# whats a good shopping cart



## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

whats a good shopping cart with inventory, advanced shipping, sales and discount codes, etc. but will let me integrate it into my website. Because most the shopping carts like volusion and 3dcart only look like you can use their templates except i spent all my time making my website and i want to be able to integrate the shopping cart into it. The shopping cart i have now lets me do that and its free but it doesn't have any inventory or anything like that its very very basic.


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## CUSTOM UK (Jun 28, 2008)

*Hi. One excellent fully featured shopping cart you could try is Cubecart. Couple of others in the public domain (free) are os commerce and zencart. Google them and check them out. Hope this helps you.*


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

yea i was looking at cubecart and zen cart its just will i have to use a template cause i made a website and made it really unique and i want to keep it like that would i be able to change the template so that it would look like the site i have now cause a lot of people told me a have to use a template with the cart


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## CUSTOM UK (Jun 28, 2008)

*Hi. All three of those shopping cart sites have active forums, where you'll find masses of information about using templates. Although it's been a while, I created my own template to use with Cubecart. Took a couple of hours to figure out how to do it and another couple of hours to ACTUALLY do it, but it came out ok. All three of those sites also have showcases where folks have their own sites on display. Check them out and see what you think.*

*An alternative to think about, is to incorporate PayPal or similar onto your existing pages. Lots of choices out there. All have their pros and cons, just a question of which you like best, I guess.*


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

yea your right its just that i wanted something that keeps track of how many items you have and things like that maybe ill use cubecart if i can get the site to look something like the site i have now
thanks for the help by the way.


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## queerrep (Jul 18, 2006)

You can modify Cubecart and Zen Cart as much as you want to. I'm no coder so I paid somebody to modify Zen Cart for me. Just gave 'em the layout and said 'Make it look like this.'


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

yea haha cause i spent like 2 weeks figuring out codes and im really good now
and it would of been disapointing if i would of had to use a pre-made template haha
what a waste of time that would of been 
do both of them have inventory which one would you prefer cause i can't choose
should i do cubecart cause you can upgrade to a non-free better version later
or is zen-cart really good where you would never have to upgrade


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## queerrep (Jul 18, 2006)

xbrandon408x said:


> yea haha cause i spent like 2 weeks figuring out codes and im really good now
> and it would of been disapointing if i would of had to use a pre-made template haha


I hear you. Zen Cart's default template is very ugly.


> do both of them have inventory which one would you prefer cause i can't choose
> should i do cubecart cause you can upgrade to a non-free better version later
> or is zen-cart really good where you would never have to upgrade


I can't vouch for Cube Cart because I've never used it, but Zen Cart has inventory and you can also upgrade to new versions for free. There are lots of free modules you can add and the user support on the forum is top notch.

Here's a demo for Zen Cart: Zen Cart!

username: admin
password: demo

That way you can poke around and see what the admin section looks like.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

xbrandon408x said:


> yea i was looking at cubecart and zen cart its just will i have to use a template cause i made a website and made it really unique and i want to keep it like that would i be able to change the template so that it would look like the site i have now cause a lot of people told me a have to use a template with the cart


You can have your site fully customized just the way you designed it with cubecart.


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

wow that was very very helpful thanks a lot yea ok im gonna look at both because its hard to decide which one to get cause they both seem like very good carts


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## dragonikita (Apr 10, 2008)

Hey, I've never really used ZenCart, but I did use CubeCart for a little bit. 
I know PHP pretty well and was poking around in CubeCart's code. After looking around for a couple of hours I was really disappointed. Their code base is very confusing and unorganized. I didn't actually get to the integration part because I got turned off by their code. I also did some security scanning on the cart and found tons of security vulnerabilities with it.
After looking around some more I ended up settling with digishop. I was impressed with their code and was able to do some tweaks fairly fast and easy. The integration part was also pretty painless. This was a few years ago though, so I'm not sure how their integration works now, but I can't imagine it getting worse  If you're still looking, give them a try. They have a demo up here:
digiSHOP - Ecommerce Software

http://www.unfortunateclothing.com/store/cart.php


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> I know PHP pretty well and was poking around in CubeCart's code. After looking around for a couple of hours I was really disappointed. Their code base is very confusing and unorganized. I didn't actually get to the integration part because I got turned off by their code. I also did some security scanning on the cart and found tons of security vulnerabilities with it.


When was this? Because all of their code has been through professional security audits and has been tested clean.

With any bit of software, you'll have to keep up with updates as the vendor patches them, same goes for zencart, oscommerce, or any PHP based software.

Cubecart is by far the easiest to customize and 99.9% of the people who use it to sell t-shirts will never need to mess with the "PHP code". All they want to do is get it up and running and looking completely customized. Which all can be done without looking at a single line of PHP code.


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## peteVA (Nov 11, 2007)

Sounds more like an ad for digishop.

No need to be concerned with CubeCarts code or security. As Rodney says, they regularly have security audits done.


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

hmm yea i know i was trying to use zen cart cause i know html and css pretty well but zen cart is sooooo darn confusing cubecart seems wayyy more simple than zen


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

queerrep said:


> You can modify Cubecart and Zen Cart as much as you want to. I'm no coder so I paid somebody to modify Zen Cart for me. Just gave 'em the layout and said 'Make it look like this.'


Love your site. Very, very nice.


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

*i downloaded cubecart*

where do i go so i can make my own custome store i know html and css but i don't know php coding do i need to know that to make my store custom how do i go to start making my own template any help would be appriciated i want it to look at least a little like my website now its in my sig. section


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

thanks a lot 
im trying to get my cubecart to look like it right now but the only problem is i found the stylesheets and images but i can't really figure out how to edit the whole site


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## whale343 (Dec 15, 2007)

xbrandon408x said:


> whats a good shopping cart with inventory, advanced shipping, sales and discount codes, etc. but will let me integrate it into my website. Because most the shopping carts like volusion and 3dcart only look like you can use their templates except i spent all my time making my website and i want to be able to integrate the shopping cart into it. The shopping cart i have now lets me do that and its free but it doesn't have any inventory or anything like that its very very basic.


 

FoxyCart will do exactly what you're looking for, Brandon. Its completely modular and lets you use your own site as the base. It integrates almost completely. There's a wiki and user forum that will help you get started or find out more. Its also free to test out. I don't think it offers inventory management though, so that would be the one downside, and I am not sure what payment gateways it syncs up with. It definitely can use Quantum Gateway and Authorize.net but I'm not sure if it offers any free gateways right now. 


I'm a web designer and I have used that cart for some major projects, and I'm always impressed with how it turns out. The developers of that system are on top of their game. 

John


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## whale343 (Dec 15, 2007)

You might also want to look at Avactis.


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## Sheepsalt (Sep 12, 2007)

Sorry, I didn't take the time to read all the responses, but...

I just set up a website (not the sheepsalt one) with Mal's free cart, and it worked out famously. Like you, I didn't want to have to change the look of my site to match some cart template, so I went the Mal's route. You just add "add to cart" code with a form-post on your product page, and Mal's gives you an off-site cart to load & check out from with return links back to your site. It feels seemless & doesn't affect the look of the site.


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## whale343 (Dec 15, 2007)

That's a great recommendation too, Brian.


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

well i know how to change templates and stuff and i know html and css but the only problem is i don't know if i can move stuff around without messing up the store


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

*why are carts so hard to customize*

i can customize a website really easy cause i know html and css but when it comes to a cart i can't seem to get it the way i want im trying out cubecart and even with that i don't feel like i can customize my site any way i want.

can anyone help me with this cause i want my cart to look really proffesional and not like a template


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## CUSTOM UK (Jun 28, 2008)

*Hi. I have always found Cubecart to be a rock solid platform, that is very reliable.*

*If there were any major security issues with Cubecart, the net would be plastered with horror stories. It isn't.!! Same is true of OS Commerce and Zencart. Any security flaws in the early versions have long since been sorted out.*

*As with all shopping carts, the really important thing is to make a back up of your inventory and trading on a daily basis. That way if anything goes wrong with your computer, you can be back online and running very quickly.*

*I too like the site design. It has a good fresh look about it. You can certainly carry some of the colours and structures over to a shopping cart, so you don't lose the overall 'feel' of the site.*


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## CUSTOM UK (Jun 28, 2008)

*Re: why are carts so hard to customize*

*Hi. The best way to resolve your problem, is to choose the cart software you want to go with, then visit the forums on that particular site.*

*In the same way that folks on this site have sorted out problems with clothing and other stuff, the forums on the cart sites are also full of helpful folks that have found solutions to cart problems. A lot of professional shop site developers also use those forums, so you'll be getting some good professional advice, in the posts.*

*Web design can be really frustrating at times. Software problems even more so. Just have to keep plugging away at it and it will all eventually fall into place. *


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## tereshirt (Apr 17, 2008)

Hi, as the internet evolved to web 2.0 and WOM (word of mouth) selling, E-junkie has the most evolved features for a shopping cart. They have an inventory management system and you create your custom website and integrate their shopping buttons to your site like paypal. But this is more than Paypal, check out their site to see all the features.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

*Re: why are carts so hard to customize*



xbrandon408x said:


> i can customize a website really easy cause i know html and css but when it comes to a cart i can't seem to get it the way i want im trying out cubecart and even with that i don't feel like i can customize my site any way i want.
> 
> can anyone help me with this cause i want my cart to look really proffesional and not like a template


Brandon, for people to help you with a problem, you have to post the exact specifics of the problem you are having. Which template, what you're trying to do, what results you're getting,etc. That's how you get help with a specific problem.

If you just try something and then give up and post that it doesn't work, that doesn't move you forward with any one shopping cart.


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

*Re: why are carts so hard to customize*

yea your right haha i was just getting kinda irritated with the shopping cart cause i spent time learning html and css to make my website and now i had to make a new one for the shopping cart. but i think i figured it out im gonna use the killer template and edit it in such a way so that i can get it to look like my site as much as i can ill probably then just edit my regular site to look like my cart so that they fit together


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

*Re: why are carts so hard to customize*



xbrandon408x said:


> yea your right haha i was just getting kinda irritated with the shopping cart cause i spent time learning html and css to make my website and now i had to make a new one for the shopping cart. but i think i figured it out im gonna use the killer template and edit it in such a way so that i can get it to look like my site as much as i can ill probably then just edit my regular site to look like my cart so that they fit together


Again, if you need help with any parts of it, just post your exact question and exact problem and you can usually get the help you need (either here or in the cubecart.com or cubecartforums.org forums)

To give you an example the T-ShirtForums store is powered by cubecart, and doesn't look like the standard template. It was edited to look like the t-shirtforums site.


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

*Re: why are carts so hard to customize*

yea yea for sure thanks a ton but yea i think i understand haha i was just working myself ragged yesterday trying to figure it out 
but once i stopped i actually figured out a solution hahaa
but yea thanks for the help


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