Can you please create a Newbie section?

[TheLiteraryBlogger]

So, I came to this forum looking to be able to ask questions about PrestaShop and gain some good insight, but the entire community just seems like a technical help board. There doesn't seem to be a space where people who aren't using PrestaShop yet can ask some basic questions. And reading through technical problems and glitches isn't helping me figure out if PrestaShop is right for me. 

 

If this is at all possible to start something like this where we can ask the questions that we need which would be off-topic somewhere else, I think that could be very constructive. And PrestaShop could get more clients/customers instead of people coming, only reading about problems, and then deciding to leave. 

 

Or am I the only one who thinks this way?

[coreygun]

Prestashop is terrible. Even the most basic things achievable with other software are difficult with Prestashop. And the actual Prestashop staff don't appear to want to help either. The website I am trying to help with for a friend is stuck with a problem which nobody seems to want to help to sort out. 

 

Avoid Prestashop.

[TheLiteraryBlogger]

Wow really? Can you give me a few more details as to what is so difficult? And what, in your opinion, is better to use then? How is Magento? In my PrestaShop research, I came across Magento often, including what look like good packages, but feedback from others who have actually used it is always a better product description.  

[Simonas Invertus]

It is sad that the first reply says that PrestaShop is bad.

 

Actually you can test PrestaShop for free. https://www.prestashop.com/ you can click "see demo" or "start my shop" and see for yourself it is what you are looking for.

If you could describe what you are looking for I would try to help you the best I can.

 

Please note that PrestaShop addons are marketplace so all developers sell they products. Yes, there are some bad developers but in every place there are some bad people. Still it does not mean that the whole crowd is bad. 

There are a lot of experienced developers in this forum that are always ready to help the best they can. 

[coreygun]

Wow really? Can you give me a few more details as to what is so difficult? And what, in your opinion, is better to use then? How is Magento? In my PrestaShop research, I came across Magento often, including what look like good packages, but feedback from others who have actually used it is always a better product description.  

CMS pages vs. Product/category pages. Its almost like two separate sites and very difficult to integrate them properly unless you're a through and through web developer in my experience.

 

Maybe people can help you, but so far the Prestashop support doesn't seem to actually support me.

[coreygun]

Oh and if you want to speak to actual Prestashop staff about an issue, you have to pay for tickets, starting at £179 for 10(!).

[Mila_omni]

So, I came to this forum looking to be able to ask questions about PrestaShop and gain some good insight, but the entire community just seems like a technical help board. There doesn't seem to be a space where people who aren't using PrestaShop yet can ask some basic questions. And reading through technical problems and glitches isn't helping me figure out if PrestaShop is right for me. 

 

If this is at all possible to start something like this where we can ask the questions that we need which would be off-topic somewhere else, I think that could be very constructive. And PrestaShop could get more clients/customers instead of people coming, only reading about problems, and then deciding to leave. 

 

Or am I the only one who thinks this way?

 

 

 

There is a general category, which is supposed to be for the posts that do not fit in other categories, but as I just saw that it's full of technical questions as well. What kind of questions do you want to ask? You can do it here also, since you've posted. I don't think the moderators of the forum will be bothered anyway...  

 

I think everything depends on what you want. If you want a low budget, open source solution, with a great community to help, here you are! If you want something more than this, probably you are not at the right place. If you do not care about the cost, go to HubSpot, it's the best so far.

 

I am newbie here, and the only complaint about prestashop is that it doesn't allow you to add large texts to category pages (=bad for SEO). I will have either to buy a html/text module, or pay a developer to add an extra wysiwyg text to my category pages.

 

 

 

Oh and if you want to speak to actual Prestashop staff about an issue, you have to pay for tickets, starting at £179 for 10(!).

 

Where did you read this? 

Edited April 8, 2016 by Mila_omni (see edit history)

[coreygun]

Click contact us at the bottom of the page, and then try to 'get expert advice from us'.

 

And I'm still waiting for help on what seems like a simple bug, for the last 3 days. So basically nobody knows how to do anything with Prestashop.

[Mila_omni]

Click contact us at the bottom of the page, and then try to 'get expert advice from us'.

 

And I'm still waiting for help on what seems like a simple bug, for the last 3 days. So basically nobody knows how to do anything with Prestashop.

 

I checked their contact us page and saw a phone number at the bottom. Now I clicked on the 3 expert choices and saw what are you talking about. There are no tickets left though, even if you wanted to buy. Btw I think your issue is not a cloud issue. Did you check my reply on your post? 

[TheLiteraryBlogger]

It is sad that the first reply says that PrestaShop is bad.

 

Actually you can test PrestaShop for free. https://www.prestashop.com/ you can click "see demo" or "start my shop" and see for yourself it is what you are looking for.

If you could describe what you are looking for I would try to help you the best I can.

 

Please note that PrestaShop addons are marketplace so all developers sell they products. Yes, there are some bad developers but in every place there are some bad people. Still it does not mean that the whole crowd is bad. 

There are a lot of experienced developers in this forum that are always ready to help the best they can. 

 

 

Thank you Simonas Invertus! That was actually really helpful. I'm checking out the link now as we speak. I never make a judgement based on one bad review, so thank you for sending this my way.   

[TheLiteraryBlogger]

Oh and if you want to speak to actual Prestashop staff about an issue, you have to pay for tickets, starting at £179 for 10(!).

 

 

Ummm what!?!?!?! 

[TheLiteraryBlogger]

There is a general category, which is supposed to be for the posts that do not fit in other categories, but as I just saw that it's full of technical questions as well. What kind of questions do you want to ask? You can do it here also, since you've posted. I don't think the moderators of the forum will be bothered anyway...  

 

I think everything depends on what you want. If you want a low budget, open source solution, with a great community to help, here you are! If you want something more than this, probably you are not at the right place. If you do not care about the cost, go to HubSpot, it's the best so far.

 

I am newbie here, and the only complaint about prestashop is that it doesn't allow you to add large texts to category pages (=bad for SEO). I will have either to buy a html/text module, or pay a developer to add an extra wysiwyg text to my category pages.

 

I guess for now the questions are pretty basic regarding pros and cons, functionality, customer service, general satisfaction with the product. I am comparing against other options and like to get a well-rounded opinion. 

 

What I am looking to use it for is actually very simple right now, but I want something scalable too that can grow as need be. So what I am doing is trying to add a basic kart and payment capabilities to my personal website. I have been blogging for some time now and have started creating my own ebooks which I want people to be able to purchase and download directly from my site, instead of having to go to amazon or something else to buy it. I like the idea of them being able to get the ebook directly from me instead of being redirected. I think it will also impact the web traffic and conversion of my site as well. 

 

However, this is incredibly simple because there isn't a large product database and it isn't like the site will be dealing with an overwhelming amount of traffic and required to process an incredible amount of transactions. It's a pretty low-key site, but I can scale it up as traffic increases. 

 

Does that help any?

 

Also, when you say "large texts", what is the max that you are able to have currently? 

[TheLiteraryBlogger]

Thanks again Simonas Invertus, the free demo was really helpful. 

[Naldinho]

I've been using PrestaShop for 2+ years. I looked at all the options and at the time it was the best option. As the number of stores I run expands I am going to add a Magento and an OpenCart store just because while the core features are all basically the same when it comes to some very particular needs different platforms offer better solutions than others. If you are just selling stuff that doesn't involve customization or numerous variants of a single product than all three options are the same with a small nudge to PrestaShop as I generally find any modules needed are less than for Megento.  

 

With respect to the helpfulness of the community it does come in waves but I have found it to be on par with other communities where you discuss a particular platform. I know that despite not being even close to the most experienced PrestaShop user I try to go though the forum a couple of times a week looking for some of the easier questions so that the experts can focus on the more difficult stuff.

 

With respect to coreygun's complain -- he started 3 topics asking for help. One was ignored and no one helped. Another he got help but it wasn't for what he wanted so he asked again but reading the question I have no idea what he is asking. The third one led to a lengthy topic of people contributing. This isn't paid support so 2 out of 3 is good. 

 

The big decision is less the platform but do you want self-hosted or SaaS -- PrestaShop is in both varieties. I need way more control than I could get from a SaaS solution so I've gone self-hosted which I believe is the majority of PrestaShop since they only started offering SaaS a year or so ago (maybe two years?). SaaS though if your store doesn't need that level of control makes the process a lot less scary for people who don't have experience

[Major Bob]

I'm not experienced in coding or website design at all. However, I have used Prestashop for a short while and have built a website that I'm happy with and that I believe looks professional. I've still got a few small issues to iron out but in general I'm very pleased with it and preferred it over Magento, Opencart etc.

IMO, the best thing for a newbie is to learn HTML, some CSS and general programming and then delve in. It seems like some of the coding isn't arranged logically but I've got used to it and the forums do seem to be very useful, there's a wealth of information and usually a relevant topic if you search for it.

[tdr170]

I am glad you do not take to much from one bad comment I have been using Prestashop for about 5 years and so far have had very little issues.

The ones I did have at first were fixed by help from here on the forum.

I tested Opencart, Tomatocart, Magento and a couple others before settling on Prestashop, I just liked the BO admin section of it better then the others.

 

Now 5 years later I am here as often as possible helping the community sort out issues, there are many others here with great knowledge of Prestashop that will help when you have an issue.

You will sometimes have to have a little patience as there are many others posting and some times it takes time to get to them all.

 

For those who do not get answers right away sometimes it is that the question was vage or incomplete.

It also helps when you post a question to be as detailed as possble and add a link to your site so we can see the issue first hand.

 

My advise is you can not go wrong with Prestashop it is well written software especially when you concider it is FREE

 

I have called Prestashop in the past and was never asked to pay a dime however there is a limit to what anyone can do for free.

 

If you decide on Prestashop we will welcome you gladly and hope to hear from you here on the forum in the future.