Icecat Release Notes November 23, 2020: login without email confirmation, optimized anti-rip, WIZ added and fixing image issues

In these Icecat Release Notes of November 23, 2020, we summarize the results of sprint 108. We first discuss the login without email confirmation. Further, we explain data security improvements. The previous Icecat Release Notes November are here.

Login without email confirmation new users

One of the most common support questions was: “I didn’t receive the email confirmation email, please help as I can’t login.” To remedy this, the system now allows for temporary login with the email confirmation still pending. To sum up the changes:
From now on, we redirect a new user to the “My Profile” tab after submitting the Registration form. Further, we added a reminder about a pending email confirmation to the user interface. And, finally, we updated the email confirmation process (in our back-end) slightly.

Anti-Rip protection moved to balancer

We moved the anti-rip ban logic from our server code to the traffic balancer in our network. It means that all requests from banned users are processed and rejected in our balancer. Thus, requests from banned users don’t reach the Icecat website anymore, which means that the performance of the website improves. From now on DDOS or ripping attacks cause less website congestion.

New Contact us link if Search gives no results

We added a new contact us link in the search result page on the Icecat site. We like to stimulate our users to reach out to us to fix the two typical cases: obtaining a brand’s authorization or adding new products to the database.

Corrected display of picture dimensions

In the product page image pop-up, we show the dimensions of an image. A user mentioned that this data does not always match the dimensions of the image linked on this popup. In the fix, this is now corrected. The dimensions of a linked image are now perfectly matching.

Further, we noticed a problem with a pHash function: during DevOps work, this library was moved and accidentally the hash string length was reduced. As this library uses the length for image checks, it started to deactivate images erroneously during import processes. The team detected the problem soon thereafter, resolved it, and relaunched the imports so that the correct images are active once again.

Signify feed: new brand WIZ added

Regarding the Signify feed, we added support for the new Signify brand, WIZ. Furthermore, we added support for two more languages: English for Indonesia (EN_ID) and English for India (EN_IN). Separating these resolve messaging conflicts.

Tech Taxonomy enrichment

Per a special client request, we have generically added an additional eight specs to 6,745 tech categories. In the spec group Logistical Data, we added: Technical Name, Quantity Per Pack, and UN Chapter 38.3 Test Summary Available. Further, in the spec group Battery, we added Rechargeable Battery, Number Of Battery Cells, Battery Level Indicator. Finally, as generic Features we added Substance and Emergency Telephone Number.

URL field added in assignment tracking

We added the possibility to add a product link into the Assignment Tracking System in the Icecat Vendor Central, our editorial PIM. It helps the editorial team to retrieve the relevant product descriptions more easily. The next step is to add this as a filter to the product search as well.