CS-Cart and Multi-Vendor 4.14.1 are out now. From now on, you might see them in your Upgrade Center. As usual, for the first few weeks after the release we hand out upgrade packages in limited numbers. So if you don't see the upgrade yet, check back later.
The most notable change across Multi-Vendor is the new vendor panel with customizable colors and the ability to hide optional fields and tabs on the product editing page. Also we have increased Google Page Speed score for mobile devices by 30%.
The main changes in CS-Cart are updated product bundles and landing page creation with Tilda.
However, there are also other useful changes in 4.14.1. Click the banners below to see what improvements the new version brings:
P.S. We have released version 4.14.1.SP1. Read more about all fixes in the changelog.
Also we have increased Google Page Speed score for mobile devices by 30%.
In the upgrade center you say:
Google Page Speed score on mobile devices increased by 14%.
So which number is correct than? Anyway, I've tested the new version and speed improvments are just basic stuff that were already developed by e.g. alexbranding.
Without moving the platform to modern tech stack it will be never possible to achieve good scores on google page speed. The biggest problem is loading huge amounts of not needed javascript and css and creating tons of nested html tags. It will be hard to tackle without moving to e.g. react headless frontend.
There are many new and modern frameworks (e.g. react, nextjs, hydrogen) and I would be really happy if you would reveal what you're planning for the version 5 of cs-cart and when can we expect it. Trying to fix the current frontend without radical changes doesn't make any sense from my point of view.
Anyway, I'm happy that you added new product bundle :-)
Please share some information regarding cs-cart v5
after update from 4.13 to 4.14.12 i had problems with product edit privileges..
do you know why ?
Unfortunately, without the specifics (such as what exactly the problem is, how things were before the upgrade, and what problem occurred afterwards) we won't even know what to look for. Some more information on the problem would help.
Alternatively, you can contact Customer Care via Help Desk, and they'll be able to look into the problem for you on your own installation. They can normally look into issues faster, but they too would need some more information to diagnose the problem.
In the upgrade center you say:
Google Page Speed score on mobile devices increased by 14%.
So which number is correct than? Anyway, I've tested the new version and speed improvments are just basic stuff that were already developed by e.g. alexbranding.
Without moving the platform to modern tech stack it will be never possible to achieve good scores on google page speed. The biggest problem is loading huge amounts of not needed javascript and css and creating tons of nested html tags. It will be hard to tackle without moving to e.g. react headless frontend.
There are many new and modern frameworks (e.g. react, nextjs, hydrogen) and I would be really happy if you would reveal what you're planning for the version 5 of cs-cart and when can we expect it. Trying to fix the current frontend without radical changes doesn't make any sense from my point of view.
Anyway, I'm happy that you added new product bundle :-)
Please share some information regarding cs-cart v5
In our tests, Multi-Vendor demonstrated 30% increase in Google PageSpeed score for mobile devices, and CS-Cart demonstrated 14% increase. That's why the numbers are different.
We could and would have done much more to increase PageSpeed score. But any bigger changes would have affected backward compatibility and made it harder for people to upgrade. We tried to get the best of both worlds: optimizations that increase PageSpeed score and allow for a smooth upgrade without the need for third-party developers to rework all their add-ons and themes.
Radical changes and "from the ground up approach" are reserved for CS-Cart and Multi-Vendor 5. For now, I can say that its focal points are meant to be:
- "Mobile first" approach to design.
- "API first" approach to architecture.
- Performance and scalability.
- Ease of development (to allow for more add-ons and themes).
For now I can confirm that it's in the works and that we've made some progress.
P.S. I'm glad to hear that you're happy about the new product bundles. We had to limit their scope somewhat; and even then, they turned out to be more difficult to implement than many other features in 4.14.1.
We could and would have done much more to increase PageSpeed score. But any bigger changes would have affected backward compatibility and made it harder for people to upgrade. We tried to get the best of both worlds: optimizations that increase PageSpeed score and allow for a smooth upgrade without the need for third-party developers to rework all their add-ons and themes.
Could you create a post with all the improvements that you discovered while trying to increase page speed? From the business perspective, higher page speed = more revenue (due to more seo traffic and higher conversion rates). I don't care so much about backwards compatability and I can hire someone to implement the improvements that you discovered.
I know that cs-cart goals are not equal my business goals. For you harder upgrade = more tickets and costs in managing the compatability.
I can name at least 12 e-commerce engines that are focusing right now on page speed and have great results with it (but I don't want to get banned same way as on russian forum).
If you've invested so much time in inventing the ways to optimize the cs-cart it would be a wast to not share the knowledge with the community.
Radical changes and "from the ground up approach" are reserved for CS-Cart and Multi-Vendor 5. For now, I can say that its focal points are meant to be:
- "Mobile first" approach to design.
- "API first" approach to architecture.
- Performance and scalability.
- Ease of development (to allow for more add-ons and themes).
For now I can confirm that it's in the works and that we've made some progress.
There used to be a roadmap and it was great that we were aware of the progress you're making. The information you've provided is copy&pasted from: https://www.cs-cart.com/whats-new-in-multi-vendor.htmland the information regarding cs-cart v5 is there for almost a year now.
Please tell us:
1) Will you use react or any other javascript framework to allow development of headless storefront?
2) Will you use graphql or how will the communication between frontend and backend will be handled?
3) What is the ETA of cs-cart v5? Will it be available in 2022 or later?
4) Provide some demo/video/teaser to assure us that you're doing something and you have results.
P.S. I'm glad to hear that you're happy about the new product bundles. We had to limit their scope somewhat; and even then, they turned out to be more difficult to implement than many other features in 4.14.1.
I'm happy because the bugs I've reported in april 2020 in buy together were addressed (ticket number: #102613842. ) Almost 2 years after I've reported them. But while you were developing the functionality I've wrote to imac messages about improvements which were asked by the community and ways of solving them while developing the addon - I didn't get the answer.
Will you improve the product bundle addon further? If yes, what is in your roadmap?
To be clear: I'm happy that you're trying to improve the cs-cart but I'm really unhappy with the pace at which this is happening and the products that you're releasing. You're simply not providing what business owners need, e.g. mobile page speed results above 90% (in the green zone).
is there any way to backup / download the "Buy Together" promotions before activating the new "Product Bundles" add-on?
This will take so much work to recreate the many many existing deals already set up.
Seems kind of odd that the "new and improved" version disables and hides all the existing bundles/combos with no way to port them over or upgrade to the new add-on
Just a word of caution ... will also report as a bug.
When (marketplace admin as) vendor changes theme it changes the marketplace theme. When go in and try to use the theme editor to restore marketplace the editor recognises correct theme and displays marketplace theme as should be. When exit theme editor reverts back to the (incorrect) settings selected by vendor (saving or not makes no difference).
Edit --> don't let it stop you though. If log into vendor store from scratch (not from marketplace admin) then it is just changing the vendor store. I was also able to get marketplace back to normal by editing as vendor (when logged in "as" vendor). Product view page is a a bit wacky though, with the logo being the marketplace logo with the vendor store theme.
New vendor panel is a good advancement. Excellent to see so many bugs squashed. Dissapointed to have to have Tilda business membership to get a decent editor. Might try it for a month. I am keen on ultimate, mostly for the additional Domains and the new limiting to categories makes it a more attractive proposition, and whilst agreeing the upgrade cost is a bit rude, I think the critisicim otherwise is pretty harsh, as far as quartely updates go I think the team has done pretty well with this one.
It's really too bad that the common product addon didn't get the default product add to cart fix. More successful developments could have been made instead of adding a helpdesk link to the admin panel in such a long time. shop panel functionality is nice but the dashboard sucks. almost untouched
I cannot see updates. My MV license is valid and FTP details are correct and in working order.
From now on, you might see them in your Upgrade Center. As usual, for the first few weeks after the release we hand out upgrade packages in limited numbers. So if you don't see the upgrade yet, check back later.
That is terrible plan with no roadmap and clear instruction when we will receive update. Can you provide estimation date when we will receive it? We hav eplans to go live and we had to put it on hald because vendor pannel was terrible and Categories were shared.
2021-12-07 04:22:03: Cannot download the upgrade package
And the upgrade disappear from upgrade center. How come that I was able to get upgrade on my dev site but cannot download upgrade on my live site? Or I miss something?
2021-12-07 04:22:03: Cannot download the upgrade package
And the upgrade disappear from upgrade center. How come that I was able to get upgrade on my dev site but cannot download upgrade on my live site? Or I miss something?
is there any way to backup / download the "Buy Together" promotions before activating the new "Product Bundles" add-on?
This will take so much work to recreate the many many existing deals already set up.
Seems kind of odd that the "new and improved" version disables and hides all the existing bundles/combos with no way to port them over or upgrade to the new add-on
Hi, cigarhut,
As long as you have the Buy Together add-on installed, all of your combinations will be safe in your database. If you reactivate the old add-on they will appear again. Just do not delete the old add-on. The old and the new add-on can not work together so you have to disable one of the add-ons when the other one is working.
We do not have a special tool to convert combinations into product bundles because usually this is the thing you do just once. Our Customer Care specialists will be happy to help you move your combinations to the new add-on so that you won't have to spend your time and resources on it. If you'd like that please contact our team via Help Desk.
I've noticed that right now in product bundles addon there are only 2 types of discount:
1) Absolute
2) Percentage
How to set fixed price e.g. $500. In the buy together addon it was possible, now it's not and this was the function I was mostly relying on.
@Imac, @Ikoshkin - could you tell me if this is expected behaviour or you forgot about it during development? Urgent.
Hi, Jacek,
Thank you for your message. This is an expected behaviour. We did this to simplify the interface. Previously some of our users were struggling to figure out what type of discount they need. That is why we decided to reduce the number of the settings.
But we see that the fixed prices for individual products in bundles may be useful. This is one of the things we can do to improve the Product Bundles add-on in the future.