Magento

gregsta · #11 (**permalink**) 27-06-2008, 15:54

That Magento really looks the business! I recently had to create an ecommerce site using Actinic and to do some of the more advanced things was a nightmare.

I am looking at recommending this to our director for sites that we develop in the future.

KingPin · #12 (**permalink**) 27-06-2008, 16:01

The more I look at Magento the more I'm impressed with it. I have not used it for a live site yet but the end of July I will be putting it into action.

From the tests I have carried out it's looking impressive.

If all goes well I'll be partnering with Magento and using their software for the smaller businesses that can't afford custom build carts.

So far I love it.

KP

Greg Findley · #13 (**permalink**) 27-06-2008, 16:34

Magento does indeed look very impressive but check the UK specific forum on their site as I know there have been problems with the way the system handles VAT for UK sites, I'd recommend checking the latest on these issues before using on a live site. Greg

EDIT: Here is the link to the aforementioned forum area- http://www.magentocommerce.com/boards/viewforum/43/

KingPin · #14 (**permalink**) 27-06-2008, 16:54

Thanks Greg. Yeah I'm aware of that problem. I have a coder working on a fix that will be available for all (an alternative to Magento's solution).

KP

Greg Findley · #15 (**permalink**) 27-06-2008, 16:55

Hi KingPin,

Sounds good, can you let us (A1BF) know when that is available? As I'd love to try Magento out, that's the only thing holding me back to be honest.

Thanks,
Greg

HuggyBear · #16 (**permalink**) 27-06-2008, 17:53

What a shame, looks like I have to resort to custom built........

Supported Operating Systems:

Linux x86, x86-64

Supported Web Servers:

Apache 1.3.x
Apache 2.0.x
Apache 2.2.x

Cracking Media · #17 (**permalink**) 27-06-2008, 19:02

We tested out Magento recently to see what it could do. It does look good, but we found that the initial load of a site takes 20-30 seconds by which time the potential visitor would have hit the back button and gone off to visit somewhere else. Others in their forum were also reporting this, but no resolution was being suggested by the developers which was frustrating.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Leo · #18 (**permalink**) 27-06-2008, 21:12

Hi

I have looked a magento and was very impressed with all the features; which out do, most, if not all the current open source solutions.
The only thing that is slightly concerning at the moment is that when I originally installed it on a shared server environment it was very slow. However on a dedicated box it was fine.

Obviously a dedicated server is not feasible for most small businesses so hopefully a fix will be sorted soon

Many Thanks

Leo

KingPin · #19 (**permalink**) 28-06-2008, 01:12

Greg, yes, as soon as he has finished I will post the download link or PM It to you. I have him working on a bunch of mods for the cart at the moment so rather than release one at a time I think he would rather just release them all at once.

CK, no I have never experienced the store being slow (yet) but I'm running them on dedicated servers.

KP

Cracking Media · #20 (**permalink**) 28-06-2008, 06:55

KP - thanks for your feedback. I too would like to see your pre-release build when it is ready. The initial load speed on a shared server is a concern but so too is this VAT issue.

KP - you mention about the possibility of partnering with Magento. Have you been in contact with them (Varien) directly over issues you have found? The reason I ask is that looking at the forum Greg linked to and in particular the thread about the VAT issue it appears that no one from Varien has responded to the posts raised there in a thread that has been running since April. From a support perspective that is a little concerning.

Looking further on their forum there are links to their support services and although the software is being promoted as open source it would seem that beyond the self-support of the community there is not much that Varien are going to provide gratis.

I am not saying they shouldn't be making their first line support chargeable (starting at USD 500 per annum which isn't bad) because what they are doing has to be commercially viable. However, I do find it concerning at this early stage in the product's life when they are looking to grow the community that there are blocker issues such as initial load speed and VAT for which they appear to not be providing any basic support and assurances on the forum to their community.

Have I missed something there? It could be, but if not then for companies considering using Magento commercially I think it is a concern that if Varien are unreliable in supporting their community at this early stage, then maybe their paid support is not going to be too hot either.

Perhaps I am being too harsh so I would appreciate others view on this.