Where is the official oscommerce responsive package

[♥14steve14]

As mobile and tablet devices have been about for a few years now, when is oscommerce going to release an official responsive version?

 

I know there is a community version that has been messed and played wiith, but when is the official version going to be released. I was speaking to a developer on another forum today, and they used to use oscommerce for all of their ecommerce sites. They even used to be members of this forum. They no longer use oscommerce because customers and shop owners want a responsive design and its just not offered yet here.

 

As the community got a version up together, why not the official coders. Why has the community version not been released as the official version and make it available for everyone from the oscommerce website. Then developers could spend time making just responsive addons, which would then increase the popularity of OSC, and make it easier for those that are coding their own shop. This would also let people see that OSC is moving forward.

 

Sorry for all the questions, but I just dont get it.

[MrPhil]

I believe that the official word is that 2.4 will be based on 2.3.4bs. However, who knows when 2.4 will be released. osC does not march to a given schedule, which is both good and bad. Good, in that incomplete versions are not forced upon the community before they are ready. Bad, in that it can go literally years between releases, keeping potential users waiting until they give up and go elsewhere. Personally, I think that once a release candidate (such as 2.3.4bs) has been out there for 3 or so months, and any serious bugs have been fixed, it should go gold. It's not good to keep back a usable release for months or years, just to keep tuning and polishing it. Accept that there will be some rough edges and missing features, but keep up a steady stream of releases with the fixes and new features that customers want. They will know that any problems will be promptly dealt with in newer releases. One thing that needs to be resolved is how to bring along stores where many add-ons and even custom coding have been done, without having to start over. Are there other PHP applications that manage to do this? There must be a smoother way to upgrade than we have now.

[burt]

Following comment NOT aimed at you @@14steve14

 

It constantly astounds me that people keep on asking for this and that, and wanting this and that - then doing nothing (or worse, less than nothing) to help themselves get what they want.  Just the other day, a similar conversation to this led to a revolt amongst shopowners who state that certain things should be in the core.  When I give an inch and ask just exactly what should be in the core ... 1 shopowner replied with his "10 must haves".  It's absolutely farcical, is it any wonder why osCommerce does not move forward at the pace it could ?  I have given up justifying what I do in my spare time to move osCommerce forward.

[♥14steve14]

The only reason I ask is that I do not want to waste time and money building a responsive site based on what looks to be a community package. I want some assurance that the official team are behind the project and that some thought will be put into how the upgrade path will work as newer versions are released. If my store has BS shall we say, will any future releases of the oscommerce core code take this into account. Will people make good addons for that version, or will it all change later as an official version is released.

 

I suppose really I am after a bit of stability. I do not want to waste my time or anyone elses in getting something setup that wil not be able to be updated, and will require a crap load of time and work again just because of what I have previously done. I am split in that I should really wait for an official release, but I really want to update the site to make it responsive. I was hoping that the developers knew something that I didnt, but it looks as if there are no plans to release anything in the very near future.

 

I hope you thanked the person who gave you the 10 most required addons Gary. Ha Ha I know you did. Gary I can understand your frustrations if you asked people to do something after they were requesting it,and only one person did its not looking very good. It would annoy me also.

[♥kymation]

I have heard what @@14steve14 said from other store owners. I believe that the slow release "schedule" of osCommerce is one of the reasons store owners have abandoned the platform. Fixing that would do a lot towards brining osCommerce back to the prominence it deserves.

 

I mentioned this in another thread, and I offered my help in making this happen if the osCommerce team would commit to a release schedule. I got no response. Not one person volunteered to help.

 

So I am asking this again. Who wants this enough to put some time into it?

 

Regards

Jim

[♥bruyndoncx]

@@burt

 

what is REALLY necessary to make 2..3.4 BS the next official release so osCommerce 2.4 qualifies as a 'responsive" shopping cart'

 

looking at the list of things listed in "upcoming changes" - not all are needed.

http://www.oscommerce.com/forums/topic/400819-upcoming-changes/?p=1715723

 

Is  Section 1 oscTemplate class. Needed for all pages ?

I think 2  (index.php modular changes) and 3 (product info modular) are a given

 

should 4 product class be included ?

seems a rather big change with no visible impact

 

5 SEO - not sure if it should be core,

if pages are modularized, then this would i think be easier (or as easy) accomplished next as a content module

 

6 microdata

is this core feature, or something that can be content modulariezed ?

 

7 languages

nice, but not essential I think if the solution is backwards compatible e.g. the constants remain but are populated differently

 

8 demo products

seems almost sorted out

 

9 bootstrap installer

is done, so should be included

 

10 Bootstrap admin

nice to have for a few people, but not essential

 

11 backport v3 options/attributes

I guess this is dependent on the product class implementation, personally I would schedule this for release+1

any change in this area, would mean a datamigration also for existing stores, while all the other changes have no major database changes

Personally I wonder if this v3 will support stock levels so qtpro becomes obsolete.

[clustersolutions]

OSC as is needs more developers...as a developer who lives in the trenches everyday dealing with a store operation I see why store owners have been flocking away from OSC. Now, have the core team identified the reasons why users are going to other shopping carts and developers aren't getting involved? This may be a good start to work on reverting the trend. Also, is it an OSC mission to even regain its popularity as well as market share? I guess these are not the questions that I could answer. Now, as a developer, I know I can make OSC to do anything that Magento could do and plus more; however, I don't get involved or even try to push for change as I have the impression that the core team is fixed in its way of thinking and perhaps set on its own agenda and the hell with everyone else who doesn't like it. Nothing wrong with agendas but could these agendas also benefit more developers as that could be an motivation to get involved?

 

When I found this peculiar conditional cPath statement (http://www.oscommerce.com/forums/topic/399520-yet-another-question-about-cpath/) in the core codes last month, and realized I am using a forked BS version I knew I may have to consider other carts from this point forward and that I was merely developing a temporary fix for my store to buy some time. In my work I deal with a lot of vendors and they had always asked how much I charge for developing a site like mine as they need a better web present. My answer was always no as I knew OSC as is can't deliver what their daily operations need, and to get them what they really need using OSC I may be making a better hourly rate flipping burgers. Well, not to mention if I said I will setup OSC for you and I could be embarrassed for being associated as an outdated IT guy. I hope this sums everything up....

[♥bruyndoncx]

and less trolls

[clustersolutions]

Sure, the question remains on a plan and on how to do that? I just read a lot about people being on the fence for the right reason, and I had hopped off the fence but is already considering hopping over. Take Wordpress and Magento for example and there has got to be something that the decision makers could learn from these two open source models in terms of attracting more users and developers. I use Wordpress for the OSC front page, and I needed a masonry layout. So I did a search in the plug-ins, paid $15 bucks, download, click and I had a masonry front page. Then I looked at the plug-in and it actually had ~ 20k download...$15 bucks is about minimum wage in CA, but combined all the downloads that's a good chuck of change. So I thought wouldn't it be nice if OSC could do that.

 

I knew what I had pointed out was unpleasant but that's speaking from the front line. How many of you consultants would say if you would have a $10k potential web store contract in front of you what shopping cart platform would you pitch to your client? Wouldn't it be nice if the majority out there would say OSC?

[♥bruyndoncx]

@@clustersolutions

the (paid) option, point and click install will be an option once point 2 index.php is fully modular.

So why not focus on moving forward - are you not a programmer ?

I listed the work packages above.

 

Personally, I can help with point 1,2 and 3

point 4 is out of my league @@wHiTeHaT

point 5 and 6 I think @@burt has a pretty good idea of what is needed and possible

point 7 @@Gergely has made some post about this - not sure where it stands

point 8 personally contributing, and under way

...

 

Now,which part would you like to contribute to in order to move things forward ?

Winter is almost over, and soon we won't have any dark evenings and rainy weekens anymore to spend programming ...

[oscMarket]

point 1,2,3

-almost done.

 

point 4

-product class ESSENTIAL, no question about it.

 

point 5 and 6

-i think personally these are essential, good for osCommerce's reputation.

 

point 7

-Burt has some ideas for languages, consider it is on the todo.

 

point 8

-Thank you!!

 

point 9

-seems done? (i suggest we give option to install the demo products yes/no).

 

point 10

-For ease of developing, yes it is need.(clicking 5 times for confirm something freaks me out, as example install and activate/deactivate & reposition a box)

 

point 11

- on the todo list , this is how deprecated osCommerce alpha5 works(sorted out how it works, look carefully at how the product tables look)

 

[clustersolutions]

@@bruyndoncx, well, I hope I have been contributing by dishing out some unsolicited tough love as I was hoping to get the thought of opening up for new ideas across to people who runs OSC. Then again, I don't even know who runs OSC, who are the leaders, or if it is even an open source to a point that has a way to accept new ideas from an outsider. And I am also getting more confused by 2.3, 2.3BS and 2.4 and if any of these community efforts are being accepted into 2.4 or what is going on. I guess OSC is experiencing the growing pain to its max, and an official roadmap may help in attracting more users and developers for sure. Developers do need a reason to contribute, most are for $$$, some for a good cause, and with some just bored at their jobs...

Also, I had scanned through all the points, and I think you should add one last point and it is to make OSC for everyone. I know a mind set its hard to change but it needs to start somehow, much like the mind set of "think mobile first!" when you dive into the responsive design paradigm. I for sure will contribute to making OSC better when I can, for it being helping out another user in the forum when I come visit, or like the three months that I spent in rolling out a 2.3BS based store which can show case OSC is still alive and kicking.     

 

@@wHiTeHaT, nice work there!!! I don't get all of it but I can see it is better than what my store is running. Yes, point 4 is essential and it was on my mind as I was upgrading my store. I think it is a tough task to carry out with the right balance between the need to do it right and possibility normalizing the products database, while having it being backward compatible, and producing an optimal object design. Two things though...

1) consider breaking out a products_attributes_images table as it gives a way to tie an image to an attribute like color.   
2) consider adding product dimensions LxWxH (for shipping) as Google feed for specific countries require that by this March.   

Of course, I understood these can all be done via plug-ins...

[clustersolutions]

@@wHiTeHaT....Not don't get...not picking up all of the features yet :-)

[♥14steve14]

Not really understanding where this thread is now heading as it now has nothing to do with the original question.

 

Back on the original subject.  I want to make my site responsive. I know BS is the way to go. Looking through the add ons area, I can find add ons for BS and BS gold. Does this mean that the BS add ons will work with BS gold or vice versa, or are the two not compatible. If they are not compatible all I can see is loads of confusion to many, myself included.

 

If he community can get a release of BS added to the code, why hasn't oscommerce added this as an official version of the software and then everyone will have a target to aim for when creating new add ons. Its just so confusing.

[tgely]

No official BS version yet. You can do it for your own risk.