For the past few years I’ve been scouring the net looking for a good, open source, PHP based shopping cart. I never really found everything I wanted so I just settled with hacking away at osCommerce and Zen Cart.
Functionality wise (user end), these two packages are pretty decent, but for my needs the code layout is horrid. Zen Cart allows you to template your site to some extent, but it’s not very easy or intuitive. And this frustrates me since it doesn’t have to be that way.
Since I can’t seem to find the features I want anywhere, I’m considering starting a SourceForge project…that is if I can get a handful of other people together who are committed to getting this off of the ground. If you’re interested, let me know.
For a decent shopping cart, here’s my wish list, in no particular order:
- PHP based
- MySQL driven
- Easy to use and setup template system
- CSS layout (not tables)
- Plugin API
- Well documented
- PayPal IPN
- RSS feeds (new/updated products)
- Integrated blog
- WYSIWYG editor
- GPL license
- Gift certificates
- Discounts (Group, product, person)
- Etc, etc, etc…the list could go on
However, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel…I plan on taking a look at the components of other GPL packages and using what I can.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, fire away.
About The Author: Brian Groce
