[Alive Again] Support/Comments for KiweeCommerce

thanks got it!
It would be nice for the instruction document being consistent.

I also noticed, it says "ecomminstall", but the file name I got is "ecommerceInstaller".
By the way, curious, it asks to create a database. Since it’s a Modx’s module, wouldn’t it be better to use the existing modx’s database?

tgp

I feel like an idiot these past days working with Modx and I beg you plugin, snippet & module authors, unless you only want your masterpiece be used by geek, otherwise pleaseeee be more considerate, have the document written in a very simple and  plain language (this part mostly covered by most autors) with very clear instructions (this totally lack) so that people like me who is programming retarded can understand it too and without embarassing myself again and again on public; it also save you and other geek to answer the same question the nth time.

I was trying to install the Kiwee module, can’t even get through the very first step of installation.

To install KiweeCommerce you will need to have write access to the index.php file at the root of the MODx installation. This allows us to install the menu hooks to integrate with MODx itself.

You will also need permissions to create tables in the database behind your site, so KiweeCommerce can add its own entries to track its data.

??? It doesn’t really tell whether ’create tables in the database behind your site is to create a new database - I assume it’s ’create tables in the existing modx’s database’. So I ran the installation, and it asked me to fill up the ’blank’ for the database info. I paused, and my logical left brain told me since it’s a Modx’s module, it must use the same database that I created for my Modx site. Then that ’home/html/testing.itema.com/docs/’ in the Base Path totally throw me off. OK, I do understand what Base Path is. So I have it change to ’my-server-path/testing.itema.com/docs/

and
’my-server-path/ecommerceInstaller/testing.itema.com/docs/
and
’my-server-path/mydomain.com/docs/

and left the ’path to snippets’ and ’path to Manger’ as they are.

All these guessing games, I am getting all these ’not found’, unable to write blah blah blah

In the ecommerceInstaller directory, I don’t see ’testing.itema.com’ so I thought it maybe refer to ’mydomain.com’, but there is no ’docs’ directory either. I also thought OK maybe it’s not supposed to use the same Modx’s database but a new one, so I created a new one, still not working.

You have given us a free ecommerce module, and I really like to try it out to see if there is a potential for a new site I am going to build for client. I don’t want to sound ungrateful and grumpy. It’s just so frustrating to see that a plugin/snippet/module author spent hundred (if not thousand) of hours writing a small program, yet they never seems bother to spend extra 30 minutes to write up a clear instruction for their users who are not programming, database savvy.

tgp

chinesedream

I understand your frustration. The thing is though is that the Kiweecommerce people stated that it is very early on in development and not complete. Many of the snippets and plugins have poor documentation and that is slowly improving but I think that the MODx team would agree that it will continue to improve.

Many snippet editors have spent time developing snippets specifically for a project and then released it as a help to the community documentation often takes alot of time to write it more simply. In addition things change all the time.

If you are requiring specific support questions with Kiweecommerce you would use the support forum for it at kiwicommerce.org. If you see a mistake you can post it in their bug list.

Sorry I couldn’t be more help,

Jay

Hi Jay, thanks for the suggestion. I didn’t want to post the message on Kiwee’s forum because I was lazy/unwilling to sign up another forum because I only wanted to test the module

I agree it does take time to write a clear documentation. The problem I see in many opensource software are that there are documentations but written for geek only, and with no consideration that average users may not be able to follow. I don’t think it’s intentional, but something many people overlooked.

Oh, by the way, I was not complaining all the documentation in Modx. I agree it has improved a lot and everyone is very helpful in answering questions, helping others. I feel so ’at home’ that I dared to express my frustration when all my attempts went fertile. If this is TextPattern forum, I would have given up quietly

tgp

I too have been too lazy to ask for changes and I understand your frustration about the geeky nature of some of the instruction. I am not an accomplished developer and only have a rudimentary knowledge of PHP and have had luck with most things but have been completely baffled by other "instructions" both repository items, wiki posts and parts of the MODx documentation.

On the other side, I know how difficult it really is to write understandable instruction; it can often take longer to write good instructions than it does to write the code.

Best of luck.

Is anyone using this on a live site? I’m looking for an ecommerce solution to use with modx and I would like to see it in action.

It is still pretty unstable, and sadly the admins have become really quiet as of late. Unfortunately the forum on their site is starting to get overrun with spam. Hopefully we hear from them soon.

Hey all,

Don’t think we’re ignoring the comments! Yes, as noted above, this is an early release to get feedback and early bug reports. I know, we all wish Kiwee was ready to run out of the box, but without testing that’s not really a reasonable goal. Within a few months it should be excellent.

Just so everybody knows, we’re currently in the process of rewriting the back-end module that handles orders. It’ll be object-oriented, and will clean up some of what we had put together initially. In the process, we’re preparing the hooks to add support for shipping modules, and to abstract the payment gateways so it’s more modular as well.

Please be aware that some of these changes will almost certainly require schema changes. Kiwee isn’t intended for production use yet, but if you ARE using it that way be VERY careful about new versions because we almost certainly won’t start including graceful upgrade scripts until future versions - it’s a real bear to do right now while it’s still under active development.

Also, for those that experience problems, bug reports are massively critical. And, hint hint, we wouldn’t, you know, be opposed to the occasional patch, too. =)

Hi

Is there a progress update on KC?

I’m just weighing up my options for a forthcoming project.

I’ve played with KC locally and like it a lot - top work.

Best -

hi, I am very keen on trying this snippet, however I wish to view a demo and the website does not work, is there an updated Link?