Some presales type of questions....

[mctabish]

I am very dissatisfied with my current solution, so I am looking for other solutions.

 

I tried use the backend demo, but it is not available...

 

I am looking for something that will allow me to modify an order if a cust calls and changes mind, or items may become backordered etc, I want something that I can modify and existing order. Currently, I have to CANCEL and then have the customer replace the order.

 

Also, I am looking for something that will allow me to intregrate with quickbooks 2012 and or later.

 

Will this allow me to intergrate with UPS, USPS and FEDEX? or can I only do 1 or the other? How well does it handle working to pay for postage and then print labels?

 

Since I was not able to play with the demo, can I temp host this on one of my sites to test?

 

This is going to sound gosh, and I dont mean to be mean or anything - just keep flamethrowers away:)

Since this is open source, and people are modifing, how stable is the interface? how reliable are the add ons? I know it totally depends on the people and groups involved, and since I am very unfamiliar with this product, I need to get SOME type of feedback, as this is going to be my business!

 

How hard is it to modify, edit or create modules? Is there a place I can hire someone to do some of the things I would like to do?

 

Thanks!

Bruce

[♥toyicebear]

You can download version 2.3.3 and test it as you see fit.

 

2.3.3 is very stable and secure.

 

There are plenty of add-ons covering a wide array of functionality, just be aware that most will require you to do changes to core code.

[multimixer]

osCommerce is very stable, there are 1000's of stores based on this.

 

Open source mean that the code is available to anyone to modify, redistribute etc. This is not like "wild west" coding. There is one and only official osCommerce version released by the osCommerce team

 

As @@toyicebear said, there are many addons available that will let you modify the store in any direction, on top of this you can do any modifications by your self. osCommerce is a very flexible platform

 

Most of the addons or modifications require changes to the core code, specially anyhing that has to do with the checkout system, this is he "heart of osCommerce

 

If you want to hire someone to do the modifications for you - that would be a good idea since you are not familiar with osCommerce - you could either check the corporate sponsors or post to the commercial support area to receive replies from community sponsors

[♥14steve14]

Oscommerce is very flexible and can be made to do what ever you want it to. Although there are thousands of add ons available be very carefull which ones you select. Preferably chose one that has its own support forum and is regularly maintained. As with all add ons there are some good ones, some bad ones and some really bad ones.

 

Dont be scared by that, oscommerce does work, and work well.

[MrPhil]

There is one and only official osCommerce version released by the osCommerce team

Three things to note:

1. osC has various versions out there. The current up-to-date supported version is 2.3.3. Do not try to use version 3 -- it's an unstable developmental version not intended for live stores. Try to avoid version 2.2, as it's not really supported any more. Most of the add-ons for 2.2 can probably be tweaked for 2.3, although themes/skins for 2.2 probably won't work, as the presentation model has been greatly changed (from table-driven layout to CSS layout).
    
   
2. There are many "forks" of osC out there, using osC as the base for Zen Cart, OSC MAX, osC creLoaded, etc. They are not supported here, as they forked off from the main effort of osC sometimes years ago, and have been developed separately in parallel, since then. Sometimes they have the latest osC features; sometimes they don't.
    
   
3. There are many commercial themes or packages available, which are customized versions of osC usually installed as a complete replacement for osC, rather than something added on to a stock osC installation. Unfortunately, some of them are based on quite old versions of osC, and haven't been kept up to date. Youse pays yer quarter and youse takes yer chances. Ask around about the quality of a particular offering before paying money. They're generally not supported here, but by the sellers.
   

Most of the addons or modifications require changes to the core code, specially anyhing that has to do with the checkout system,

Don't be too scared of this statement. Most add-ons do directly change the PHP code, but the mechanics are hidden from you. However, you do have to get your hands dirty in the code if something goes wrong with an add-on installation or removal (that's why you make backups before working on the site!) or one add-on is conflicting with another and you need to make them play nicely together. In this regard, osC is behind the times in not having a clean "plug-in" architecture.

 

The nice thing about osC (as available from this site, or some "one button" software installers) is that it's FREE and fairly simple to install. Just install it on some non-public place in your site and play with it until you either decide it's not for you, or you want to use it for your store.

[mctabish]

Sounding better and better.

How about inventory control, is this built in, or is there a good mod for this? If not, I do programming in VBA. Would it be possible to interface with msaccess to the databases?

 

How about interconnectivity to quickbooks?

 

I have done some interfacing from VBA to webs before, but am not really http/java/php knowledgable. Is it faily easy or well documented how to add the differnt mods in? (i know it wil vary with the contribitor, but from what I was seeing is that it is for the most part, a few lines)

 

Thanks for the feed back!

 

Cheers