I do think it’s a great cart, but it has so many small issues here and there that make the really great features that it claims to have completely useless.
A prime example of this is the product export feature - the gobblygook that it spits out is a waste of time. Why can’t it just give you a basic report of your inventory levels by product option?
Another example is the quickbooks addon. I can’t really work out what that’s supposed to do - it doesn’t export to quickbooks, so why is it there?
For some weird reason the image verification thing doesn’t work when it’s supposed to - so I’ve had to turn that off.
Customers are now able to create accounts without filling in all the required detail - what’s the point of using the little red asterisk if they can create the account anyway?
I could go on - but I do know that my conversions have increased since switching it on, which is why I’m completely frustrated. I just wish I didn’t have to spend so much time fiddling with small issues here and there.
I think it’s a great cart, but why are they offering all these features that don’t work?
Do people refer these problems to the support team for fixes?
I don’t use product options so I don’t know about “the gobblygook that it spits out”.
I don’t use quickbooks either but doing a search will quickly tell you that the addon has never worked quite right.
Image verification is working just fine on this end.
Required fields are working just fine on this end as well.
Yes, people do refer some of these problems. You can find them and post them yourself here->[url]CS-Cart Community Forums
I think the problem is that you’re not using it correctly.
[quote name=‘CathyG’]I do think it’s a great cart, but it has so many small issues here and there that make the really great features that it claims to have completely useless.
A prime example of this is the product export feature - the gobblygook that it spits out is a waste of time. Why can’t it just give you a basic report of your inventory levels by product option?
Another example is the quickbooks addon. I can’t really work out what that’s supposed to do - it doesn’t export to quickbooks, so why is it there?
For some weird reason the image verification thing doesn’t work when it’s supposed to - so I’ve had to turn that off.
Customers are now able to create accounts without filling in all the required detail - what’s the point of using the little red asterisk if they can create the account anyway?
I could go on - but I do know that my conversions have increased since switching it on, which is why I’m completely frustrated. I just wish I didn’t have to spend so much time fiddling with small issues here and there.
I think it’s a great cart, but why are they offering all these features that don’t work?
Do people refer these problems to the support team for fixes?[/QUOTE]
[quote name=‘CathyG’]I do think it’s a great cart, but it has so many small issues here and there that make the really great features that it claims to have completely useless.[/quote]
Each to their own, I’m using it very successfully for the stores that I operate, I’m also very seasoned with how it works.
[quote name=‘CathyG’]A prime example of this is the product export feature - the gobblygook that it spits out is a waste of time. Why can’t it just give you a basic report of your inventory levels by product option?[/quote]
This has never been a functionality however I understand your frustration with this. I personally review product option levels using PHPMyAdmin (Database View) than review individual products - Seasoned. First thing you must remember is that CS-Cart doesn’t export product option variants!
[quote name=‘CathyG’]Another example is the quickbooks addon. I can’t really work out what that’s supposed to do - it doesn’t export to quickbooks, so why is it there?[/quote]
Although we use Quickbooks, I’ve already attempted to import into QB. Quick simply it doesn’t work as QB doesn’t play nice with external programs importing data. Our accountant said that since we’re importing financial data it’s imperative that we validate the data before be import it. Final words were “Do it manually, the Tax department doesn’t like ‘The program dunnit!’”
[quote name=‘CathyG’]For some weird reason the image verification thing doesn’t work when it’s supposed to - so I’ve had to turn that off. [/quote]
Server issue! OR You’ve modified the code somewhere
[quote name=‘CathyG’] Customers are now able to create accounts without filling in all the required detail - what’s the point of using the little red asterisk if they can create the account anyway? [/quote]
Server issue! OR You’ve modified the code somewhere, our issues are relative to Safari on a specific operating system, I’m yet to nail it down to which one it is, but if you’ve gotten more than 1 or two orders with that, then it’s been a modification that’s been made (or an errant upgrade - Yes seen that before)
[quote name=‘CathyG’]I could go on - but I do know that my conversions have increased since switching it on, which is why I’m completely frustrated. I just wish I didn’t have to spend so much time fiddling with small issues here and there.[/quote]
Realistically it’s part of being a web-developer - “We can fix it”, there isn’t a day that goes by where we don’t have to fix something, fault test, penetration test or just plain develop so it’s a big thing to have things working the way you want them to, even if it’s 95% there.
[quote name=‘CathyG’]
I think it’s a great cart, but why are they offering all these features that don’t work?[/quote]
Geographically, CS-Cart is targeted towards the USA. It’s their biggest market thus far and only recently have they been branching out towards other localities where their business can develop. (Quickbooks Addon won’t work with the Australian Version, I know since I’m Australian ;))
Part of the difficulty is that:
A) CS-Cart don’t live local so they can’t automatically grasp simple terminologies (GST? VAT? State Tax? Federal Tax? Tax on Luxury Goods? Export Tax? - That’s just tax! - Think about Payment processors?)
B) There are rules that must be followed to operate within a different industry without actually owning a shop. Example is Westpac / St George don’t allow foreign entites to write their payment gateways, so you’ve got to find a local business whom is willing to A) Register a business with the intention of becoming an agent of CS-Cart or B) Become that entity and use the script. It’s not exactly all English either
[quote name=‘CathyG’]Do people refer these problems to the support team for fixes?[/quote]
Some people do, Some people don’t - I personally do a lot of development on CS-Cart on my downtime. I typically limit this to error resolution (Fixed CompactDiscount’s Register issue last night) or upgrades (Cooksaw.com / Routeac.com) or Skin Development (Worked with a forum member here as a contractor)
It really does depend on the budget, timeline and openness.
Just about everything I’ve mentioned (and more) have been discussed in this forum with no positive outcome - so alot of them are known problems with the software.
Thanks Jesse,
I guess my post was more a vent than anything. It’s annoying when you spend all weekend trying to work things out only to find that they won’t work no matter what you do. I’m just a novice, so that’s probably a big part of the problem too 
I will check my server settings to see if that helps with some issues, but I’ll take up support with cs-cart to see if there’s any luck there.
exporting data is really important to me, so that’s something I’d like to get sorted - either through cs-cart, or try to get a custom mod built somehow.
Thanks for the replies,
Cathy
pay the experienced or find out the hard way. It will save you time, headache and money in the long run. Cs will never, never get the cart functioning in a way that satisfies everyone, so have someone experienced with this cart make it do and look exactly like you want it. Even if CS has missed the mark on something that should function properly.
Also, if you don’t have someone that has extensive working knowledge of this cart, then you’re waisting time. Just because a developer says that they can effectively handle this cart, don’t trust em unless they give you clear cut examples of the work they have completed. Even at this, if they’re not active in the forum, then you will want to use extreme caution in my opinion.
Do your research as many good developers are present here in the forums and they do listen. We’ve been down this same road and now digging out from the mess.
It sounds like you have a code mess somewhere. If whoever couldn’t do it correctly the first time, then chances are they will make an even bigger mess the second.
This is my vent by the way and my way of helping other avoid the issues that we have faced!
Stu
[quote name=‘derbytown502’]pay the experienced or find out the hard way. It will save you time, headache and money in the long run. Cs will never, never get the cart functioning in a way that satisfies everyone, so have someone experienced with this cart make it do and look exactly like you want it. Even if CS has missed the mark on something that should function properly.[/quote]
I think that once CS-Cart opens it’s own marketplace we’ll start getting more seasoned developers in here. I specialize in upgrades since I’ve worked with every version of CS-Cart since 1.3.3 sp2, otherwise I prefer to stay away from the code due to conflicting functions.
[quote name=‘derbytown502’] Also, if you don’t have someone that has extensive working knowledge of this cart, then you’re waisting time. Just because a developer says that they can effectively handle this cart, don’t trust em unless they give you clear cut examples of the work they have completed. Even at this, if they’re not active in the forum, then you will want to use extreme caution in my opinion. [/quote]
I’ve done that myself and got someone extremely lacking in the brain department, if they ain’t on the forum or cannot at least provide sample code - Don’t use them no matter how you feel.
Very sound advice in the last 2 posts.
Definitely - thanks for the advice, much appreciated.
[quote name=‘Tool Outfitters’]Very sound advice in the last 2 posts.[/QUOTE]
ETA - conversions are now at around 10% which is phenomenal for my business. I guess the next time I get annoyed that something isn’t working the way it’s supposed to, I should remind myself that customers (even though sometimes inconvenienced) are still managing to transact.
I’m off to buy some cs-cart support and see if a few programmers can provide some quotes
[quote name=‘CathyG’]
I’m off to buy some cs-cart support and see if a few programmers can provide some quotes :)[/quote]
It would be worth your while to post the application specs to the forum in the interest of developers here (might be easy) or at least a visual reference of what you require!