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osCommerce

The e-commerce.

Templates, all the same?


littlemouse1

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Hi there, I am going to buy a template for my new oscommerce site.

 

There are several websites around, some of which (like templatemonster) offer templates at around $130-$140, some others at $29.

 

Since I am not familiar with oscommerce yet, I was wondering if the difference in price is ONLY a matter of design or the more expensive, the more features it has. If I buy a $30 template, is there any risk of being limited in some thing? Because it sounds strange to me that there can be a difference of $100 just because of a nicer design.

 

So my question is: APART from the desing is it worth spending $140 rather than $30 on a template?

 

Thanks!

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Luca,

 

More than likely the $30 'template' is just the image of which you will have to adapt to your osCommerce site. The $120-130 templates are full osCommerce installations that would install using normal installation instructions. (www.yourdomain.com/catalog/install)

 

The more expensive templates usually have added features and functions. Usually $140-$250.

 

Having said all that, the most important thing about a template is the quality of coding. The less invasive the template code is to the core code of oscommerce, the better. However, there is really no way of telling what the code looks like until you purchase the template. The template site you mentioned above is notorious for poorly coded templates and even more well known for the lack of support after the purchase.

 

 

 

Chris

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Hey, thanks for the reply.

 

So you mean that the $30 template requires more skills for a newbie to adapt to the oscommerce site while the new installation of expensive templates is easier to perform?

 

So, other than the one mentioned, what can be a good site(s) to purchase templates from at a reasonable price?

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Luca,

 

The $30 template would require to to code your site using the images provided and stylesheet they include. It is more than likely not a complete site. If you check my profile links, you will see some of the templates I have done and you can also check some of the corporate sponsors found at the top of this page.

 

 

 

 

Chris

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Thanks. I have a question regarding templates in general. If i buy (for instance) a template for electronics that I like,this will have loaded some default images about different products. How hard is to remove them and to insert my new products instead? Also, changing the header? Cause these services are quite expensive, so I was wondering if it's an easy task to do as i don't have much experience with oscommerce.

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Luca,

 

You can easily change products from the admin area, delete the existing sample categories/ products and then set up your categories/ products. If you are looking at a v2.3.1 template, you should be able to change the store logo from the admin area under configuration>store logo. If you are looking at a RC2a template then you will need to either upload a new store logo image with the same name as the demo store logo......this would over-write the existing image and put yours in its place. -OR- You will need to change the header.php file to put your image name in place of store_logo.png.

 

 

 

Chris

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  • 1 month later...

Luca,

 

I don't know about all that, but I have worked with their templates in the past and they are coded pretty good.

 

 

 

 

Chris

 

No offense intended - but Algozone - although around a very long time, and I had purchased templates from them before - but for oscommerce - all their templates look like dinosaurs, outdated, generic etc.

Is it not the purpose for a store also to impress the visitor/potential buyer as well as have a template that visually keeps pace with a more trendy design?

I am well aware that TM has sloppy code - but Id' rather buy from one of those site, have a good coder go over it and clean the code - but then have a template that looks like 2011 versus 1998. In the end the cost may be 30 or 40 dollars more than the more expensive Algozone ones - but sure look a heck of a lot better and pleasing to the eye.

This just my personal experience with osc templates. In any case, every template will need some modification if you want it to match well will your site.

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If you do purchase a template make sure you get a oscommerce 2.31 based template. (If you by a template based on an older versions, you will have to start off your new site by doing many security upgrades and mods to prevent getting hacked)

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