Zen Cart is killing me!
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- boobs
This program is making me crazier! Anybody have any insights in how to wrestle with this bad boy and not end up in the fucking ditch?
- Akiraprise0
use Magento instead, Zen cart is awful to try and work with... much like Magento really...
- d_rek0
pinnacle cart is a joy to work with as well
- mydo0
we had a programmer almost quit because of a zen cart project
- boobs0
Is there anything I could learn to make it any easier? The documentation on their site is sketchy, and answers everything but what I need answered.
- spraycan0
Roll your on or get fucked.
- welded0
I looked at Zen cart (among others) for a project a while ago and was relieved when the client pulled out and the whole thing got cancelled.
- insomnie0
Try this:
http://bigcartel.com/
- nocomply0
I have taken on 2 separate zen cart projects in the past year and a half or so.
One of them is about 80% complete and has been in a holding pattern since November. The other may wind up being scrapped altogether. Let's just say I'm not in the least bit upset about it.
I'm not sure how other eCommerce systems work, but Zen Cart really is pretty difficult to grapple with. Especially coming from my Wordpress background where everything seems so logically structured. I bought myself this book: http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Cart-A… and forced myself to read through it and that helped a bit, but mostly I just google my questions and look on their support forums.
Starting a few months ago I decided that I just wanted going to do any eCommerce work unless it was through something like Big Cartel, Foxy Cart, etc...
Setting up a custom eCommerce system has proven for me to have too many variables that can cause a project to go South. Part of that is the eCommerce system itself, but also part of that is the fact that clients are often uneducated on how much work it will take on their part to manage an online store.
Maybe it's me. Maybe it's Zen Cart. Or maybe it's the clients. But I don't think Zen Cart has helped at all.
Hopefully these shared experiences will help you guys in the future.
- d_rek0
eCommerce is definitely a large undertaking for both designers and developers.
Designers have a massive amount of front-end details to contend with and developers have the luxury(haha) of trying to make them all work.
There's so many other variables too - shipping modules, secured payment processing, inventory management, syncing up with external financial management software... the list goes on.
I am in the process of wrapping up my first venture into eCommerce with a developer friend of mine. My suggestions would be to do a fuckload of research. Research your cart thoroughly. What your clients needs are. Have a plan and have a strategy. It's a lot of work. A lot of fucking work.
- 74LEO0
Yeah,
I would research learn one in and out and push that one for all your e commerce sites.
I use 2 carts and only 2 until I find a better one.
If your in a CMS use this - http://www.ecwid.com/I also use miva merchant.
- Also if you work for a company that does websites most e-commerce suppliers will do training.74LEO
- Centigrade0
Customizing Shopify right now... not bad actually/pretty easy. And I've also built an eComm store entirely in WP which will be launching soon, but I don't have to worry about inventory for that one as it's for digital products.
- landock0
it blows my mind that there are such few options in this area. How fucked up is it that the collective wisdom here can only point to a literal handful of off the shelf carts that aren't a total joke, and those few suck monkey balls in many ways.
- d_rek0
landock,
I disagree. It's not that there aren't options. Quite the contrary... it's that there are SO MANY options and that each client has different needs and requirements for their online stores. For example, can you tell me which eCommerce platforms integrate with Quickbooks POS v9? Or which support gift registry and wish lists? Or which have administrative dashboards with robust reporting options?
There's so many things to consider. I think what people are getting at here is those are platforms they're comfortable or familiar with.
- spot130
There are lots of eCommerce options.... but you mostly get what you pay for in my experience.
- spraycan0
It's not that hard where I work we build our own e-commerce sites and dont use any framework or ready cart, it just take a bit of PHP knowledge.Not that much but you have to go for it and not stand on plugins.
- WeLoveNoise0
bigcartel (or outsource it out as a 2nd option :) )