VirtueMart
Encyclopedia
VirtueMart is an open source
e-commerce solution designed as an extension of the Mambo or Joomla!
content management system
s (CMS). VirtueMart is written in PHP
and requires the MySQL
database environment for storage. It is best suited for low to medium level traffic web-sites.
Since September 2009 a new team is developing Virtuemart 2. The estimated release time for a stable version is June 2011.
Because VirtueMart is an open source
e-commerce solution all the application code is openly visible in PHP
. This allows PHP developers to view, update or customize the operation of the shopping cart. In addition VirtueMart itself offers simplified templates ( called 'fly pages' in VirtueMart) structure that allows various shopping and cart page(s) to be edited as standard html and css.
Notably new to VirtueMart 1.1.0 was the inclusion of the ability to quickly change themes for category, product, checkout and cart pages.
Virtuemart is supported by an iPhone app by iVMStore.
Several other required supporting libraries or extensions include MySQL, XML and Zlib support built into PHP. Support for https (openSSL) and cURL is recommended.
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
e-commerce solution designed as an extension of the Mambo or Joomla!
Joomla!
Joomla is a free and open source content management system for publishing content on the World Wide Web and intranets and a model–view–controller Web application framework that can also be used independently....
content management system
Content management system
A content management system is a system providing a collection of procedures used to manage work flow in a collaborative environment. These procedures can be manual or computer-based...
s (CMS). VirtueMart is written in PHP
PHP
PHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...
and requires the MySQL
MySQL
MySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...
database environment for storage. It is best suited for low to medium level traffic web-sites.
History
VirtueMart began as off shoot of the stand-alone phpShop e-commerce web application. Originally dubbed mambo-phpShop it became the first substantial native e-commerce component for the Mambo CMS system. After the community forked Mambo into Joomla, the developer re-branded mambo-phpShop as VirtueMart, officially supporting the newer Joomla CMS. While current implementations may still function with Mambo CMS, and older editions of mambo-phpShop are still available to download, they are no longer actively supported.Since September 2009 a new team is developing Virtuemart 2. The estimated release time for a stable version is June 2011.
Features
VirtueMart supports an unlimited number of products and categories, with products able to be assigned to multiple categories. It also permits the sale of downloadable products, and offers a catalog mode where the shopping cart features are turned off. VirtueMart supports multiple prices for a single product, based around shopper groups or a quantity range, and permits the use of a variety of different payment gateways.Because VirtueMart is an open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
e-commerce solution all the application code is openly visible in PHP
PHP
PHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...
. This allows PHP developers to view, update or customize the operation of the shopping cart. In addition VirtueMart itself offers simplified templates ( called 'fly pages' in VirtueMart) structure that allows various shopping and cart page(s) to be edited as standard html and css.
Notably new to VirtueMart 1.1.0 was the inclusion of the ability to quickly change themes for category, product, checkout and cart pages.
Virtuemart is supported by an iPhone app by iVMStore.
Requirements
As VirtueMart is only a plugin for Joomla! / Mambo, it has the same system requirements, which are currently:- Joomla!Joomla!Joomla is a free and open source content management system for publishing content on the World Wide Web and intranets and a model–view–controller Web application framework that can also be used independently....
1.0.x/1.5.x or Mambo (>= 4.5.1) recommended: Joomla! 1.5.x (VirtueMart will soon only work with 1.5 or above). - PHPPHPPHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...
4.2.x or above - recommended: PHP 5.2.x - MySQLMySQLMySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...
3.23.x or above -recommended: MySQL 5.0.x - ApacheApache HTTP ServerThe Apache HTTP Server, commonly referred to as Apache , is web server software notable for playing a key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web. In 2009 it became the first web server software to surpass the 100 million website milestone...
1.13.19 or above -recommended: Apache 2.2.x
Several other required supporting libraries or extensions include MySQL, XML and Zlib support built into PHP. Support for https (openSSL) and cURL is recommended.
Compatibility
The latest versions of VirtueMart 1.1.x are compatible with Joomla 1.5.x Natively.See also
- Zen CartZen CartZen Cart is an online store management system. It is PHP-based, using a MySQL database and HTML components. Support is provided for numerous languages and currencies, and it is freely available under the GNU General Public License....
- OsCommerceOsCommerceosCommerce is an e-commerce and online store-management software program. It can be used on any web server that has PHP and MySQL installed. It is available as free software under the GNU General Public License.-History:...
- MagentoMagentoMagento is an open source based ecommerce web application that was launched on March 31, 2008. It was developed by Varien with help from the programmers within the open source community but is owned solely by . Magento was built using the Zend Framework...
- PrestaShopPrestaShopPrestaShop is an e-commerce solution which is free for the basic kernel and open source. It supports payment gateways such as Google Checkout, PayPal and Payments Pro via API. Further payment modules are offered commercially....
- MageBridgeMageBridgeMageBridge is a commercial suite of extensions that bridge the Joomla CMS with the Magento e-commerce system. MageBridge is written in PHP and is composed out of a Joomla part and a Magento part. MageBridge is developed and sold by Yireo, an international initiative of the Dutch company Jira ICT...
- SOBI2SOBI2Sigsiu Online Business Index 2 is an open source web directory component and content construction kit for the Joomla! content management system . Sobi2 is written in PHP and requires the MySQL database environment for storage...
- UddeIMUddeIMUddeIM is an open source PMS component for the Mambo or Joomla! content management systems . UddeIM is written in PHP and requires the MySQL database environment for storage.-PMS Component for Joomla:...
- Batavi (software)