Thus far in this series I have covered WebCart’s technical support, and shopping cart software security, as it compares to osCommerce. I sincerely hope that I have written everything in a clear and easy to understand manner, while sustaining the criteria for shopping cart software. In this post I will describe custom functionality as it relates to the two shopping cart solutions.

Custom Functionality:

osCommerce add-ons

One very impressive feature of osCommerce is its enormous library of user submitted contributions (aka plug-ins) which it offers, free of charge to internet users. Over the years a large collection of contributions had developed, ranging from add-ons like credit modules to templates with exciting features like dynamic dropdowns. Before you get excited, let’s get in to a little more detail on how these contributions function. Navigate to http://www.oscommerce.com/community/contributions/category,13 and click any module which happens to catch your eye. I personally clicked on the points and rewards module. At first glance the contribute seems interesting, however, at a closer examination I find a long description with no installation information.( the installation instructions are usually found inside the zip) At the point I don’t plan on installing this conribute, but what I will do is show you a very interesting piece of text found near the end of the description.

If you’re a professional web developer then I wish you luck with your installation. However, if you are like the majority of internet users, and don’t know how to create new database tables, or edit templates then the sad reality remains that it will be difficult for you to successfully install the “points and rewards module” or for that matter many other contribute similar to it.

WebCart’s Functionality:

Early on it was clear that WebCart needed to have the ability to extend itself beyond its basic functionality. Let me be clear, before WebCart 11 was released, our research and development department conducted extensive research on what extra features and functionality online merchants would like to see. Our programming team spent countless hours incorporating features like real time shipping, paypal checkout and many other that come standard with WebCart 11.

Despite the effort to include a large collection of add-ons, we understand that many eCommerce merchants might, at some point need custom modules installed. With WebCart’s shopping cart, developing custom functionality has never been more affordable or easier to develop as it’s today. Because WebCart was pre-built to have added functionality, our programmers can build and install custom add-ins for any of our clients for very fair rates.

In my pervious post I discussed the importance of technical support when it comes to the installation of shopping cart software. In this post I will discuss the issue of security, and how it relates to osCommerce vs. WebCart.

Shopping Cart Security:

The issue with osCommerce

The criteria for shopping cart software ought to include the ability to provide top notch security for online stores. The concern with open source software is its source code, (which in simple terms means the “soul” or “brain” of a program) is available to anyone who requests it. This seemingly innocent source code gives hackers and those who wish harm on your eCommerce store, an added opportunity to hack your site. Obviously the developers of osCommerce plug holes as they become known, however, the holes are usually plugged after the damage has already been done. Often times leaving eCommerce merchants the heartbreaking task of picking up the pieces.

The difference with WebCart

WebCart’s shopping cart software is built with PHP (which stands for Hypertext Preprocessor) the same language that osCommerce uses to built its software. However, unlink osCommerce WebCart is not open source, which means that less then a handful of developers have access to its source code. For the online store owner, this means hackers are far less likely to exploit any vulnerabilities with in WebCart’s shopping cart software. No piece of software is 100% safe, but what do exist are software solutions that are safer then others. An easy to understand example of this is OS X tiger vs, Windows XP, with the latter being less secure. In order to add an additional layer of protection, the developers of WebCart hired previous hackers (who have now changed their ways) to examine and find holes in our shopping cart software. After 3 weeks our developers plugged every whole identified by the x hacking team.

In the next post I will discuss custom functionality in both osCommerce and WebCart.

Over the past few years, osCommerce has become an extremely popular choice for online business’s looking for a shopping cart solution. To those who love free (open source) software, osCommerce is and has been a dream come true. Given the choice, uneducated eCommerce store owners will usually opt for a free cart vs. one which  will cost money.
I personally, don’t believe that osCommerce has a faulty product, and my aim is not to convince anyone of this. However, I do want to outline a few specific differences between WebCart and osCommerce, and let you the consumer decides. .

Tech Support - For Many beginners technical support is critical for setting up a presence on the web. With osCommerce there is no phone or email support. The only method of installing their shopping cart is by reading the online documention, and posting questions of the forum. Look, don’t take my word for it visit http://www.oscommerce.info/docs/english/c_installation_and_upgrades.html and take a look for your self.

WebCart on the other hand makes the shopping cart . In fact we don’t even have installation documentation because we install WebCart for you. After talking to clients who were previous users of osCommerce, I can tell you that most of them, who were intermediate web users, had an extremely difficult time going through the installation documentation. A simple Google search for “osCommerce installation help” will produce a wealth of websites trying to sell you an installion service.

Over the next few posts I will continue to compare the features of  osCommerce and WebCart so please stay tuned.