Linking from /Using Suppliers [PrestaShop] Catalog

[mmwclub]

Hi,

 

I'm not a programmer but would appreciate some advice so I know what the best approach is when I go looking for someone to modify my shop.

 

I want to start selling spare parts for grass machinery, lawnmowers etc on-line.

 

My Supplier has done a great job displaying the spare parts using Prestashop 1.6  in catalog mode (on a VPS with 150GB storage for images)

 

He tells me that core files have been modified and extra tables added to make the catalog work the way he wants it to.

 

The end result is that he has about 100k products and 5 million categories (the categories/sub categories etc are type-of- machinery>make>model>year>spare part family>spare part)

 

He is more than happy to give me a full copy of his website and database etc

 

I'm very reluctant to use this as the basis for my shop due to the changes to the core files and  I dont know what the full effect of what has been disabled or changed to get the catalog working is e.g.  the native blockcategories module cant be enabled because it conflicts with some of the changes made.

 

Files that have apparently been changed include blockbestsellers.php, blockcategories.php, blocklayered.php, blocknewproducts.php, blocktopmenu.php, Category.php, CategoryController.php, Link.php, Manufacturer.php, Product.php, ProductSale.php, Search.php, SearchController.php, SitemapController.php, Supplier.php, Tag.php

 

So, I'm wondering if its possible to use this catalog in conjunction with a clean install of Prestashop.  The easiest way would to just link (or redirect) from each of the old product pages to the corresponding page in the new install.  The downside of this is that a new browser window/tab would be opened for each product and a typical order would be for at least 5 or 6 different products. If i redirect then I'd have to rely on the customer clicking the browser back button to return to the catalog page they were previously at.

 

Is it feasable/ possible to integrate the two shops so that I can rename his modifications to work along side a clean Prestashop install? e.g. ideally I'd like to use his blockcategories module to show what spare parts fit which machine and use the native blockcategories to display the other product I have.

 

Any comments/suggestions welcome (even to just say its cost prohibitive!)

 

Thanks