jCart Integration

[jamiewhiskers]

Hey guys,
I have started work on turning jCart in to a plugin for getsimple. Im just curious if anyone else has tried?

[JWH_Matthew]

I have not yet, but I am about to really need this plugin!!

[Oleg06]

it will be very useful plugin

[rogerstreets]

How far are you with the jCart plugin. Could you let me know, cause otherwise i'm going to write it myself. But if you're almost done i'll be glad to beta test it and use it.

Greets

[Zegnåt]

There is no real fool-proof way to create a jCart plugin. That is, it will need a lot of work on the back-end to ever really be useful.

For one, you will need to find a way to manage a global database (XML or otherwise) that contains all products and prices for the checkout. Building something like that while keeping it usable by clients is hell.

I know, I tried. (Though I said tried, it doesn’t mean I wont try again when there is some more time/money.)

[rogerstreets]

@zegnåt
The way to manage the database can be done at the same way as the other plugins like mini_blog or the events plug. Am i right? At the backend there can be a add product field with some extra parameters like tax and category. It can't be that hard? Or i am overlooking something? For a client i just need to send the order to an email address so that would be my first step. It can be extended with gateway payment methods.

martijn nog een vraagje welk systeem gebruik jij als je niet met get simple werkt? Ik heb verschillende geprobeerd maar vind get simple the backend het fijnst werken alleen het is nog te beperkt geen meerdere gebruikers login enzo... wordpress vind ik een onoverzichtelijke backend voor klanten..

[Zegnåt]

At the back-end there can be an add product field with some extra parameters like tax and category. It can't be that hard? Or I am overlooking something?

The client will need to manage all their products. The least info needed (and the only thing jCart is really build to handle) is a name, possibly a different name to display in the cart (shown in my implementation where names that are the same get prepended with “Canada:” or “Sweden:”) and a price. Then there will need to be a way for clients to actually add these created products to their page.

jCart doesn’t support shipping costs, taxes, quantity limitations or even categories by itself.

For a client I just need to send the order to an email address so that would be my first step. It can be extended with gateway payment methods.

Thing is, jCart does it the other way around. It is configured to handle PayPal (and beautifully at that). It is not configured to give any information to the website owner at all, it just handles the pay and that’s it. Neither is there any default behaviour for when the user has paid through PayPal.

jCart gives a brilliant basis for the front-end and being dynamic at that it is truly useful. But the back-end leaves a lot to be desired and gives the most headaches. Currently I would recommend building specific implementations on a per website basis instead of one global plugin.

Martijn, nog een vraagje. Welk systeem gebruik jij als je niet met GetSimple werkt?

Meestal plain HTML, hoewel ik ook wel eens HTML voor WordPress of WebsiteBaker heb aangeleverd. Ik heb eigenlijk nooit klanten die meer nodig hebben dan een slice/base van een design en doe zelf de CMS implementatie vaak niet. (Als ik er over nadenk: ik heb eigenlijk nooit klanten, punt. Wat wel erg vervelend is want geeft me nou niet echt een noemenswaardig inkomen.)

WordPress vind ik een onoverzichtelijke back-end voor klanten.

WordPress vind ik juist een geweldige back-end voor klanten. Ik ken meerdere mensen die niks weten van het web maar er toch mee om kunnen gaan. Een WordPress alternatief is misschien ExpressionEngine. Daar lees ik wel goede dingen over maar is helaas niet gratis. (Anders kun je altijd nog een extra stylesheet aan de WordPress admin toevoegen om overbodige menu items te verbergen.)

Mijn probleem met WordPress is dat er zoveel bestanden en een speciale syntax voor nodig zijn om een design te bouwen. Dat is ook de enige rede waarom mijn blog bij Tumblr draait en niet op mijn eigen server met WordPress.

[jamiewhiskers]

To be honest, i gave up. I couldnt get it to work right with Sessions, the ass end i had no problem with it. It looks like Zegnåt got a lot further along then me.

Zegnåt, have you released the code for your version?

[Zegnåt]

I couldn’t get it to work right with Sessions, the ass end I had no problem with it.

The sessions are hell, but I did get that to work in the end. How did you solve having to add items and validating their prices on the back-end? I was kind of stuck there. I didn’t want to change anything to the jCart core but couldn’t find any way to plugin any validation function otherwise…

Have you released the code for your version?

No, I have not. As the work I did on the shopping cart was commissioned I don’t really want to open-source it. I might publish it at a later date when I’m sure I don’t have more time to play with it though.

[jamiewhiskers]

Zegnat - I stole a page out of GetSimples book, had a directory full of xml files with details inside. Didn't get around to price validation as I couldn't get the items in the shopping cart. Adding/Editing/Deleting the items was much easyer as you can imagine. Will have to keep an eye open for when you do release it. To Busy to get back in to it atm.

[dominionit]

Hi there.. Dominion jCart is a jCart intigration version if you are interested.

http://get-simple.info/forum/topic/1094/...cart-beta/

[andy]

Johannes (my maat) how do I get thumbnails to work?

[dominionit]

Johannes (my maat) how do I get thumbnails to work?

Hi daar Andy

do you have a sample site for me to view ? Basically I used the old GS thumbnails it created when uploading
the files onto it. Have not used the new one yet, will install and see how it does it.

I am buggered with time, but will see what I can do to help you

dankie

Johannes