OpenCart – Creating Your Own Extension

Last Updated on Friday, 19 April 2013 04:34 Written by Joe Stenhouse Saturday, 20 April 2013 12:00

Perhaps you have been digging around your Open Cart installation and have decided that you want to brave the waters to make your own extension, or perhaps you just cannot afford the money to purchase an existing extension from the store; this article will go over the basics to developing an extension and will attempt to simplify the process. Before we begin, it helps to know the basics of an MVC-L (MODEL VIEW CONTROL LANGUAGE) framework and we recommend reading this article before continuing.

OpenCart – Apache Mod Rewrite & SEO

Last Updated on Tuesday, 16 April 2013 09:07 Written by Joe Stenhouse Thursday, 18 April 2013 12:00

WHAT IS APACHE MOD REWRITE

Apache Mod Rewrite is an Apache mod that provides a rule-based rewriting engine to rewrite requested URLs on the fly. In layman’s terms: you can change the url that people see in your browser bar to something of your choice. There “are” however rules about this that should be followed especially when it comes to Search Engine Optimization and how Google handles the url’s. Most just know how to “turn SEO URL” on from the Opencart system settings but few actually know how it works and to be fair most don’t. This is for those that want a little better understanding on the process.  I find that having knowledge, is power, and gives you the ability to maximize your efficiency on the web with your online commerce store. We won’t delve into the actual code on the APACHE side but more so on the Opencart side.

OpenCart – Advice for Extension Developer and Purchaser

Last Updated on Tuesday, 16 April 2013 08:44 Written by Joe Stenhouse Tuesday, 16 April 2013 12:00

Opencart Commercial Development Ethics

Now that you have a new Arvixe hosting account as well as the Opencart installation you now may be interested in extending your default installation. To do so you will probably need to hire a developer to help you.
-Many users on the opencart forums are in need of a developer to help them with a project. For obvious reasons Open Cart is not involved in what goes on behind closed doors between users and developers. Both the developer and the user have a responsibility to practice their own business sense whereby protecting their assets.

Opencart – Dealing With Errors

Last Updated on Thursday, 11 April 2013 08:24 Written by Joe Stenhouse Sunday, 14 April 2013 12:00

Normal Errors

These errors are what you will see show up in the Opencart Error Log or even on your browser screen “depending upon your error reporting settings” and they always have tale tell signs. They normally have a consistent execution so therefore they are easier to solve. If you are not versed in PHP then we recommend you using the Opencart Forums or the Arvixe forums to get information in order to discern your error. There are thousands and thousands of postings on the most common errors you will see in Opencart. While some errors won’t really cause your website harm they are all worth getting rid of to ensure clean execution and maximum server efficiency. NOTE:

How to Use Opencart’s vQmod

Last Updated on Thursday, 11 April 2013 08:24 Written by Joe Stenhouse Saturday, 13 April 2013 12:00

Opencart for a long time was needing a way to easily patch code into the framework whereby being able to remove it later without disrupting the integrity of the overall structure; In short, a plugin-like system that allowed users to easily plugin/unplug extensions to in their website without much hassle. For the longest time all extensions sold in the shop were core edits and if the files included in the package were not brand new then it would overwrite your existing code. This just isn’t realistic for a number of obvious reasons the biggest one being that you shouldn’t have to disrupt your website structure just to plug in an extension. Introducing VQMOD! Vqmod is pretty much an Opencart standard at the moment and is being used by just about everyone especially developers like myself.

VQMOD