TomatoCart: Bringing "Fahrvergnügen*" to OSC shopping carts
Open Source eCommerce (OSC) shopping carts have historically been focused on function, function, and function. Aesthetics such as nice graphics or usability were a distant fourth, especially for the administrators of the store who have to use the program day in and day out. It was due in large part to the pioneer spirit of the wild, untamed web; the volunteer programmers who wrote it ascribed to the idea of, "we don't need no steenkin' aesthetics! We're rough and tough programmers. Yee-haw!"
Times have changed, and TomatoCart has brought about a completely new era in OSC carts. Function AND aesthetics work hand-in-hand. If you remember the first time you ever drove a great car, that incredible feeling you had behind the wheel is called "fahrvergnügen" in German, which translates as "the joy of driving." That is exactly what I felt when I drove Tomatocart for the first time.
I recently had the pleasure of downloading and installing my own copy of TomatoCart Version 1.0.1 to take it for a spin. TomatoCart is a branch of osCommerce MS3.0, and the group released their first stable version in May 2010.
Installation of TomatoCart
The installer routine was typical of OSC carts, and worked conventionally through most of the installation: download the zip file, upload to the server, unzip, find the "Readme.txt" file, and then use my browser to go to my website address. This automatically redirected me to the Install Wizard, a series of screens where you simply fill in the blanks and your answers configure the program for you.
The install routine has the same basic screens that are now in every osCommerce-based program: Welcome, License Agreement for GNU Public License, a Pre-Installation Checklist that makes sure your server has the correct settings and libraries, Database Setup screen, and Web Server Setup screen. Borrowed from CRE Loaded version of osCommerce is an extra Online Store Settings screen to set the store owner's name, email address, and admin password. Installation went without a hitch.
Within 10 minutes I was in the gorgeous TomatoCart Admin. Before I could admire it though, I was immediately surprised when an Admin Wizard popped up, asking me the questions that must be answered for an OSC store to function correctly! This includes your zone for shipping and taxes to work properly, what number to start your invoices on, email address, and shipping info. These are most of the "gotcha" items that can frustrate new store owners for hours. Kudos to the developers for thinking of this.
Touring the TomatoCart Admin
Did I mention that the Admin was just gorgeous? It must the the prettiest Admin I have ever seen, and I've seen a lot of them. Translucent icons on a calm blue background, and the START menu on the bottom left. This layout tells your brain that you are on a desktop rather than on a website, making it feel even homier.
The left of the Admin contains icons for frequently used menus, much like a PC desktop but again prettier.
Rather than forcing administrators to start with a messy and confusing dashboard each time, users can choose whether or not to display it and the sidebar with clock, new customers and new orders icons.
But wait, there's more! This amazing Admin can be infinitely configured and adjusted via "Desktop Settings" menu checkboxes. Want a different background, wallpaper, themes, sidebar? Just a click-click and it's done.
Admin wallpapers and templates
TomatoCart ushers in a new era of customization of the Admin. While there are not many Admin templates available yet for TomatoCart, I can foresee them being designed and sold on sites like Templatemonster.com. Our clients - the people who will administer these online stores day in and day out - deserve to work in a beautiful back-end. This will be a competitive advantage to those consultants who can offer it to clients.
Origin of "TomatoCart"
Tomatocart is made by a company in China named Elootec. One of the team members, Joanna Pan, told me that the three founding members of Tomatocart attended graduate school in Germany, where osCommerce began. Pan said that more open source programs are developed there than anywhere else, and that as many as 59% of companies there use open source programs in their businesses. The framework for osCommerce was so old that it was no longer suitable for extension or re-development, so they decided to create an entirely new eCommerce platform based on osCommerce MS 3.0 Alpha 4.
I also asked Pan how they came up with the name. She said they chose the tomato to signify that which is fresh and bright and has very rich nutrition. The red color signifies their unique appearance, and the nutrition represents the cart's high-quality performance. I'll review the cart's function in another column, but for now I'll just note that the current version is considered stable.
The team focused extensively on the Admin development because that was the most out-of-date part of osCommerce, which still used Web 1.0 technology resulting in frequent page refreshing. What they came up with, in my opinion, is truly amazing.
TomatoCart is like a car that is a joy to drive, AND a joy to look at and feel. If you have not yet had a look at it, it's time to do so. Life is too short to spend it driving a miserable car --errr, cart.
Resources:
- Admin Cheat Sheet: http://www.oscommercemanuals.com/cheatsheets/Tomatocart-menu-cheatsheet.pdf
- Download: http://www.tomatocart.com/downloads/download-tomatocart.html
- TomatoCart Website: http://www.tomatocart.com/index.php
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