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MOH

New Member
I've been looking at options for setting up an online shop, and after searching the forums it looks like the main contenders are Magento and Zen Cart.
So far, I've installed Magento and had a quick look at what's involved setting up products, looks like a fairly useful interface.

One thing that's worrying me about Magento is I keep hearing that it's quite slow. I've just bought something off another online store which uses Magento, and the response time is quite off-putting, I could see it costing me customers. It's a small lag each page which is OK at first but gets annoying if you're trying to view a few different products.

Has anyone had good experiences with Magento, speedwise? What kind of hosting am I looking at to get a reasonable performance - if it's going to rule out shared hosting, then I might have to drop it. Or are there any performance tweaks I can look at?

(On the other hand, I know ver little about Zen Cart as yet, just had a quick look yesterday - does that have any similar issues I should worry about?)
 

achieve

New Member
Havn't used either Magento or Zencart, but have used OsCommerce for a coupel of sites. No issues with speed.
 

JayWiz

New Member
Magento can be hosted on any shared hosting, you can ask for their hosting recommendation also.
I have tested osCommerce and Zencart but my alternative will be Virtuemart for Joomla CMS.
The great part is you can add more features to your websites by adding new components because it's CMS.
 

MOH

New Member
No it can't

That's what I'd heard. I've been reading up a fair bit on performance tweaks but I don't know how much access to sql cache settings and the like I'd have on shared hosting.

Any idea what package I'd be looking at with you guys to get an acceptable performance level with Magento? Small enough store, 100 products max. (If that's an inappropriate question for here I can send in an e-mail)
 

mneylon

Administrator
Staff member
Yes it can. I am Magento and Joomla developer, have finished many website projects. Find the thread no 17561 on magentocommerce and you will know that it is possible. I can't post link yet but yes it can.
No it can't, because not all shared hosting accounts will have all the required PHP modules.
 

JayWiz

New Member
No it can't, because not all shared hosting accounts will have all the required PHP modules.

Yes it can, check the thread and you will see many magento users run on shared hosting, and i have used them also. There are many reliable shared hosting that can runs Magento perfectly and it runs very well. You can save some starter cost instead of using dedi or vps. I am sorry if it's not possible for you but it's possible and working for me. Have a nice day.
 

MOH

New Member
Just been browsing through the paypal merchant stuff, and Magento isn't listed on their list of support shopping carts. I presume the list is out of date? Or are there issues using Magento with Paypal?
 

Forbairt

Teaching / Designing / Developing
Just been browsing through the paypal merchant stuff, and Magento isn't listed on their list of support shopping carts. I presume the list is out of date? Or are there issues using Magento with Paypal?

paypal works fine ... though they have managed to break support on one of the releases a while back
 

jsweb

New Member
Its 3am - it's been a long day but saw this thread and thought I'd add to the discussion.

No it can't, because not all shared hosting accounts will have all the required PHP modules.

Blacknight is right. Over time you will want to use an app/module and you'll then find that your "shared" hosting provider won't provide that (and normally rightfully so!)

For example - You want to move away from paypal and offer a proper payment solution such as SagePay/HSBC/Barclays direct (allowing your customers to simply add their credit/debit card details during your checkout process without being sent off to a 3rd pary site to complete it there) - for this you'll need an SSL, and usually a dedicated IP, let alone the installation of a module and for some (HSBC/Barclays) even set ports to be opened - many shared hoster providers don't provider that.

Other modules require set php scripting or cron jobs which aren't provided as standard.

Remember:

- eCommerce applications (OSC/ZC/Mag etc) are database driven and are generally resource hungry.
- Speed of your website is key to enhance your customers experience; reduce your drop off rates and help to increase your sales

I like to think of shared hosting as a busy hotel with hundreds of guests and rooms.

....While you are enjoying your room, always remember that it only takes one idiot in another room next door or down the corridor to just make a mess, set off the fire alarm/make noise and it affects you!

...for just those reasons have a think about how much your ecommerce website is worth to you business.

Take your monthly hosting cost x 12 and divide by 365. Then think - is your online website being up and secure worth more than that!

If it is then have a think about moving from shared to dedicated hosting (where you are in full control and won't be affected by others....)

Sorry that went slights off topic but it is late ;)
 

bastardprince

New Member
anyone have any good documentation for Magento? there doesnt seem to be much out there particularly for creating templates...
 
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