NEWS
March 12, 2003 - MiniCat Standard and MiniCat Web Updated
Changes to MiniCat Standard, Version 3.7b, are:
  • VAT (Value Added Tax) calculation for the Prostar Email Order Form
  • the Prostar Email Order Form now uses a PHP script (requires PHP version 4.2 or greater) for the emailing of the order form
  • the ShopCart 3rd party shopping cart system support has been updated to the newer SercureCart version
  • support for the PayPal 3rd party shopping cart system has been added
Changes to MiniCat Web, Version 2002.1.k, are:
  • VAT (Value Added Tax) calculation for the Prostar Email Order Form
  • support for the PayPal 3rd party shopping cart system has been added
 
February 28, 2003 - Prostar Interactive moves to new office
Prostar Interactive has moved to a new office in Vancouver to help meet the demand for MiniCat products. The new office is located at Suite 290 - 999 West Broadway, near downtown Vancouver. Be sure to update your address book as our telephone and fax numbers have also changed. The new phone number is 604 742-2930 and the new fax number is 604 734-5477.
 
November 30, 2002 - MiniCat Web EZ and MiniCat Web eXPert Released
Prostar Interactive releases MiniCat Web EZ and Minicat Web eXPert, two powerful new multi-media catalog builder programs.

The company's original MiniCat Standard catalog builder, first released in 1994, has proved a popular and practical tool for businesses and organizations of all kinds and has an installed base of over 10,000 users worldwide.

MiniCat Web EZ
MiniCat Web EZ is not simply a new or enhanced version of MiniCat Standard, but a completely new product. It will enable users to easily build larger and more complex multi-media catalogs and automatically format them for display on the Internet or publication onto a CD-ROM. The new product was developed in response to user demand, says Prostar president Gene Trademan.

"Minicat Standard will continue to be the product of choice for many users, but some of our customers have outgrown it and wanted to create more elaborate and sophisticated catalogs, especially for Internet applications. We've designed MiniCat Web EZ to help them do that. It offers more flexibility, more product and information capacity, and more design and presentation options, while keeping the ease-of-use that MiniCat is known for."

MiniCat Web EZ works by applying pre-built page styles to data input by the user. Labour-saving formatting wizards automatically produce the finished catalog, which can then be uploaded to a website or published on a CD-ROM. The program's features include:

Multi-Level Listing Capability - Catalogs can now be designed with multiple levels of categories, and individual item listings can now be enhanced with sub-item entries. These features add much more flexibility and scalability to the program, enabling users to design catalogs tailored to their specific requirements.

Ready-Made Website Designs - MiniCat Web EZ contains a variety of ready-made website "styles" which can be customized with colour and font selection. The program's powerful formatting wizard combines the selected site style with the user's multi-media data to automatically produce webpages.

Improved Multi-Media Capabilities - Any page in the catalog can be illustrated with multi-media elements, including text, audio, video, images and graphics.

Improved Interface - A new interface incorporates many familiar Windows-based operating functions, like drag-and-drop, tab-through dialog boxes, drop down menus, and so on. The main catalog building window resembles Windows Explorer file management program, so the operating environment will be very familiar to even novice PC users.

Easy Updating and Database Linking - Improved data import/export functions enable data sharing with other programs, such as automatic updating from an external database. In addition, changes and additions can be inserted to a catalog without having to re-build the entire volume, which greatly speeds and simplifies content updating.

Order Form Options - MiniCat Web EZ offers an enhanced new version of Prostar's Email Ordering System and secure shopping via Platinum Cart and SecureCart (links will open in new window)

A key feature of MiniCat Web EZ is its user-friendliness. The program is designed to enable an average PC user to easily build and maintain a professional-looking online or CD-ROM product catalog with no HTML formatting or programming expertise required.
MiniCat Web eXPert
For the more advanced user Prostar Interactive has released MiniCat Web eXPert. In addition to all the features of Web EZ, MiniCat Web eXPert also contains programming tools which enable qualified users to create custom variations and combinations of the supplied page and site styles, or to design their own original styles. Use of MiniCat Web eXPert will require a working knowledge of HTML and other Internet-based programming abilities.
MiniCat Web EZ is priced at $299US and Minicat Web eXPert at $499US; a special upgrade price is available to registered users of Minicat Standard. Dealer or partner enquiries are welcome.
For more information, please contact:
Gene Trademan, President
Prostar Interactive
Suite 404 - 1055 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC V6H 1E2 Canada
Email: genet@telus.net
Tel: 604 742-2930