OpenCart 3 was released in 2017 almost a year ago – back then, we gave it a try concluded it doesn't offer much in terms of tangible benefits to store owners compared to OpenCart 2.
Today, we're giving OpenCart 3 another try to see if something has changed and if it makes sense to switch to OpenCart 3 – or stick with the proven and stable OpenCart 2.
This is an April 2018 update to the original blog post published in June 2017.
We've gone ahead and assembled the details about the new features introduced in OpenCart 3 – as well as about the ones we expected that didn't get introduced.
While this sounds good in theory, OpenCart still lacks a unified standard for third-party extension developers.
Most popular extensions come with OCMOD/vQmod code, custom setup procedures, and possible conflicts with OpenCart core, third-party themes, and other plugins – which means a high chance of ending up with a broken store after installing a custom plugin.
This should make it easier for store owners to contribute to and install new translations directly from Crowdin.
The drawback is that OpenCart lacks proper translations on Crowdin – there are only a few dozen languages and most of them are unfinished.
So, to run a decent OpenCart-based store in most languages store owners will still need to turn to professional third-party translations available elsewhere.
Today, we're giving OpenCart 3 another try to see if something has changed and if it makes sense to switch to OpenCart 3 – or stick with the proven and stable OpenCart 2.
This is an April 2018 update to the original blog post published in June 2017.
New features in OpenCart 3? Not too many.
Generally, OpenCart's team is known for publishing new releases without much fuss and without much information except for the release blog posts.We've gone ahead and assembled the details about the new features introduced in OpenCart 3 – as well as about the ones we expected that didn't get introduced.
Extensions can now be installed via the in-app extension marketplace
OpenCart 3 comes with an in-app extension marketplace, which will make it possible for store owners to download and purchase OpenCart extensions directly from the administration area.While this sounds good in theory, OpenCart still lacks a unified standard for third-party extension developers.
Most popular extensions come with OCMOD/vQmod code, custom setup procedures, and possible conflicts with OpenCart core, third-party themes, and other plugins – which means a high chance of ending up with a broken store after installing a custom plugin.
OpenCart now supports Crowdin translation integration
OpenCart 3 now includes a new section in the admin area that allows looking for and installing translations from Crowdin, a crowdsourcing translation project.This should make it easier for store owners to contribute to and install new translations directly from Crowdin.
The drawback is that OpenCart lacks proper translations on Crowdin – there are only a few dozen languages and most of them are unfinished.
So, to run a decent OpenCart-based store in most languages store owners will still need to turn to professional third-party translations available elsewhere.