OpenCart Community

I'm in the process of developing up a small eCommerce website. Of all the eCommerce scripts available, Opencart seems to have the best functionality for my intended purposes. Now I'm trying to decide what version to use. What are the differences between 3.0.2 and the upcoming 3.1.0? How difficult is the upgrade process on a live site? Any thoughts or comments are greatly appreciated.

What are the differences between 3.0.2 and the upcoming 3.1.0

Well, just use a Win Tool, to compare the Content between the Versions, but only,
after a 'production' Version 3.1.x will exist.
--

How difficult is the upgrade process on a live site?

An upgrade usually does not work, especially not, if additional Extensions
have been added to, or changes have been made in an existing setup.

OC is a continuing development, and every new Version is different from others,
in some parts. So, better don't even think about upgrading something existing,
exept for possibly the database, it's just wasted time. And if you are not familiar
with Databases, you'll better get them upgraded, if required, by a Professional.
Good Luck!
Ernie

Just want to confirm, that if you're not experienced coder, I wouldn't recommend any OpenCart upgrades. OpenCart has the most non-user-friendly upgrade I ever saw.

Well, they gave up early, I assume, after realizing, that it's of no use,
since not a single OC Installation looks the same as others ...
Not to talk about the 'extended' Theme installs, like Journal/Pavo/e.t.c.,
making it virtually impossible, to even think about upgrading something
existing, without running into problems.
OC just not communicated this, among a few other things, and that's the
reason, why that UPGRADE-Syndrome still exists in many OC User Brains.
Ernie

Thanks for the replies. Just to clarify, by differences, I meant functionality, enhancements, or updated utilities, not specific coding differences. In other words, what will 3.1.0.0 provide that 3.0.2.0 doesn't?

IP_CAM wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 15, 2018 5:29 am

Well, they gave up early, I assume, after realizing, that it's of no use,
since not a single OC Installation looks the same as others ...
Not to talk about the 'extended' Theme installs, like Journal/Pavo/e.t.c.,
making it virtually impossible, to even think about upgrading something
existing, without running into problems.
OC just not communicated this, among a few other things, and that's the
reason, why that UPGRADE-Syndrome still exists in many OC User Brains.
Ernie

I think there is no justification for not having a good upgrade strategy. Every CMS has this kind of things, but they have good upgrade paths.

purpletreesoft wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 16, 2018 1:42 pm

I think there is no justification for not having a good upgrade strategy. Every CMS has this kind of things, but they have good upgrade paths.

True. But when it comes to OC, there's no justification for many things. Like that stupid TWIG-only sudden policy and such. One man shows is always ends with dictatorship and blunt decisions.

lmwstamps wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 16, 2018 1:06 am

Thanks for the replies. Just to clarify, by differences, I meant functionality, enhancements, or updated utilities, not specific coding differences. In other words, what will 3.1.0.0 provide that 3.0.2.0 doesn't?

To answer your actual question, I believe the main changes for 3.1 are listed in the alpha release topic:

Added
Bootstrap 4
Font Awesome 5
Jquery 3.3.1
Ability to have search engine index pages in multiple languages.
Added ckeditor back
Template code can now be edited before it processed using lamba functions.
All URL's generated in the catalog controller files now have language= appended to them.
SEO URL's can now replace any normal URL query and not just pre defind ones link product, category, manufacturer pages.
Added a CRON job system so no need for extension developers having to manually add this via the cpanel's.

Fixed
https://github.com/opencart/opencart/co ... a5b719d+34

Most of those won't have a huge impact on the end-user (e.g. updated libraries) so it seems like the biggest changes are the language changes for URLs, the SEO URL functionality, CKEditor, and the cron system. Not sure if those are make-or-break for you, but given we don't know how long it will be before 3.1 is actually released, I'd say go with 3.0 if you need to start your store soon, or 3.1 if you can wait at least a few months.

One other note: most people agree 3.0 is not the best for setting up a new store, given the bugs it still has that were never fixed, and how close 3.1 is to being released. If you're starting a new store and need to get it set up quickly, I'd suggest using 2.3.0.2 instead. It seems to be most developers' preference for creating new stores at the moment.

Johnathan,

That's very helpful and exactly the type of information I was looking for.