Review: Virtuemart - Joomla E-Commerce Component

Virtuemart is the E-Commerce component for Joomla/Mambo that came out of the phpShop project. It's got a graphical installer and sample data that ships with it so you can get it running fairly easily. It's a component of Joomla/Mambo (it won't run without it).

It's packed full of features like unlimited catagory depth, custom attributes, user/group management, discount coupons, multiple shipping zones and rates, file download functionality (for selling MP3 etc), image management and payment modules built in. It's quite powerful straight off the shelf. Virtuemart is distributed under the GPL license and has a good open support network.

While this is E-Commerce component is feature rich and easy to use for almost anyone, it is seriously messy when you look under the hood and start tweaking the code. And you probably will have to edit the code because the HTML is not friendly on the eye and does not follow any of the style conventions of Joomla.

There is a fair amount of inconsistency with the way style sheets are implemented and there has been some gratuitous table-less HTML written for it that just does not work on all browsers. Some of the PHP is copied and pasted straight from Joomla line for line so you might find yourself editing the same thing twice. Much of the PHP is mixed in with the HTML and much of the front end functionality run from the admin directory so you'll spend some time digging (use grep). If you're using this product on a project you'll need to bump up your quote to cover the time spent getting this over the line.

If you have an alternatives to deploying virtuemart then you should consider them seriously. Perhaps split your Joomla site in two and use a Zen Cart or osCommerce app beside it. If you don't need to edit the code and are happy with the graphics then give Virtuemart a try with your Joomla app. It does not hack your code so it is easy to evaluate. In spite of its flaws, there are many people who are happy with this product.

Homepage:
http://www.virtuemart.com/

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