OSCommerce appears to be totally outdated

[Fusion616 0]

I have to say I have spent hour after hour installing Mods to make OSCommerce work the way I want it to .. only to find that ZenCart has every feature I want incorporated as standard!

 

I know everyone here is working towards a better OSC but, to be honest, the promise of the next version of OSC has been going on for quite a while with no light at at the end of the tunnel.

 

With SUPERB support from the ZenCart community and features that make OSC look obsolete there's absolutely no question of which is the better system.

 

Sorry guys ... but OSC needs to up their game!

[♥GLWalker 144]

ZenCart is still around? LOL

[♥joli1811 171]

Bye Bye we will miss you

[burt 5,529]

When you get more into it, you will soon come to realise what a mistake you've made. All these pre loaded things give you LESS choice. But hey ho, you pays your money, you makes your choice.

[♥toyicebear 206]

LOL, and good luck B)

[Fusion616 0]

Not given me any less choice at all .. just want simple and go .. As standard gives more search and select facilities then OSC ever has without having to make manual modifications. It's all about choice ..and .... yes we are using FREE source code ... and yes .. I do understand the amount of hours that go into the code ..been there and done all that and don't need it anymore.

 

You have to look back through your forums when people who are new to a particular system and just need a little assistance to go forward ask a simple question only to be given short shrift by your 'Experts' on the basis that if you want to use the system then you should know how to do it.

 

We have all come up through the years on different levels using different systems If OSC wants to be free opensource then either make it clear you don't want anyone who doesn't fully understand PHP to download it or SUPPORT it.

 

If OSC is truly the better system and you want it to be opensource then maybe a rethink of your support is in order .....

[♥bruyndoncx 260]

Lucky for us, the barrier to entry for new competitors is quite low nowadays anyhow

[♥joli1811 171]

Not given me any less choice at all .. just want simple and go .. As standard gives more search and select facilities then OSC ever has without having to make manual modifications. It's all about choice ..and .... yes we are using FREE source code ... and yes .. I do understand the amount of hours that go into the code ..been there and done all that and don't need it anymore.

 

You have to look back through your forums when people who are new to a particular system and just need a little assistance to go forward ask a simple question only to be given short shrift by your 'Experts' on the basis that if you want to use the system then you should know how to do it.

 

We have all come up through the years on different levels using different systems If OSC wants to be free opensource then either make it clear you don't want anyone who doesn't fully understand PHP to download it or SUPPORT it.

 

If OSC is truly the better system and you want it to be opensource then maybe a rethink of your support is in order .....

 

Strange just spent at least an hour today giving free help to a couple of guys I guess as always it is the tone that makes the music :D

 

Know a few members who actually give nearly a month free in March guess you did not notice what was happening around you (w00t)

[Fusion616 0]

Nice to hear

Hansum Man :)

 

Maybe the rest of you could do as well.

[♥joli1811 171]

Bah humbug hahah

[tgely 262]

Have a simple water?

I like better lemonade than pepsi but then they are the same. I have to work for it, slake thirst and give me better feeling if I can do it.

What are you talking about? This is the Arctic! There are ices only!

Oh :blink: than a cup of water with ice cubes please!

Hoops just froze :x !

[Fusion616 0]

Thanks Gergely. You just summed up OSC in one

[MrPhil 648]

I have to say I have spent hour after hour installing Mods to make OSCommerce work the way I want it to .. only to find that ZenCart has every feature I want incorporated as standard!

Perhaps you should have done some more research before trying one or the other? osC works on the principle that it supplies a fairly bare-bones system that you customize exactly as you want, rather than having to accept what someone else thinks you need. For some people, like you, that works well, but others don't like having someone else make their choices for them. It's a different audience.

 

Granted, it would be nice to not have to be a skilled IT person to do more than rudimentary changes to osC. Its philosophy is that you sometimes have to pop the hood/bonnet and get some grease on your hands. Again, not for everyone. If someone can come up with a plug-in system for osC that permits any combination of add-ons to be simply plugged in with one button click, with guaranteed no interference with each other, and no big hit on performance, that would be a Winner.

 

I know everyone here is working towards a better OSC but, to be honest, the promise of the next version of OSC has been going on for quite a while with no light at at the end of the tunnel.

Well, just in the last day or two, Harald laid out the near-term roadmap. osC 2.3.4 is wrapping up, 2.4 is well along (using the 2.3.3.4 Bootstrap base), and 3.0 is... well, out there. I'd rather see a complete, tested, and clean release than something rushed out on a fixed schedule.

 

With SUPERB support from the ZenCart community and features that make OSC look obsolete there's absolutely no question of which is the better system.

 

Sorry guys ... but OSC needs to up their game!

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence (as well as over the septic tank!). I think that once you've settled into the ZC community, you will from time to time find yourself comparing them negatively to the osC community. It's human nature.

 

Good luck, whichever store you choose to use.

[bktrain 15]

oSC is and always has been what you make it.

 

With a little time and effort it can be anything you want. If want a solution that is already done for you, then please go for it.

 

I could not disagree with you more. The people giving help are doing so in nice manner. Yes there are some who get “short shrift” replies. Those are usually the ones that expect the work to be done for them. That is not what people are here for.

 

You are not expected to know the system. God knows I didn’t, still don’t. However, the majority of what I have learned about php, mysql and oSC has come from the ones on here.

 

OSC and the support are pretty damn good. If you want another solution then go get it. Nobody is stopping you.

 

[Fusion616 0]

It's a crying shame bktrain that it comes to this to wake a few people up. I ask for help because I DON'T KNOW not because I want someone else to do it for me for free! I have been writing systems in other languages for 30 years ... and yes .. we can't know it all. And when I was developing systems and I had request for help I gave my time for free to assist.

 

The problem with OSC as a complete newbie to PHP who is learning as I go along along is that the coding is messy ... every thing I need requires an addon that makes it even messier, and noone is willing to impart information to make it easy!

 

Zencart has 90% of the features I need as standard.

 

Sorry but, you and other OSC members excluded, appear to be arrogant,unhelpful ... and basically stuck up their own a***s!

 

I have more support from ZC in the past 72 hours than from OSC in months.

 

If OSC is the way forward then rethink what you offer. Both are Free ... Both get maybe 'silly' questions from new users. Maybe one day us new users will be proficient in advising others .... which system do you think we will support?

[♥joli1811 171]

I seem to remember you asked once for help regarding manufactures did not get what you wanted and now more posts than the whole time with the community of course maybe I am one of those snooty poopy pants (w00t) with my head stuck there where the sun never shines

 

Stop stealing peoples energy please with your negative attitude some guys have work to do / posts to read work to do positively for the community something which you obviously do not understand.

 

Regards

Joli

[burt 5,529]

It's wonderful that you found a cart that suits you...I hope that you find everything you need (including the level of support) at the ZC forum.

 

When you've eventually come to the realisation that ZC is so far behind osCommerce in terms of just about everything, come back and help out with your 30 years of experience - something I did ask you to do previously but I guess you didn't want to help this community at all :(

[♥14steve14 639]

I once spent ages complaining on these forums that oscommerce needs to update and move with what current people want. From what I see now it is moving forward and it is slowly getting its once great reputation back. People constantly knocking it, and doing nothing to help it, are not what oscommerce needs. Someone with your experience could help oscommerce, but you want to take and not give back. That's your choice. What I cannot understand is why you are looking at zencart when there are many better ones than that.

 

As a shop keeper I know very little about coding, and its not my thing. I come here for help and ask in nice way and I get the help I need. I also spend a few minutes on many days and give help where I can. Its called giving. I give in return for all the man hours of coding that has taken place to release oscommerce an to develop oscommerce. You should try it..

[♥Antonio Garcia 22]

phobias and feelings apart I suggest to all that is time to see this table for a few and then re-think again our point of fiew and start (as @@burt - and others - does) with new energy and time/effors to restart this old, rusty and BEAUTIFULL machinery...

 

http://www.google.es/trends/explore#q=zencart%2C%20oscommerce%2C%20magento%2C%20prestashop%2C%20woocommerce&cmpt=q

 

 

[♥Biancoblu 57]

osC works on the principle that it supplies a fairly bare-bones system that you customize exactly as you want, rather than having to accept what someone else thinks you need. For some people, like you, that works well, but others don't like having someone else make their choices for them. It's a different audience.

 

very well summed up, Phil :thumbsup:

[♥Dan Cole 547]

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty

 

Based on Steve's quote I must be an optimist...I like to look at these posts as constructive criticism and try to learn what I can from them. It's an opportunity for improvement.

 

I think Phil summed up the real problem here...

 

If someone can come up with a plug-in system for osC that permits any combination of add-ons to be simply plugged in with one button click, with guaranteed no interference with each other, and no big hit on performance, that would be a Winner.

 

To me this is the real 800 lb gorilla that is keeping osC down. If we could find a way to solve the issue of installing add-ons in a manner similar to what Phil described I think we would indeed have a real winner on our hands. Such as system could be used to force a coding standard for all accepted add-ons and might have the effect of eliminating all those posts for help from shop owners having difficulty finding, installing and trouble shooting the contributions they feel they need. It could be a whole different world as we focus on moving things forward rather than patching up the problems that arise from the existing state of affairs.

 

I not sure if what Phil describes is even possible but I do know there are many bright folks on here that if focused on the issue, could likely come up with a solution in short order.

 

What do you think? Is this what is holding osC back?

[♥oscMarket 420]

I think to post like these should be stoped wasting time to.

 

Infact, it should be directly deleted.

And not because there should not be accepted critics.

 

But the way the critic is given.

Critic is good , but i also not go buy my first beer of the day in bar X , later the day goto bar Y...

And when i am completely wasted , go to tell the owner of bar X that his beer is no good.

 

Basicly i call that a sick mind, the time wasted... and now mine (but i choosed for it).You could have be productive in your ZC.

 

i once made a shopping cart from just one file:

 

<?php
allowHook();
?>

[jimlongo 4]

I think Phil summed up the real problem here...

If someone can come up with a plug-in system for osC that permits any combination of add-ons to be simply plugged in with one button click, with guaranteed no interference with each other, and no big hit on performance, that would be a Winner.

To me this is the real 800 lb gorilla that is keeping osC down. If we could find a way to solve the issue of installing add-ons in a manner similar to what Phil described I think we would indeed have a real winner on our hands. Such as system could be used to force a coding standard for all accepted add-ons and might have the effect of eliminating all those posts for help from shop owners having difficulty finding, installing and trouble shooting the contributions they feel they need. It could be a whole different world as we focus on moving things forward rather than patching up the problems that arise from the existing state of affairs.

I not sure if what Phil describes is even possible but I do know there are many bright folks on here that if focused on the issue, could likely come up with a solution in short order.

 

What do you think? Is this what is holding osC back?

 

I don't know about holding back, nor do I agree with the OPs sentiment, but I do agree with the gist of this post.

What would be ideal would be a core system (think Wordpress, or more specifically wooCommerce) where you never touch any of the core files. You add plugins, and assuming they're well coded you can update the core without thinking.

 

That's the hard part with osCommerce. Once you've done a lot of modifications it can be very time consuming and difficult to update.

 

Not complaining, just pointing out what I think is the main issue with maintaining an osCommerce shop.

[burt 5,529]

If you want easy as in press a button, it gets installed - try Magento. It's brilliant that way. Now, try to do something in Magento where you can't just press a button. Sometimes "making things easy" in reality just does not work. What it actually does is make things harder in the long run) for the average shopowner.

 

Next paragraph aimed at no-one, just some words I want to say;

The Core Team gets very little help in producing code - remember that we are not here to simply sit back and watch people use osCommerce to run their shops, then take time to recode this and recode that and support you. All of that is done in our spare time as and when time permits. All Add Ons are made by other shopowners who took their spare time to make it and upload it (and yes I know that lots of addons are not greatly coded, even so, these people made an effort into the community). Please bear this in mind when you feel that osCommerce is not good enough for your wants and needs - all of the Core Team and all these other shopowners who contributed do/did what they could.

[jimlongo 4]

If you want easy as in press a button, it gets installed - try Magento. It's brilliant that way. Now, try to do something in Magento where you can't just press a button. Sometimes "making things easy" in reality just does not work. What it actually does is make things harder in the long run) for the average shopowner.

 

Hi burt, I wouldn't want to use Magento - besides being much harder to work with it is very expensive in terms of server requirements, something that oscommerce should be proud of achieving.

 

My point (and unfortunately I'm not equipped to help fix this) is that hacks to the core software make updating often hard and dangerous. Thanks to the step by step upgrade docs it's do-able, but (again in a perfect world) hacks to core components would not be allowed.

 

As for the average shop owner, I can't imagine they have a very easy time staying up-to-date, and the biggest problem here is that this leads to the overall perceived security of the product. If you have a lot of out of date installations, you have a lot of hacked sites, you acquire a bad reputation.

 

Thanks,

jim