Need feedback on X-Cart

[Rplantz]

I am looking at X-Cart for my shopping cart and was wanting input either good or bad from people who have used this cart in the past. Also any problems using this cart at FutureQuest? Any problems using this cart with authorize.net? My current store is not being handled like I want so I am just going to setup my own here that way I have control over it...

[tappel]

I have a FQ hosted X-Cart site... www.bassguitarstrings.us. I have it running nicely now but there are lots of things to consider before using it. I have lots of thoughts about X-Cart, so bear with me if I don't organize them well.


Some CONs:

- X-Cart requires that Safe_Mode be disabled. Not a problem (thanks to Secure_Mode) unless you need to use a FQ secure server. In that case you might want to touch base with service@futurequest.net. I have my own certificate at my site but I'm not sure that all SSL servers have Secure_Mode implemented.

- If you decide to use it, be prepared to do a TON of editing and tweaking. The programmers are Russian; their English is ok, but certainly not good enough to project a professional image on an English language site. Also, if you choose to disable CVV2 (there's a check box option) customers are STILL presented with a CVV2 text box to fill in at checkout. You have to remove it by editing out a line in a PHP file. There are other such annoyances as well.

- As I said, the programmers are Russian; they are located in Russia as well and work normal business hours (Russian time). This creates a real problem if you need a support issue addressed promptly. Also, while they've always helped me with any problems I've had, it isn't always timely. I've waited days in most cases. The support forums are ok, but a lot of the more complex questions go unanswered.

- It's built-in newsletter function is rudimentary at best and it doesn't provide opt-in or opt-out as required by FutureQuest. You'll notice that, at my site, I use mailto links that use the FutureQuest-provided mailing list manager.

Some PROs:

- It's relatively cheap.
- Written in PHP and using smarty templates and utilizing MySQL, it's fast.
- If you are good with PHP, CSS,and HTML, it's a home run. You can make a beautiful site. I've seen some really polished looking X-Cart sites (unlike mine). :)
- It supports a ton of gateways and cc processors. I use Authorize.Net and take PayPal as well.

I've been running it live at FQ for nearly a year now. Feel free to ask me any other questions you may have.

Tom

[Rplantz]

Thanks for the reply...

- X-Cart requires that Safe_Mode be disabled. Not a problem (thanks to Secure_Mode) unless you need to use a FQ secure server. In that case you might want to touch base with service@futurequest.net. I have my own certificate at my site but I'm not sure that all SSL servers have Secure_Mode implemented.

I would start off using the shared certificate from FQ until I got the site up and running to my liking. I will check in with FQ to make sure that Secure_Mode is implemented on the SSL servers I would need.

- If you decide to use it, be prepared to do a TON of editing and tweaking. The programmers are Russian; their English is ok, but certainly not good enough to project a professional image on an English language site. Also, if you choose to disable CVV2 (there's a check box option) customers are STILL presented with a CVV2 text box to fill in at checkout. You have to remove it by editing out a line in a PHP file. There are other such annoyances as well.

No problem here, I was planning on tweaking it quite a bit to make it more my liking anyway so I don't see this as a problem.

- As I said, the programmers are Russian; they are located in Russia as well and work normal business hours (Russian time). This creates a real problem if you need a support issue addressed promptly. Also, while they've always helped me with any problems I've had, it isn't always timely. I've waited days in most cases. The support forums are ok, but a lot of the more complex questions go unanswered.

This could be a problem but I could live with it as long as they do work with you eventually. I know FQ has spoiled us on the responsiveness of all problems but I can probably get back in the mindset of answers taking a few days. I already have a store up and running so there really is no rush on my side just want to get off the hosting company I use now as the uptime over the past couple of weeks has dropped to below 80% and that is not acceptable and they give no reason as to why. The store software I use now is tied to the hosting company so once I leave them my store is also gone...

- It's built-in newsletter function is rudimentary at best and it doesn't provide opt-in or opt-out as required by FutureQuest. You'll notice that, at my site, I use mailto links that use the FutureQuest-provided mailing list manager.

Not a problem as I don't really do a newsletter so this would not be a problem and if I decided to start one later I would definatly do what you did and not use the X-Cart one anyway.

- It's relatively cheap.
- Written in PHP and using smarty templates and utilizing MySQL, it's fast.
- If you are good with PHP, CSS,and HTML, it's a home run. You can make a beautiful site. I've seen some really polished looking X-Cart sites (unlike mine).
- It supports a ton of gateways and cc processors. I use Authorize.Net and take PayPal as well.


All the items you mentioned here are the big reason I was looking at this cart, so overall it looks like I can live with the Cons and like the Pros and you have had it on FQ for over a year so it must be pretty good.

Again thanks for your comments and if anyone else has any please let me know before I shell out the money... %)

[Matt]

Have you taken a look at osCommerce? Specifically I'd look into MS2-Max which is a "distro" with many extensions pre-integrated. There's an on-line forum if you have questions and the software's free. If you don't have a problem tweaking PHP code, I'd recommend looking into it.

-Matt