OpenCart is a great Open Source tool to build your own webshop. It’s fast, is simple and it’s default packed with a very nice design, not an ugly simple template. It’s much easier to maintain than a package like Magento. It doesn’t have all the options and advanced features Magento has but it’s a very good tool if you just want to sell not too complicated products. The best part, it’s free!
There are a lot of extensions for OpenCart, free and paid. Below is a list of extensions that will enhance the user experience on your OpenCart webshop.
Install VQMod
VQMod is a tool to extend the core of PHP programs without messing with the core itself. It uses XML to search and replace functionality and therefore overriding the core functionality. There is an OpenCart install script for VQMod and a lot of extensions use VQMod. Therefore it’s essential.
VQMod
The VQMod manager
What’s an extension without a manager. With this tool you can manage the installed VQMod scripts and disable/enable them on demand. It’s even possible to install, uninstall and delete the VQMod script.
VQMod Manager
VQMod ajax search
Ever wanted a neat Ajax search in OpenCart but were afraid to ask? Don’t ask anymore, there’s an extension for that. Just start typing in the search field and after three characters the magic begins. It best of all, it’s free and, according to the author of the extension, it will stay free.
Very simple AJAX
Carousel Shuffler / Randomizer
The default template of OpenCart is very nice and can be used as a template for your webshop. There’s a nice feature, a carousel of brands where you can scroll through. That looks nice. Too bad they are allways in the same order. It would be nice if the images could be randomized at every page load. I bet there’s an extension for that. And there is, it’s called Carousel Shuffler / Randomizer. This is another VQMod extension.
Carousel Shuffler / Randomizer