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osCommerce

The e-commerce.

Need Convincing


maymai2

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Posted

I've been looking at osCommerce for a while now and I have to say that the open source thing and this forum is all well and good but it does appear that development and, well, overall useability of the system is below what most stores need - I'm talking here about the standard installation outside what an be achieved with contributions but, surely, these may end up not being compatible with future updates? I've also been looking at a product called X-Cart which seems to provide much more functionality (all be it at a price) than osCommerce. Mainly though it uses templates which surely makes the system easier to maintain and to keep your design when updates to that system come through? I also found JShop Server as well which, to be honest, has one of the nicest administration systems I've ever seen. It also has an open forum (not so many posters though) and really good out of the box functionality that seems to beat not only osCommerce but also X-Cart. Again it costs, but I wonder whether by trying to run a business on free software (that doesn't make things as easy to update) I'm creating more expense in terms of my time than I would otherwise spend on a product such as this? I'm not sure.

 

I suppose what I'm saying is that running an on-line business I don't mind spending some money on a product that fits my needs, so why should I go with osCommerce? Surely anybody running a business that wants to sell on-line wouldn't baulk at a few hundred dollars to sacrifice so many hours in trying to keep a system up to date and in-keeping with a design philosphy - so what's the attraction in going with osCommerce? I really like the idea of open source software but, before I take a plunge either way, I need to know I'm making the right decision. Besides which I'm not sure I'm up to the PHP skills that seem to be required (from reading many posts on this forum) to get osCommerce to do what I'm after.

 

Any help in making this decision would be appreciated.

 

Simone

Posted

Hi,

 

I have tried samples of the carts you mention and they cannot compare with oscommerce.

 

If you are willing to learn there is a vast resource at:

http://wiki.oscommerce.com

 

and you always will get help here on the forum.

 

I have lots of shops running and making money for their businesses with oscommerce and they are very pleased with it's function and ease of operation. People that don't know one thing about php can administer it via the admin and most of the time without any instructions...those are the experimenters! :lol:

 

2.2ms2 will be shortly out and the account section is superb.

 

Of course, I'm not at all excited about osc as you can see ... 8) :D

Posted

Thank you for replying modom.

 

I'm curious as to why you think that neither of those products cannot compare with osCommerce, over and above just saying it! I know JShop Server is relatively new (released in the last 2 months). They have an older product called JShop Professional - is that the one you've tried?

 

Both that and X-Cart use templates, surely osCommerce can't compare on that front? I am correct in that osCommerce isn't template driven?

 

Where can I find out what's coming in 2.2ms2? The account section sounds interesting - what is it going to do?

 

Simone

Posted

The_Bear, thank you for the link. However, I don't seem to see anything about accounts on there??

 

Simone

Posted
Surely anybody running a business that wants to sell on-line wouldn't baulk at a few hundred dollars to sacrifice so many hours in trying to keep a system up to date and in-keeping with a design philosphy - so what's the attraction in going with osCommerce?

 

That may be true at first glance. However, if the product you are buying is not open source, then how many times must you spend those few hundred dollars to get your site updated and kept up-to-date? Are all the upgrades free after your initial purchase? If the supplier goes bust, then would you still get support, or would you be sat there with a lemon, with all your data locked in?

 

The fact is, running open source still costs - it will cost time to get it set up as you want it, and time costs money. What you do get, above and beyond any non-open source product, is the ability to choose how you will use your product, how you will set it up and who will support it.

 

Open source does not mean getting everything you want for free; it is about having the freedom to take what is available and make it into exactly what you want.

 

-- Jason

Posted
I'm curious as to why you think that neither of those products cannot compare with osCommerce, over and above just saying it! I know JShop Server is relatively new (released in the last 2 months). They have an older product called JShop Professional - is that the one you've tried?

 

Yes, I tried this one a while back and absolutely got no help when I posted a question and don't like the product compared with osc.

 

Both that and X-Cart use templates, surely osCommerce can't compare on that front? I am correct in that osCommerce isn't template driven?

 

Oscommerce will have templates later on. This will help in updating your site but I don't want a template looking sites as clients are different and want different things and I would like to increase my knowledge of web design and such.

Posted
Oscommerce will have templates later on. This will help in updating your site but I don't want a template looking sites as clients are different and want different things and I would like to increase my knowledge of web design and such.

 

Don't confuse layout templates with document templates, though. With the OSC being driven from templates, it means that the code and the layout are separated in different scripts - the HTML and the PHP will be kept separate. It doesn't mean setting up a site with a choice of different looks, a-la Frontpage, making all sites look the same. The idea of templates is to encourage the changing of the site, so that it _can_ be unique to every client, but without breaking any chance of a future upgrade.

 

I just thought I would throw that in, as I've seen a lot of confusion on these boards recently on what templating is. I've seen the same people saying "I don't know what I would want from templates" then asking "how do I change the position of this or that title". The answer to the question would be "through the template". That's the eventual aim though.

 

If you already understood that - then accept my apologies - but I thought it had to be mentioned.

 

-- Jason

Posted

Thanks Jason.

 

No, I didn't understand the templates totally. I had read that it would make it easy to make changes and keep up with the code if you wanted to but still had that template image in my head. :lol:

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