Any Magento Experts?

[bulldog5046]

Maybe a long shot, but wondered if we have any Magento experts here?

I'm pretty good with my HTML/CSS/PHP and even a bit of Javascript but Magento is a package that's new to me and i'm struggling to grasp from just reading the documentation as it all seems old and outdated.

I wonded if there is anyone here who could spare me some of their time to explain the format properly and answer a few questions?

Ryan

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Re: Any Magento Experts?

It's a dark art ;) , I'm at the same stage as you as will be setting up a cart system for a customer in the none too distant future to move them away from a bespoke cart yhey had built

I have only frequented the magento forums for a browse but as you say the documentation seems out of date

[bulldog5046]

Blimey, i don't envy you!

Nevermind the strange ways of themeing it, have you seen the size of the backend database? it's crazy massive, and seems to have loads of duplicated info...

The only reason i decided to take the plunge is that the ecommerce software i used before (storesprite) is a little restrictive as it's all closed code, i just wanted a simple function to change the product image when you select a different colour and just couldnt do it because i was locked out of the code.

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Re: Any Magento Experts?

[QUOTE=bulldog5046;1017717]Blimey, i don't envy you!

Nevermind the strange ways of themeing it, have you seen the size of the backend database? it's crazy massive, and seems to have loads of duplicated info...

The only reason i decided to take the plunge is that the ecommerce software i used before (storesprite) is a little restrictive as it's all closed code, i just wanted a simple function to change the product image when you select a different colour and just couldnt do it because i was locked out of the code.[/QUOTE]

Why not look at oscommerce or zencart/prestashop as I believe they can both be skinned & changed ;)

[bulldog5046]

I've tried them in the past and didnt really get along with them.

I'm hoping the growing pains of learning Magento will pay off in the long run as i know it's a highly rated and commercial product. Could be useful for my career, elthough a little off track as i'm an infrastructure engineer :D

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Re: Any Magento Experts?

[QUOTE=bulldog5046;1017744]I've tried them in the past and didnt really get along with them.

I'm hoping the growing pains of learning Magento will pay off in the long run as i know it's a highly rated and commercial product. Could be useful for my career, elthough a little off track as i'm an infrastructure engineer :D[/QUOTE]

Same here, Magento came up as the best all rounder & had several nice tweeks I liked for the customer

I'm a BI Analyst by day but look after a few company websites in my spare time ;)

It is worth the learning curve, I'm sure Midlands run their site on Magento

[Gixxer]

Magento is sh1te... it's OK if you want a free option and are too tight to spend a few quid but if you want to run it as a business storefront, it's crap, as it's so full of exploits, I wouldn't want to subject customers and their credit card details to it.

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Re: Any Magento Experts?

[QUOTE=Gixxer;1017790]Magento is sh1te... it's OK if you want a free option and are too tight to spend a few quid but if you want to run it as a business storefront, it's crap, as it's so full of exploits, I wouldn't want to subject customers and their credit card details to it.[/QUOTE]

Recommendations then Gixxer ?

[Gixxer]

[QUOTE=danch;1017792]Recommendations then Gixxer ?[/QUOTE]

I build my own or alter X Cart to suit

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Re: Any Magento Experts?

[QUOTE=Gixxer;1017802]I build my own or alter X Cart to suit[/QUOTE]

Thats the problem I've got, a custom built cart that's totally unmanageable therefore moving it to a main stream cart away from bespoke development as it takes too much time to support & the hours put in do not justify the cost

[Gixxer]

[QUOTE=danch;1017826]Thats the problem I've got, a custom built cart that's totally unmanageable therefore moving it to a main stream cart away from bespoke development as it takes too much time to support & the hours put in do not justify the cost[/QUOTE]

I guess it depends how you look at it. If a complete turnkey solution costs as much as £1000, and it's secure and does what you want it to, in my eyes, it's a very cheap way to establish a secure online identity.
If you're looking for a cheap/free option, than Magento may well suit your needs but if you're looking for something long term, then I reckon it's worth spending a few quid.
At the end of the day, people have different requirements. I personally wouldn't use a free/open source option, as in my experience, these are the first to get targeted by hackers, so I prefer to cover all bases and purchase something that has a team of developers working on it full time, then make it even more secure, because in this day and age, it only takes one person to have their card details stolen and your business is down the pan.

[bulldog5046]

You look at Magento at all yet Dench?

I've read over the layout code a few times and it keep's confusing me, even though i kinda understand what they are trying to do.

What really baffles me is that i've tried to customize it now and div's will just not do what they should be expected to. Magento must be f'ing around with stuff, driving me crazy just trying to move a nav bar!

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Re: Any Magento Experts?

Ive looked at it & find it convoluted & ott, have gone back to open cart as I've found a couple of modules to save on development time as well ;)

[bulldog5046]

I don't blame you. I keep questioning myself for sticking with it....

Problem i find is the other cars usually need alot of modification to do things i want properly, i was hoping magento won't. Maybe i'm kidding myself? it just seem's to have a much more consice database for a start...