New to Joomla and Virtumart. Is 2.0 a good option at this time

[dwlamb]

Good day,

I am new to Joomla and VirtueMart trying to assist a friend set-up an online store.  I am finding the learning curve difficult for it seems VM 2 is a departure from previous versions.  Joomla 1.8 is fairly new as well.  Documentation I can find on this site and the net in general pertains to combinations of Joomla 1.7 and VM 1.1.x  Added to that, there are threads here which are demonstrative of all the angst that is inevitable with a new major release in software development.  Things like whether VM 2 really should be deployed to a live site at this time.

I've installed Joomla 1.8 & VM 2 on a development site but seem to be missing many modules if I compare what I see on a Joomla 1.8 & VM 2 Module page to a Joomla 1.7 & VM 1.1.x Module page.

As someone starting out from scratch to build an e-commerce site and make it live, is this a good time to start with Joomla 1.8 & VM 2 or should I step back to Joomla 1.7 & VM 1.1x?

Thanks for taking time to read this and hope someone can assist.  This flat spot from banging my head is getting quite annoying.

[jenkinhill]

Where did you get Joomla 1.8 from? At the moment the current recent release package is Joomla 1.7.3 or Joomla 2.5RC1  - with Joomla 2.5 to be released next week. But don't use that yet with VirtueMart 2.  The other version of VirtueMart is 1.1.9 which only works on Joomla 1.5 - and that version of Joomla goes end of life in 3 months.

You really need to familiarise yourself with Joomla itself first. Too many people start installing heavy components into Joomla without understanding the basics of templating or menus, or the differences between components, modules or plugins.

VirtueMart 2 is only just over 4 weeks from release, so as with all new components, users of the old version complain that it does not do the same or lacks something they had before. The fact that there are already live eCommerce sites using VM2 shows that it is usable. Over the next couple of weeks there will probably be an updated version released and many more plugins will become available as third party developers catch up.

By that time you will have learned how to use Joomla and the basics of VirtueMart. If this is your first eCommerce site then it takes time to get the hang of things, how to deal with security issues etc.

[kthackston]

Dear DWLAMB:
I recently migrated my VM 1 and Joomla 1.5.25 store over to VM 2 and Joomla 1.7. Unfortunately, there are many KEY elements missing from the VM 2.0 that are part of the out of the box system of VM 1. Namely, the many shipping and payment options that exist in VM1 do not in VM2. True, there are commercial options that are beginning to pop up. But my point is, that it does not contain some rather key elements that exist in VM 1. If you have money and time to make this work, then it looks like a viable option. If you need it to work out of the box, you may be as disappointed as I have been. I think it is on it's way to becoming a viable option, but that it was clearly released too early.

good luck with whatever you choose. I am still trying to find a better solution, as I love Joomla 1.7 and don't really wish to wait around.

[dwlamb]

Thanks for the reply Kelvyn.  I was an idiot.  With all the version numbers floating in my head, I messed up stating Joomla 1.8.  I meant 1.7.3

The friend I am trying to assist wants an e-commerce solution in a month.  Based on what you've said below is Joomla 1.5 with VirtueMart 1.1.9 the way to go for now and develop a new site for later this Spring using Joomla 1.7.x with VirtueMart 2.x (depending what versions those packages get up to by April)?  She has some experience with Joomla and has built a site with Joomla 1.7.2 and VirtueMart 2 but it is at the stage we need to get the shopping cart working to perform check-out and handle payments with credit cards.

I really need some direction on this for a solution.  Thanks for your time so far and insight you might offer.

[iojens]

If the focus of the webpage is the e-commerce part I'd go for Joomla 1.5 and VM 1.1.9 - it's stable, works and there are plently extensions for almost every need (in particular the payment gateways). As well there are plenty of people who will be able to give you advice since they've been running j1.5.x and vm 1.1.x for a long time and google will find an anwser for almost every problem you might run into, which is a huge time saver if you are rather new to Joomla / Virtuemart.

[jenkinhill]

Except that support for Joomla 1.5 finishes in 3 months time, now that 2.5 has been released. The future of VM1.1.9 is also uncertain, there will be no more 1.1 patches/releases from the VM developers. With the tightening of PCI clearance rules there could be problems with using software that is past end of life. Makes it a difficult call.

[lipes]

we also must wait for a stable release of vm 2.0 ... so if you want to do a projecto to the next day (tomorrow) the better solution (with no problems) iand in my opinion it's with the vm1.1.9 ...

[dwlamb]

Thank you one all for your input.  Because of you I may have dodged an ulcer.

Having your input on hand when I returned to the friend/client with a project plan, she opted to go with essentially a catalogue site.  We're still using VM2 but merely to display her product offerings.  Customers will have to call to complete a transaction.