Miva Merchant

[Todd W]

So after looking at many eCommerce packages I think Miva Merchant looks to be the best suited and most prof. package out there.

I`ve looked at X-Cart, OSC, and many others...

Those that use MIVA 5 what is your opinion?

Some of my main reasons for choosing this software are the support, being able to be 100% unique and not resemble ANY OTHER store out there, and the great # of support add-on modules available.

[Chris]

I've never used it as a seller, but when viewing such sites as a buyer they've always appeared very very search engine unfriendly.

[Emancipator]

if your looking to customize miva dont waste your money. I have done web dev work for miva customers and hated it.

[Todd W]

if your looking to customize miva dont waste your money. I have done web dev work for miva customers and hated it.

Really? What version?

I talked to a nont-so web savy friend and his site looks completely different than any other site using MIVA... He said he did it all himself, graphics, etc. and he doesn't know how to code templates.

When you used MIVA did each page have a 'file' in the Admin area under 'pages'?

Seems simple to me, but maybe I`m missing something...

Thanks
-Todd

[Todd W]

I've never used it as a seller, but when viewing such sites as a buyer they've always appeared very very search engine unfriendly.

Yeah, and not only that there are TONS of "supported" add-ons unlike OSC.

[CreationNation]

I used to use Miva back in the day and switched to OsCommerce. My problem with Miva was the lack of what I would hope to be "core features" - I always ended up having to buy third party add-ons which cost me even more money than the expensive Miva. For that reason alone I enjoy OsCommerce much better - even with some of their add-ons not being officially supported. There's a nice community on the forums that I am able to get help from.

Also, I didn't like the fact I had to run it on a server/hosting company that supported the Miva engine to run the store. That was costingme another $50/month just to find a good host who kept up on updates, etc.

[Todd W]

I used to use Miva back in the day and switched to OsCommerce. My problem with Miva was the lack of what I would hope to be "core features" - I always ended up having to buy third party add-ons which cost me even more money than the expensive Miva. For that reason alone I enjoy OsCommerce much better - even with some of their add-ons not being officially supported. There's a nice community on the forums that I am able to get help from.

Also, I didn't like the fact I had to run it on a server/hosting company that supported the Miva engine to run the store. That was costingme another $50/month just to find a good host who kept up on updates, etc.


You can buy it for $600 or get hosting for ~$18-$40(lease).
From what I`ve been told the new Miva 5 has a lot more features.

I agree it seems to lack some "core" features but for 'very nice' sites I don't believe OSC should be used. For some people OSC is fine but for others that want 100% unique that's where I plan to use MIVA as it's more enterprise than an OSC Store.. Atleast so far that's my view.

[Emancipator]

CreationNation hit it right on the head. If your looking to just change how it looks graphically thats easy but if you want to expand on the core features or accept PUROLATOR for example get ready to bend over. Miva is an excellent system but you gotta pay and pay and pay and pay and of course customization of the code is a nightmare.

[Todd W]

CreationNation hit it right on the head. If your looking to just change how it looks graphically thats easy but if you want to expand on the core features or accept PUROLATOR for example get ready to bend over. Miva is an excellent system but you gotta pay and pay and pay and pay and of course customization of the code is a nightmare.

Graphicaly change, easy.. AWESOME!

That's all I`m looking for ontop of basic features.

[CreationNation]

You can buy it for $600 or get hosting for ~$18-$40(lease).
From what I`ve been told the new Miva 5 has a lot more features.

I agree it seems to lack some "core" features but for 'very nice' sites I don't believe OSC should be used. For some people OSC is fine but for others that want 100% unique that's where I plan to use MIVA as it's more enterprise than an OSC Store.. Atleast so far that's my view.

OsCommerce does have the ability so look unique, but it takes some coding and know how with the code. I used an add-on called Basic Template System to help create this one recently for a client: www.theiozone.com - just so you can see what cna be done with OsC too if you put some time in to it.

[Todd W]

OsCommerce does have the ability so look unique, but it takes some coding and know how with the code. I used an add-on called Basic Template System to help create this one recently for a client: www.theiozone.com - just so you can see what cna be done with OsC too if you put some time in to it.

No offense as the template is unique but the site still holds the basic OSC layout which I MUST get away from.
I`ve seen many MIVA sites that I couldn't even tell they were using the same software, it can be truly unique.

I understand that you CAN make OSC look "more unique" than out of the box but it holds the "boxes" on all templates and when you have multiple sites that need to be unique OSC is not an answer.

[MarkB]

It all depends on how willing you are to drill down into the templates and change the looks. I've made OsC sites for a couple of clients, and one in particular has very little that resembles out-of-the-box OsC. All it takes is learning how all the pieces fit together, and then ripping them apart ;)

Good luck with Miva, though!

[CreationNation]

^ What he said! Haha - I could have gone further and like you say, got rid of the OsC style box layout in addition to changing the colors, etc. - but the budget I was on with them didn't allow for that.

Miva will be the same as OsC when it comes to look and feel, trust me, been there done that. It simply takes a lot of tweaking and batting the code around. There are add-ons you can buy after the fact to make it easier to move sections of code around but all in al, it simply boils down to how much time you have to sit down and play with the code. The only difference is Miva will cost you a lot more $ to doing everything.

Good luck with whichever road you take!

[ramprage]

I'm not a fan of OsCommerce for various security reasons. I've seen sessions get passed back between two different client accounts on the same server so you click a link on one site and it loads someone elses products and vice-versa. Kind of scary heh.

Depending on your requirements a custom shopping cart may be best, what are some of your requirements and wants, needs?