some newbie questions

hi
i'm new here, and have spend a couple of days trying to figure out if OC is what I'm looking for
i have some questions that i could not find an answer so far by browsing the documentation and the forum :

if i install a contribution to the core application, some files are overwritten
if i install another contribution it is likely that some "overwritten" files will be overwritten again, and obviously the updates of the 1st contribution will be lost
how do you manage this ?, i ask from the user point of view

i sense that there are some contributions that look like that are covered by the latest version of the OC,
is that correct ?, and in that case how someone can know about it ?

in case of a future upgrade, major or minor, i will have to "reinstall" contributions again i guess
is that correct ?

there are some bugs in the application, e.g. when i update the the status of an order i get an error msg regarding header information. I might have not filled the forms correctly but in any case there should have been an app error message instead of a server message.
is the application in a stable final status or it is still under development ?

although i find OC very close to what i need, there are some features missing for my needs (e.g. the option for a user to upload images) that i will have to implement my self
but the help for a developer is missing (or i have not discovered it yet )
the only way to get such support is through payed programs ?

dimitris68 wrote:hi
if i install a contribution to the core application, some files are overwritten
if i install another contribution it is likely that some "overwritten" files will be overwritten again, and obviously the updates of the 1st contribution will be lost
how do you manage this ?, i ask from the user point of view


i sense that there are some contributions that look like that are covered by the latest version of the OC,
is that correct ?, and in that case how someone can know about it ?

in case of a future upgrade, major or minor, i will have to "reinstall" contributions again i guess
is that correct ?

There are 2 types of contributions:
Module-based: Drop-in modules that utilize the OpenCart extension system. These are self-contained and won't be overwritten by upgrade.
Code Modification: This is modification to core files. This is the hard one to control as there can be multiple modifications that affect the same files (like product pages, etc). In this case, it is important to give good instructions on how to manually edit. All the while using all you can to edit as few files as possible and keep as much as you can in your own files. But its not always easy. This is the case for any platform (carts, blogs, forums, etc)

there are some bugs in the application, e.g. when i update the the status of an order i get an error msg regarding header information. I might have not filled the forms correctly but in any case there should have been an app error message instead of a server message.
is the application in a stable final status or it is still under development ?

There is no such thing as "final". Yes it is very stable. But new features are constantly being added, and often when a new feature is added it breaks an old one. So you take the good with the bad. People constantly want new features, so they need to accept that there may be small bugs uncovered along the way. Typically they are easily fixed and none of them affect getting actual sales in your store.

although i find OC very close to what i need, there are some features missing for my needs (e.g. the option for a user to upload images) that i will have to implement my self
but the help for a developer is missing (or i have not discovered it yet )
the only way to get such support is through payed programs ?

The community has many people that will certainly help you if you ask.