Comments on: Zen Cart vs Magento Comparison http://www.terranetwork.net/blog/2010/01/zen-cart-vs-magento-comparison/ Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:19:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Steven http://www.terranetwork.net/blog/2010/01/zen-cart-vs-magento-comparison/comment-page-1/#comment-379 Steven Tue, 15 Jun 2010 22:54:12 +0000 http://www.terranetwork.net/blog/?p=304#comment-379 Hi Rhea, There are now 3 versions of Magento: Community, Professional and Enterprise. The Professional Edition starts at $2,995 while the Enterprise Edition starts at $12,990. Steven Hi Rhea,

There are now 3 versions of Magento: Community, Professional and Enterprise.

The Professional Edition starts at $2,995 while the Enterprise Edition starts at $12,990.

Steven

]]> By: Rhea http://www.terranetwork.net/blog/2010/01/zen-cart-vs-magento-comparison/comment-page-1/#comment-377 Rhea Sat, 12 Jun 2010 16:20:19 +0000 http://www.terranetwork.net/blog/?p=304#comment-377 Whilst approving your comments for publication I do so only because of all of the factual inaccuracies in your comments - which need to be answered. The only way in which hackers could have gleened card details from a hack of your website is if you were using the Credit Card module which collects and stores card data in the database, allowing store owners to then use the details to complete card transactions taken online through an EPOS terminal in an offline bricks-n-mortar shop. There have been hundreds, if not thousands, of warnings about this practice being in violation of site owner agreements with card companies. Site owners ignore the warnings because it's cheaper - they don't want the cost of an EPOS machine plus pay the percentage charge levied by 3rd party payment processors. It is just possible that the hackers got in and enabled the Credit Card module without your knowledge, but there has also been plenty of advice about completely removing the module files, so that it can't be enabled. So overall I'm not surprised that a large fine is heading your way. In the 1.3.9 versions of Zen Cart this module has been removed, for obvious security reasons. Every cart has securty issues if the clients don't keep the software up to date, don't follow security recommendations, or just use hosting which is not secure of itself. As for the Professional version of Magento costing around 2k, it does in fact start at around $10,000 to $12,000 per year. Rhea Whilst approving your comments for publication I do so only because of all of the factual inaccuracies in your comments – which need to be answered.

The only way in which hackers could have gleened card details from a hack of your website is if you were using the Credit Card module which collects and stores card data in the database, allowing store owners to then use the details to complete card transactions taken online through an EPOS terminal in an offline bricks-n-mortar shop. There have been hundreds, if not thousands, of warnings about this practice being in violation of site owner agreements with card companies. Site owners ignore the warnings because it’s cheaper – they don’t want the cost of an EPOS machine plus pay the percentage charge levied by 3rd party payment processors.

It is just possible that the hackers got in and enabled the Credit Card module without your knowledge, but there has also been plenty of advice about completely removing the module files, so that it can’t be enabled. So overall I’m not surprised that a large fine is heading your way.

In the 1.3.9 versions of Zen Cart this module has been removed, for obvious security reasons.

Every cart has securty issues if the clients don’t keep the software up to date, don’t follow security recommendations, or just use hosting which is not secure of itself.

As for the Professional version of Magento costing around 2k, it does in fact start at around $10,000 to $12,000 per year.

Rhea

]]> By: Marcus Richards http://www.terranetwork.net/blog/2010/01/zen-cart-vs-magento-comparison/comment-page-1/#comment-376 Marcus Richards Sat, 12 Jun 2010 15:28:19 +0000 http://www.terranetwork.net/blog/?p=304#comment-376 **WARNING** Security issues with Zen Cart (check the forums) I have been using Zen Cart for the last 5 years. It works well, gets great google rank and things were going great. However for the last year we have been awaiting Zen Cart 2 and they seem to have abandoned Zen Cart 1. Zen cart 2 is showing no signs of release and they have released very few updates. As a result hackers have got into our database and caused massive disruption. Since December Zen Cart have release security patches then in the last month have released another 2 to address this problem but to no avail. We started from scratch changed every last password, the admin folder etc and installed all the new patches. The day we went live again they got straight back in and the site was switched off at the server. We have now been contacted by the bank to say customers card details have been compromised and there is a substantial fine heading our way. We have installed all patches, we use good quality hosting and all our anti virus/firewalls etc are up to date. There is a flaw in Zen Cart Unless Zen Cart release version 2.0 stay clear. I am personally looking at Magento and cannot find many bad information on it anywhere. I am also considering the Professional version at 2k p/year as this problem has already cost me considerably more in lost sales and it is worth the extra as insurance against these issues. Good luck with your new platform whatever you choose. As a further recommendation check the validity of your PCI compliance. You may think you are safe but it doesnt stop the fine winging its way to you. **WARNING** Security issues with Zen Cart (check the forums)
I have been using Zen Cart for the last 5 years. It works well, gets great google rank and things were going great.
However for the last year we have been awaiting Zen Cart 2 and they seem to have abandoned Zen Cart 1. Zen cart 2 is showing no signs of release and they have released very few updates.
As a result hackers have got into our database and caused massive disruption. Since December Zen Cart have release security patches then in the last month have released another 2 to address this problem but to no avail.
We started from scratch changed every last password, the admin folder etc and installed all the new patches. The day we went live again they got straight back in and the site was switched off at the server. We have now been contacted by the bank to say customers card details have been compromised and there is a substantial fine heading our way.
We have installed all patches, we use good quality hosting and all our anti virus/firewalls etc are up to date. There is a flaw in Zen Cart

Unless Zen Cart release version 2.0 stay clear. I am personally looking at Magento and cannot find many bad information on it anywhere. I am also considering the Professional version at 2k p/year as this problem has already cost me considerably more in lost sales and it is worth the extra as insurance against these issues.
Good luck with your new platform whatever you choose.

As a further recommendation check the validity of your PCI compliance. You may think you are safe but it doesnt stop the fine winging its way to you.

]]> By: Steven http://www.terranetwork.net/blog/2010/01/zen-cart-vs-magento-comparison/comment-page-1/#comment-314 Steven Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:05:57 +0000 http://www.terranetwork.net/blog/?p=304#comment-314 I have used both systems and I have the following comments. Magento has more features than Zen Cart and it looks a great deal better too. However, as mentioned above, it's hard to customise with its extensive use of XML and OOP and also it isn't as robust as Zen Cart. A common complaint about Magento is its slowness. While it's true that Magento is more resourceful than other carts, it can actually perform very adequately when given a carefully configured environment. Case in point, it performs more than fine on TerraNetwork's shared servers. For the most part, Zen Cart performs quickly on any server. Which cart would I choose? Neither at the moment. Zen Cart desperately needs a new version while Magento simply needs more time to mature (documentation as well as code). In the meantime, PrestaShop and OpenCart appear to be good alternatives. I have used both systems and I have the following comments. Magento has more features than Zen Cart and it looks a great deal better too. However, as mentioned above, it’s hard to customise with its extensive use of XML and OOP and also it isn’t as robust as Zen Cart. A common complaint about Magento is its slowness. While it’s true that Magento is more resourceful than other carts, it can actually perform very adequately when given a carefully configured environment. Case in point, it performs more than fine on TerraNetwork’s shared servers. For the most part, Zen Cart performs quickly on any server. Which cart would I choose? Neither at the moment. Zen Cart desperately needs a new version while Magento simply needs more time to mature (documentation as well as code). In the meantime, PrestaShop and OpenCart appear to be good alternatives.

]]> By: Edith http://www.terranetwork.net/blog/2010/01/zen-cart-vs-magento-comparison/comment-page-1/#comment-255 Edith Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:34:18 +0000 http://www.terranetwork.net/blog/?p=304#comment-255 Hi Software Guy - Thank you for taking the time to read / reply! Yes, your 2 points are spot-on and I've revised the post accordingly. Hi Software Guy – Thank you for taking the time to read / reply! Yes, your 2 points are spot-on and I’ve revised the post accordingly.

]]> By: That Software Guy http://www.terranetwork.net/blog/2010/01/zen-cart-vs-magento-comparison/comment-page-1/#comment-254 That Software Guy Sat, 09 Jan 2010 21:15:51 +0000 http://www.terranetwork.net/blog/?p=304#comment-254 Interesting summary. A couple of corrections about Zen Cart: - the system has not been table based since the release of 1.3, which was in mid 2007. - Zen Cart does not require PHP 5 yet; the next release will, but all releases up to 1.3.8a will run on PHP4. Interesting summary. A couple of corrections about Zen Cart:
- the system has not been table based since the release of 1.3, which was in mid 2007.
- Zen Cart does not require PHP 5 yet; the next release will, but all releases up to 1.3.8a will run on PHP4.

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