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Hello everyone, and welcome to This Month in Solidus — October 2020! Let's dive in to what's new with the platform.

### Extension updates for October

- [**Solidus Dev Support**](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus_dev_support) has seen quite a few updates for this month - there's now a boilerplate for extension configuration files, we've added configuration for `github_changelog_generator` (ensuring consistent changelogs across extensions), and made a few more minor changes and bugfixes.

- [**Solidus Content**](https://github.com/solidusio-contrib/solidus_content) now supports DatoCMS!

- [**Solidus Subscriptions**](https://github.com/solidusio-contrib/solidus_subscriptions) now integrates with Churn Buster, event emissions and tracking has been improved, and a tab has been added to the admin user view that displays existing subscriptions for any given user. Handy!

- [**Solidus PayPal Commerce Platform**](https://github.com/solidusio-contrib/solidus_paypal_commerce_platform) has had a few minor bugfixes, but more importantly you're now able to display PayPal's credit messaging to your users before checkout, which is shown to increase conversion rates and average order value. Version 0.2.1 is now live!

- [**Solidus PayPal Braintree**](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus_paypal_braintree) has also had PayPal's credit messaging added (when PayPal is being used and the checkout flow is set to `checkout`), in addition to a whole lot of minor improvements and an update to PayPal's new SDK (which allows the new PayPal credit options like Pay in 4 to be available). Version 1.0.0 is now live!

### Core updates this October

Here's what happened in October:

- [Updated permission set admin tab display.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3783) Previously, if a user had access to only a subset of the menu items under 'settings', it would prevent the 'settings' tab from showing up. This bugfix - by Elia Schito - fixes that issue!
- [Updated incorrect state generation for Italy.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3722) In any instance where a `Carmen::Subregion` existed for a country, we would use the subregion as the states for that country. However, in some instances, this is incorrect. In Italy's case, we need to be using the subregions subregions. There are more countries with this issue - but this PR provides the framework to fix those countries as they are identified. Sean Denny - that's me - is responsible for this fix!
- [Added a preference for phone number validation.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3685) Now you can indicate in your config preferences whether or not you'd like to validate phone number presence. This one was also mine!
- [Updates the install generator to correctly install extra extensions.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3777) There was an issue where, when you're installing extra extensions during Solidus installation (like [`solidus_auth_devise`](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus_auth_devise) or [`solidus_paypal_commerce_platform`](https://github.com/solidusio-contrib/solidus_paypal_commerce_platform)), the installation would fail. This fixes that bug. Another one from me - last one, I swear!
- [Fixed promotions that had no actions being considered active.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3749) Calling `active?` on a promotion with no actions will now return `false`. Thanks to Daniele Palombo for this update!
- [Refactored address state validation.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3129) State validation can now be performed by Solidus, or by a user provided class. Also provides a method to switch back to using the old state validation, if needed. Thanks, Dumitru Ceban!
- [The `rates_for_items` method now respects validity period for tax rates.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3768) The `rates_for_items` method in TaxHelpers did not check if the rate was active before applying it, leading to some incorrect tax calculations in some cases. Thanks Simon Kiener for this great bugfix, and for your first PR on Solidus!
- [Products now have a `discontinue_on` field.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3793) In the same way that `available_on` controls when the product starts being active, the `discontinue_on` field will control when the product _stops_ being active. Thanks Thomas von Deyen for this great new feature!
- [Updates internal mapping for event subscriber registration.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3758) The old method of mapping event subscriber registrations could cause issues with Zeitwerk on Rails 6, this change ensures that we won't have that problem! Thanks, Andrea Longhi!
- [Fixed a bug where disabling track inventory would disable all of the variants inventory fields.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3704) If there are multiple variants for a product, and you disable "track inventory" for only one of the variants, all of the variatns inventory fields would be disabled. This fixes that issue! Thanks, Felix Holmgren!


### Solidus 2.11 IS OUT!

This was in our last update, but we felt we should stress again: Solidus 2.11 is now out and ready to be used! This update will be the last until Solidus 3.0. It's important to note that the only change we'll be making in 3.0 is to remove all deprecated functionality - so be on the lookout for deprecation warnings in this release, as you'll need to fix those before updating to 3.0!

Stay tuned for more information about Solidus 3.0 - we're excited to be approaching our next major version release!

### Solidus Roadmap Survey

We're working hard on next year's roadmap, and part of that process is the yearly [**Solidus Roadmap Survey**](https://forms.gle/hD1S1YM78JmfZXhe6). The survey is your chance to let us know what direction you want Solidus to go in. Please feel free to share it with your colleagues and clients so they can also chime in with their thoughts. More responses means a more robust roadmap, so we want to get as many responses as possible!

Dive in and see everything that happened in the Solidus world in October 2020


This Month in Solidus: October 2020

SolidusConf 2020 is over! Wow, what a conference! First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone who attended and supported the conference. It's so great to see the community come together, <s>even</s> especially in these hard times!

Each one of the talks was excellent, and I’m glad that we were able to hear from such talented people! Here’s a rundown of each of the talks and events that occurred during the conference:

## Day 1

### Peter Berkenbosch
##### Building Payment Provider Integrations

Peter Berkenbosch has been a long-time friend of the Solidus community, and someone who has worked very hard on the project, so I think it’s only fitting that we heard from him first!

In [his talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWznleqof8s&list=PLLD8ikQvfJqpscVZS3yJuftojeKcsjWeV&index=2&ab_channel=Solidus), Peter explains how to generate new extensions using `solidus_dev_support`, and from there, how to integrate Solidus with any payment provider you’d like. Peter does an excellent job going over some of the more surprising and useful defaults that Solidus provides. Big thanks to Peter for starting the conference off on a high note!

### Taylor Scott
##### The 5 W’s of Application Logging

Taylor Scott is a developer currently working at Sendoso. He’s been active in the Solidus community for years, so we were excited to have him speak at SolidusConf 2020.

[Taylor's talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0XAmRxkr3w&list=PLLD8ikQvfJqpscVZS3yJuftojeKcsjWeV&index=1&pp=iAQB) went over a subject that I think is valuable to everyone - application logging. It sounds like a simple subject, but done poorly, it can lead to some very hard times. In his talk, Taylor takes us through some of the ways we can improve our application logging, so we always have a grasp on the who, what, when, where, and why of our application.

### Edwin Cruz
##### Marketplace on Solidus, Helping Local Businesses

Edwin Cruz is co-founders and CTO at MagmaLabs, a Mexico-based company that specializes in Ruby on Rails and Solidus. Edwin and MagmaLabs has been an integral part of the Solidus community, and it’s always a pleasure to hear from him!

[Edwin's talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtZcxRQAskg&list=PLLD8ikQvfJqpscVZS3yJuftojeKcsjWeV&index=3&pp=iAQB) is an intriguing look into what it takes to get a marketplace running on Solidus. He goes over some of the ways that Solidus makes marketplaces easy, as well as some of the difficulties his team faced along the way.

### Sean Denny
##### Don’t Panic: The Solidus Guide to ReactJS

[This one is my talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgHZLrhNAEo&list=PLLD8ikQvfJqpscVZS3yJuftojeKcsjWeV&index=4&pp=iAQB)! I’ve been working with the Solidus community for the last few years. I want to see Solidus thrive, and I think the best way to do that is to engage with the community as much as possible. I’ve organized the last 3 SolidusConfs, and more recently started putting together monthly meetups for the Solidus community.

My workshop is all about ReactJS and how to work with it in the context of Solidus. In the workshop, we rebuild the entire product show page from erb to ReactJS, and get an understanding of exactly what ReactJS is and how it works. The goal was to create a high-level introduction for working with ReactJS to build beautiful and fast frontends for Solidus, and I think it was a success!

### Rob Johnson
##### Solidus & Subscriptions: Adventures of a Publisher Trying to Disrupt Itself 

Rob Johnson is VP of Digital at Deseret Book and has been working with design, content and development teams since 2009. He was the MC for last years conference, and this year he took his turn on the stage.

[Rob's talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1jnBbJgFGI&list=PLLD8ikQvfJqpscVZS3yJuftojeKcsjWeV&index=5&pp=iAQB) is an interesting dive into the world of subscription-based sales. How do you offer them? How do you _pay_ for them? Is the cannibalization of sales worth it? And how does a large, multi-million dollar business go about disrupting themselves? The talk was a welcome addition to a lineup that was - until that point - extremely technical, and provided some huge insights into the business behind what we do. I thought it was a fitting end for day 1 of the conference, and set up day 2 nicely.

## Day 2

### Richard Gilbert
##### E-Commerce & Consumer Financing Options

Day 2 started with a bang! We first heard from Richard Gilbert. Richard is head of integrations at PayPal, and has been working closely with Solidus in recent years. PayPal has been a gold sponsor for SolidusConf for the last 2 years, and has been an incredible ally for the platform.

In [his talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy4T4r0zK04&list=PLLD8ikQvfJqpscVZS3yJuftojeKcsjWeV&index=6&pp=iAQB), Richard spoke about the importance of offering consumer financing options. Obviously, PayPal has been on the forefront of providing payment options for consumers for quite some time, so it’s great to hear from them - not just about the services they offer (and a sneak peak into what they’ll be offering soon), but also about why consumer financing is important, and some of the best practices surrounding that. 

### Alberto Vena
##### The State of Solidus

Alberto Vena - founder of Nebulab - has a lot of passion for the world of open source. If you’ve been in the Solidus community for any length of time, then you probably already know Alberto well. He’s always ready to help on the `#support` channel, or on any Github issues or PRs, and we’re lucky to have him as part of this community - which is why we were excited to hear from him for the first time ever as a SolidusConf speaker.

Alberto went over the past, present and future of Solidus in [his talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZhF9srB2_0&list=PLLD8ikQvfJqpscVZS3yJuftojeKcsjWeV&index=7&pp=iAQB). When planning for the future, it’s important to know where you came from, and his talk did a great job in tying everything together, as well as providing some interesting paths forward for the community.

### Sean Denny, Alberto Vena, Elia Schito
##### Lightning Rounds

One of our long-lasting traditions at SolidusConf is the lightning rounds. This is an opportunity for the community to get up on stage and speak about what they’re passionate about. This year, [we heard](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yDLCddmbt4&list=PLLD8ikQvfJqpscVZS3yJuftojeKcsjWeV&index=8&pp=iAQB) from Sean Denny, Alberto Vena, and a newcomer to the SolidusConf stage - Elia Schito. 

Sean (that’s me!) started us off with a breakdown of the [Solidus demo.](https://demo.solidus.io) I gave a quick tour of some of the cooler features of the demo, as well as an explanation for how the open admin works. Elia spoke next about some of the work happening in `solidusio-contrib` repositories - such as `solidus_content`, `solidus_importer`, and `solidus_webhooks`. Alberto ended the session with a rundown of the `solidus_starter_frontend` (a new version of the default Solidus frontend) and some next steps for the frontend of Solidus.

### Thomas Sample
##### The 10 Best Ways to SEO Audit Your Solidus Store for Free

Thomas Sample gave the second workshop of SolidusConf 2020, and this one was all about SEO. For those who don’t know him, Thomas is the founder of Karma Creative, a full service digital agency based in New York. He’s very passionate about Solidus, and a fantastic speaker, and that’s why we’re happy to have him back at SolidusConf every year.

[Thomas's workshop](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_5HEJtA8I0&list=PLLD8ikQvfJqpscVZS3yJuftojeKcsjWeV&index=9&pp=iAQB) goes into detail about some of the tools & techniques that you can use to get your SEO to the next level. Rather than just _tell_ us about these tools & techniques, this year he walked us through the actual implementation. It was an extremely helpful dive into the world of SEO.

### Jared Norman
##### The Agile Fluency Model and eCommerce

Jared Norman is brand new to the SolidusConf stage, but he’s been with Solidus since the very beginning. Jared worked at Stembolt when the decision was made to fork Spree, and has since started his own development agency - SuperGood Software. We wanted to end the conference on a strong note, and Jared delivered in spades. 

[Jared's talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M0h2D4IvkE&list=PLLD8ikQvfJqpscVZS3yJuftojeKcsjWeV&index=10&pp=iAQB) was all about Agile. He talks about how the Agile methodology matters to individuals, to businesses, and to Solidus, and what steps we can take to implement the Agile methodology into our own processes, as well as clearing up some common misconceptions.

## Final Thoughts

Each and every one of our speakers at SolidusConf gave their all this year, and I think it really shows. In this difficult time, it’s awe-inspiring to see the Solidus community come together - stronger than ever. 

This was our first time running a fully digital conference. We learned a lot of lessons, and we’re taking those with us for the next conference. But for me, the biggest takeaway is this: Despite all of the difficulties we’ve faced, the Solidus community remains stronger than ever. Thanks for sticking with us, and helping us build the future of eCommerce.

SolidusConf 2020 has concluded! Let's take a look back at some of the speakers and what we learned.


SolidusConf 2020 Recap

Hello everyone, and welcome to This Month in Solidus — September 2020! Let's dive in to what's new with the platform.

### Extension updates for September

- **NextJS Storefront:** There's a new Solidus storefront on the block - [`solidus_nextjs_frontend`](https://github.com/nebulab/solidus_nextjs_frontend)! We're using GraphQL and NextJS to bring you the snappiest frontend we can build. There's still some work to do, but keep an eye out on this project. We've completed the basic structure and GraphQL SDK, and we're working on the checkout now. Thanks to Andrea Vassallo, Rainer Dema, Dino Hamzić, and Alessio Rocco from Nebulab.
- **Data Importer**: Version 0.2.0 is officially out! With this release of [`solidus_importer`](https://github.com/solidusio-contrib/solidus_importer), the order importer has been fully hooked in. Now you'll be able to import orders from anywhere - using the [Shopify CSV](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/import-export/using-csv) format. Thanks to Mattia Roccoberton, Flavio Auciello, and Elia Schito from Nebulab!
- **Data Feeds**: With the release of the data importer, we decided that we also needed a way to export data. This is what the [`solidus_feeds`](https://github.com/nebulab/solidus_feeds/) extension handles! It's still a work in progress, but it adds support for generating Google Merchant feeds, and publishing them to S3. We're releasing our first version soon, then we'll be adding more feeds and uploaders. Stay tuned for more info - and thanks to Elia Schito and Nicolò Rebughini from Nebulab.

### Core updates this September

Here's what happened in September:

- [Added a link to stock movements from the stocks page.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3779) Keeping track of your inventory is a challenge in any business, so to make things easier we've included a link on the stock page, where you can see the recent stock movements for any piece of inventory. Sean Denny - that's me! - is to blame for this change.
- [Made admin order event links translatable.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3772) The approve/cancel/resume buttons on admin orders are now able to be translated - thanks to Thomas von Deyen!
- [Made the email links on admin order index page consistent.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3767) Previously, these links would either go to the user page if it exists, or be a mailto link if the user did not exist. This was confusing, so Github user `brchristian` updated it so the email is not a link if the user does not exist, and also added a mailto icon next to every email address, so we can keep the mailto functionality. Thanks!
- [Fixed an address validation issue concerning states.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3763) There was a bug that happened with address validation where if you switched from a country that has states to one that does not, the address validation would fail because it was expecting the country without states to have a state. This PR fixes that issue - thanks to Dumitru Ceban for fixing this!
- [Fixed a bug where the default tax category was not being displayed on the product page.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3759) Even when a default tax category was picked, the product page still showed "none" as the selected option. This PR fixes that - thanks Valentín Sanjuan! Also, this was Valentíns first PR submission to Solidus. We're always happy to see new contributors!
- [Exposed a refresh() method for sortable tables in JS.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3754) This allows us to call `refresh()` on a sortable table on demand. Thanks to Github user `brunoao86` for this change - and for being another first-time contributor to Solidus. Welcome to the club!
- [Fixed incorrect resource error handling.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3728) On a nil resource, Solidus should throw a 404 error and redirect to the resource index page, however in some cases a 500 error was thrown directing to an error page. This PR fixes that issue. Thanks to first-time contributor Ikraam Ghoor for this change!
- [Removed custom CanCanCan action aliases.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3701) This removes and deprecates usages of CanCanCan custom action aliases, as they're not needed in newer versions of CanCanCan and can (can can) make upgrading to new versions harder. Thanks to Filippo Liverani for this change.
- [Removed an N+1 query on the shipment model.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3598) This simply adds `products` to an includes statement, which just so happens to drastically decrease the amount of DB queries needed. Thanks to first-time contributor Alban for this crucial change!

### Solidus 2.11 IS OUT NOW!

*BIG NEWS*! Solidus 2.11 is now out and ready to be used! This update will be the last until Solidus 3.0. It's important to note that the only change we'll be making in 3.0 is to remove all deprecated functionality - so be on the lookout for deprecation warnings in this release, as you'll need to fix those before updating to 3.0!

Stay tuned for more information about Solidus 3.0 - we're excited to be approaching our next major version release!

### Solidus Roadmap Survey

We're working hard on next year's roadmap, and part of that process is the yearly [**Solidus Roadmap Survey**](https://forms.gle/hD1S1YM78JmfZXhe6). The survey is your chance to let us know what direction you want Solidus to go in. Please feel free to share it with your colleagues and clients so they can also chime in with their thoughts. More responses means a more robust roadmap, so we want to get as many responses as possible!

### Solidus Meetup - October 30th

October's meetup is approaching fast! It will be held on October 30th at 10AM CT - [here's the sign-up link.](https://live.remo.co/e/solidus-meetup-2) We'll be talking about tips & tricks when it comes to contributing to Solidus, so swing by, say hi, and don't forget to get those last PRs you need done for HacktoberFest.

Dive in and see everything that happened in the Solidus world in September 2020: Bug fixes, convenient changes, and information on our next Solidus Meetup. Also: Solidus 2.11 is live!


This Month in Solidus: September 2020

- [2.11.0 on GitHub](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/releases/tag/v2.11.0)
- [2.11.0 on RubyGems](https://rubygems.org/gems/solidus/versions/2.11.0)

Thanks to all contributors, testers, and users who made this release possible.

This version's support will end in 18 months: 2022-04-23.

## What's next?

Before digging into the most important changes introduced by Solidus 2.11, we want to give you a couple of big announcements.

### Next versions

Solidus 2.11 is the last minor release for version 2 of Solidus. The next release will be **Solidus 3.0** 🎉.

### Solidus 3.0

Solidus 3.0 will not introduce any new features.

In Solidus 3.0, we are going to **remove all the deprecation introduced by Solidus 2**.

So Solidus 2.11 is your last chance to fix all the deprecations on your application because, with Solidus 3.0, they will stop working.

### What's changed?

Full changelog can be found on our
[GitHub repository](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/releases/tag/v2.11.0/changelog.md)
but here's a list of major changes:

**Removed support for Rails 5.1**

Rails 5.1 is not maintained anymore, we deprecated it in 2.10 so it's time to remove it entirely.

**Add `billing_address_required` preference**

The new preference controls whether validations will require the presence of the billing address.

**Add BCC email to order confirmation emails**

Spree::Store model now accepts a BCC email field that, when present, will be used in order confirmation emails.

**Order merger and order updater now require valid order**

The order merger and order updater will complete successfully only on valid orders. This new behavior is opt-in with this release, but will become the default from Solidus 3.0.

You can enable this feature right now by setting the preference with `Spree::Config.run_order_validations_on_order_updater = true`.

**Stop calling `Spree::Refund#perform!` after creating a refund**

From Solidus v3.0 onwards, #perform! will need to be explicitly called when creating new refunds. Please, change your code from:

`Spree::Refund.create(your: attributes)`

to:

`Spree::Refund.create(your: attributes, perform_after_creation: false).perform!`

The `perform_after_creation` attribute will be deprecated in Solidus 3.x.

**Allow to configure `guest_token` cookie options**

The guest_token cookie is currently always only allowed for the current domain, including subdomain. If you want to use the cookie on a different subdomain you can use the preference `guest_token_cookie_options`.

**Add event subscribers automatically**

Event subscribers are now loaded automatically when their source file is placed under the directory `app/subscribers` and filename ends with `_subscriber.rb`. This works both for Solidus core, Solidus extensions and the store app.

If you have any custom subscribers with an explicit subscription (i.e. `MyCustomSubscriber.subscribe!`) ensure they're under `app/subscribers` path and remove the explicit subscriptions from your app initializer (i.e `MyCustomSubscriber.subscribe!`).

**Add address default for billing as well**

It's now possible to mark an address as default for billing with the column `default_billing`.

**Getting closer to completely replace Paranoia with Discard**

We're getting closer to fully replace Paranoia with Discard. Paranoia methods have been fully deprecated, so you're encouraged to switch to Discard also in your store codebase.

**Add ActiveStorage adapter**

From Rails 6.1 ActiveStorage will support public blob URLs and Solidus should be ready to offer an ActiveStorage adapter to new stores.

**Introduce `Address#name`**

We're going to introduce the new column `name` for addresses that will replace the existing `first_name` and `last_name`. In preparation of this, we're now introducing a virtual attribute name that works like and replaces` #full_name`.

**Replace `Spree.routes` with `Spree.pathFor`**

The use of `Spree.routes` is now deprecated. You can check in your browser developer tools console for deprecation messages.

**Configurable order state machine with new default**

The order state machine class is now configurable, just like other models state machines. Also, a simplified version of the current state machine will be the new default in Solidus 3.x.

**Include payment methods in installer**

Solidus installer has now a section for installing payment method gems out of the box. Currently, the only available gem is `solidus_paypal_commerce_platform`.

**Remove CanCanCan custom actions aliases**

`CanCanCan` custom action aliases have been deprecated and replaced with default ones to make it easier upgrading to newer versions of `CanCanCan`. A new application preference has been introduced: `use_custom_cancancan_actions` which when set to:

- `true` will still accept using custom aliases (default for existing applications).
- `false` any custom aliases defined previously won't be handled anymore by Solidus.

Ensure double-checking all the custom defined permissions in your application before switching to `use_custom_cancancan_actions` preference to `false`.

**Introduce encrypted preference type**

A new preference type `encrypted_string` has been introduced allowing to encrypt the value assigned to the preference to avoid exposing it in case a malicious user gets access to the DB or a dump. Check the related [guide](https:/legacy-guides.solidus.io/developers/preferences/add-model-preferences.html#details-for-encrypted_string-type) for more details.

**Add "discontinue on" attribute to products**

Adds a `discontinue_on` attribute to products. This accompanies the `available_on` attribute to complete the "Time Based Availability" feature. The `Product.available` scope and `Product#avaliable?` method take this new date field into account to calculate the availability of products.

**Fixed how the default reimbursement store-credit category is fetched**

Before this change the store-credit category for reimbursement was fetched by name using a missing translation (i.e. `en.spree.store_credit_category.default`) that resulted in the name "Default". If no category was found the code fell back on the first category from the database, which wasn't guaranteed to be the right one. Trying to update the translation to the desired category name was also useless due to how code was loaded. Now it's possible to disable this legacy behavior and switch to a simpler one, in which the code will look for a CreditCategory named "Reimbursement". Here's a list of checks and fixes you can perform to ensure you can enable the correct implementation:

- If you don't use reimbursements you're good to go, skip below to Disabling the legacy behavior.
- Ensure you didn't decorate or patched any of the involved code, especially:
    - `Spree::StoreCreditCategory.reimbursement_category`.
    - `Spree::StoreCreditCategory.reimbursement_category_name`.
- Ensure your "production" environment is already returning the correct category, you can assess that by running this in your "production" console: `Spree::StoreCreditCategory.reimbursement_category(nil).name == "Reimbursement"`.

Disabling the legacy behavior If everything is sound, or you are ok with a different category name for newly created reimbursement store credits you can switch to the new behavior by configuring this Solidus preference in your spree.rb initializer:

```ruby
Spree.config do |config|
  config.use_legacy_store_credit_reimbursement_category_name = false
end
```

If you had modifications in your codebase consider disabling the legacy behavior and porting them to a simple overwrite of `Spree::Reimbursement#store_credit_category`. The legacy behavior will be removed in the next major version of Solidus.

**Do not consider promotions without actions as active**

When considering to apply a promotion to an order we use the `active` scope. This scope was including promotions without actions and we no longer are taking them into account.

To switch to the new behaviour which will be the only one accepted in Solidus 3.0 change the following preference `Spree::Config.consider_actionless_promotion_active` to `false`.

If you need to consider actionless promotions as active for any reason please implement your own scope for that.

Solidus v2.11 is available! Thanks to all contributors, testers, and users who made this release possible. This version's support will end in 18 months: 2022-04-23.

Solidus v2.11

## It's HacktoberFest! 🎉

Hey, Solidus! I'm sure you're aware, but Hacktoberfest started a few days ago. To celebrate, we have a few things for you to consider:

First, to get the sweet HacktoberFest shirt this year, you'll need to [sign up here.](https://hacktoberfest.digitalocean.com/)

After that, you'll need to complete 4 pull requests to a public repository, and you're done! [Check out our issues marked Hacktoberfest if you're looking for a place to start.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3AHacktoberfest)

Second, we're offering more swag in addition to the Hacktoberfest shirt - any author of a merged Solidus PR this month will be able to receive a package of Solidus swag. This PR can be made on any part of Solidus - on the main repository, or on any of our extensions as well. To receive this swag voucher, reach out to [@seand](https://slack.solidus.io) on Slack after making your pull request. At this time, we're only able to ship to these locations: Canada, US, Mexico, and Europe.

Hacktoberfest is one of our favorite times of year. If you are looking for a project to help, or want to start your Open Source journey, Solidus is waiting for you 💖. 

That's all for now - happy hacking!

It's HacktoberFest! Learn about what the Solidus community is doing to celebrate, and how you can contribute to make Solidus better than ever.


Solidus Hacktoberfest Announcement

Hello everyone, and welcome to This Month in Solidus — Summer 2020!

You may have noticed we've paused this series for a couple of months: with the summer, the [conference](/blog/announcing-solidusconf-2020) and a lot of people being on vacation in the last few weeks, we've been working steadily but a bit more slowly than usual, and we thought it would best to wait until we had more exciting news to share. 

### Introducing the Solidus data tracking architecture

Up until very recently, if you wanted to integrate your Solidus store with a marketing or analytics service, you only had two options: you could either roll your own implementation, or leverage an enterprise-y, expensive tool such as Segment to streamline the integration.

For a long time, we've wanted to solve this problem by creating a data tracking toolset that would act as an on-premise, simplified version of Segment. Today, we're excited to present Solidus's very own [data tracking architecture](https://github.com/solidusio-contrib/solidus_tracking)!

Think of it as an on-premise, simplified version of Segment, providing everything you need to forward your Solidus store's data to the right platforms.

There's actually much more to it, and we'll be diving into the extension and how to integrate it in the next few days. Stay tuned on our blog!

### PayPal Commerce Platform is now available

Our [PayPal Commerce Platform](https://github.com/solidusio-contrib/solidus_paypal_commerce_platform),
integration is here! This is the new default payment method for Solidus, and adds some handy
features like instant checkout and easier onboarding.

PayPal Commerce Platform allows your customers to pay via credit card or with any of PayPals various 
payment options - such as PayPal Credit, Venmo, or just their PayPal balance. It also enables your
customers to check out directly from the cart page, using PayPal's streamlined checkout process in
concert with the powerful Solidus  checkout API, to get your customers to the finish line as quickly
and easily as possible.

For more information about the extension,
[check out the blog post we wrote to announce it.](https://solidus.io/blog/2020/09/02/solidus-paypal-commerce-platform.html)

### Core updates this summer

Here are some of the new features and enhancements introduced to the core this summer: 

- [We simplified the Order state machine and made it configurable.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3542)
  This removes a lot of possible transitions - and complexity - from the state machine, and makes it
  easier to customize. Thanks to Martin Meyerhoff for this improvement!
- [Creating an order from the admin user page will now prefill the users address on the order.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3558)
  This should save some time when creating new orders. Thanks to Jaime Loyola for this new feature!
- [We added bulk selection to admin tables.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3565)
  This is controlled by CSS classes, making it easy to drop this functionality in wherever you want.
  This new feature is thanks to Daniele Palombo!
- [We implemented an API endpoint for customer returns.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3579)
  Previously this didn't exist - now it does! 🎉 Thanks to Sean Denny (Hey, that's me!) for this new
  feature!
- [We added an admin UI for adding stock locations to shipping methods.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3624)
  This allows you to associate shipping methods to stock locations, ensuring that a shipping method
  will only be available on whatever stock locations you designate. Thanks to Demitru Ceban for this
  feature!
- [Validations will now run on order updates.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3645) You
  can disable this functionality with a config option, but it's desirable to ensure that everything is
  still valid for an order when it updates. Thanks to Alberto Vena and Martin Meyerhoff!
- [Variant properties can now be set to apply to all variants.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3653)
  Thanks to Filippo Liverani and Adam Dunkley for this new feature!
- [You can now configure whether or not billing addresses are required for orders.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3658)
  This is helpful for stores and payment methods that don't require a billing address. This new
  feature is thanks to Edwin Cruz!
- [We added an encrypted_string preference type.](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/pull/3676)
  This allows you to safely store sensitive information in the database, rather than having to use
  ENV variables. Thanks to Stefano Sarioli for this new feature!

### Solidus 2.11 around the corner

Solidus 2.11 is on the way! Be on the lookout over the next couple of weeks. As a reminder, this is
the last release of Solidus before 3.0.

Solidus 3.0 will be release shortly after, and will only remove deprecated functionality. In other
words, if you're on Solidus 2.11 and see no deprecation warnings, you can safely update to Solidus 
3.0!

### SolidusConf is LIVE!

**SolidusConf 2020** is happening *RIGHT NOW!* We had a great lineup of
speakers and presenters for you, and today we're holding our hack day. The hack day is open to
everyone, so [click here](https://hopin.to/events/solidusconf-2020) for entry!

At 10AM central today, we'll also be holding an open stakeholders meeting. If you're curious how the meetings are run, come in and say hello!

Dive in and see everything that happened in the Solidus world in summer 2020: new data tracking architecture, PayPal Commerce Platform integration and SolidusConf!


This Month in Solidus: Summer 2020


## Introducing SolidusConf Speaker Richard Gilbert


We’re proud to announce that Richard Gilbert will be joining us as a presenter for **SolidusConf 2020**.

Richard Gilbert heads systems integrator partnerships for PayPal for the last two years. Richard has been managing partnerships for much of his career, previously running strategic partnership for Payoneer, a cross border payments company, Infusionsoft, where he launched Infusionsoft Payments through partnership and running co-marketing partnerships for Google’s SMB Marketing Team.

### E-Commerce & Consumer Financing Opportunities

Consumers choose and spend more with merchants that offer consumer financing alternatives. Increase conversion rates and grow your average order value by offering more payment options. We will share statistics and approaches merchants can use to offer consumer financing solutions and why merchants should aggressively consider consumer financing strategies.

### [See Richard speak at SolidusConf 2020](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy4T4r0zK04)

We’re proud to announce that Richard Gilbert will be joining us as a presenter for SolidusConf 2020.

SolidusConf 2020 Presenter Richard Gilbert

## Introducing SolidusConf Speaker Rob Johnson


We’re proud to announce that Rob Johnson will be joining us as a presenter for **SolidusConf 2020**.

Rob has been working with design, content and development teams since 2009. Before that he enjoyed a short stint developing and teaching a new Digital Strategies curriculum for a University as an Adjunct Professor, until he realized that providing for his family is important. He's also worked in News Media for some of the largest news entities in Utah, until he realized that a good business model is important. Originally from the Northwest of England, Rob dreams of spending days in British Columbia, Canada, playing his classical guitar on the deck, gazing at the stars reflecting from the lake after grilling up a scrumdiddlyumptious dinner.

### Solidus & Subscriptions: Adventures of a Publisher Trying to Disrupt Itself

Subscriptions have become increasingly popular due to the financial stability they produce for businesses and investors. Done right, subscriptions deliver great value for customers with draws such as unlimited access, original product and deep discounting that can often lead to increased brand affinity and lifetime value. We'll review a 2.5 year timeline of the impact subscriptions have had for a Publisher and Retailer using Solidus. We'll cover learnings around acquisition and retention, subscription usage trends, customer survey insights, upgrade experiences and the importance of empowering the customer.

### [See Rob speak at SolidusConf 2020](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1jnBbJgFGI&list=PLLD8ikQvfJqpscVZS3yJuftojeKcsjWeV&index=5&pp=iAQB)

We’re proud to announce that Rob Johnson will be joining us as a presenter for SolidusConf 2020.


SolidusConf 2020 Presenter Rob Johnson

## Introducing SolidusConf Speaker Alberto Vena


We’re proud to announce that Alberto Vena will be joining us as a presenter for **SolidusConf 2020**.

Alberto is passionate about open-source and he founded [Nebulab](https://nebulab.com) with the goal of creating a sustainable company for people who share the same passion. But since he started the company he has a curse: everybody spells his name wrong. He's also one of the members of the Solidus Core Team.

### The State of Solidus

We've had a lot of shocks in the Solidus (and Spree) community in the last few years, and we need stability. Alberto will cover what's happened since the previous maintainers left the project, and how a group of people that care about Solidus are trying to make the platform more solid than ever.

### [See Alberto speak at SolidusConf 2020](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZhF9srB2_0&list=PLLD8ikQvfJqpscVZS3yJuftojeKcsjWeV&index=7&pp=iAQB)

We’re proud to announce that Alberto Vena will be joining us as a presenter for SolidusConf 2020.

SolidusConf 2020 Presenter Alberto Vena

## Introducing SolidusConf Speaker Peter Berkenbosch


We’re proud to announce that Peter Berkenbosch will be joining us as a presenter for **SolidusConf 2020**.

Peter has a Bachelor’s degree in computer science and got his start in the exciting world of ”Enterprise Java.” After discovering Ruby and Ruby on Rails in 2007, everything changed: he launched a Spree store, started actively contributing to the Spree community, and eventually, became a core team member at Spree. Since May 2015 Peter’s focus has shifted from Spree to Solidus.

Peter has a knack for producing high-quality code that is tried & tested, and can often be heard asking “are there any specs?” He usually works remotely from a small town in the Netherlands.

Currently Peter works as an independent e-commerce developer and consultant for a number of different agencies and stores, from troubleshooting (performance) challenges with large scale storefronts to development of (opensource) extensions and Saas storefront products and anything in between.

In his spare time, Peter loves hanging out with his children, fly-fishing, playing soccer, wine and dine, and cross-country runs with his adorable English Stafford.

### Building Payment Provider Integrations

Providing a detailed step by step technical insight on how to integrate payment service providers in your Solidus storefronts. Focused mostly on the Solidus Payment internals, but also touching the surface of development support tools and best practices.

### [See Peter speak at SolidusConf 2020](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWznleqof8s&list=PLLD8ikQvfJqpscVZS3yJuftojeKcsjWeV&index=2&pp=iAQB)

We’re proud to announce that Peter Berkenbosch will be joining us as a presenter for SolidusConf 2020.

SolidusConf 2020 Presenter Peter Berkenbosch

## PayPal Made Easy

We're excited to announce that Solidus has a new payment method - [Solidus PayPal Commerce Platform](https://github.com/solidusio-contrib/solidus_paypal_commerce_platform)! This extension allows you to accept PayPal and credit/debit card payments directly to your business PayPal account, and adds some handy new features to Solidus.

###What new features does this extension add?

Well, dear reader, I'm glad you asked! In addition to adding an easy-to-use payment method, this extenion comes packed with three new features:

### Payment Setup Wizards

![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/9g5nd6b4/production/a4bad7623d776130a530979ab5bd2da002bc4a8a-758x146.png?fit=clip&q=60)

We've added a system where any payment method can add a "payment setup wizard" - easing the onboarding process. For this extension, what that means is that you can hook your website to your PayPal account at the click of a button.

### Cart Payment Buttons

![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/9g5nd6b4/production/d997d93bf10fc5b2fc3abd69604ee31843cb4fbb-1904x642.png?fit=clip&q=60)

Now your users can check out directly from your cart! This streamlined process will take the user to PayPal. During the checkout process, PayPal will collect the necessary shipping information and send it back to your server. Upon confirming the payment, the user will be taken to the order confirm page, where they can complete their order. 

### Product Payment Buttons

![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/9g5nd6b4/production/a8b82efaa56ff68dd5ab7b6e6d0bffbfc5bbf3cf-584x530.png?fit=clip&q=60)

In addition to adding payment buttons to the cart, we've also added them to the product page! Unlike the cart button, product payment buttons act as an "instant checkout" feature - this will take the user to PayPal for payment, and the order will be created and populated will all necessary information. If your users just want the one item, they can skip almost the entire checkout process. Like the cart button, on payment, the user will be directed to the order confirmation page for final confirmation.

### What does "Default Payment Method" mean?

This extension is now the default payment method of Solidus. What that means is when you install new versions of Solidus, you'll see a prompt during installation asking you what payment method you'd like to install. Currently, those options will be "paypal" - installing this extension - and "none" - installing none. Any payment methods can be added to this list with no problems, but PayPal will be the default option.

### What should I know about the installation process?

The integration process is described in the extension README, but here are some common gotchas and possible surprises:

#### Phone Number Validation

Because addresses coming from PayPal do not require phone numbers, we've turned off phone number validation for addresses. You can override this, but you'll need to create a method for getting a phone number from your customers before or after returning from PayPal.

#### Order Completion

When your customer approves a payment on PayPal, they're taken to the checkout path - which should direct them to the order confirmation page. If you've removed the order confirmation step, you'll need to adjust the javascript method that redirects users to instead complete the order.

#### Order Totals

When a user clicks the PayPal button, Solidus sends line_item, adjustment, shipping and tax totals to PayPal. If these totals don't match, PayPal will not allow checkout. If you've done extensive modifications to anything involve the order total, you'll want to review the paypal_order model for accuracy.

#### Shipping Estimates

When a user logs in or changes their address on PayPal, PayPal sends a partial shipping address (missing only street address) and expects us to return an estimate for shipping. We simulate this change in the shipping rates controller, and return what the shipping would be for that address. Then, after the user confirms their payment, we get the finalized address from PayPal. This shouldn't cause you any issues unless you have a lot of customization around shipping rates, but you should keep it in mind just in case.

### Referral Fee

This extension has been sponsored by PayPal and implemented by [Nebulab](https://nebulab.com). PayPal will pay a commission fee to the maintainers for each order placed through the new payment gateway.

## What's Next?

This extension lays the groundwork for the future of Solidus payment methods. With the default payment system, you won't have to mess with your gemfile to install your payment extension. With the setup wizard, you'll be able to set up your payment provider at the click of a button. And with product payment buttons, installing an instant checkout feature is easier than ever.

## Final words

We've worked hard on this extension, and we hope it lives up to your expectations. If you find room for improvement, feel free to open an issue or PR!

And as always, make sure you stay up-to-date on the latest Solidus news by subscribing to the [Solidus newsletter](https://solidus.us13.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=679f4835b2683d59bc5762ec3&id=3ce07e9582).


Thanks, Solidus Community! You rock!

Learn about the new default Solidus payment method


Introducing Solidus PayPal Commerce Platform

## Introducing SolidusConf Speaker Taylor Scott


We’re proud to announce that Taylor Scott will be joining us as a presenter for **SolidusConf 2020**.

Taylor Scott is a Software Engineer at Sendoso. He has been working with Solidus for a few years, specializing in integrating Elasticsearch, custom payment methods, as well as building a physical and digital subscription service. On the line, you can find him playing games such as CoD, Elder Scrolls, and Hearts of Iron.

### The 5 W's of Application Logging

Often times when we write are logs we only include the “what” and “when”. Taylor would like to talk to us about getting the most of our application logging by discussing the importance of the “Who”, “Where”, and “why”. Having logs without context can be just as bad as no logs at all.

### [See Taylor speak at SolidusConf 2020](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0XAmRxkr3w&list=PLLD8ikQvfJqpscVZS3yJuftojeKcsjWeV&ab_channel=Solidus)

We’re proud to announce that Taylor Scott will be joining us as a presenter for SolidusConf 2020.

The Solidus Blog