Post
by bull5-i » Sun Sep 28, 2014 4:06 pm
It's welcoming to see an extension installer being integrated into OC 2.0, however currently it still is pretty raw.
Custom OpenCart extensions are not always modules, shippings, payments, order totals nor feeds, however they still would require (at least benefit a lot from) a proper install/uninstall framework similar to what the modules, shippings, ... and feeds have. Current extension installer only offers install methods but is totally lacking uninstall part (how to remove changes made or files added, removing the vqmod/ocmod script is not a clean uninstall) which is also important as otherwise the OpenCart installation can get pretty ugly with unused files, unnecessary SQL data, tables and columns.
Additionally many custom extensions have configurable options so the extensions may require a separate page where these can be configured (again similar as offered by modules, shippings, .... and feeds). If every custom extension would add its custom settings to the system configuration page using vqmod/ocmod it would quickly make a mess there, which is why it would be important for the custom extensions to have their own page where to adjust the custom extension settings.
For OpenCart 1.5 and 1.4 it was quite common to add the custom extension as a module so you could benefit from the install/uninstall methods and a configuration page for the extension. However in OC 2.0 this will lead to a bit of a mess as every extension under the module folder is always considered and installed as a module (be it a real one or not) and thus the layout page offers to associate it with a layout. In OC 1 the layout bindings were handled on the module settings page of each module so you could implement it differently for extensions that really were not modules.
To sum it up, we (custom extension developers) need a separate page for custom extensions (be them ocmod or not) where the extension can be installed, uninstalled and configured similarly as modules, shippings, ... and feeds are currently handled.
The Extension Installer could be used for uploading the extension files (and maybe calling the install method of the extension). Using FTP in the extension installation process is not the perfect solution, for example Joomla handles extension uploads/installations/upgrades without FTP access and this is much more convenient for the end user.
Last edited by
bull5-i on Sun Sep 28, 2014 4:21 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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