Questions about Journal 2 theme prior to buying

Hi, I just signed up for the forum so im sorry if im posting this in the wrong category, but I looked over the other categories, and I didn't find any that I thought would be more fitting, so here goes.
Im planing on starting a webshop (ecommerce) and in that regard I've narrowed the field down to opencart in contrast to magenta, shopify, woocommerce etc.
More specifically im planing on using the journal 2 theme. Look here https://www.journal-theme.com but as they have just released the beta version for journal 3, i've had a closer look at that as well. So basically I would like to combine the best of the two themes in my opinion, for example the quick checkout from journal 3 (betaversion) that looks and feel a lot better than the checkout from journal 2. Does anyone using journal know if this is possible? I've looked at other extensions about one page checkout, but no one as neat as the one featured in journal 3.

I should point out I haven't purchased the theme yet, I've only played around with the live preview demos.

Im looking forward to reading your comments and value every input you can give me. I also have further questions, but for now thanks in advance.
- Christoffer

Well, Journal looks nice, and it belongs to the OC Bestsellers as well.
BUT, Journal is NOT just a Theme, rather a full Size Extension, and
thereby changing a lot of default OC-Code, to make it work.
So, whatever you will add, or change, later, by use of Journal, you
will NOT be able, usually, to come here and ask for free assistance.
This, because only one would know about, using the same Version
Journal, but Journal Code does not belong in open Forum Discussion,
because it's usually not OpenSource Code.
And Dev's usually need to design Journal-specific Code, to make their
Extensions work with Journal, but not everybody is willing to do this.

Just to have it mentioned, if you go Journal, you'll have to rely on them,
but sure not on OC Forum Help! That needs to be accepted, as it comes ...
Good Luck!
Ernie

Like the previous post mentions, its best to ask the Journal Theme developers directly. You can post a comment here: https://themeforest.net/item/journal-ad ... 1/comments

Nonetheless, Journal 2 and Journal 3 are two whole different systems. You can only use one for your OpenCart store and cannot integrate different parts from the two themes.

The reason I chose to go with Journal was partly because of its look, but also because I read that it contained more than 2500+ editable options. Obviously you might not be able to migrate something from journal 3 to journal 2, such as a checkout page, without getting the aid from a paid developer. But with the aforementioned 2500+ editable options in mind I would expect the theme to be very much open for customization, such as editing the checkout page from within the admin (such as enable, disable, move modules etc.).

I have a follow up question though, and it might be a stupid one, so do forgive me if im making a fool of myself. You mentioned Ernie that journal is much more than a theme, rather you described it as a "full Size Extension" and "thereby changing a lot of default OC-Code, to make it work". Does that mean I would get compatible problems if I were to buy an extension from lets say isenselabs, or any third party developer? For example a SEO extension or an extension about stock managing like this one: https://www.opencart.com/index.php?rout ... n_id=24244
Because come to think about it, they (the developer) obviously develop their extension to be used in opencart, and not in a specific theme, so is that perhaps something that would pose a problem?

Well so far id like to thank both of you, Ernie and AM786. You have raised some good points. I think my next step is to enquire over at journal and then buy one of the themes and just play around with it.

You should stay away from any of the Journal themes. As Ernie said, they don't abide by the OpenCart standards, and will cause clashes with many other 3rd party extensions. There are better, and IMHO nicer looking themes available for OpenCart. Take a look at this forum thread.

Thanks for the input JNeuhoff. I looked into the forum thread as you suggested, and it does provide some food for thought.
I honestly think that my biggest concern right now is the 3rd party extensions that would have to play along with journal. I can see how that could easily turn out ugly. However if you look at the item rating only, then its pretty overwhelming... 4.90 average based on 2348 ratings.
I think ill have to talk with other people using journal and hear their opinion, and what to consider/avoid.

Thanks everybody for your input, its been very helpful.

2500+ editable options

Well, just don't take such personal, OC also proclaims, to have 13'000+
Extensions, just ready to be usable in latest Versions OC !
https://www.opencart.com/index.php?route=common/home
---
But who brags, has more of life, as it looks.
Or as we say, wer plagiert, hat mehr vom Leben ...
Ernie

Journal is a great theme with a lot of usefull extensions out of the box.
It will give you All freedom to give your site almost any look and deel to make your site stand out from the great mass.
Only when you add a extension that adds something to the lay-out if your shop its needs to be modified to work with journal.
Extensions added for admin functionality like a SEO extension Will work without problem.
Most extension developers can provide help to make a extension work with journal and many extensions already have added journal compatebility.

On the other hand, as journal is loaded with features it will make your site Much slower in loading time and does ask a lot of server capacity when your site has high traffic loads.

As an end user, Journal is the best. Their sales can justify it.
As a developer, they hate journal theme.

Ive been busy the past week, but still id like to thank everybody who have contributed with their knowledge or their opinion in regard to my question. Its much appreciated :-)

Ive decided to go forward with Journal. So again thanks.