osCommerce VS. osCMax?

[php4ever]

This question must have come up many many times but I just cant find it using the forum search.

I use osCommerce and I use CRELoaded on occasion and I understand the modifications done to the code between each but what makes osCMax so different?

Has there ever been a side by side comparison?

~ Jared

[michael_s]

osCMax is different in that it offers different mods compared to the other loaded versions and is not just a lite version designed to get you to buy a commercial 'full featured' version.

There are several threads that ask this same question. The biggest difference between osCMax and other loaded versions is the dedication to backwards compatibility with the original osCommerce code base.

We have gone to great pains to make sure that with minimal modification, almost all osCommerce contributions will work with osCMax. This cannot be said for the other loaded versions. Our code base is also extensively commented so any php programmer can easily see where the changes from osCommerce are.

I think the spirit of the osCMax project community is different than all others, including osCommerce. We are truly an inclusive community that embraces the idea of open source and does not limit discussion to the exclusion of other projects (like osCommerce and its gag-rule about other osC based projects).

I am sure if you google long enough you will find someone doing a side by side comparison, but I have not seen any recently. There really is no need to compare osCMax with standard osCommerce, since osCMax has every single feature of standard osCommerce and just adds to the base code, extending the feature set.

[php4ever]

Thanks Michael, after I installed it I was amazed that you had added so many mods and changes.

I had undertaken a similar objective in just creating a bare naked osCommerce void of any layout parameters yet fully modded with most of what you have now with the only exception that I added RMA Returns, full SPPC modifications and Quick Books Import.

My method for templates though was different since I dont use osCommerce structure in templates since I'm more of a fan of CSS. I did a bulk find and replace for things like;
1.) <b> to <strong> "since <b> is a downgraded method.
2.) <br> to <br /> which is XHTML compliant
3.) Cleaned up the table structure extensively and I cleaned up and pretty much re-did the CSS.
Naturally my method would be difficult for anyone to mod because find and replace would not work with those minor changes even though they are proper changes.

I'll have to spend some time examining the BTS template system. I've never found a need for it but as long as it works good with CSS type layouts I think you have a winner here.

I'll redo my admin section template to work with yours and send it to you so if you like it you are free to make it available or simply install it. Its designed to make the administration panel clean and yet easy enough to mod in the future.

~ Jared