Hello all,
Can someone please post the “best looking” CS-Cart sites?
Im torn between Magento and CS-Cart. My programmer has not worked with CS-Cart before. Due to his inexperience with CS-Cart he advices me to use Magento. Which is fine because originally I was going to go with Magento, but I stumbled across CS-Cart, and I find it to look promising. However all the sites I’ve seen look like pages from the early 2000 or late 1990s, no offense. Are ther any modern looking sites so I can actually see it’s capabilities.
Here are some great looking Magento sites.
[url]http://www.zhitea.com/[/url]
[url]http://www.beertees.com/[/url]
Please let me know
Thank you.
Hello Kepela,
You can view at least a few very nicely designed sites here:
[url]CS-Cart Websites | See marketplaces and shops using CS-Cart
This is one of my favorites:
http://www.eliteak.com
Several of the forum members also have some very nice designs as well.
Basically, the skies the limit as far as what can be created with CS-Cart…
Good Luck!
[quote name=‘Kepela’]Hello all,
Can someone please post the “best looking” CS-Cart sites?
Im torn between Magento and CS-Cart. My programmer has not worked with CS-Cart before. Due to his inexperience with CS-Cart he advices me to use Magento. Which is fine because originally I was going to go with Magento, but I stumbled across CS-Cart, and I find it to look promising. However all the sites I’ve seen look like pages from the early 2000 or late 1990s, no offense. Are ther any modern looking sites so I can actually see it’s capabilities.
Here are some great looking Magento sites.
[url]http://www.zhitea.com/[/url]
[url]http://www.beertees.com/[/url]
Please let me know
Thank you.[/QUOTE]
I am currently designing a modern-y site with CS cart, although I am not changing the layout heavily.
The reason it looks dated is because the CSS and styling techniques are all very outdated. The base style would benefit from a complete revamp on the CSS side switching to a grid system and removing maybe 80% of the CSS clutter (which I am doing as I style).
The template system used in CS-cart is much more awkward than Magento’s. A big problem is the “my changes” system with hooks, which is not a realistic approach to unique site design. So you’re left with messing with the templates and the cluttered CSS files. However, so as long as it does what you want it to then styling it is not an insurmountable challenge.
Magento on the other hand, can be stripped down to nothing fairly easily but is difficult to add new features to (ie, ajax add to cart, pagination etc).
To sum it up for you: Magento wins out on flexibility but is complex, and CS cart wins out on features but is clumsy to use.
T
[quote name=‘Mike-D’]This is not CS-Cart based store :([/quote]
Yes it is. [url]Watches | UK’s No.1 For Watches Online | WatchShop.com™
Kepela,
I agree with you, most shops look outdated. When I started 6 months ago I wrote almost exactly the same post as you did.
I think part of the reason for this is that shop owners try to cram all the features CS-cart has into the shop (best selling, hot deals, feature compare, etc. etc.)
It is however quite easy to make a good looking shop. I like to turn off almost all the blocks to clean everything up and go from there.
Anyway, if you have a big budget and your programmer already knows Magento, you could of course also go down that road. Just expect to spend a lot more money and if you’re not very handy yourself you will always be dependent of programmers and designers for every little thing you want to do.
I love the fact that as a non-programmer / designer, I can still get about 95% of what I want done in CS-cart.
agreed, eliteak.com is very nice. Did they start from a template or is that all custom?
[quote name=‘Struck’]Hello Kepela,
You can view at least a few very nicely designed sites here:
[url]CS-Cart Websites | See marketplaces and shops using CS-Cart
This is one of my favorites:
http://www.eliteak.com
Several of the forum members also have some very nice designs as well.
Basically, the skies the limit as far as what can be created with CS-Cart…
Good Luck![/QUOTE]
Hello;
We run a bunch of sites off roughly the same base template, looking very nice (atleast we think so), these are decently busy sites with real customers as well.
Authority Safes
Outdoor Authority
Adirondack Authority
Baby Authority
In fact, our Baby Authority store/website is featured on CS-Car’ts Homepage, and in the featured sites list as well.
Feel free to provide any feedback about our sites, they are all currently running 2.0.x series, with many custom add-ons, and will be running newer 2.1.x branch in near future.
@Struck - I agree with your statement: “Basically, the skies the limit as far as what can be created with CS-Cart…”
Thanks! :lol:
I was looking at the Baby Authority site… nice. I was going to ask you how you did your reviews and then I saw they are powered by PowerReviews. 
[quote name=‘ogia’]I was looking at the Baby Authority site… nice. I was going to ask you how you did your reviews and then I saw they are powered by PowerReviews. :)[/QUOTE]
Yup, we chose power reviews for a number of reasons, even though it does cost some monthly fees for our sites, still worked out to be better for our needs.
Thanks for the feedback! 
@Unknown - What template did you start form?
We started the from the computer_shop skin, it had most basic things we wanted, and nice looking general areas that matched our layout needs the best. We originally started from the same skin in 1.3.0, but have since utilized newest 2.x.x skin.
[quote name=‘owenad’]@Unknown - What template did you start form?
We started the from the computer_shop skin, it had most basic things we wanted, and nice looking general areas that matched our layout needs the best. We originally started from the same skin in 1.3.0, but have since utilized newest 2.x.x skin.[/QUOTE]
Hello Owenad,
which filter-by addon had you used, please? I see that it is Ajax driven it is similar to the one used by watchshop.com
Many thanks
Best Regards
[quote name=‘Unregistered’]What template did you start form?[/QUOTE]
You sites are beautiful and we have been looking for the “view all” addon with no success. Did you pay to have it done? How can we get this setup so customers can see all the products at once in the main categories?
Thank you
[quote name=‘bestgoods@earthlink.net’]You sites are beautiful and we have been looking for the “view all” addon with no success. Did you pay to have it done? How can we get this setup so customers can see all the products at once in the main categories?
Thank you[/quote]
I custom programmed that addon my self; just as I do all our addons and customizations. PM me for more information. Thanks.
Please have a look at www.buyhappier.com which we created for one of our customers
and has tons of modifications.
Our site is www.4sprung.com.au
[quote name=‘steve22’]Please have a look at www.buyhappier.com which we created for one of our customers
and has tons of modifications.
Our site is www.4sprung.com.au[/quote]
That is a very nice site, good job!
[quote name=‘steve22’]Please have a look at www.buyhappier.com which we created for one of our customers
and has tons of modifications.
Our site is www.4sprung.com.au[/QUOTE]
very well thought out with attention paid to detail :)…Good Job !