From time to time, we get questions about how taxes work in Hotcakes, and it often would lead to our clients wondering if we supported a tax calculation provider of some name.  There's a surprisingly large number of tax providers out there, and you automatically have your choice of two when you use Hotcakes, including the built-in tax schedule and Avalara's Avatax.  With this release, you're no longer limited to those options.  You can now have any tax provider in the world integrated with Hotcakes.

Version 1.10.0: Taxes Provider

We ended up having to keep version 1.10 pretty lean in terms of number of updates.  However, the updates we've included do pack a punch when it comes to power and flexibility.  We have another release right around the corner that our partners are looking at too.  Once they're done kicking the tires, we'll have a ton of awesome sauce to talk to you about.  

Prerequisites

As always, please test your upgrades on a development version of your site first. Be sure to back-up prior to upgrade, and merge any noted viewset changes as desired. We are not responsible for any Hotcakes that get spilled on the floor.

Download: Install/Upgrade

You can always download the latest Hotcakes release and other related downloads from our download page.

Release Highlights

Tax Provider Extension Point

• We've had support for a built-in tax schedule and Avalara’s Avatax service. Now, you can add any kind of tax provider that you need. This allows you to connect to any third party tax calculation services, or to run your own business logic that might affect taxes.

PayPal Express Anonymous Checkout

• You could already accept credit cards using PayPal Express if you set it up in PayPal’s configuration area. Now, you can be fully compliant with this setting by enabling it in Hotcakes too.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  If you're already using the Google Analytics E-Commerce Tracking feature, you'll need to update your site's Google Analytics script to use the "universal" code in order for the integration to continue to work.

Enhancements

23149 - Taxes Provider Model Added - A tax provider model has been put into place that allows you to use a tax calculation service other than Hotcakes tax schedules and Avatax. This includes a sample project and documentation for you to get started with your own provider project in minutes.

23740 - CI:SI:PI: Able to Not Require an Account When Using PayPal Express - We've added a required parameter that PayPal expects if you’re wanting to allow credit cards to be accepted through PayPal without a PayPal login. You still need to enable this in PayPal too.

24276 - Upgrade Google E-Commerce Integration - Sites should be upgrading their Google Analytics scripts to use the most recent API. When they do, the Google E-Commmerce integration doesn't work as expected.

Bug Fixes

None

Viewset Changes

This release doesn't have any viewset changes, but you should always perform a comparison of your viewset to the default viewset anyway to ensure that you have any desired updates from prior releases.

In the very least, you should always review the Cart, Checkout, CSS, and JavaScript updates when there are any. These are areas that can directly affect how well your store is performing.

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