits in with the rest of the site, making it less easier for you, the customer!

alex @ HelloTurtle

So its a Friday afternoon! and everyone is still hard at work here at hello turtle (except me - im writing a lovely blog.. and a couple of others are on holiday.. but everyone that is here - who isn't me - is working very hard!). Exciting updates going live (hence the business of the other updates) - will leave Sam to update you on those!
   On a slightly less exciting (but still pretty exciting if you are in to cartoon turtles) the logo has been modified slightly so that it is easier to see (thank you Jade). This can be seen on pretty much every page! So here is a link to a page I made! And a link to a card I like!
   Have a Good Weekend, more updates on Monday!

Alex @ HelloTurtle

Mail Merge really coming along now!
Everything set up so that it will work in the processor side!
Started to do some more intensive testing - and fixing bugs as i find them!
Limiting upload file size - to keep max mail merges to 4 figures currently!
Trying to cross any potential problems off so it arrives on site sleek and working!

Alex@HelloTurtle

So today I properly got into the processor for mail merge.
The token replacement is working well for a simple list - where all users are added.
Had a little trouble with the mailing list being cut down - re testing this at the minute.
Hopefully I can have that sorted first thing in the morning and that can be properly tested out!
Also fixed another little bug with the photo uploader today - it wouldnt work for new users (who had not had a user directory set up). Was a similar issue to others I have sorted << so didnt take long to fix.

Christmas Cards

More card uploading again today! Christmas Pets made it on to the site last night as promised and I've now almost uploaded and published all the Christmas cards which I've made over the last week which is beginning to slowly increase the amount of cards we will have on offer for Christmas!
Tomorrow I'll be scanning lots more Christmas cards which are all hand-made and will be added to the Artistic section. Also, I'll soon be making our own Christmas spoofs for you to put your family, friends and pets pictures into and as well as more Christmas Pets! :)

But for now there's more Photo Upload Cards to be uploaded and published!!

Sam@Helloturtle

Spent the day trying to get paypoint up and running.
Having to use a rather unclear set of instructions, been on the phone to paypoint support and think we may have found the problem!
Hopefully will be able to get it fixed in the morning!

Alex @ HelloTurtle

Another fun day of Bug Fixing!
Two more identified - two more located - two more removed!
The first was a problem with Favourites - previously if a user created an account then attempted to add a "favourite" card, they would get a successful message - but the card would not be in their favourites!
This was due to their user directory not existing! The code now checks if the user directory exists - and if it doesnt it creates it! Simple as that!
The second problem was with adding events to the calendar. You may have noticed that previously the calendar did not allow an event that took place on a weekend (or bank holiday) this was because the calendar used the same settings as picking a date for despatch, which for postal reasons (and nothing to do with us taking a well earned rest at the end of each week) - cannot be done on the weekend or bank holidays. I changed the settings - and now birthdays can be celebrated - even if they fall on a weekend!
I also tidied up the mailmerge functions and that pretty much ties up my working day!

Sam@Helloturtle.com

My first day at helloturtle!

Had my induction and got started familiarising myself with the site.

Then started looking at introducing the paypoint system!

Alex @ HelloTurtle

So Today we are proud to welcome a new member to the HelloTurtle Team!
Had a day of introducing Sam to the office and giving him some "easy" work to get into things!
Also had a look at the processor side of mail merge - (many thanks to my brother for providing some errors that pretty much warranted it!!).
The processor can now handle multiple cards from a .job (many thanks to Richard for that). Its just a case of giving the ability to replacing text tokens with items from the mailing list and a big tidy up! Then the testing will begin!

Yet again, more new cards!

I hope everyone had a good weekend!

Today I've been getting on with yet more uploading of cards - a never ending task - and have now added a few more to the Notelets range to bulk that out slightly for the time-being. I'm currently uploading some more Christmas cards for the range Christmas Pets (animals in Santa hats) which are aimed at all ages and they will hopefully be live by tonight!

Tomorrow I'll continue work with designing homepage buttons for our Exclusive Gifts site and then we can send over the ideas to the wonderful guys in IT.

But for now, I'll get on with uploading animals dessed like Santa!

Alex @ HelloTurtle

So another week draws to a close,
and some dreaded holidays draw ever nearer!
Christmas is less than 100 days away now - a potentially busy time for us here at HelloTurtle - And still lots of work to be done to get ready!
As for todays work?
Added in a method of changing your email address - it had been missing for sometime.
I added it to the account details page (thought that was an obvious place for it) and it appears in a lovely iframe box - much like the login system. I have done a bit of testing on it - a bit more on Monday and it should be live by lunch time!
I also carried on with setting up things for the printers side of mail merging! Everything the printers need to carry out the work correctly is passed to them. Just a shame I havent written the function for them to print yet! - That should be the start of next week for me!

alex @ HelloTurtle

We had an exciting morning here at HelloTurtle as our overnight sales record was smashed - the startings of our very own brand awareness? Theres no reason to doubt it - our cards are well priced and excellant quality!
On the coding side of things today i worked mainly with the basket and "route_card" pages for my Mail Merge - Found a couple of bugs in the existing system in the process (the system is being tested in new ways - with the currently working mailmerge system i can throw 50+ cards at the basket at once and see what happens..). So I narrowed these bugs down and they have been resolved. I also added in functions to the basket to keep one instance of a mailmerge card but tell you its mail merge and x many cards lie within it. (Will be self explanatory when you see it - or at least I hope it will be). All that really remains now is setting up the printers side of things to read in tokens and replace as necessary and print x cards from 1 job!
As always - lots more to do tomorrow!

Alex @ HelloTurtle

So its Midweek - the memorial of the 10th anniversary of 9/11 is steadily dieing down and people can move freely around New York again!
Back here at HelloTurtle I have been working hard on the Mail Merge function today - It can now read in ODS format files - after searching for packages to do it (and nothing working). I decided to write the function myself from scratch. Took me a little while to get it to play ball. But i wrote a few .ods files to try and did some testing! I also hacked the order of the code so that it was in the middle of the old .csv code. This means that whether you use a .csv or a .ods it just turns it into something it understands and deals with everything in the same way.
 In other exciting news - due to our location we can actually set our deadline for same day postal to 3pm! An entire hour extra to get your card just right before it has to be printed and posted (Compared to most of our competitors).  This change will be made very soon - (so keep posting before 2pm in the mean time to avoid disappointment).
As always lots more exciting updates and changes on the way at Hello Turtle!

Alex @ HelloTurtle

Today saw a host of site improvements!
  All those bug fixes of the last couple of weeks have now been uploaded! You can now log in from any section of the site, you can log in from the card system without losing your card (or any changes to it) as was the case before.
  I resolved an issue with the basket as well - users who had deleted a card may have logged on to see the card price was still there - they would not be charged for this and clicking on the basket set the session up properly.
On another Note - I went for a carvery on Sunday - pub off the A52 towards Grantham - saw two lovely banners on the side of the road... Keep an eye out for them if you pass that way (one facing each way).

Alex @ HelloTurtle

So its Monday,
As has been the case of the last few mondays I didnt get into work until midday because of acupuncture - was my last session today so can enjoy normal working hours for a while (as well as hopefully no pain - but thats a story for another day!).
As HelloTurtle spreads to the masses we are seeing a variety of users ordering cards. Today we did our first customer service calls and, as you would expect, customers problems being sorted very quickly and giving excellant feedback!
Obviously the fact that customer service calls had to take place means that we have a few things to look into, but positive feedback hopefully means customers will be returning!
Today I worked on my mail merge function - some bugs have been removed and instructions have been added to the first page. I went on a wild goose chase for another bug - first test of a new bit of code delivered an error - however, without changing any code I have not been able to replicate the error... So I am at a loss as to why the error occured - but did have to fix the damage the error caused!
Should be a lot more exciting stuff to talk about tomorrow!

Jade - More Updates!

As promised, I've now uploaded all the 'Stree Cred' range for teenagers. I also re-uploaded all the Tired Ted cards with their original text too! As Alex said earlier, I made 2 new buttons for Halloween and Diwali which are not far over the horizon now and changed the Birthday Idea page buttons so they didn't all meld into one.

More uploads of cards to be getting on with tomorrow and next week will be Christmas card uploading time! 300+ cards for you to choose from to send to your friends, family and clients using Mailmerge which has been created by Alex.

Enjoy the weekend!

Alex @ Helloturtle - last friday of summer

So its another sunny Friday afternoon here in Radcliffe and according to the weatherman - the last "summer day". The perfect day, therefore, to get on with a slight revamp of helloturtle!! Where better to start than some new buttons on the front page? The exam results season is over - So we are preparing for Diwali and Halloween - Something for Hindus, Jains, Sikhs(all diwali) and Pagans(Halloween - Although Halloween is also commonly related to All Saints Day which is more Christian so they could be classed also). Well thats everybodies learning for today sorted!
I have also added links to this blog and our Youtube page - These can be spotted from the main page!
The birthday ideas page has had a little revamp too, with 9 matching new buttons that should be easier to read! (A big thank you to Jade for those)
  And as if you didnt think that was enough work for a friday!? I went ahead and started some more SEO work AND added some more functionality to mailmerge! Have a good weekend - More updates on Monday!

Development Blog - B&Q Branded Site

So once again we reach the end of the week and today I have gone back to working on the branded sites. I have spent most of the day working with one of the other developers here at HelloTurtle to ensure that the code I wrote for the New Look site would integrate correctly with the template and skin that he had already been working on for B&Q, so that we could finish working on the B&Q demo by mid-afternoon.

Alex @ HelloTurtle

Continued trouble with that login system!!
   Think I have cracked it for real this time though. Done some testing and it threw nothing unexpected - so that should be live very soon. So what changed? I hear you all ask.. Well you can log in from any part of the card system without it throwing you into "my account" or printing garbage to the screen and you can login straight after logging out!
  I have also been working on the Payment History page - I had it working yesterday - but it was hurt my eyes to look at... so I have been busy with the CSS and its looking good - a bit of testing and that could be live soon also!
  Other than that - in the process of adding in links (waiting on graphics) to YouTube and this Blog. - And i fixed a couple of pesky spelling mistakes. I think there should be some sort of prize for spotting them - I know there are a few still lurking in the pages.

Development Blog - Update

So today I've taking time out from working on the branded sites, and have started looking in in to expanding the functionality of our payment systems, in order to be prepared for future developments of HelloTurtle, and for proper implementation of any branded sites we were to work on.

New Cards

Hi there!
My name's Jade and I'm one of the designers here at HelloTurtle.com

Over the past couple of days I've been creating a brand new range of Street Graffiti cards aimed at the teenage aundience. Also, I've been collecting images to create a range of exclusive Christmas cards both of which will be available to view shortly!

HelloTurtle.com is being updated daily, we now have 1000s of designs, many of which are exclusive to our site and we will soon be offering High Quality, exclusive gifts which you can send with your cards, which include Baratti & Milano Italian Choclates, Fine Wines, Demilly de Baere Champagne which is only available from our local supplier.

The guys in IT which shortly have finished our mobile app which will work on any phone and you'll also be able to order ALL of our cards not just a small section.

Also in the pipeline, we are developing a way to send payments to another PayPal account, which will be ideal for loved ones away from home ie gap years and family at University.

Alex @ HelloTurtle midweek fun

Wednesday afternoon - more than half way through the working week!
So - As promised - I sat down and had a good look at the login system.
The system was a bit of a mess - a long time ago it was in drop down menus at the top of the page. - The code was mostly recycled in moving to the new fancybox system and this had caused the troubles!
For starters, functions were defined multiple times in different files - this is no good! so all functions are now defined only once and from a sensible location.
Secondly, the more noticable bug came from the card builder - The login system used to try to navigate to a page that didnt really exist... this has been rectified - the code now checks what sort of page it is trying to load - and then either directs to a new page - or progresses the central pane as expected.
A third bug that was picked up - if you logged out - you were unable to log back in from the homepage... this was a very simple fix - replacing 1 existing line of code - with 2 lines of new code.
So the login function is now much improved (although hopefully no one had a problem previously!).

Development Blog - Branded Sites

Today I have been working on completing the last sections of code update for the basket to include the value of the gift cards/gift vouchers in the order total. the first section of code that required changing was the pre-basket preparation code that is run after the customer selects a method of postage and where to send the card.

Alex @ HelloTurtle

So its Tuesday afternoon - and again we are all dreaming ahead to the England match this evening.
Well before that happens - we have usual business of greetings cards and coding to be getting on with!
Today I took a short break from Mailmerge and looked at a few other bits of coding that needed doing.
Firstly, fixing the practically non-existent "payment history" page, I added funtions to this that show prepay balance - as well as a breakdown of prepay spending! (It also asks you to join Prepay if you have never used it - a great idea for all customers - gaining 25% extra credit on anything above £10 added). Updates currently limited to our development site - but check for them going live in the next day or so!
Also looking into a bug with the login (much more noticeable on the development site) - this code has been changed a few times and essentially needs a tidy up!! I will be "getting the hoover" out on that code tomorrow morning.

Development Blog - New Look Update 2

So today I've been recoding part of the checkout basket on the rebranded version of the site to factor in the value of the purchased gift card. I was initially planning to call the gift card details (amount and gift card reference code) from the session variable where it gets stored at the beginning of the process, however, as soon as I started working on the code, I realised that that method would only work on single line purchases (i.e. customer adds one card to basket, and then completes the checkout proceedure) as the variable would only store the most recently selected gift card.
Instead I opted for modifying the order table to include the amount and reference as additional fields attached to a specific card in the basket.

Alex @ HelloTurtle

So after an exciting weekend (well at least England won and the weather wasnt terrible...).
It is back to Personalised Greetings Cards - Still slaving away on this Mail Merge function.
Today I reordered some pages - It used to follow the same order as single cards and didnt really make much sense... Now it should be much more self explanatory (I will of course be writing a little guide on how to use the mail merge - so there will be no need for guessing or confusion when this function goes live).
I also fixed the newly ordered pages as the reorder caused a few bugs (it also made me discover a couple that were pre-existing).
Unfortunately I havent got a great deal more to tell you about the days work - I only got in at lunch time after being a pin-cushion for some NHS staff this morning. (It was an acupuncture appointment - nothing to worry about really!)

Development Blog - New Look Update

So today I have been continuing work on the branded site for New Look, and have now finished re-skinning the main pages, and have updated the CSS from our main site to factor in a different colour palette (black and white instead of varying shades of green).

Development Blog - New Look

Apart from HelloTurtle.com itself, we are also working on branded versions of our system for various department stores that offer their own gift cards. The intention is that a custoemr will be able to buy a gift card for someone, and at the same time purchase one of our greetings cards to send that gift card in.

Alex @ Helloturtle on a Friday!

So its Friday afternoon and like a fair proportion of the country - looking forward to chilling out with the England game later on.
  Been working hard on that mail merge today - Finally getting my head around how it is going to work, sorted some of the pages that you will see after customising your card. Added functions that let you select which addresses to send to amongst others...
  Also corrected a broken link on the live site (sorry everyone.. it was my fault) you can now select the correct party pets range!! 
 Have a good weekend everyone!
I know I will!

Alex @ Hello Turtle

My first blog - and ever so proud!!
I am Alex - a developer here at Helloturtle!

Did you like the new-look homepage?
AND the new birthday-ideas page!?
Well thank you very much - I put them together last week!
I can't take all the credit though - The design had nothing to do with me...

Working on a new Mail Merge Function at the moment,
It is slow progress (especially when every bit I try to add seems to break it and I have to have a rethink).

Development Blog - PayPoint

So today I've been looking further into the workings of the PayPoint.net Payment Gateway, and modifying some of the HelloTurtle code to allow for what should hopefully be the correct integration of the payment gateway.

Unfortunately at the moment we are still waiting on confirmation of account creation, and until that is received there is only so much work I can do for the gateway, as without the account I can't test the gateway is functioning properly or correctly design the payment page template.

The gateway system itself is actually reasonably simple (with the integration guide being detailed but not too long) and the page template fairly flexible (at least as far as skinning it goes).

Development Blog Update

Since starting work on this blog yesterday I have been messing around with the skinning options and additional gadgets that could be included in the page, with the intent of providing useful functionality to our users (including post archives, a link to HelloTurtle itself, and a search field to search this blog and any site we link to within the blog), and a visual appearance that is similar to our main site.

Hello Turtle Development Blog

Yesterday it was decided that each of the staff here at HelloTurtle would contribute a small amount to this blog every day or so, blogging about something related to their work with the company.
As one of the programmers at HelloTurtle, it was suggested that I blog about some of the things I have been working on recently for HelloTurtle, as well as things I planned to work on in the future.

So here is the first of my development blog posts, which given that it will be covering several of the things I have worked on since starting at HelloTurtle might be a little long, so for that I apologise, but please keep reading.

Exclusive HelloTurtle Eid Mubarak greeting cards

Exclusive HelloTurtle Eid Mubarak greeting cards available now at HelloTurtle.com

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga's male transformation made her look like Ralph Macchio with the greasy hair and unwashed look.

Hurricane Irene

I've just been reading about Hurricane Irene and it says that 14 people have already been killed and that they think it's going to cost them $2 billion to fix everything.

Banksy

I didn't get chance to watch Banksy's new show last night but im sure it was good and I love his art work.

Kim Kardashian

Only 6 days to go until Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries marry on Saturday 20th August. I really hope that they do a show on E! like Khloe and Lamar did.

Not much going on!!!

Been looking at todays news and there isn't much to talk about besides Barbara windsor having a National night out and a story about some pregnant fossil which has been dead for about 78million years.

Winehouse Home Robbed

First the London Riots now robbing from dead people's houses, what's happening to this country. There's nothing great about Great Britain anymore.

11-year-old rioter

I've just seen on the news about an 11-year-old rioter.

London riots

I saw Ashraf Haziq on the T.V. and it was absolutely disgusting watching the youths punch him, pretend to help him then go through his rucksack and steal his stuff.

Amy Childs

It's sad to be hearing Amy Childs is goin to be leaving TOWIE. She was one of the funniest characters on the show, it won't be the same without her.

Empire State Building

On Aug 22 the Empire State Building will light up blue, white and orange to commemorate the day the Dutch, French and Belgian settlers made their home in present day South Beach 350 years ago.

London riots

Still watching the London riots on T.V. it's shocking to see what people can do to their own homes and country.
It's unbelievable that children as young as 11years old are commitingm these sort of crimes.

Jennifer Aniston

Just seen the new film 'Horrible Bosses' with Jennifer Aniston in and I thought my boss was bad!!!

Cher Lloyd

What does anyone think of Cher Lloyd's Swagger Jagger? Personally I think it sounds like it's goin into 'Oh my Darling Clementine'

London riots

There has been stories about vigilantes having taken matters into their own hands and protecting their property during the London riot.At about 1 o'clock this morning three of the vigilantes were killed in a hit and run in conjunctin with the London riots.

David Cameron has given the order to bring out the water cannon. The police have been contemplating using smartwater instead of normal water to track the rioters after they've dispursed.

Chantelle Houghton and Alex Reid

Do you think that Chantelle Houghton and Alex Reid's relationship is real? I personally don't. Due to both of their past relationships, they're nothing to go by which leads many to question whether it's a showmance or the real deal. They were on 'This Morning' last week and both seemed to show a united front however people are still questioning whether it's a case of good acting or that the both of them have moved on from their troubled past relationships, Chantelle Houghton with Preston and Rav and Alex Reid with Katie Price.

London riots

I've been watching the London riots on the news all day and all night.

Young people have been using their Blackberry phones and Blackberry Messenger to communicate between each other and organise their movements

I think it was inevitable that this would happen because it has been shown on the news in Egypt and the middle east where mob culture has achieved what they wanted. Law and order is only maintained because people generally do as they are told.

Euromillions!

Euromillions is reaching fever pitch! It's quite bizarre. The more money that's on offer, the more people think they have a chance of winning it. To win that much money is a burden rather than a God send. Apparently the last prize winners had more money than the David & Victoria Beckham and Cheryl Cole put together. This creates a problem because they haven't actually worked for it or worked up to it so all that money in one place doesn't really do a lot of good. I'm sure most ordinary people couldn't spend that much in three lifetimes never mind one.

HelloTurtle

All my life I've been in the Forklift Industry and now I find myself investing in a new venture called "HelloTurtle" it's an On Line Personalised Greeting Card Company, very similar to Moon Pig & Funky Pigeon but with some great USP's and a new fresh look with hundreds of exclusive card designs...

I find it amazing that the same month as I invest in this industry that Nick Jenkins from Moon Pig sells out and his first job after leaving University was selling Forklift's..., talk about reverse rolls, I can't wait to sell out for £**** Million's

Next month will see the launch of our New Gift Page where you wil be able to purchase & Personalise some of the most exclusive and Best Wines, Sprirts, Champagne, Chocolates in the world, all despatched on the same day for the next day delivery...!

HelloTurtle

Helloturtle now takes Pay Pal and are due to launch their new front page Monday the 1st of August 2011, with more new designs, Pre Pay with great discounts and cards are from £1.69, it has a completly fresh look. I can't wait to see the finished article, well done everyone @ Proweb