PHP ecommerce software

I need php Ecommerce software

[ntilde]

Hello, I've never done an e-commerce site before. I'm planning on selling custom made kitchen tables and I'm looking for some good e-commerce php scripts that can handle different types of products and handle processing credit cards.

I'm not sure how this works, has anyone got any good tip on what to use or check out?

thanks for any help.

[jatar_k]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld ntilde,

how about OsCommerce?

[edited by: DaveAtIFG at 1:00 pm (utc) on July 31, 2004]

[ntilde]

Thanks for the reply :)

and thanks for the welcome message.

That link seems great, I'll take a look right now. And it's great that it's open source software... everyday I see more and more great stuff put online by the open source comunity.

Thanks again.

[root]

You can also try X-cart. This is not free, but very nice. We snipped have built several sites using x-cart, you can contact me if wish to see examples. It appears to be a good small- and medium-sized business solution.

[edited by: DaveAtIFG at 12:59 pm (utc) on July 31, 2004]
[edit reason] No specifics please [/edit]

[lorax]

osCommerce is a great cart but a bit of a very large animal for a non-programmer. Because it is open-source you can customize it to your liking. The downside is that it was built with modularity and upgradability in mind so the code is more complicated than a straight forward PHP cart. That being said, you can always hire a PHP programmer to help you out and there folks who specialize in osCommerce.

[Jorb]

I've been playing around with Zen-Cart (a flavor of OSC) and really like it.

[edited by: DaveAtIFG at 2:08 am (utc) on Aug. 1, 2004]
[edit reason] No URLs please [/edit]

[CustomFit]

I strongly suggest you investigate the security holes in osCommerce before using. Few make notable mention of the existing flaws, but they are there in force.

[lorax]

>> Few make notable mention of the existing flaws, but they are there in force.

The osComm community takes all security flaws seriously. Are you sure they haven't already dealt with the vulnerabilities you're thinking of?

[PayPalPB]

Care to elaborate, Custom?

[TonyMc]

Check out ecommercetemplates.com.

[webtress]

ntilde, I have used both oscommerce and ecommercetemplates and if you don't have any programming experience ecommercetemplates is much much more user friendly. The folder and file structure for the sites are eaiser to handle for newbies. Oscommerce folder and file structure is complicated and cumbersome, heck I've gotten lost in there. Even though it's free time is money. Bottom line if you want easy installation, choice of design, and great tech support it's ecommercetemplates.

[nalin]

I like both OSC and ZenCart - many of the site I maintain (and built previously) use the former with the new sites I build shifting towards the latter (I also like phpbb and mambo in combination with the above because they provide some functionalities that are not polished in either).

I like OSC because of the SEF URLS (not out of the box but relatively easily accomplished), and the wealth of contributions. ZenCart does not have these.
I like ZenCart because I think out of the box its a better cart, because I feel despite the URLs it has more potential for optimization, and perhaps most because it better utilizes templetization (Changing some elements in OSC requires changes to all individual pages, ZenCart is designed in a different manner and avoids this).

I think neither of these carts (strictly) necessitates PHP (off the top of my head the only php thing that would need be done is customizing page text defined in variables - there are a number of references to this on the projects respective sites and it would not require php expirience), but I think both of them can be highly customized by a decent programmer and would most definatly recommend PHP (or a desire to learn).

[lexis200]

I've done 2 X-cart sites now and am very pleased with the results. Great forum too with loads of great user mods posted, and some extremely helpful people in there for when you get stuck. Worth the money, and there's a new version just out with even more goodies.

[CustomFit]

Sorry for the late reply. I don't get a chance to visit often.

Basically, when we had our security team check into OSC (we were interested in using it ourselves), we found some disturbing problems in the latest release that could be easily "broken" and depreciated:

Greatest conern is the use of register_globals=on. Also, for example, the use of http_get_vars() and http_post_vars() in attempt to protect incoming variables. Lastly, OSC is not a fully OOB package--it's "spaghetti code" (PHP & HTML) littered with partial classes.

With the first full release of PHP5, this complicates OSC even further, creating both a security risk *and* a longevity problem. Frankly, OSC will not even work with PHP5 & Zend Engine II.

There is no doubt OSC will rewrite the application to be globals=off complaint, and not call deprecated or removed functions. I believe they got themselves into this mess by using a ragtag team of contributors, with all due respect (it is a free application, I know).

The problem is that will take a few months, and a million headaches to fix it. So, we had to pass on it. However, there are other open source alternatives available with a solid foundation to build upon.

X-Cart uses SmartyTemplates. Their LiteCommerce version is fully OOB, which is a matter of preference. Not sure on Zen Cart; others may be able to help or check out their forum [zen-cart.com ]

At this juncture, a custom solution is all that's left for us in the **nix platform(s), but I've heard nice things about Monster Commerce (asp/IIS) for those who do not mind Win2K/MSSQL servers. Although, they allegedly raised their price recently, and I believe you must host with them in order to use the application, which obviously blocks client-side customization.

I suppose it all depends on how far you wish to go on the e-commerce side of things. Admittedly, most clients would be well suited with standard off-the-shelf carts.

CF

[Ian_Cowley]

If you want to stay small scale then PHP is fine. But for large scale, scaleable operations I'd steer clear.

[forstan]

another consideration could be searchfit.com

pretty good, it generates static websites and distributes them worldwide as well...

good luck,
forstan

[mdavis9]

X-Cart, litecommerce, linkpoint are a few you could try. Good luck!

[jparadise]

Has anyone done a recent comparison of ecommercetemplates and x-cart?

Especially with regard to:

ease of use
search engine friendliness
available help
security

thanks,
Joshua