All About XOOPS Payment Modules

If you are a Xoops user and want to sell products in your online shop, you need an E-Commerce package. Xoops has several payment module options but it can be a hair-tearing experience to try to use them. Here are some ideas to keep you sane when choosing a Xoops payment module.

Xoops has payment modules for the two most popular Open Source Shopping Cart systems, Zen Cart and OSCommerce. There are also a few payment modules developed specifically for Xoops. Oledrion and Xoops Subscription Module are both Xoops native applications.

The Zen Cart and OSCommerce payment modules for Xoops are old. While both Zen Cart and OSCommerce are excellent as standalone versions, incorporation with Xoops is clumsy at best and the documentation is virtually non-existent. If you want to use one of these programs, the best advice I can give is to set your Zen Cart or OSCommerce system up separately and link to it from your Xoops pages.

If your site is membership or subscription driven, setting up your shop separately may not be the best option as you will have two separate databases - one for your Xoops members and one for people that purchase your products or services.

That being said, you can download and try out the Xoops payment modules for OSCommerce or Zen Cart and see if it works for you. My personal experience is that trying out both of them was frustrating and time-consuming.

If you want to sell subscriptions, the Subscription Module for Xoops is easy to install, doesn't require too much space and has great documentation from Third Eye Software. It supports SSL and has several easy to use screens and set-up options.

Developed especially for Xoops, the Oledrion payment module has a lot of excellent features and is the newest of the more powerful e-commerce systems for use on Xoops. There is virtually no documentation on it and if you have a problem, you are pretty much up a creek without a paddle unless you get an answer in one of the forums. Read a little about one users' experience with Oldedrion and view some of his sample pages to see if you want to give Oledrion a try.

The Oledrion e-commerce module can support tangible and intangible product sales and incorporates features comparable to what you would find in some of the more powerful shopping cart systems. Give it a little time and play around with it, if you have a Xoops site, this may be the best answer for your on-line shop.

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Xoops has some excellent modules for various applications that you may not find on other CMS systems. The payment modules offered for the Xoops CMS, though, leave a lot to be desired. Subscriptions are easy with the Xoops Subscription Module. A Xoops integrated shop is doable with payment modules for OSCommerce and Zen Cart. Olerion offers a lot of features fully integrated with Xoops but poor documentation.

Xoops has a lot of fans, but a major complaint from many users is the lack of good payment module options and documentation for the modules that are available. If you have the time and want to try out a full shopping cart solution for Xoops, try Olerion. Otherwise, the best option may be to set up your shop directly in your chosen shopping cart application and link to it from your Xoops pages.