What is php Shopping Cart Software?
The term php shopping cart comes from the programming language in which the software is written. A php shopping cart is designed to work with websites that support php. There are many open source applications that are created using php. This is especially useful for someone that is familiar with php and wants to be able to make customizations and tweaks to his/her shopping cart software. Using a pre-made php shopping cart software saves a lot of time from building the entire cart from scratch. There are many free php scrips available online as well. These free scrips can be used to help in customizing an open source php shopping cart system.
There are many php shopping carts that are available as open source or GNU (available under a General Public License). Many of the best web hosting companies will offer these shopping cart software scripts as part of their web hosting features and will have some knowledge and experience about how to install and integrate the software into your website. We will take a quick look at some of the most popular and more well established php shopping carts but if none of these suit your needs, there are many other options available.
Popular php Shopping Cart Software
osCommerce is a very well known php shopping cart software. First released in 2000 the osCommerce software can be used on any web server that has php and MySQL installed. The latest version, 3.0, was released in March 2011 and has many differences from the previous version with a more object based backend and a template system that makes layout changes much easier. osCommerce, like other open source software, has an active community forum where people discuss issues, ideas, addons, tips and tricks, and installation and configuration as well. If your web host is not able to provide the help and support you need for your osCommerce shopping cart you may find help here.
ZenCart is a break off from osCommerce. ZenCart was first created in 2003. The biggest difference in the ZenCart shopping cart is the architecture of the system. The most recent update moved the template system from a table based layout to a CSS approach. The ZenCart shopping cart includes all the features needed to run an online store from products and pricing to order management and newsletter features, everything is included. Only minimal skills are required for basic installation and use. Customization is possible but may require more technical skills. There are many custom programming services available that are familiar with ZenCart and are able to help with customization, for a price.
OpenCart is another simple php shopping cart that is rich in features, easy to install and use and has lifetime free support and updates added in to make it an even better choice. This shopping cart software is an “out of the box” solution making the shopping cart easy to integrate and use on your website. Reading some OpenCart reviews can give you an understanding of how current users like the software as well as some of the strengths and weaknesses in comparison to other shopping cart software systems. Shopping cart reviews from actual users will give the best information about possible problems you may encounter.
For more shopping cart reviews and other shopping cart software options visit bestshoppingcartreviews.com Our site also includes additional aritcles and tutorials about shopping cart options, optimization, payment processing and much more. Find out all you need to know about shopping cart software today.
