so what's the plan

Discussion by existing Interspire Cart customers regarding potential alternatives.
scruffydoo
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so what's the plan

Post by scruffydoo »

Given that there's no support and the product is now retired what are you guys going to do next, stick with the cart or move on. Personally I still like it but with limited php skills I don't see how we can carry on with it for too much longer. If we got a showstopper we'd be sunk.
novista
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Re: so what's the plan

Post by novista »

2 weeks ago I had to do an emergency upgrade of an ISC site from 5x to 6x. This was because his host did a PHP upgrade which was not supported by ISC 5x. If ISC is truly dead, you will have to migrate to another cart at some point. I'm not saying you should do it tomorrow, but it would be best if you did it when you are ready vs. when you have to.
Michael Kopel
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Gareth
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Re: so what's the plan

Post by Gareth »

What is the general consensus about how long it will take before v6.1.1 starts falling apart? I really want to try to recoup our ISC "investment" but am in two minds as what to do. I just wish we weren't being stonewalled by Interspire. Bad news is better than no news!
ISC 6.1.1
CharlieFoxtrot
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Re: so what's the plan

Post by CharlieFoxtrot »

My old ISC 4.07 is working well enough. Duct-tape, bubblegum and bailing wire.

I expect that it will continue to work as well as I need it to. My cc gateway appears to be stable and in the 2 years I've had them, they've made NO changes to the API structure. (No guarantee that it won't happen, but at least they don't have a history of continual tweaks and updates.)

I don't use any real-time UPS, Fedex or USPS rates... I just keep a table updated with estimated shipping charges. Sometimes it's a little low, sometimes it's a little high... but it all works out. --- So, having a shipping module that can be updated isn't a concern of mine.

NEVERTHELESS... I do realize that a day may come that ISC isn't meeting my needs any more. So... I'll be on the prowl for something that will work. It will be a slow and relaxed and methodical search. ~ I don't want to find myself in a "must-have-it-yesterday" situation and being pressured to act quickly.
ISC 4.0.7

"... and let's be honest that whole "by design" thing is getting old too."
Tony Barnes
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Re: so what's the plan

Post by Tony Barnes »

We've got our support contract due for renewal later this month, I am having a good old think about it this time...
CharlieFoxtrot
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Re: so what's the plan

Post by CharlieFoxtrot »

Tony Barnes wrote:We've got our support contract due for renewal later this month, I am having a good old think about it this time...
It's been so long since I bothered to check prices... how much are they charging now? (And what does it get you?) Has it been worthwhile for you to have it?
ISC 4.0.7

"... and let's be honest that whole "by design" thing is getting old too."
scruffydoo
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Re: so what's the plan

Post by scruffydoo »

We're really busy right now but I think I'll make plans to start developing an alternative later this year and have it waiting in the wings 'so to speak' just in case the wheel comes off, CS seems an obvious choice although a lot of the templates and live sites look shocking.
Tony Barnes
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Re: so what's the plan

Post by Tony Barnes »

Charlie - to renew on the Professional version its $497.50 for 12 months. Funnily, I've just been back to check how much we've spent on maintenance since we started with ISC... erm, not a penny :lol: :lol:

Remember when all the shit hit the fan about what the maintenance contracts actually involved? We got a load of free time, can't recall why. Anyway, long and short of it is we paid out $1343 on 26/11/2008 - buying our original license, and haven't had to pay anything since...

Now looking at $374 for IEM as well as the $497 - my thoughts are to not bother, but I might get over-ruled as the support is the important bit to some people here.
Martin
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Re: so what's the plan

Post by Martin »

To be frank, if you renew your maintenance you're a bloody fool!

My honest opinion is that you'd be far better to accept that the product is dead and just rip out all the protective code so you can develop it for your own personal/professional use. Note, I am not saying anyone should redistribute it in that form, but as you paid for the product, you need to maintain it while the developers leave us in peace.


For myself, the plan is pretty simple...
- Continue to tweak the modules already developed so they at least keep the site afloat for another 6 - 9 months
- Start working on the CS-Cart system and see what it can/can't do
- Develop and/or collaborate on the modules I'll need to mirror (or improve) my current ISC store (eg: Royalmail module, PayPoint, etc..)
- Switch everything over when I have a spare week to troubleshoot and answer the phone without disturbance.


As for Interspire/BigCommerce... I'll be maintaining the old store as something else along with the modules I have or will have released by then, but there will come a point in the next 12 to 18 months when it's just too broken and I'll roll up the mod'/hack/module mat and just get very drunk to celebrate the end of a very painful era.
Tony Barnes
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Re: so what's the plan

Post by Tony Barnes »

To be frank, if you renew your maintenance you're a bloody fool!
I agree, the powers that be may not... :roll:
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