Will this crash and burn my Prestashop?

[TWDesign]

I have a very simple shop.

 

Just two products.

 

Product A has

4 attributes - each attribute has 12 possible values

 

Product B has

4 attributes - each attribute has 20 possible values

 

I failed High School math but if I remember correctly

Product A possible number of attributes = 12 ^ 4 = 20,736 permutations

 

Product B possible number of attributes = 20 ^ 4 = 160,000 permutations

 

Total "products" in the store = 20,736 + 160,000 = 180,736

 

 

Now I don't know exactly how the Attributes Generator system works but the

above numbers concern me that perhaps my PrestaShop install will burst in flames

when it tries to handle those kinds of numbers.

 

Should I be worried?

I know this was an issue raised at least a couple of years ago on the PrestaShop

forum and since then a contributed module (Attribute Wizard) has been developed by

a third party that "might" solve the problem.

 

Any advice ???

[shacker]

what version of prestashop you have?

[TWDesign]

Sorry. It's PrestaShop version 1.4.7

 

Latest version in other words.

[Carolina Custom Designs]

Most likely this will create a problem with your PS. I would strongly suggest you perform some tests on a local install before ever attempting something like this on a live install.

 

BTW, Attribute Wizard Pro will definitely take care of this with ease. I've used that module in the past and it performs excellent.

 

Marty Shue

[shacker]

yes, its a great module. check here: www.presto-changeo.com

[TWDesign]

Thanks peoples.

And thank God for Attributes Wizard Pro.

 

I hope the PrestaShop upper echelons are thinking about how to build this functionality into PS version 1.5 ?

I swore a blood oath never to go back to using Magento again (which I believe does handle this exponential permutations issue effectively enough).

[TWDesign]

BTW

I totally support the concept of allowing developers to make add-on modules for niche cases and optional functions. It keeps the PrestaShop core code base lean and allows developers a business incentive to innovate. A win-win situation.

 

But proper Attribute Management is a "make or break" feature that may prevent some people from even using PrestaShop in the first place. It's crazy to expect the whole PrestaShop community to rely on one outside developer to keep maintaining a module that is critical. This should be moved into the core code base.

[mexique1]

BTW

I totally support the concept of allowing developers to make add-on modules for niche cases and optional functions. It keeps the PrestaShop core code base lean and allows developers a business incentive to innovate. A win-win situation.

 

But proper Attribute Management is a "make or break" feature that may prevent some people from even using PrestaShop in the first place. It's crazy to expect the whole PrestaShop community to rely on one outside developer to keep maintaining a module that is critical. This should be moved into the core code base.

 

Amen.

 

The problem I see here is that the actual module is not free, so how would the developer react if PrestaShop brings it for free and the module becomes obsolete ?

 

However, I think they are doing this, maybe not enough, but they are integrating other ideas into their code. It's the italian chef technique: keeping throwing pasta on the wall, if it stays on the wall, it means it's cooked.

 

On the other hand, if there is a cool project created by the community, maybe it would be preferable to keep it isolated from PrestaShop, in order to preserve creativity, I mean to stay "bleeding edge".

[TWDesign]

On the other hand, if there is a cool project created by the community, maybe it would be preferable to keep it isolated from PrestaShop, in order to preserve creativity, I mean to stay "bleeding edge".

 

I think it depends on whether the module is fundamental to have a properly working shop.

Since the current Attributes Management code prevents a certain number of users from even

using PrestaShop (out of the box), then that meets criteria of something that should become part

of the core code base.

 

I believe the Attributes Pro developer is a respected and admired member of the PrestaShop community.

He/She rightly deserves to be so.

 

However, what if, as would be their right, the developer decided to stop selling that (essential) module.

The excrement would hit the spinning ventilation device, so to speak.

 

In order to grow and compete against the many other open source and commercial Ecommerce projects, PrestaShop

has to provide a solution that scales well. Otherwise Magento and others will eat our lunch for us.

 

So far as "creativity" is concerned, people will always find an itch to scratch and then release their solutions into the Module Shop.

I think thats how open source software evolution works and I dont think that process is in any jeopardy.

[mexique1]

I completely agree, just look at my signature

 

But AFAIK there are not so much open source projects around PrestaShop.

Like said before, most of the interesting modules are paid.

This is the "undesirable" side effect of the "addons" movement, it does not encourage people to bring things for free.

 

And it's human: why should I bring an amazing module for free, when I see that even "Facebook like" modules (few lines of JavaScript) are sold for up to 30-40€ ?

 

And then, another question : why should I spend time on something that will help others (and PrestaShop) make money, while my stuff is free ? Maybe a solution would be that PrestaShop "rewards" financially the best free modules...

 

I have no solution.

[TWDesign]

Actually, I prefer a community where the Add-Ons are paid (with a proviso - which I will explain in a minute).

 

The reason being, I come from a Drupal background.

Now Drupal is a fantastic project, for anything beyond a simple site, Drupal is my CMS of choice.

HOWEVER, Drupal has a strongly "free as in beer" culture. To my knowledge there are no such thing

as paid modules. I think there is something in the licensing of Drupal itself which dictates this.

Anyway, its great in many ways because it means we can try out a lot of modules for free, report bugs,

co-operate on patches and so on.

 

ON THE OTHER HAND, what I have also found is that a lot of modules are not maintained, aren't upgraded to newer

versions of Drupal core and there is no real responsibility on anyone to help out if you have problems with a module.

 

At least in a proper "Add-Ons Shop" there is a commercial incentive to improve, upgrade and support what is being sold.

 

THE PROVISO I mentioned is that there should be better ways for people to test out modules, perhaps in some PrestaShop sandbox before buying them. I've been burned a few to many times on PrestaShop modules that proved to be buggy and the developers were slow to respond to my support request (if they respond at all!).

 

Just my 2 cents.

[mexique1]

So basically, you are saying that having paid modules makes no difference on the quality and/or the support

With the only difference that if modules are open-source, more people can help find bugs and improve.

 

But... AFAIK the paid addons system is what has helped PrestaShop attract developers and people (something made by the former CEO). If freelance developers can't make money out of PrestaShop (if everything is free, only agencies can make money), they will develop for other platforms...

 

I don't even know how it works on Addons, I'm about to submit my first module, but when I read the T&C it seems there is some validation process, like on Apple's App Store. Maybe this process is not enough strong, I don't know...

For example Apple provides test suites developers can run locally to make sure they will pass at least the most basic validation rules.

 

I hear lots of people complaining about the Addons website, saying it doesn't help connecting devs and users. Maybe it's a good starting point also ?

 

PS : I don't think we can compare PrestaShop and Drupal...