You can now stretch the window to fill your screen(s). This will allow you to display many more specimens on the screen than ever before. HINT: If you have your "Favorites" or other panels turned on, turn them off and you will see a lot more specimens. If you happen to have dual monitors or a wide screen monitor, this feature is really nice.

The search engine now has vastly improved functionality. Before, you had to select either Mine, Locality, or Mineral as criteria for searching, now you can simply enter your keyword(s) and the engine searches all of these fields including mineral descriptions. You can even search for specific specimen numbers and you will be taken directly to the detailed page for that specimen. HINT: the operators AND and OR work. The search engine results are NOT case sensitive, so search away.

One of the most powerful things added is the ability to save specimens in a WISHLIST. You must be logged in to the site to utilize (or even see) this feature, but it is well worth it. Once logged in, you will see a new option appear below the Add To Cart button for Add To Wishlist. This will allow you to add specimens to your wish list the same way as adding to a cart. The difference is that you can create a wish list of items which will not expire. I envision you using this to save specimens that you think are interesting but may not have the budget for now. BONUS: the wish list will be set up soon to notify you automatically when I drop the price on items in your list. That way, you can be among the first to see price changes on selected items of interest. (NOTE: If a specimen on your wishlist is sold in the meantime, it will be "grayed out" and unavailable to add to your cart).

Shopping carts will be saved for an extended period of time. This means that, if you get interrupted during your checkout process, or if you simply do not have time to finish your order, you will have the ability to pick up where you left off. BONUS: you will also be given the ability to merge two carts. For example, if you login at work and create a cart (but the boss walks in), and then go home to finish, you can merge the two carts.

We have greatly increased the security of personal information on the site. Due to this, it is not possible to view your entire credit card info after you enter it. You will have to delete and re-add the information if it changes. This is a little bit of a hassle, but is deemed to be well worth it because of the increased security. I am the only one that can ever see the entire card number. (I have to use a 128-bit decryption key). Also passwords are encrypted using a one-way 32-bit hash. This means we can't even see them!

I now have the ability to give you COUPON CODES periodically. These codes will only be available to registered users. Some codes will allow for a shipping discount, while some codes will be used for periodic sales.

I now have the ability to offer a Timed Sale. Periodically, I will place large amounts of specimens on the site on a timed sale (i.e, 24 or 48 hours) which will automatically apply discounts and will automatically expire when the sale is up. In practical matters, this will mean a lot more sales on my material since it required a lot of work on the old site to offer a sale, but will be simple on the new site.

You now have much more flexibility to select how many items you view on the page at a give time. If you have a fast connection, you can View All specimens on one long page.