Extensions for OpenCart 4

Extensions Development for OpenCart 4.0

It's no secret that OpenCart modules have virtually no backward compatibility between versions. Therefore, in order to make a universal module for different versions of OpenCart, developers have to resort to checking the assembly version in the code and apply different techniques depending on the current version.

Things will get even more complicated with the new release of OpenCart 4.0. Now it is practically impossible to make a module simultaneously compatible with previous versions 1, 2 and 3 and a new assembly. This means that for OpenCart 4.x you need to make separate releases of modules. For the authors of modules, this, of course, is very unpleasant news, because it is inconvenient to maintain and refine several releases of one module at once. But we were not left with a choice and we will have to "adapt" to the new conditions.

What's new in OpenCart 4.x?

What has changed in the new major version compared to previous builds of OpenCart?

• Ocmod is not supported. Now the integration of the modules needs to be done through Events. Let's hope that the event system in OpenCart will be improved and developed.
• The structure of the folders for storing modules. All add-on files have been moved to the new root directory /extension/, inside this directory, each extension (or author) will have his own directory, for example /extension/opencartbot/, and there are already familiar admin, catalog, image, system folders. At the same time, the intermediate extension folder was removed. As a result, the path to the front-end controller of the module will be as follows:
  /extension/opencartbot/catalog/controller/module/new_module.php
  And the path to the module template will be as follows:
  /extension/opencartbot/catalog/view/template/module/new_module.twig
  As you can see, now you don't need to load the module template into the site template folder.
• The product block in the lists has been moved to a separate template product/thumb.twig. Now you don't need to edit all templates to change the button or add stickers on the product.
• Pagination has been moved to a separate template common/pagination.twig
• Ability to create different versions of one product
• Tools for compliance with GDPR regulations
• One-page checkout form
• Ability to rename the admin
• CRON Task Scheduler
• The visual text editor is now CKEditor
• Carousel Slider is now Bootstrap only
  
• The minimum used PHP version is 8+ (requirements).
• The used version of Bootstrap framework has been updated to v5, which means that the layout has changed.
• New version of font library Font Awesome Free 6
• Added new version of library jQuery 3.6.0 
• There are many other changes and improvements that you can see after installing the new release.

What libraries are used in OpenCart 4.0.1.1

Should upgrade to OpenCart 4.0.0.0?

If this is the first release with the number 4.0.0.0, then do not rush to go to this collection. The new version is currently being mass-tested by users who are discovering new problems and shortcomings. Therefore, it is worth waiting until the authors solve all the problems and release the next version, which will receive the status of stable. From the experience of previous zero releases - they were also not very successful, so the next releases came out very quickly with bugs fixed. These zero versions differed from the following, so there were problems with compatibility with modules, ie the authors of the extensions indicated that their module supports all versions of the branch, except zero. Therefore, it is worth paying attention to this, do not rush and chase the novelty, it is better to wait for the release of the next stable version or use a stable assembly from the previous branch - 3.0.3.8.

Update: OpenCart 4.0.2.3 is now suitable for creating a real online store. Of course, not without nuances, but which version did not have them? So cheers!

Download OpenCart 4.0 modules

We are gradually adapting all modules to the fourth branch of OpenCard and they can be purchased or downloaded for free, depending on the type of license. Currently, the list of available extensions for OpenCart 4 is small, you can see them on this page. If you need to adapt one of our modules to a new version of the CMS - contact technical support.