Sneak Peek: OpenCart 1.5.0 *ALPHA*

Daniel,

PLEASE, PLEASE, could you add into the options selections the ability to select/collect hidden fields, this will enable me interact with PHP/FLASH variables. similar to hidden field on an add to cart button

I use a custom design tool in flash and it generates a random number that i use as a unique design id that i can insert into opencart cart.

i have used a mod fix by readyman and his GMO options for 1.4.9.3.

really appreaciated if possiable (if easily done?)

thanks arch

arch72 wrote:Daniel,

PLEASE, PLEASE, could you add into the options selections the ability to select/collect hidden fields, this will enable me interact with PHP/FLASH variables. similar to hidden field on an add to cart button

I use a custom design tool in flash and it generates a random number that i use as a unique design id that i can insert into opencart cart.

i have used a mod fix by readyman and his GMO options for 1.4.9.3.

really appreaciated if possiable (if easily done?)

thanks arch

if you are using flash to add to cart and skipping the product page anyways why do you care if the field is hidden or not?

Thought it would be good if the following robots.txt file is included in the new release It stops a category page or the specials page being indexed for every possible sort option. It stops all checkout pages, account pages and search pages being indexed. It stops a duplicate entry being indexed for a category page when that category page is accessed from page 2 or 3 etc., and it stops the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy as accessed from the Checkout stage being indexed.

Sorry, just to clarify - will the menu system be the horizontal type menu only or will we have the ability to choose between that and a (for example) a left hand menu like is currently in 1.4.9.3? either in the form of a module selection or a <gasps> second 'default' template

I'm hoping that ipac doesn't see this a a feature request and is just a general question

Cheers
Mark

Chones wrote:Thought it would be good if the following robots.txt file is included in the new release

Code: Select all

User-agent: *
Disallow: /*?sort
Disallow: /*&sort
Disallow: /*?route=checkout/
Disallow: /*?route=account/
Disallow: /*?route=product/search
Disallow: /*?page=1
Disallow: /*&create=1
Allow: /

It stops a category page or the specials page being indexed for every possible sort option. It stops all checkout pages, account pages and search pages being indexed. It stops a duplicate entry being indexed for a category page when that category page is accessed from page 2 or 3 etc., and it stops the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy as accessed from the Checkout stage being indexed.

Good call. Thanks!

It looks very promising thus far. Would the 'scroll' that can be seen in the brand box be available for other modules (I'm specifically thinking about the 'latest product')... I had a look in the Admin and it wasn't clear if the layout designer played any role for this or?

Also, hopefully not a considered a feature request... I would like to see in the next version the possibility to display products with a 'date available' set in the future, with an d without the option to purchase. Not sure if I'm making sense but since this wish spawns from one of Q's module I'll check with him first

Hi Daniel - hope your move has gone well

You said above

I have taken notice that a few people don;t like the mega menu. I can still change the design if its required.

Please,take note that there are some of us who do so please, please don't forget about us - keep the mega-menu as an option at least
I would use a 'pleading' smilie if there was one

TAC wrote:Hi Daniel - hope your move has gone well

You said above

I have taken notice that a few people don;t like the mega menu. I can still change the design if its required.

Please,take note that there are some of us who do so please, please don't forget about us - keep the mega-menu as an option at least
I would use a 'pleading' smilie if there was one

Yea it should definitely be made into a module that can be placed in the header area

Daniel said above

this is the original front page design i had in mind: Store Design 4.jpg

It looks wonderful! Modern and professional. If it starts simple than anyone who likes 'bells & whistles' can add to it with modules, CSS etc.

Thank you Q for 'listening'!

Qphoria wrote:Yea it should definitely be made into a module that can be placed in the header area

- agreed. I was one of the naysayers for a top menu, but see it differently now, and would welcome a choice.

I think the choice of the type and positioning of the menu would be great, but in the meantime I really think the product categories should be in the left column and not in the header. It's too restrictive for users with lots of categories, and I would think those people would make up a significant percentage of OC users.

I'm kinda bored with the new theme already to be honest.. the brands box isn't doing it for me either.. the green buttons looks so 2009.. I vote for something new like this:
www.tradetang.com

Qphoria wrote:I'm kinda bored with the new theme already to be honest.. the brands box isn't doing it for me either.. the green buttons looks so 2009.. I vote for something new like this:
http://www.tradetang.com

So Q, does it mean opencart need a real designer touch, Including the opencart site look. Should be more modern and stylish.
I'm bored too with 1.5 theme. It doesn't keep me impressed a lot. But it's oke, i will olny use default theme for testing purpose only , the rest i should design my own theme.

Perhaps, given there's a bit of a wait for 1.5.0 anyway, we could have a theme design contest? Even if the theme was finished after 1.5.0 was released, it could begin its life as an extension, and later become either the 'default' theme or a secondary choice.

I'm still heartbroken over the loss of the single layout system. Looking at CMS' like websitebaker and joomla, where there is only a single main template file gets me going. I'm still not fully sure about the reasons for having to go back to the current template system, I think it just needs to be started over from scratch... time to start thinking about opencart 2.0 by going back to v1.3.2

I like the template system in CMS Made Simple (my preferred CMS). You can create various HTML templates and choose which page to apply them to. They make heavy use of Smarty tags. You can then create style sheets and choose which media (screen, print) etc they apply to. You then associate them with a HTML template (they can be associated with multiple templates, too) and choose the order in which they load. Each template can then be applied to one or more pages. It's a similar system for menus. It takes a bit of getting used to if you're used to uploading CSS and TPL files but once you're using it, it really is a fantastic modular system.

gocreative wrote:I like the template system in CMS Made Simple (my preferred CMS). You can create various HTML templates and choose which page to apply them to. They make heavy use of Smarty tags. You can then create style sheets and choose which media (screen, print) etc they apply to. You then associate them with a HTML template (they can be associated with multiple templates, too) and choose the order in which they load. Each template can then be applied to one or more pages. It's a similar system for menus. It takes a bit of getting used to if you're used to uploading CSS and TPL files but once you're using it, it really is a fantastic modular system.

I have to agree about CMS Made Simple it's the only system where I actually like the use of smarty I call it smarty done right, however I don't see that every happening for opencart as all that stuff gets stored in the database and Daniel seems to be pretty adamant about keeping that kind of stuff out of the db in opencart.

Please one of the developers answer my question I post this question twice with no answer, I am trying to add the dimensions of the product, to see how it looks like, but it's not added in the product templete, so my question which I think it's an important feature, if one of the dimension is set to zero will it appear on the product page?? or just the dimensions which is not set to zero??
I think it will be nice if a field is set to zero, it will automatically disapear, and will not be shown in the product, it will be a great flexibility.

Thanks

CMS made simple looks like it uses xml files with meta data it seems. Confuses even me.

I like a much simpler design .. a single "theme.php" file.. no need for smarty or anything.. the normal php echo still applies. But one file that has all the html code in it and you just add the tags for where you want to call the dynamic data. Granted it means you have the same basic design for all pages, but that is actually the proper design technique. You don't want people getting lost on your site by moving boxes around. I dont want to have the cart on the right side on the home page, then the cart on the left side on the product page, then the cart in the footer on the checkout page. There should be one consistent flow IMO. Even the way the checkout is now, the shipping page is shorter than the payment page so the continue button is higher up. Then on the payment page the continue button is lower, too much moving around.. a template should move very little.

Like these CMS:
http://www.websitebaker2.org/en/help/de ... mplate.php
http://docs.joomla.org/Tutorial:Creatin ... !_template

While others like Wordpress use the current opencart style of theming with dozens of files... its overwhelming and annoying, especially when a lot of them are mostly redundant.

I guess the MVC concept makes it harder, tho you could still keep the separate view for modules.. but it would be so much easier to have just the module code and any extraneous html it needs in one file. Not that you are forced to follow MVC for modules.. I'm thinking about simplifying things for my modules to get rid of the tediosity of the MVC design pattern for addons. MVC is meant more for the core anyway

Qphoria wrote:I like a much simpler design .. a single "theme.php" file.. [...] Granted it means you have the same basic design for all pages, but that is actually the proper design technique. You don't want people getting lost on your site by moving boxes around. I dont want to have the cart on the right side on the home page, then the cart on the left side on the product page, then the cart in the footer on the checkout page. There should be one consistent flow IMO.

I agree, but that's not really where the flexibility helps you. It's more for having (in a general sense, not just carts) a unique home page that promotes your business/products/service and then sub-pages have their own look. Or even better, you might have the same layout for all pages but the feature box changes on a particular page, or a secondary (context-relevant) menu appears on some pages that require it. So for me it's more about little tweaks rather than moving major elements around the place. That's definitely not CUE-compliant.