Does osCmax have everything and more than I could possibly need?

[EmbassyInc]

The vendor who has the OSC store we are looking at purchasing has used programmers from the OSC site in the past. Recently it was suggested that I look at osCmax to deliver everything OSC has, and much, much more.

When asked, I was told that osCmax is a customized version. Is osCmax a proven choice that surpasses OSC?

Here is a list of features I am looking for:

1. Admin can edit products in order
   
2. Easy to see Product Column Listings
   
3. One Page Checkout option
   
4. Dual independent fading banners controlled from admin
   
5. Different pricing per customer groups
   
6. CKeditor WYSIWYG Html Editor for working with multiple pages from OSC admin
   
7. Featured Products Section on front page
   
8. Store Mode to show open, closed, or maintenance
   
9. Super download store and enhanced virtual product downloads
   
10. Header tags for SEO and module, including cDynamic meta tags; SEO URLs Pro, optimized URL's for search engine visibility
    
11. SEO Tools for meta tags and URLs
    
12. Graphic template system
    
13. Discount coupon codes, including unique one use codes for specific customer
    
14. Google checkout pre-installed
    
15. Site monitor (including use for unauthorized file changes)
    
16. Optional related products to view of an item that can also be sold as additional item in cart
    
17. Unlimited information Page, such as video, contact us, about us, other links, etc
    
18. Content Management System for Informational Pages
    
19. Supertracker
    
20. All customer information needs to be exportable to excel, open office, etc.
    
21. All product information needs to be exportable to excel, open office, etc. so as to edit and reinstall or over-ride
    
22. Wish list
    
23. Spreadsheet Database Upload
    
24. Mindsparx Admin - Enhanced admin layout with dynamic menu
    
25. Optimal customer list
    
26. Optimal Paypal and Paypal Pro
    
27. Local delivery
    
28. Multi image Add-On with Pop-Ups
    
29. Custom button sets
    
30. Import older OSC version data to the new
    
31. Ability to download our vendor's live feed products and updated pricing from their server to our site without manually keying in each product
    
32. Ability to copy our site onto another franchised site we have without any issues with copyrights or licensing fees. (Please quote how much each copied site will be after the primary site is set up)

The above list may be duplicative, and some items may not be available. And I may be missing some important add-ons too.

Your thoughts and comments will be very appreciative.

[pgmarshall]

Here is a list of features I am looking for:

1. Admin can edit products in order - yes
2. Easy to see Product Column Listings - not sure what this means
   
3. One Page Checkout option - yes
4. Dual independent fading banners controlled from admin - slideshow & banners
   
5. Different pricing per customer groups - yes
6. CKeditor WYSIWYG Html Editor for working with multiple pages from OSC admin - yes
7. Featured Products Section on front page - yes
8. Store Mode to show open, closed, or maintenance - yes
9. Super download store and enhanced virtual product downloads - not sure- we have downloads - but not sure what "super" downloads are!
   
10. Header tags for SEO and module - we use Dynamic Meta Tags, including cDynamic meta tags; SEO URLs Pro, optimized URL's for search engine visibility - yes
11. SEO Tools for meta tags and URLs - need more details
    
12. Graphic template system - yes Basic Template Systems (BTS)
    
13. Discount coupon codes, including unique one use codes for specific customer - yes
14. Google checkout pre-installed - yes
15. Site monitor (including use for unauthorized file changes) - this can easily be added - not currently in v2.5 core - may go into v2.6 ... see wiki for more details.
    
16. Optional related products to view of an item that can also be sold as additional item in cart - not sure what this is ...
    
17. Unlimited information Page, such as video, contact us, about us, other links, etc - yes
18. Content Management System for Informational Pages - isn't this the same as 17?
19. Supertracker - Nope - it is rubbish - we use Google Analytics
20. All customer information needs to be exportable to excel, open office, etc. - Customer export is there but it depends what you mean by "all" ...
    
21. All product information needs to be exportable to excel, open office, etc. so as to edit and reinstall or over-ride - we use EasyPopulate
    
22. Wish list - yes
23. Spreadsheet Database Upload - see 21.
    
24. Mindsparx Admin - Enhanced admin layout with dynamic menu - Nope - we have built a shiny admin panel of our own ... dashboard, superfish menu, quicklinks, built in help, search, etc.
    
25. Optimal customer list - not sure what this is?
    
26. Optimal Paypal and Paypal Pro - yes - not sure what Optimal is.
    
27. Local delivery - yes - store pickup? Or is something different?
28. Multi image Add-On with Pop-Ups - yes - including image zoomer and rollover switch
    
29. Custom button sets - yes
30. Import older OSC version data to the new - nope - you would need to use phpMyAdmin or similar to import.
    
31. Ability to download our vendor's live feed products and updated pricing from their server to our site without manually keying in each product - this is rather open-ended and client specific!
    
32. Ability to copy our site onto another franchised site we have without any issues with copyrights or licensing fees. (Please quote how much each copied site will be after the primary site is set up) - again, this is rather open-ended and client specific!

Hope this helps a little bit ...

[met00]

Clarifications

on 31. Each distributor and or manufacturer offers different standards for EDI. There are no standard EDI modules for either inbound or outbound EDI. That said, here are any number of freelancers that will be more than happy to create an EDI module for you that meets your specific EDI needs.

on 32. osCmax 2.5 is "open source" you get all the source code for free. You can attempt to sell it and violate the license agreement. You can also take the base and modify it, and in doing so you add value to it which you CAN sell.

So, let's say you have a stock osCmax 2.5. You can not sell it. Now let's say you have the exact same stock osCmax 2.5 BUT you have redone the BTS template with additional functionality and skins (change the look and feel and how it acts) You CAN sell the entire package with YOUR modifications, but the the only thing you are actually selling are the modifications that you made.

PGM did a great job listing the ways that osCmax 2.5 will meet the rest of your stated needs.

[EmbassyInc]

We are not looking at "selling the store" in the traditional sense, just cloning it on some other domain websites where other people can promote the store to earn commisions at their site, and leaving the sales going to a central credit card account. The cloned sites will be paid a commision on each transaction sale, and they will not have to worry about fulfillment.

[met00]

Let me see if I have what you are planning on doing.

You own abc.com on which you will put an osCmax 2.5
Someone else owns xyz.com and they put up an osCmax 2.5 copy of your store (with their own branding) that stores their orders in abc.com's database, but also in some way stores where the sale originated so that you can cut commission checks to them for their portion of the sale.

At the end of the day you perform fulfillment from abc.com in which you fill all abc.com orders as well as xyz.com orders. At some later time you run a report that allows you to pay out commissions for all sales related to xyz.com to xyz.com's owners.

[EmbassyInc]

You own abc.com on which you will put an osCmax 2.5
Someone else owns xyz.com and they put up an osCmax 2.5 copy of your store (with their own branding) .

No, they do not change the branding of the store. To the customer who visits both abc.com and xyz.com, the store looks and operates the same. The only difference in the admin panel is that copies of the orders that are emailed to the owner of xyz.com also get cc'd to a dedicated email address to the main store so as to determine commissions and to fufill the orders.

stores their orders in abc.com's database, but also in some way stores where the sale originated so that you can cut commission checks to them for their portion of the sale.

No, xyz.com would have its own database for its own customers, but the credit card sales would go to abc.com's credit card merchant. abc.com would have admin access to xyz.com's admin store.

At the end of the day you perform fulfillment from abc.com in which you fill all abc.com orders as well as xyz.com orders. At some later time you run a report that allows you to pay out commissions for all sales related to xyz.com to xyz.com's owners.

Yes.

[EmbassyInc]

Here is another question about choosing osCmax versus going with OScommerce and building the site.

Someone posted the following opinion:

The main problems with using (osCmax) "loaded" versions are:

- They are usually "bloated" code-wise.

- They differ quite a bit from standard oscommerce and adding in add-ons is therefore usually a bit more tricky

- They are often based on older oscommerce versions and therefore lack the latest security fixes.

- You will receive close to no help and support in the OScommerce forum because you are using a loaded version and since most will have no idea on the differences in your version code compared to a shop based on original oscommerce.

The advantage to using osCmax is, of course, that they are usually "loaded" with functions

Is this sort of like wanting to purchase a super-stretch Cadillac limousine, and I find that an after-market company buys the standard Cadillac from General Motors, and then cuts the car up and welds pieces together to get the super long features? And all the time adding custom stereos, TV, bars, and such inside the limo - only to find out a year later that General Motors does not warranty or support the limo because the after market company is solely responsible for updates for their add-on's?

Is so, then I suspect there is a vast market for after-market products, software, and cars. Otherwise we would never see thiose super-stretched limos!

[met00]

Let's address these one at a time.

They are usually "bloated" code-wise

Is there more code in osCmax than OSC? Yes. We have taken the time to add in a number of mods and make them all play together nicely. We also use BTS as a template system, so it's easy to mod the look and feel without touching lot's of files in the core. Is it bloated? No, because we modify the mods and reduce the duplicate code as well as provide detailed commentary as to what we did in the files.

They differ quite a bit from standard oscommerce and adding in add-ons is therefore usually a bit more tricky

Yes, we use BTS and OSC doesn't. So we differ from standard OSC. But, we also have added mods that were on the OSC web site, so that mods generally are NOT to complex to add if you want to add one yourself. But, consider this, if you were to attempt to add just 50% of the functionality that is in osCmax to OSC, you would have bloated spaghetti code. There are thousands of manhours of work in the osCmax 2.5 release by at least seven professionals who have a deep understanding of the code. One of the overriding goals of the development team is that we can all work with one anothers code, so it MUST be documented and understandable. Anyone with basic PHP knowledge should have no problem understanding what the development team has don, although in 2.5 it also helps to have an understanding of CSS and jquery.

They are often based on older oscommerce versions and therefore lack the latest security fixes.

I would bank on osCmax being as secure, if not more secure than OSC.

You will receive close to no help and support in the OScommerce forum because you are using a loaded version and since most will have no idea on the differences in your version code compared to a shop based on original oscommerce.

And amazingly enough you found that osCmax has it's own forums, that they are active, that multiple developers work and respond in the forums providing help for free. Yes, the motherships forums will avail you not if you choose osCmax. But if you were to patch OSC to 50% of osCmax's functionality, you would find that you would get almost no help in the OSC forums, and not have the levels of functionality that you have with osCmax. Soon as you say "I'm running OSC and have [list 10 mods here] installed." the drop off rate in responses is huge.

Let's be clear. I adore OSC. It's a great product for a barebones minimalist store. Heck, before coming to osCmax I developed and released mods for OSC (recover carts was my first released Open Source mod for OSC). So, why did I come here? Because I got tired of integrating 20 mods (including three to five I coded for clients) to make the store work the way I wanted it to for clients. Because I was tired of cleaning up other peoples mods and attempting to shoehorn them together.

With osCmax most of that grunt work has been done for you. It has been cleaned up and it interoperable. It has been checked for security issues, beaten up by developers and multiple test teams, and then released and bugtracked through at lest six months of bets releases before RC1.

Will it have 100% of everything you want? Maybe, maybe not. But what it will have is a well redesigned and integrated feature set that has been validated that it works, and a community where the developers are always willing to talk to the users. As for your limo example, it almost works, but it misses the point that the guys that build the limo work a customer service line and answer all your questions and help you if YOU want to add some stuff that they didn't put in (and will think about adding that same feature in the next release of the limo).