invertedskull:
Hi there,
My girlfriend is looking for a shopping cart to add to a website she will have designed soon. We're currently looking at Zen-Cart, as it might be what she needs. We have some questions though:
- Why is the shopping cart feature free? We have noticed most other websites who offer shopping carts charge a few hundred dollars...
Its free because its open source software, which is an offspring of oscommerce (another open source shopping cart). There are also a number of other free shopping carts out there.
Donations welcome!
invertedskull:
- How are payments processed? e.g. credit card (Do you link a bank account to the shopping cart)
There are different payment modules available. To name a few:
Cash on Delivery, Offline Credit Card Payment, Paypal, Google Checkout, Bank Deposit, etc.
If you want to have a direct link to a bank account, you need a payment provider such as Paypal or a merchant account from your bank.
invertedskull:
- Can the cart be added to an already created website?
What do you mean with this question? You can add a link on you website to link to the shopping cart. Or you can all the content of your existing website into Zencart.
There is also a module where Wordpress can be combined with Zencart but i have no idea what you can do with this. Fact is you need to match you Zencart installation with your existing website's template.
invertedskull:
- Is it very secure? Have there been many cases of hacking of a Zen-Cart?
Yes and No.
-
It is secure as security problems are addressed in a very timely manner. Like Firefox fixes security holes fast and Microsoft releases patches for Windows within a month. The Zencart team provides the same services.
-
Yes there are many cases of hacking. However, this is mostly by no taking the necessary precautions to secure the website. Problems are often caused by wrong file permissions, not applying the security patches in a timely manner (when they are available), or using simple (or standard) passwords that can be easily guessed by hackers.
You might ask yourself: Is Wordpress secure? or Windows or Firefox or Internet Explorer? I would say secure enough. There is no absolute security - no absolute virtual security and no absolute security in real life!
