Question for people running the latest version of 2.x.
I have worked with cscart for years, know 1.35 pretty much inside out and have lots of clients using this verison - 2.x has been out for a while, but I was reluctant to change for various reasons, should I in fact be installing the latest for new clients when their needs are only for 1.35 items? How much extra effort in general from the site design should I expect?
For example - when I did a 1.35 new client - I could have the software installed in an hour, have a basic 3 column design replace the correct tpls in about 2 hours from my cut up html file - am I looking at 2x, 3x as much effort for my first 2.x client?
Thanks
Well, see the list of bugs in 2.x and then decide. There’s many complains about the most recent 2.0.9 which has been pulled out and 2.0.8 is back in place.
Wait for 2.0.10 and do nothing. Watch the forum for a month and see what happens. Do a test install, see how things work and if you really need 2.x do it. When done and configured, you will need to teach your clients how to use it. That’s another hour or two per head.
My 2 cents.
noman - thanks for the reply - yes I would not go with that 2.0.9 version, but just in general the 2.0 base - I am not worried about the client - more myself in designing the site and getting the base taxes/shipping/admin setup.
Functionality in 1.3.5 is all I really need - so I am just wondering when I bite the bullet and jump on 2
Well 2.x is new and takes some getting used to. But the same can be said for any new version of any software.
I have been with CS-Cart since 2006 and got very comfortable with 1.3.x. I was kind of reluctant to change versions because it was something new and I would have to learn the system all over again.
What finally got me to switch was the fact that there was hardly any support on the forums for 1.3.x. So when I had a couple of questions, they went unanswered. Then the other reason was that anything new was to be developed for 2.x and so if you had 1.3.x you were going to be left in the dust.
The big thing you would have to ask yourself is if you need to fix something that isn’t broke. If you are already using 1.3.x and it has all the features that you need than it might be good to stick with that.
After reading your post it sounds like you do sites for clients. Personally I would leave the clients that already run with 1.3.x on 1.3.x, but maybe see how there business is doing and see if any of the new options that are in 2.x would be good for them. Then if the options could help them out than give them the option to upgrade. But for any new clients I would use 2.x so that way they are up on the most current version of the cart. Of course I don’t know if you would really have a choice in this anyways. I mean can you purchase a new license and still get 1.3.5 sp4?
Also what Noman is saying is very true. If you are comfortable with the cart and feel up to testing than keep up with the upgrades on a testing server first. Also keep an eye on the forums to see how things are going with the upgrades. Once your are comfortable with the new upgrade and most of the bugs are worked out than upgrade your live site.
I hope my answer helps a little,
Brandon
You will definitely be looking at a substantial increase in time for your first 2.0.x client since things are moved around quite a bit - others who were really familiar with the 1.3.5 template layout have complained how much things changed. But others feel that the 2.0 code is structured better.
That said, the ‘hooks’ feature will provide you with a new tool for customizing and the blocks (improved listmania) feature may allow you to do some ‘design’ without touching code.
2.0 also allows more flexibility (read: added complexity) in setups. This may be a curse when your clients have very simple needs but might make a complex setup easier to accomplish.
Wait until at least 2.0.10 and then take a look.
job/brandon - thanks for all your comments -this is exactly what I was looking for - yes existing clients I will not migrate as there is no reason really - maybe a few years down the road - i guess I will in fact bite the bullet and the next client will be 2.x something - will wait for 2.0.10 I guess by the sounds of it. In the meantime I guess I should download and see the structure and tpl files etc that I am soooo familiar with in 1.35 world
thanks again all
Another thing to consider is future security updates from CS-Cart to offset potential threats down the road.
As older versions such as 1.3.5 go into the “Sunset Mode”, then in my opinion they also become more susceptible to attacks as fewer, if any, security updates are being made.