MODxCart - (split from shopX)

Attention ShopX users: I am currently diagramming a new/alternate eCommerce shopping cart/catalog solution for MODx. Built from the ground up.

Per time constraints/environment limitations, this will be delayed until a stable/public release of MODx 0.9.7+ is released with xPDO/rewritten-core.

My previous experience with e-commerce systems was mainly with X-Cart, amongst many.

I hereby dub this project: MODxCart

That’s cool to hear. If you need any help testing or to bounce ideas off of, let me know.

Certainly. I will likely need lots of input/UAT, as I’m really aiming to end up with a truly robust and modular shopping cart system!

this is great news! just the other day i was looking at e-commerce packages. my favourite is cubecart, but the disadvantage is that since it isn’t open source, you’re pretty much left with either what the developers give you, or hacking one release to suit your needs and then forfeiting any further updates. i also want something a bit more configurable and easier for users than the ditto catalogue approach. something like cubecart that has all the admin in one tidy UI would be excellent. i’ll be keen to help out when i have more time.

I personally like the ability to have "products as pages" ala shopX, but will follow this thread closely.

What’s the key things that make you want to go an alternate route than ShopX?

Well, I really was aiming to use ShopX, but it has seemed to be in a state of disarray for sometime...Granted, I may be mistaken, but the forums seemed filled with requests for current packages, etc. Also, I really wanted an OOP approach (ideally, within xPDO, too), error handling, coupons, upselling, payment gateways, etc.

Also, I will likely take this project in phases (per time constraints), however my plans do include using Doc Pages as Product Pages.
Per the size/requirements of most ecommerce systems, there will definitely need to be an Admin UI and separate db tables (at some point), ideally with order tracking, and eventually web user integration... All of this is intended, in some way/shape/form.

For the first phase, I am planning on basic product id/quantity tracking (ShopX). Once users can add items to cart/remove from cart, taxes/totals can be calculated and checkout can complete...new revisions will occur per user suggestions and on an as-needed basis. But again, my first goal is to have a base-level shopping cart system with checkout capabilities.

I know I’m to some degree talking apples and oranges here but you might want to at least take a glance at the forums here:

http://virtuemart.net/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=71

http://www.vxd-hosting.co.za/forum.html

These are both forums for the two shopping cart extensions for Joomla. I know Joom is a different animal entirely, however the problems that were encountered in tying together two disparate animals may give you some insight into the issues that may pop up in tying a cart to ModX. I know ModX is designed with more "handles" to hook onto, so maybe some of the end user nightmares that occur when users install an extension for Joom and break their cart won’t occur with ModX, but it bears noting that it has occurred elsewhere so you can maybe avoid some potholes on your road. You may also find a general consensus of what people are looking for in a cart/cms mashup, which might be helpful.

I, for one, will be watching closely. This is very much needed. And I do have a SMALL project of my own (membership site) that I’m going to start work on that might be a good collaboration for getting a cart running. PM me or contact me through my website if you want details. It might very well be a good initiation, since initially there will be only two products (membership subscriptions) and affiliate, though eventually there will be more products.

@kickass,

Indeed great points and good ideas. However, to clarify, this is not actually a mash-up, as I am not looking to integrate existing shopping carts (i.e. X-Cart) into MODx, rather I am designing it specifically for MODx.

<inserts official MODx Required tag>

I’ll definitely keep your comments in mind and give the forums a quick read.

Thanks,

All--

With session management a requirement for my cart, there can be pros/cons as to the chosen implementation... I’m interested to hear your opinions, so I’ll be quick:

Snippet, Plugin, or Both

I’m envisioning a Module for the Admin GUI, and possibly a Plugin for session management. Plugin could also listen for a token, and handle all of the shopping cart needs, as far as server side processing is concerned.

Snippets could be used for placing the Cart/Checkout html ...also with chunk/doc_id expansion options

Thoughts?

I would also take a look at etoCart as it will be the shopping cart for MODx’s parent, etomite. They have some interesting ideas that are worth noting:

http://www.etomite.org/forums/index.php?showforum=99
http://www.etomite.org/forums/blog/etocart/