Welcome to TrellisCart 1.0.0, our first official release. This is just the beginning. We are committed to continuously improving TrellisCart with new features, enhancements, and ongoing refinements designed to better serve store owners. Be sure to check back regularly and watch your admin panel for the latest updates, improvements, and new releases as TrellisCart continues to grow.

What Features do we have in this cart?

STOREFRONT

• Responsive homepage with hero banner, featured products, sale items, and category tiles
• Category pages with sidebar filters – filter by sale, new, in stock, brand, and max price
• Sort products by featured, price, or newest
• Product pages with image gallery, variant options, stock indicator, and star ratings
• Customer reviews with star ratings on product and category pages
• Related products section on every product page
• Dedicated specials page listing all current sale items
• Sitewide search with full catalog browse mode
• Newsletter signup section
• Static store pages – About, Shipping Policy, Privacy Policy, and more
• Clean SEO-friendly URLs

SHOPPING CART

• Persistent cart that survives page navigation
• AJAX add-to-cart with instant cart count update – no page reload
• Inline quantity update and item removal
• Save cart for later with a custom name, stored for 30 days
• Restore any saved cart back to active with one click
• Coupon code field with instant feedback
• Free shipping progress message showing how much more to qualify
• Order summary with subtotal, discount, shipping, tax, and grand total

COUPONS & PROMOTIONS

• Percent Off, Fixed Amount, and Free Shipping coupon types
• Optional minimum order amount, max uses cap, and start/end dates
• Usage counter tracked in real time
• Time-limited sale pricing on any product with optional date range
• Featured products manager for homepage spotlight

CHECKOUT

• Single-page checkout – address, shipping method, and payment in one flow
• Guest checkout available – no account required
• Logged-in customers auto-fill from their saved default address
• Shipping methods – Standard, Expedited, and Overnight with flat rates, Fedex, UPS, USPS
• Free shipping applied automatically when order meets the threshold
• Stripe credit and debit card processing
• PayPal payments
• Bank transfer and check with custom instructions
• Cash on delivery with custom instructions
• Tax, shipping, and discount shown before payment confirmation
• Order confirmation page with full summary

CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS

• Dashboard showing order count, total spend, and recent activity
• Full order history with status tracking
• Order detail page with items, tracking number, and status updates
• Printable customer invoice
• Saved carts list with one-click restore
• Wishlist – add from any product page, move to cart anytime
• Address book with multiple saved addresses and a default
• Profile settings – name, phone, and newsletter preference
• Password change with current password verification

PRODUCTS & CATALOG

• Unlimited products and categories
• Unlimited subcategory depth
• Product name, SKU, price, sale price, and cost price
• Stock quantity tracking with low stock alert threshold
• Weight and dimensions for shipping
• Short and long HTML description
• Product image upload
• Multiple category assignment
• Manufacturer and brand assignment
• Product variants and options (size, color, material, etc.)
• Active, Featured, and New Arrivals toggles
• SEO meta title, description, and keywords per product

ADMIN PANEL

• Dashboard with today’s revenue, order count, pending orders, low stock count, and recoverable cart value
• Product list with search, category filter, status filter, and bulk actions
• Full product add and edit form
• Category tree with unlimited nesting
• Manufacturers and brands management
• Orders list with search and status filter
• Order detail with status timeline, tracking number, customer notes, and history log
• Printable invoice and packing slip per order
• Update order status with optional customer notification
• Customer list with search, group filter, and CSV export
• Customer detail page with full order history and address book
• Product reviews moderation – approve, unpublish, or delete
• Banner manager for homepage and category page promotions
• Store pages editor for About, Policies, and custom pages
• Saved carts recovery panel with send recovery email option
• Tax rates for multiple zones (example you can have a tax rate for New Mexico, Texas, Florida, Ect)

SALES REPORTS

• Sales report – revenue, order count, average order value, and new customers by date range
• Daily sales breakdown table
• Top 10 products by revenue
• Low stock report – separate panels for out of stock and low stock items
• Admin activity log – every admin action recorded with timestamp and IP address
• CSV export on reports

STORE SETTINGS

• Store name, email, currency, timezone, and tagline
• Shipping methods with individual flat rates – Standard, Expedited, and Overnight, Fexex, UPS, USPS
• Free shipping threshold
• Global tax rate or zone-based tax rates by region
• Payment method configuration – enable and disable each method independently
• SMTP email setup for reliable order confirmation delivery
• SEO defaults for the store with per-product and per-category overrides

ADMIN SYSTEM

• Three admin role levels – Staff, Admin, and Super Admin
• Unlimited admin users with role-based access control
• Argon2 hashed admin passwords with 12-character minimum
• Admin activity log tracking every action
• Personal admin account page with password change and recent activity

SECURITY

• PDO prepared statements on every query – SQL injection not possible
• CSRF token protection on every form
• bcrypt password hashing for all customer and admin accounts
• Apache security headers – X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy
• Direct access blocked on includes, storage, and template directories
• Raw file types blocked – .sql, .log, .env, .key, and others
• Directory listing disabled
• Role-based access control throughout the admin panel

INSTALLER & UPGRADES

• 5-step browser-based installer – no command line required
• Test database connection before committing
• Automatic schema creation and seed data on install
• Upgrade center with full file and database backup before any upgrade
• Rollback to any previous backup
• Maintenance mode during upgrades
• Update to latest version through admin panel

ZEN-CART MIGRATION

• Built-in Zen-Cart importer connects directly to your existing database
• Imports products, categories, manufacturers, customers, orders, reviews, and coupons
• Animated admin progress interface
• Safe to run multiple times without creating duplicates

PLATFORM

• PHP 8.0 or higher
• MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.3+
• Runs on any standard shared hosting – no root access required
• No Composer, no npm, no build tools – upload and install
• Works alongside WordPress in a subdirectory
• Compatible with cPanel, Plesk, and DirectAdmin hosting
• Plugin system for custom extensions
• Full developer documentation included
• No monthly fees, no transaction fees, no third-party data access