Sell Merchandise & More: PodPledge's Biggest Update EVER Is Now Live!

January 8th, 2018

After an extensive period of development, we are excited to unveil PodPledge's biggest website update ever!

But, we're getting ahead of ourselves! Here's the complete list of everything that's in this update:
 

Project Pages & Website Updates

Supporters can now make pledges to multiple projects in a single order. (Previously, backing multiple projects would require placing multiple orders.) If the Tip Jar option is used when making a pledge to multiple projects, the tip will be distributed proportionately to each of them.

Redesigned the pledge page, where supporters review their purchase and enter their shipping & billing information.

Redesigned the receipt page that is displayed after placing a pledge.

Once a pledge or merchandise item has been selected, a cart icon is displayed at the top of each page. This icon lists how many different items are in the cart, and it links to the "checkout" page to complete the purchase.

If merchandise has been added to a project, then a "Shop" tab is added to the project's page. The Shop tab links to a new section that lists all of the merchandise available for that project. (See sample image below.)

The checkout page will calculate real-time U.S.P.S. shipping rates if the cart contains merchandise that requires shipping.

All orders can now be paid for by credit card or PayPal. (Previously, not all projects could be paid for by both credit card or PayPal. Now, that restriction is gone, and every order can be paid for with whichever method is most convenient.
 

Account Area Updates

Added My Shop Orders page to the Account Area. This new section appears after a user makes their first merchandise purchase. This page lists the merchandise purchases the user has made, each order's shipping status, and any tracking numbers that have been generated.

Added a Merchandise page to each project in the My Projects section of the Account Area. This area can be used to add merchandise to the project, which will create a "shop" page where they can be purchased. (Currently Merchandise sales are available to Project Owners in the U.S. only. Support for International Project Owners is coming soon!)

Added a Merchandise Fulfillment page to each project in the My Projects section of the Account Area. (This page appears after you add your first Merchandise item.) The Merchandise Fulfillment page lists all purchases of your merchandise that have been made by supporters. The page includes tools to update the shipping status of each merchandise order, export the data to a spreadsheet, enter tracking numbers, or send messages to those supporters. 

The Incentive Fulfillment link in each project in the My Projects section of the Account Area will now also display the number of incentives awaiting fulfillment.

Added a Referral Link to the My Dashboard section of the Account Area. This link can used to send people to your project pages, and will track the resulting traffic, sales, and even any new projects that those users create.

The Project Settings page for each project now has an option to upload a Header Image. If a Header Image is uploaded, it will replace the plain text title of the project on its public page. (See the example images below.)

Here is an example of a project page with the original plain text title at the top of its page:

Here is an example of a project page with the new title area that uses a Header Image at the top of its page:

Dozens of interface and documentation updates were also made throughout the front and back ends of the website.

We hope the new and updated features in this update improve the user experience for all Project Owners and their Supporters. Enjoy the new tools and options, and Stay Inspired!