I've not utilised osCommerce before but am considering it for a new project.
A quick question for the ecommerce web devs here - can you recommend tried and tested modules/add ons?
The default osCommerce setup (and osCommerce templates too, since most osCommerce templates are the default osCommerce system with a visual makeover) have in my opinion 4 important issues that should be addressed as an initial priority (by contribution and/or custom-coding):
1. An important SEO improvement is required to get at least the title changing for all category and product pages. For SEO, the title is very important and should be page specific.
2. Add autothumbnailing. The default system does not automatically generate a new smaller thumbnail image when required, instead it relies on browser shrinking of the full-size image once it is downloaded, which results in slower page loads and lower quality thumbnail images (jagged stepped lines, pixel loss, etc). The main reason why this is missing from the default setup is because it requires PHP graphics extensions (e.g. GD), that aren't available in all hosting setups. Some of the contributions in this area only go a certain way (and they can end up slowing your site down more) so extra custom coding may be required too.
3. The search box does not search descriptions by default, only titles. This is a minor thing, but can be frustrating for users if it is not done.
4. If you are using PayPal, don't use the default PayPal payment module, this should not be used (as it can result in orders where you don't know what items are in the order), and should be replaced by the improved PayPal IPN payment module.
As for other improvements there are always more things you can do to improve SEO, and the need for other improvements depends on what types of products you are selling and your general preferences for the shop. Have a look at some of the things we have done to improve the default osCommerce system with our
custom osCommerce version we use as the online shop section for our sitebuilder websites, but we are by no means finished yet with the improvements we want to add.
Do you guys/girls use the contributions made to the project or develop your own applications?
It is usually both, since the main contributions involve code changes - most contributions are just a list of code changes required to certain parts of the code base, they are not click and go installation programs. This means you end up with a custom coded version of osCommerce. Multiple contributions requiring code changes to the same areas of code need even more custom coding to get working together. You will also find that most of the contributions aren't 100% of what you need, even though they may sound so on paper, so there's usually extra coding to do here too.
Once you have installed you customisations and got your system working the way you want it to, you might think that you can sit back and relax. Not so, since you should also be planning how your now unique custom-coded osCommerce system can be migrated to osCommerce v3 (which is a major re-write) when it is available (hopefully later this year), and this wont be so easy since, at best, default osCommerce v3 will only have an upgrade path for default osCommerce v2, which hardly anybody uses due to the need to customise and custom-code your osCommerce v2 installation!
It is for some of these reasons that I don't recommend that people should undertake their own DIY osCommerce projects, unless they technically know what they are doing (or can afford to pay someone who does), and they are aware of the implications and have a strategy in place.
