What to Expect in OpenCart 3.0
OpenCart 3.0 Official Release Now Available. View All the New Features Here!
It’s been quite a while since the OpenCart team behind the platform began working on the new release, and they have quite the product to show.
The developer's version of 3.0 has been made accessible in GitHub, so in this article we will be happy to share some of the new things which are coming along in 3.0.
One of the first things is to remind that most extensions will need some work to be compatible with the new version. With that in mind, we have already began working on the compatibility of all iSenseLabs modules.
We will compare some of the changes with the previous 2.3.x version so you can get a better idea of what’s new in 3.0.
Extensions
OpenCart 3.0 vs OpenCart 2.3
As you can see, there are a couple of new features added to the Extensions in OpenCart - Marketplace and Translations.
Marketplace
The OpenCart Marketplace, which was only accessible on the official site so far, is now added to the admin panel in your store. This means that you can access all of the themes and modules straight from your own store administration.
You have the standard search function and additional filters you can use to refine your search experience.
You can use the Categories to narrow down the results. To further specify the type of module or theme you’re looking for, you can toggle between All, Free or Paid.
Finding and downloading OpenCart modules will be much faster and easier from now on.
Translations
The second new feature is Language Translation, which is now available via the crowdsourcing project Crowdin.
For store owners who need their OpenCart store to work in their native language, but the translations does not exist or it’s not finished, they can contribute to the Crowdin Project.
The languages that are already there will appear in the Available Translations field where you’ll be able to install and uninstall them.
Simpler language management for E-Commerce stores all over the world.
Design
OpenCart 3.0 vs OpenCart 2.3
The new features in the Design section in OpenCart are the Theme Editor and Language Editor. Two very powerful additions that simplify the customization of your store significantly.
Accessing and modifying your store’s files will now be much easier since it will be done straight from your admin panel.
Theme Editor
The new Theme Editor has a very user-friendly interface and is easy to understand even for non-developers and users with no technical & coding knowledge.
Choose your store - if you are running a multi-store setup and want to customize the design of your sub-stores from your original installation, simply choose which store you want to customize and begin.
Choose a template - choose the template and exact file you want to customize with the editor. For example, if you want to customize your Cart View, select the checkout template, and then cart.twig.
Twig is the new language that OpenCart uses and you can get more familiar with it here.
When you’re done, you can Save your changes or Reset them if something has gone wrong.
Customizing the design of your OpenCart just became much simpler!
Language Editor
Apart from customizing your design, OpenCart has introduced an easy way to customize the content in your store as well. The new Language Editor will let you change any piece of text you have to anything you want, in your preferred language.
You can add new entries and configure your site content in a field that looks like this:
Let’s say we want to configure the Account Login page. The headline of the Register Account field is New Customer. We’ll change that to something else.
The way this is done is you select the Route (account/login in our example), then the Key (text_new_customer in our example) and configure the Value. Let’s add something like "I’m New Here"!
Here’s the result:
No more looking into the code to change a few lines of text here and there. A much easier solution!
Marketing
OpenCart 3.0 vs OpenCart 2.3
The Affiliates are not in the Marketing section of the OpenCart admin panel anymore. The creation field for new affiliates is now part of the Customers section.
You can now create affiliates from the same field where you create a new customer manually.
Go to Customers > Customers > Add New and switch to the Affiliate tab.
Apart from that, not much else has changed on the Marketing front.
System
OpenCart 3.0 vs OpenCart 2.3
The next rearrangement comes in the System section in the OpenCart admin panel.
Basically, the Tools sub-section is now gone and the fields that it contained (Uploads, Backup / Restore and Error Logs) are part of the main System section.
This is just a small change in the admin panel which makes things a bit more organized.
Reports
This is how the Reports look like in OpenCart 2.3.x. Each type of report (Sales, Products, Customers, and Marketing) has their own section with subsections.
In OpenCart 3.0, the Reports can be added by the admin via the Extensions. From now on, you have the freedom to choose what type of reports you want to have in your store, and which ones should stay disabled.
Go to Extensions and choose Reports from the dropdown list.
This will display all the reports you can enable for your store. Let’s give an example.
We’ll enable the Affiliate Commission Report. Simply click Edit, enable the status and click Save.
Do the same for as many reports as you want.
Then head to the Reports section in your OpenCart admin panel. It will display a dropdown with all of the reports you have enabled from the Extensions. Select the one you want to review from the list.
This is how the report looks like:
The new way the Reports work in OpenCart lets you keep your admin panel more tidy and only have exactly what you need, without any clutter.
As soon as you need to track something else, you can easily add it from the Extensions.
OpenCart 3.0 Official Release Now Available. View All the New Features Here!
Wrap up
OpenCart has made a real difference to its shape with the latest 3.0 version. The new Marketplace, Theme and Language Editors are some of the biggest features that have been introduced to the open-source platform lately.
