X-Cart forums

[xim]

Hello, X-Carters!

We reached one more milestone. We are glad to announce our new module which make your X-Cart store available on mobile devices.

http://www.x-cart.com/sites/default/files/blog/mob1.jpg

Here are the key features:

Full storefront access.
With X-Cart Mobile, your customers can view your entire store on their mobile devices, from the home page to the order confirmation page.

Automatic integration.
The easy installation process integrates seamlessly without requiring changes to your existing store.

Multi-platform compatibility.
X-Cart Mobile is compatible with most mobile platforms including iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Bada, Palm webOS, Symbian and MeeGo.

A rainbow of color choices.
Use convenient jQuery ThemeRoller tool to easily change the mobile color scheme to match your original online store.

Sales statistics.
Mobile sales are clearly marked in your store admin area for easy tracking.

Get more details: Announce in the Blog and Module's page

DEMO

[7thdesire]

we have waited years for this and once again you leave out 4.3 a huge amount of your customers are still on 4.3 as 4.4 had lots of issues and decided to wait for the next big version i am very disappointing its starting to look like i need to leave x-cart shame really

[cflsystems]

Does the demo site has this module installed? for testing

[xim]

DEMO: http://mdemo.x-cart.com

[cflsystems]

So if I use iPhone and go to demo.x-cart.com it will not auto switch to mobile version? So customers have to remember 2 urls for the same site depending where they access it from?

From mobile site:
1. Ask a question - after closing the "popup" the product page is reloading and moves to top of page - annoying
2. Related products tab on product details page - products thumbs do not line up - different height
3. Same of customer also bought tab
4. Cart page - estimate shipping cost - you have to open dialog first then you have to click again on estimate button to open the "popup" - 1 click should be enough - no reason to have to have this twice - I understand first one is just to show/hide shipping cost but still...
5. Cart page - after estimate shipping popup is closed page is reloading again - very annoying as at first it shows normally then reloads causing flicker effect

Just some fast testing. But overall I like it

[BBM_]

Looks good, is there any means of us being able to have a demo to test out on a development site?

[totaltec]

Congratulations. I can imagine the effort that went into this module. My first impression is that it is the best mobile mod for XC that I have seen. Nice work.

[elmirage001]

Very Nice!

Please think about tweaking the Checkout Button. You have the price showing in the button and on my iPhone I see the price and "Chec...". This will be confusing for some of our customers.

Using http://www.mdemo.x-cart.com/

Desktop --> full size template
iPad --> mobile template
iPhone --> mobile template

Initially the popup allows you to switch between the templates until you say dismiss. It would be nice to have a link to manually switch between templates in case you change your mind later.

We've gone full circle in our thinking between a separate mobile template vs a responsive template. I like responsive templates and I'm currently converting 2 of our Wordpress sites to new responsive templates.

For our store we're very happy x-cart went with a separate mobile template. Our site has a lot of CMS, and other features which work great on a desktop but for our mobile shoppers we want something that's quick and easy for them to navigate and make purchases.

Great job and looking forward to purchasing soon!

[soldatov]

We'd like to say thank you to X-Cart Community for the kind words and for the remarks and comments about the Mobile module.

They will be taken into account. Be sure.

We prepared a long post for the X-Cart Mobile release. But at the last moment we've reconsidered it and created a short version which might seen in our blog.

However I think this long post should take a place and here it is:

X-Cart Mobile released

Hello, X-Carters!

We are glad to announce you the release of X-Cart Mobile. The module which is long waited by our customers is finally done.

Since the time that mobile internet became available to the general public, more than once have we thought how we can develop X-Cart so it can be used on handheld mobile devices. There have been a few attempts at the development of a mobile version, but those were either solutions with a very simplified interface which could not accommodate X-Cart's features and functions in their entirety or just custom solutions that we implemented for certain of our clients, which were tailored to the needs of those clients' specific businesses and, for that reason, were not fitting the needs of everyone else.

There was not a generally available universal solution that could be used by all our clients.

In 2007 Steve Jobs introduced iPhone, which became a major milestone and gave an impulse to the development of mobile commerce. After the introduction of iOS, it did not take long for Android to hit the market with its version 1.0 in 2009, and Microsoft's Windows Mobile was soon to follow.

Continued advancements in the industry resulted in the development of a new standard for mobile applications and sites. There appeared a large number of developers who started to produce applications specifically for mobile platforms.

Finally there appeared some robust working products that allowed us to create a comprehensive cross-platform solution for mobile commerce.

We spent some time deciding whether to create a separate application downloadable from the Apple store and Google Play Market, or to make it a web-based application (website).
In the long run we decided we wanted to bring the power of mobile commerce to as many potential users as possible, not limited to the users of Apple and Android products.
So we decided to make it a web-based application so your store would be maximally available to the users of smartphones.

That is how X-Cart Mobile appeared.

X-Cart Mobile is not a simplified single-column layout, nor is it just a set of text links looking like an old-school wap-site.
It uses the advanced features of popular modern mobile browsers and gears your mobile storefront to look good no matter whether you are viewing it on a Retina display or on a mobile device with a display of an earlier model.

Yes, X-Cart Mobile is oriented primarily towards smartphone users.

Speaking about the code, we used the jQuery Mobile framework.
jQuery is well known for its vast community and has a long-standing history of success. It is a quality, easily available and developer-friendly JavaScript framework. While designing X-Cart Mobile, we tried to use the advantages of jQuery Mobile to the fullest.

http://www.x-cart.com/sites/default/files/node_310_multiple_mobile.jpg

X-Cart Mobile is not just a set of CSS styles. It is an X-Cart module that allows you to use the full scope of X-Cart's features by adapting the data acquired from X-Cart to be displayed nicely and clearly on the screen of your mobile device. In fact, it is a mini X-Cart that uses your store's core and database.

X-Cart Mobile has its own set of templates, color scheme and design, as well as its own PHP functions and code. That said, it does not lose connection with your X-Cart store.
For example, all the orders placed through the mobile storefront are marked with a special marker, which makes them easily trackable in your online store's admin back end.

http://www.x-cart.com/sites/default/files/blog/adm_mob1.jpg

The module has an easily adjustable color scheme. You can use the jQuery ThemeRoller tool to adjust the default color scheme of the module so it matches the look and feel of your store.

http://www.x-cart.com/sites/default/files/blog/color_1.jpg

We would like to say a special thank you to Olga Agafonova (designer of initial X-Cart interfaces and logo) who made a tremendous job helping us to create this module and owing to whom the module has convenient, well thought out design and usability, as well as a beautiful color scheme.

X-Cart Mobile works out of the box, without any fancy configuration. Simply install the module for x-cart web store (version 4.4.0 and higher is required) - and you are all set and ready to sell your products to mobile users!

What we can say for sure is that buying from a mobile device with X-Cart Mobile is fast and easy. Your customers are sure to enjoy their shopping experience!

[cflsystems]

I just had the oportunity to install this module on a live site with real products. I have to say - the easiest to install (compare to other mobile mods) and it works right out of the box. Skin looks very nice and slick too. I don't like the "flicker" effect when there is a popup - page reloads - but still - great mod.