osCommerce again
Got a 3 day contract to come up with a new osCommerce store for a previous client. I don't do very much osCommerce work anymore so it has made a nice change to delve deep into code that I know very well. Once again, I reminded myself just how convoluted the osCommerce code is, and just how bad (and I mean really bad) some of the contributions are.
Oh well. The good news is that the new site is to be based on his existing site - whic means I can just download it all, set it up on "localhost" and make the necessary code and presentation changes offline.
Once complete, the client gave me an excellent brief of what wants changing, and the colour scheme he is wanting - I can then nuke some of the tables in the database, and upload the whole thing so it is ready to be used.
The good thing about osCommerce is that I know it so well.
The bad thing about osCommerce is that I know it so well. 
I suspect that the 3 day job will turn into two days, as I should have the whole thing ready tomorrow. Once uploaded for the client to see, there is bound to be some changes, so my time on Thursday will probably be spent making final adjustments.
This particular osCommerce site is quite a nice one, as it has lots of bespoke coding, particularly in the Admin Area. The look is not my cup of tea, as I intensely dislike "black backgrounds" on webpages - and having a black background in osCommerce brings problems with graphics and infoboxes. But it's not insurmountable with appropriate use of .css within the stylesheet.
Do you use osCommerce?
If you do use osCommerce, and want to redesign your webshop - I'm available for hire - send me an email to oscshops AT gmail DOT com - alternatively have a look at oscbooks.com who have some great eBooks written by myself!
Sometime in the next few days, I will also be haivng some reduced prices on osCommerce Templates - watch this blog for more!
Comment by James — March 20, 2007 @ 7:24 pm
It may not be the best thing to state how easy it is and that it may only take 2 days.
Your client may read it and want a discount.
Comment by Will — March 20, 2007 @ 9:52 pm
James,
Surely not! That's no basis for a discount as all it means is that Gary is good with OSC and that the client will get exactly what he wants at a price he's already happy with.
Unless he's paying by the hour…
Comment by burt — March 21, 2007 @ 10:16 am
I have a charging structure which is agreeable for both client and myself
Comment by Carine B — March 21, 2007 @ 1:14 pm
So much for AIS ?
Welcome back in the real world
Comment by Victor — April 4, 2007 @ 7:57 pm
I'm curious, what shopping cart software do you recommend when your not using osCommerce?
Comment by burt — April 4, 2007 @ 11:34 pm
Victor, I know that jshop gets a lot of good reviews. My fellow osWordl blogger Dave uses it a lot now.
Comment by Gary — August 10, 2007 @ 10:09 am
5 months later, and this site is only just gone live AND the client is still wanting changes to be made! This even after the excellent brief he supplied!
In recent days I have;
~ installed SSL
~ installed a couple of contributions
~ added link to "my account" - both the client and myself forgot this! Oooops.
~ added contact us page link
~ loads more little niggly changes like made log in/log out change when logged in or out etc etc
I don't mind doing all this at all, in fact I quite enjoy it as it's a break from the monotony of "doing my own stuff"