OpenBay Pro Poll

[villagedefrance]

Hi all,

I seriously need some feedback on this:

Should OpenBay Pro remain part of Overclocked Edition?

For those of you that don't already know, here is a couple of facts about OpenBay Pro:

- It is not Free;
- It is not PHP 7.1+ compatible *;
- It is big in size and has a lot of language files **;
- It has not been updated for v1.5.6.4 for a while;
- It doesn't seem to be commonly used. Any of you use it?;
- Support for Overclocked Edition is unlikely to be available.

*: I should be able to change that if it is to stay.
**: A lot of extra work for translations into other languages!


I personally would like to remove it from Overclocked Edition, for all the reasons mentioned above, but also because I would like to slowly move away from OC, focus more on essential cart features and make the code even leaner and faster.

So there it is, please tell us what you think.

[Tango]

While it's a nice tool to have (dunno if anyone actually uses it, or if it even works as it should), I would vote against keeping it.
It's too much of a hassle for you to keep it up to date, and there are more important things we can focus on, like fixing the Offers System and making Overclocked Edition a more powerful cart with a stronger Admin (*cough* maybe even a rebranding of the project *cough* ).

So my vote is No.

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Edit: Or, I have a better idea.
Let's fix what's there to fix and test the hell out of OpenCart Overclocked as it is (OpenBay included), release v1.11.0 and mark this release as the FINAL OpenCart Overclocked version.
This one is for the fans and for those who still need OpenBay.

Then rebrand the project as Insert_Cart_Name_Here, start from scratch with the versioning (v1, v2 etc.), remove OpenBay and continue building something wonderful! 

[Xav]

It does not appear to justify inclusion, so get rid of it.

[gob33]

OpenBay passes by / depends of Weltford Media.
But eBay sales makes a good revenue for small shops not visible on the web.
I would say let it as it is for the moment and prepare a remplacement in the form of a serious extension like "eBay Connector" at $199
Could need a CodeIgniter event system for integration in OCE.

[villagedefrance]

Thank you all for your replies and votes.

The general result seems to be that most of us want to remove OBP in the future, but still keep it for a little while longer.

Conclusion: OBP will remain in the latest OCE v1.11.x releases for now and then be retired after that.

This poll is now closed.

[gob33]

I quote user "kjshier" on the OC forum describing the reality with OpenBay:

I have been using Welford Media's OpenBay Pro for Amazon, eBay and etsy over OpenCart for some years now so this review is factual and from long experience.
I pay in excess of £40 per month to have my OpenCart retail store kept synchronised with the other markets and the only consistent part of the operation is that its consistently breaking down. Having a background in software development is the only reason I have not moved by business elsewhere. I'm able to perform my own patches and feeds when theirs fails and this ability has made me complacent in going through the hassle of setting up another service provider.

The service is supposed to update my store with sales made and maintain accurate stock figures for the items I have linked. This frequently fails resulting in customer complaints for missed orders or missed order deadlines. I sell antique and vintage items so it's imperative that stocks are maintained so I don't double sell the same item. It's not like I can just order in more stock.

The support is no more than stalling tactics by asking stupid questions over and over and putting your support ticket on hold awaiting a response from me. The log files states 90% of the time that their servers are not responding. When it does partially work your left with the huge task of having to manually check every order was pulled in and do stock counts every other day.

Amazon has just contacted me because my seller status is at risk for failing to mark orders as shipped but according to my web store OpenBay has marked them all as shipped so I was unaware of an issue.

I now have to take the plunge and rid myself of this clunky, buggy software. No doubt deactivating it will cause issues throughout the website as the code is heavily integrated. However, there are cheaper alternatives with better reviews.

If you value your sanity, your customer relations, your feedback ratings then I'd advise strongly to avoid this terrible multi-market non-solution.