Overcoming the Limitations of Shopify Plus

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ed9e Shopify Plus has carried out ed9e one thing unimaginable:  it’s introduced ed9e enterprise-level eCommerce capabilities to corporations ed9e on an inexpensive finances.  What ed9e used to require complete groups ed9e to construct and handle can ed9e now be had for just ed9e some thousand {dollars} a month.

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ed9e However it’s in no way ed9e excellent.  From giant catalogs to ed9e discounting guidelines, there are a ed9e number of widespread issues that ed9e may frustrate even essentially the ed9e most stalwart Shopify fan.

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ed9e On this put up, we’ll ed9e discover a number of of ed9e the widespread issues and, most ed9e significantly, learn how to deal ed9e with them.

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ed9e Points with Expansive Product Portfolios 

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ed9e Drawback: Variants Thresholds

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ed9e Shopify natively helps the creation ed9e of as much as three ed9e choices per product (i.e. measurement, ed9e colour, model) and as much ed9e as 100 variants of choices ed9e mixtures; for instance, a mixture ed9e of size-color-style equals one variant. ed9e Every variant has its personal ed9e distinctive SKU quantity, photograph, worth ed9e and extra attributes.

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ed9e The problem: what ought to ed9e a enterprise do if it ed9e has greater than three choices ed9e and 100 variants?   

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ed9e Workaround 1: Grouping Merchandise 

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ed9e Within the aforementioned case, we ed9e cut up merchandise based mostly ed9e on choices. Let’s assume your ed9e product has 10 totally different ed9e colours. Every colour might be ed9e created as a person product, ed9e and the scale might be ed9e a easy variant.

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ed9e On the product web page, ed9e group all merchandise of the ed9e identical sort with a unified ed9e tag, and every colour will ed9e present up as a product ed9e swatch. Prospects will navigate from ed9e one colour to a different ed9e in the identical kind as ed9e they’d from one variant to ed9e a different; the distinction on ed9e this situation being every colour ed9e is a product with its ed9e personal URL.

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ed9e This technique could require ed9e easy code ed9e to be applied on ed9e the product web page.

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ed9e The benefit to this strategy ed9e is that product variants act ed9e and function as particular person ed9e touchdown pages. Every variant could ed9e have its curated content material, ed9e picture gallery, meta title and ed9e outline to optimize for search ed9e engine optimisation.

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ed9e Entrepreneurs love the setup, and ed9e lots of manufacturers (together with ed9e ed9e GymShark ed9e and ed9e AllBirds ed9e ) reap the benefits of ed9e it—even when their product choices ed9e don’t exceed the 100 variant ed9e restrict. In essence, we are ed9e able to flip this limitation ed9e into a bonus. 

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ed9e Workaround 2: Apps

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ed9e Shopify apps akin to ed9e Infinity Choices ed9e and ed9e Daring Product Choices ed9e present alternate options to ed9e the variant limitation concern, permitting ed9e the addition of product choices ed9e and variants. Except particular back-office ed9e necessities for managing stock exist, ed9e that is sometimes the very ed9e best different.

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ed9e As an illustration, if the ed9e fourth choice mixture creates a ed9e special worth or requires a ed9e singular SKU, this might complicate ed9e the stock administration platform.

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ed9e One other consideration is that ed9e apps impacting front-end performance could ed9e negatively have an effect on ed9e loading velocity and website Net ed9e Vitals, so the primary workaround ed9e choice is all the time ed9e really useful to start out.   

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ed9e Workaround 3: Product Lists 

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ed9e For B2B eCommerce retailers with ed9e giant product choices or advanced ed9e variations, product lists could also ed9e be the popular technique. As ed9e an alternative of utilizing product ed9e swatches, every variant is listed ed9e as an merchandise with its ed9e personal amount field.

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ed9e Just like the primary answer ed9e examined, variants are created as ed9e particular person gadgets and linked ed9e to the primary product by ed9e means of a unified tag. ed9e On this case, the positioning ed9e is optimized for fast order ed9e performance, giving clients the flexibility ed9e so as to add a ed9e number of variants with totally ed9e different portions to the cart ed9e on the similar time.

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ed9e This implementation requires some {custom} ed9e growth which any mid-level developer ed9e can simply deal with. 

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ed9e Points with Giant Catalog Group  

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ed9e Drawback: Navigation Limitations

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ed9e On the gathering web page, ed9e there are a number of ed9e limitations with giant catalog websites. ed9e (To be clear, although, most ed9e direct-to-consumer manufacturers is not going ed9e to expertise these points.) Native ed9e to Shopify, broad navigation may ed9e be managed with product tags. ed9e

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ed9e Product tags are extensively used, ed9e and every product can have ed9e dozens of tags. When you’ve ed9e got a class web page ed9e with hundreds of merchandise, an ed9e equal variety of tags may ed9e be queried on the similar ed9e time. On this scenario, Shopify ed9e received’t present all related filters, ed9e and that might be a ed9e problem.

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ed9e Workaround 1: Faceted Navigation and ed9e Search 

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ed9e Fixing this concern just isn’t ed9e difficult; platforms akin to Algolia ed9e are designed for search and ed9e faceted navigations. Since merchandise are ed9e rendered inside a set by ed9e means of Algolia, this limitation ed9e is eradicated.

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ed9e Nevertheless, there may be multiple ed9e benefit to utilizing Algolia; except ed9e for faceted navigation, search may ed9e be enhanced with AI and ed9e behaviorally related outcomes. For giant ed9e catalogs, on-site search is crucial ed9e for a powerful person expertise, ed9e and a platform like this ed9e can generate outcomes by means ed9e of autocomplete and massive knowledge ed9e analytics in milliseconds. 

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ed9e Moreover, as an alternative of ed9e utilizing product tags, Shopify Metafields ed9e can be utilized to construction ed9e knowledge extra simply. As an ed9e alternative of filtering by “materials” ed9e for instance, create a metafield ed9e for the fabric and add ed9e it as a textual content ed9e area.

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ed9e Algolia syncs all of the ed9e metafields and presents them on ed9e the gathering web page as ed9e faceted navigation, and the velocity ed9e efficiency is excellent. For a ed9e full rundown on B2B eCommerce ed9e structural and strategic suggestions, take ed9e a look at the 2022 ed9e ed9e B2B Ecommerce Playbook ed9e .

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ed9e Workaround 2: Multi-Degree Navigation

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ed9e Mega menus are sometimes designed ed9e for person experiences with three ed9e ranges of subcategories. ed9e In some instances, companies with ed9e giant catalogs require a fourth ed9e degree of navigation to introduce ed9e one other layer of subcategory. ed9e

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ed9e To beat this problem, a ed9e number of navigations may be ed9e created with three ranges apiece. ed9e On this instance, think about ed9e these ranges to be departments. ed9e Now, every division has three ed9e ranges of classes and subcategories, ed9e giving 4 ranges of navigation ed9e in complete. 

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ed9e With {custom} coding, these navigations ed9e may be merged into the ed9e mega menu which lists all ed9e departments (and may drive down ed9e into extra ranges). Though this ed9e hasn’t been requested thus far, ed9e this technique might be used ed9e to create five-level navigation, although ed9e the group may show difficult.  

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ed9e Workaround 3:  Assortment Construction 

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ed9e Whereas the restrict on a ed9e guide assortment is 100,000 (with ed9e the opportunity of being exceeded), ed9e the limitation of computerized collections ed9e is 5,000. That is exceedingly ed9e uncommon, however the answer is ed9e straightforward: use computerized collections when ed9e wanted, and deploy guide collections ed9e for the remainder of the ed9e classes.

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ed9e Odds of dealing with this ed9e limitation are low, but it ed9e surely’s value noting because it ed9e exists.

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ed9e Points with Technical Difficulties

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ed9e Drawback: URL Construction Limitations 

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ed9e It’s well-known that Shopify’s URL ed9e construction can’t be altered. For ed9e merchandise, the area path might ed9e be area.com/merchandise/ ed9e custom-handle ed9e , and for collections, the ed9e trail might be area.com/assortment/ ed9e custom-handle ed9e . Whereas there’s some concern ed9e about whether or not modifying ed9e the URL construction can influence ed9e search engine optimisation, it has ed9e not confirmed to be the ed9e case.  

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ed9e Workaround: Performing a Website Construction ed9e Evaluate 

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ed9e The primary concern, nonetheless, needs ed9e to be about shifting from ed9e one other platform to Shopify ed9e as this forces a brand ed9e new URL, and the migration ed9e have to be dealt with ed9e fastidiously. Listed here are some ed9e really useful actions: 

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• ed9e Conduct 301 redirects for all ed9e hyperlinks (collections, merchandise, pages, blogs) 

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• ed9e Maintain the identical URL key ed9e phrases and content material because ed9e the “deal with” on Shopify

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• ed9e Resubmit the sitemap.xml on Google ed9e Console instantly after the migration

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• ed9e Maintain a constant navigation construction ed9e with solely minor modifications

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• ed9e Implement correct canonical URLs 

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• ed9e Optimize the positioning ed9e for search engine optimisation ed9e earlier than you launch it

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ed9e With every migration, count on ed9e a drop of site visitors ed9e of as much as 5 ed9e p.c; nonetheless, this site visitors ed9e will rebound inside three months ed9e after which speed up due ed9e to the UX and infrastructure ed9e enhancements made by using Shopify ed9e capabilities.

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ed9e Drawback: Overly Simplistic Breadcrumbs

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ed9e Breadcrumbs are a vital part ed9e to simplifying the navigation, particularly ed9e for patrons visiting the positioning ed9e by means of an exterior ed9e hyperlink or Google Search.

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ed9e Natively, breadcrumbs are in-built a ed9e simplistic means on Shopify whereby ed9e the construction is House > ed9e Assortment > Product. As acknowledged ed9e above, Shopify doesn’t help multi-level ed9e classes and that could be ed9e a drawback to be addressed.

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ed9e Workaround: Metafields 

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ed9e Breadcrumbs may be applied on ed9e the product web page and ed9e assortment web page by means ed9e of metafields, and you’ve got ed9e full freedom with formatting and ed9e breadcrumbs. 

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ed9e Points with the Checkout

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ed9e Drawback: Low cost Limitations

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ed9e Shopify affords quite a few ed9e low cost alternate options. Apps ed9e like ed9e Final Particular Presents ed9e present totally different strategies ed9e of discounting and promotion which ed9e may elevate gross sales efficiency. ed9e Nevertheless, stacked reductions and various ed9e product pricing creates a discounting ed9e problem.

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ed9e Almost all apps providing discounting ed9e capabilities reap the benefits of ed9e the Shopify Draft Order API. ed9e The identical technique is used ed9e when implementing apps that provide ed9e group pricing and worth breaks ed9e (tier pricing). An issue seems ed9e when Draft Order API is ed9e used; the checkout web page ed9e doesn’t have a reduction field. ed9e

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ed9e On this situation, reductions can ed9e solely be applied through line-item ed9e low cost (vs complete cart ed9e low cost), and coupon codes ed9e don’t work on this occasion. ed9e To keep away from this ed9e complication, these apps add a ed9e “pretend” low cost code field ed9e on the cart web page. 

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ed9e Workaround: An app…for now

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ed9e The ed9e short-term answer ed9e is to make use ed9e of an app that provides ed9e each group/tier reductions and superior ed9e cart promotions (i.e. ed9e Low cost Field ed9e ). This app permits the ed9e alteration of product costs per ed9e totally different teams or portions ed9e whereas additionally including computerized cart ed9e reductions based mostly on subtotals ed9e or cart contents.

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ed9e As talked about, it is ed9e a short-term answer. The Shopify ed9e Plus workforce not too long ed9e ago introduced at its annual ed9e convention (Commerce+) the 2022 launch ed9e of native B2B capabilities akin ed9e to tariffs and extra superior ed9e checkout capabilities.

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ed9e As a result of this ed9e has been a long-term request ed9e from retailers and companions, we ed9e consider it is going to ed9e be a precedence for the ed9e Shopify Plus workforce to launch.

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ed9e Drawback: Checkout Configuration Limitations

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ed9e Checkout.liquid file is obtainable for ed9e all Shopify Plus upon request ed9e and permits the customization of ed9e checkout (to a sure diploma). ed9e Whereas it’s true the fee ed9e steps can’t be altered, the ed9e appear and feel of the ed9e web page may be modified ed9e freely.

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ed9e Though it’s doable so as ed9e to add extra fields or ed9e customise the design, Shopify doesn’t ed9e encourage retailers to do that, ed9e as a result of it ed9e performs each day assessments and ed9e scores all websites to optimize ed9e the checkout course of.  

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ed9e Workaround: Scripts and Customization

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ed9e As well as, Shopify Plus ed9e retailers have entry to ed9e Scripts ed9e and ed9e Movement ed9e to additional customise the ed9e UX of checkout by creating ed9e conditional logic towards the fee/delivery ed9e choices for sure buyer teams, ed9e behaviors or cart content material. ed9e

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ed9e Granted, there are uncommon case ed9e situations that may’t be accommodated ed9e through Shopify Checkout, however there’s ed9e all the time the choice ed9e to construct a {custom} checkout ed9e (which is allowed for Shopify ed9e Plus retailers).  

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ed9e Drawback: Shopify Cost Assist 

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ed9e Whereas Shopify permits the sale ed9e of CBD merchandise, Shopify Funds ed9e doesn’t help them. Along with ed9e merchandise that comprise CBD/THC, Shopify ed9e may not help some complement ed9e classes that it considers “pseudo ed9e prescription drugs” that are towards ed9e its phrases of service (TOS). ed9e

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ed9e Whereas there are different fee ed9e gateway suppliers that might be ed9e used, there may be an ed9e extra problem to be thought ed9e of: nearly all manufacturers promoting ed9e CBD/THC merchandise use platforms like ed9e ed9e ReCharge Funds ed9e to allow subscription capabilities. 

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ed9e Workaround: Authorize.internet 

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ed9e The restricted choices of Shopify ed9e Cost gateways that may use ed9e the Subscription API in addition ed9e to help CBD/THC merchandise pose ed9e a serious problem. One of ed9e the notable alternate options is ed9e ed9e Authorize.internet ed9e , which may join with ed9e quite a few fee service ed9e provider companions (underlying banks) to ed9e course of any sort of ed9e transaction.

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ed9e Drawback: Wholesale Channel Portal Design 

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ed9e Wholesale Channel is commonly the ed9e go-to answer for processing wholesale ed9e orders through a non-public portal. ed9e This Shopify-built app comes with ed9e a handful of respectable functionalities, ed9e and the worth record engine ed9e works successfully. Nevertheless, the UX ed9e of the portal is unchangeable ed9e and fundamental; there’s little customization ed9e and, above all, Shopify Scripts ed9e at checkout should not appropriate.

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ed9e Workaround: A Wholesale Clone Website

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ed9e Shopify Plus contains capabilities for ed9e 9 extra shops inside the ed9e similar license. Use certainly one ed9e of these shops to run ed9e the wholesale portal below a ed9e subdomain wholesale.area.com, then customise the ed9e UX/UI of the wholesale portal ed9e as desired, utilizing all Shopify ed9e On-line Retailer capabilities, apps, and ed9e third events as if it ed9e was a D2C storefront.

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ed9e It’s even doable to dam ed9e visitor entry by utilizing an ed9e app like ed9e Locksmith ed9e , making certain solely vetted ed9e clients can login and order. ed9e This can be a far ed9e superior answer than the Wholesale ed9e Channel.  

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ed9e Different Obstacles

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ed9e Beneath is a listing of ed9e extra limitations incurred over the ed9e previous 10 years of working ed9e with Shopify. Nevertheless, none of ed9e them are regarding sufficient to ed9e cease retailers from utilizing it.

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• ed9e There are some ed9e API limitations ed9e to notice if constructing ed9e a non-public app for particular ed9e performance 

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• ed9e Prospects’ passwords can’t be migrated ed9e from one other platform and ed9e have to be reset 

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• ed9e Product galleries are restricted to ed9e 250 photographs (though you may ed9e add extra photographs through metafields)

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• ed9e 100,000 complete redirects are supported, ed9e a restrict most likely has ed9e doubtless by no means been ed9e challenged.

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• ed9e Present playing cards can’t be ed9e imported or migrated (except by ed9e means of a {custom} app ed9e to port by means of ed9e API)

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• ed9e Multi-account capabilities (regularly requested however ed9e seemingly not within the options ed9e pipeline)  

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ed9e Regardless of some technical limitations, ed9e Shopify Plus remains to be ed9e the very best and the ed9e final word platform to enterprise ed9e and develop a D2C or ed9e B2B eCommerce enterprise. There are ed9e some limitations however nearly all ed9e of them are solved with ed9e workarounds or superior apps.

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