flyclothing Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 I am somewhat new to Prestashop but not new to eCommerce and shopping carts. I've run a successful website for 12 years using x-cart as well as other ecommerce sites. I decided to use Prestashop because I loved the look and reported functionality as well as the responsive templates and back-end administration. I've already built one ecommerce site using Prestashop but they are still facing issues because of the limited gateway options and payment system that work. We originally set up PayPal USA and anyone who reads the forums knows how that went. I am now working on revitalizing my website and decided to use Prestashop. I am almost done with data integration and site aesthetics but see several basic issues that prevent the site from go live--items that should definitely work in any ecommerce software. The first issue has to do with setting up shipping. I am grateful there are extensive options when it comes to warehouses, locations, specific carriers, etc. but Prestashop is far from easy to setup for basic product shipping. I've read post after post in the forums with users looking for solutions to: "no carriers available, free shipping, shipping prices wrong (UPS), etc. I also see a lot of people "view" issues but very few report solutions. I can't tell whether there are limited users, limited expertise or a combination of both. One of the great things about x-cart (in the beginning), there were a lot of people helping each other to find solutions. I know the ecommerce arena has changed a lot since then any many are too busy keeping a business afloat to add time to a blog or forum. If I knew the software better, I would be more than happy to provide insight but I am learning it as well. The second issue has to do with payment options. As I said before, I setup PayPal USA for another site and it worked briefly and then didnt (possibly because of an update). I currently use Elavon for my credit card processing and there are no solutions for it so I may have to work with a developer to create a mod for it but until then I am going to try to use PayPal advanced--as long as I can actually get it working. I've set up PayPal Advanced to work with Open Cart and it was easy. I tried setting it up in Prestashop and it didn’t work. Right now I just have basic PayPal setup but would like for customers to stay on the site when checking out rather than being redirected to a payment solution, which doesnt look as professional. So I ask this of those who are reading the forum, what is the future of Prestashop? It looks like Prestashop is several versions in and many bugs have been fixed but it seems many still exist. I remember one of the problems with x-cart was management kept creating new features rather than fixing bugs because new features generated sales, not bug repair. What needs to happen to get more involvement from Prestashop and users? I would be more than happy paying for a working version of the software but it seems the Prestashop model is based on mods sales and support rather than the software itself. I would love to hear your input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omk Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Yes, a good analysis of the situation - it seems to be like that. Several of the issues you mentioned were also encountered by us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuk66 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 It looks like Prestashop is several versions in and many bugs have been fixed but it seems many still exist. I remember one of the problems with x-cart was management kept creating new features rather than fixing bugs because new features generated sales, not bug repair. Definitely agree. New features generate sales but there is a point where crowd will say "it was enough". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicmaster Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 (edited) I was puzzled when advanced stock keeping came out. It seemed to me that that was by excellence something to sell as an addon: when you need multi warehouses you have some money to spend. Instead Prestashop seems to rely for its income on addons that would be superfluous when the core was more solid. At the moment it is unclear to me what will be Prestashops next step. It seems they want like Magento to have a paid version. But what that version should contain and how the free version should evolve are unclear to me. I started with Prestashop with version 1.4 and very little has changed in the core since then. 1.5 brought multi-shop and 1.6 brought better mobile support. But when you look at basics like product options, discounts, combinations, features and statistics it is almost the same. Communication between Prestashop and the user community is almost non-existent. It seems that a couple of French software houses are their main user contacts. The problem of such an approach of course is that those developers have learned to live with the limitations of the software - in some instances by writing their own fixes. It is my impression that no one is really responsible for the code at Prestashop. Most developers work on new projects like multi-shopping and mobile. Bugfixing and customer projects is left to a small number of programmers who are often rather inexperienced and are assumed to cover all the code (I keep encountering the same names on Bugtracker). Such people don't have enough overview and so they will be conservative in making changes out of fear of breaking something. For the continuing development of the core code it would be better if you had some specialists for for example products, shipping or payment. Such people would handle relevant customer projects and bugs. That would give them the expertise to initiate improvements. Edited October 24, 2014 by musicmaster (see edit history) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyclothing Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 (edited) Thank you for the reply! I feel the same about advanced stock management. It definitely could have been an add-on for those who require shipping from multiple locations. Instead, it has created a lot of headaches with shipping functionality. I know we are all like "you mean I get this and this and this?" and then we find out that they all don't work well together. It took me quite a while with trial and error rather than forum assistance to finally get shipping work on the store. I think one of the other issues with a free cart is it creates a sense of entitlement. I see a lot of people write messages about getting this free or that done free. Your wonderful add-on module is a prime example of where I see users ask for this and that--like you owe them. If no one pays for anything or is rewarded for helping, how will the community and software continue to grow? I see a lot of potential in the software but like you said, only mild accomplishments have been achieved version-to-version. I know you know the forum well, is there a place for suggestions and open communication about improvements and Prestashop future? I really can't offer any yet until I learn the software better but I can definitely tell the forum needs a boost. Edited October 23, 2014 by flyclothing (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Patron Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 @flyclothing, well said Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dh42 Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 @flyclothing, I skimmed your post, but am short on time. https://www.bellini-services.com/shop/payment-modules/10-virtual-merchant-payment-module.html There is a link to an evalon module that I have used before and it works great. I have a client that is running it and never had an issue with it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyclothing Posted October 24, 2014 Author Share Posted October 24, 2014 @DH42 Fantastic! I bookmarked Bellini and will go back to it. I ended up purchasing and off-line payment processing module a while back and it seems to do the trick for now. I am able to manually process orders once they are ready to ship. Once we regain our traffic and sales, I'll definitely need to look at an automated solution again for efficiency. I am still looking for the following solutions: 1. Newsletter module 2. Feed generators, mostly for Google and Bing 3. Testimonial module 4. Upsell tools at checkout 5. Automatic coupons for newsletter signup, posting on social media or telling a friend. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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