X-Cart 4.4 has been added to the development plan

amy2203 · #11 12-11-2009, 05:54 AM

So these features will take approx 4 moths to add to codebase that QT have had for how many years?

Bearing in mind that V5 is apparantly a whole new codebase, these features will have to be recoded from scratch for V5, which will take how long? codebase that the prgrammers are not familiar with? As V5 is already about 6 months late from the original plan, will adding these features to V5 make it even later? or will V5 be a back step in terms of features?

It feels like QT acknowledge that the codebase needs re-writing from scratch for future use, but they don't really want to do it so prefer to keep adding to the V4 code they are used to.

I would much rather these features were just coded into V5, and 4.4 dropped.

Dongan · #12 12-11-2009, 05:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amy2203

I would much rather these features were just coded into V5, and 4.4 dropped.

Count my vote too!

xplorer · #13 12-11-2009, 06:07 AM

Hi!

We have a lot of customers who use X-Cart version 4. Migrating to X-Cart version 5 would be a big pain for them, both in terms of compatibility with current store, database and modules, and in terms of having to learn again.

That's why we will work on updates to branch 4, bringing some of X-Cart v5 planned features to version 4. X-Cart version 4.4 is just that: some good features for those using X-Cart v4. Right now and here. And it will make path to X-Cart v5 less steep.

hoosierglass · #14 12-11-2009, 06:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pauldodman

Absolutely, there's precious few mods ready for 4.3 as it is - I'm sure most developers are considering early retirement following this news!

As a consumer of 3rd party MODs I can appreciate developers position on this. In a sense you are in the same boat as QT in that you have to develop and maintain for all branches. From a consumer point of view there is also the dilemma on what to do. 4.1.12 is running fine for me and I have several MODs as well as some customization that I have done myself. I saw no real advantage for me to switch to 4.2, but when 4.3 was announced there were three things that made me want to upgrade.

The ability to edit orders
Compliant CSS design
The page layout as far as SEO goes (body before sidebar and head)

This will give me some of the things I want that is coming in v.5 and I can hold out until there is a stable bug free release, which we all know is most likely a year away.

Does this info help the developers? Probably not but it may give you some insight into what the consumers are thinking. Some of the MODs I have work fine in 4.3 with some minor tweaks. The important ones for me were CDSEO Pro which I have working fine and C1 which I will wait on. There are others but those two for me are critical.

Lets face it QT is most likely in over their head when it come to getting a brand new version ready and compliant by 6/2010. I would imagine the train of thought is that the new payment gateway due in Jan will solve most of the compliance issues to give them breathing time to get v.5 right. Again this does not alleviate the frustrations of you developers. At any rate I will be waiting patiently on the side for MODs to become compatible with 4.3 and will be there to thank you for your time and effort.

Kind Regards,
Mike

amy2203 · #15 12-11-2009, 06:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xplorer

Hi!

We have a lot of customers who use X-Cart version 4. .

As opposed to what? there is no v5 to use, so all your customers must be on V4 or less.

A less steep upgarde to V5 would be in how the upgrade is managed.

As someone currently on V4.1 branch with quite a number of mods, it's not worth the time and effort upgrading to 4.2, 4.3 or 4.4 when V5 is promised. to upgrade to V5 will be a big job regardless of the state of 4.3 or 4.4.

As you offer free upgrades to new versions, this is a great incentive to upgrade, and the less versions you have to support the better I would have thought.

I still hope these extra features, and the 4 months spent developing them won't impact on the release of V5.

There's still no info on what is likely to be in V5,

JWait · #16 12-11-2009, 06:16 AM

The main thing we are looking at is PCI/PAA compliance. In all probability the first version that is compliant gets our vote. The main thing is, it needs to be absolutely stable and compliant sometime before July 2010 or x-cart is dead in the water.

Steel · #17 12-11-2009, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xplorer

Hi!

We have a lot of customers who use X-Cart version 4. Migrating to X-Cart version 5 would be a big pain for them, both in terms of compatibility with current store, database and modules, and in terms of having to learn again.

That's why we will work on updates to branch 4, bringing some of X-Cart v5 planned features to version 4. X-Cart version 4.4 is just that: some good features for those using X-Cart v4. Right now and here. And it will make path to X-Cart v5 less steep.

Will there be a data base change from 4.3 to 4.4? 4.x to 5.x?

Will 4.4 be PCI compliant and have several compliant processing options?

cflsystems · #18 12-11-2009, 07:38 AM

With 4.1 to 4.2 to 4.3 to 4.4 ... upgrades handle only database upgrade and you can't even upgrade from 4.1.8 to 4.3 directly for example so "Migrating to X-Cart version 5 would be a big pain for them" is true even now - it is a big pain to upgrade from 4.1 to 4.2 or 4.3 and now with 4.4 will be even more painful

cherie · #19 12-11-2009, 09:28 AM

From a mod developer's perspective, I can appreciate the difficulty of upgrading mods for every new version that comes along.

I, for one, enjoy the accelerated development schedule of new features. It used to be much slower.

For everyone else, the upgrade path is painful no matter what version you are upgrading from/to. You can now get an upgrade script for 4.1.12-4.3 allowing you to skip 4.2 but it is still a painful process. Up until recently, you could not even apply a minor version upgrade if any *official* security patches were applied and the changed files were part of the upgrade. These patches had to be rolled back for the upgrade to work. I'm glad that has been improved. But you still have a lot of work to do to apply a minor upgrade if *any* of the upgraded files have been modified. This is the process that needs to be improved regardless of version numbers.

amy2203 · #20 12-11-2009, 09:34 AM

I think I'm slightly off topic here.... but it's the way the conversation is headed...

upgrades would be much easier if core files didn't have to be hacked/edited to add mods/features.

By offering an open source product, QT have not had to worry too much about people modifying the code as they had access to the source, they have not had to add hooks etc or a plugin type system.

If XC had a plugin type system like many of the popular CMS products then core files would not have to be edited, and upgrades would be much easier.

I'm hoping for some type of plugin system (and theme system) in v5. This would make life easier for store owners and developers alike I think.