Overview
Ubercart is well on its way to a Drupal 6 release (codenamed Uber Tuber). As of this posting, 26/32 modules have been migrated. However, these are quick API migrations without a lot of retooling that would drag out the update process. Uber Tuber will be similar in functionality to the 1.0 release, just compatible with Drupal 6 and sans a few external dependencies.
As was laid out in our development roadmap, we're planning further core improvements and Drupal 6 API updates for a 3.0 release. We have a good idea of what many of these improvements should be, but we want to do some serious brainstorming with other developers and themers with some planning toward actual implementation. We're excited about the new features Drupal 6 brings to the table and can't wait to fully embrace them in Ubercart.
As such, we invite anyone to attend who is interested in Ubercart on Drupal 6 or has knowledge of how the core changes from Drupal 5 to Drupal 6 might benefit Ubercart. We also aren't ashamed to admit that many of our core systems have proven less helpful for developers and themers than we initially imagined. As such, anyone who wants to see changes in the Ubercore should attend and provide feedback on how things can be easier.
Please see the "Optimization" paragraph related to Drupal 6 in the development roadmap for more information.
Agenda
* Update on the current status of Drupal 6 development.
* Discuss core Ubercart API improvements.
* Discuss theming improvements:
- General core improvements
- Updates for improvements in Drupal 6
- Address invoice templates
- Anything else?
* Discuss performance improvements:
- Using 'file' for menu items
- ... ?
* Discuss internationalization improvements:
- Country/zone system overhaul
- VAT!
* Discuss improvements in the contribution process.
Goals
Drupallers who attend this BoF will get up to speed on the state of Ubercart development in Drupal 6. Further, we'll be planning many improvements for Ubercart that will be worked into Ubercart 3.0 and recruiting as many people as possible to help in the work!
Resources
* Ubercart 2.x-dev - http://drupal.org/node/280820
* Development roadmap - http://www.ubercart.org/forum/development/5115/...
* Migration status - http://support.ubercart.org/discuss/67/...
Related sessions
Drupallers looking for a more general introduction to Ubercart should consider attending Introducing Ubercart instead. Most of the features will be the same for Ubercart 2.0, so that session should prove more helpful!
We'll also be performing A Hands On Guide to Module Development in which we will discuss the things we've done wrong and are starting to do right in module development. The session will include an example of developing a module that integrates with Ubercart.
* This session was posted as a BoF but could be turned into an actual session with enough interest. We would keep the tone informal, but could reach a broader audience with the larger space if necessary.
Current Conditions:
Stay informed with the Drupalcon Szeged blog feed. Our most important news also appears on Planet Drupal and you can get updates through Twitter. Socialize with attendees on the #drupalcon IRC channel on irc.freenode.net.
Ubercart + Drupal 6 vs Magento
This sounds great.
Did you have a chance to review Magento ? I've seen many cool ajax features in Magento front and back end, and I now think these feature are quite essential.
I'd love to know how Ubercart is going to be at the same level than Magento.
I've given it a cursory
I've given it a cursory overview, but I haven't gone so far as to do a full local testdrive. We did some brainstorming about a similar conditions driven UI at Boston, and the first steps toward that will be in the 2.0 release. I'd love to take it to the next level for the 3.0. If you have any more experience, I'd love for you to drop by and chat about it. :)
Magento vs. Ubercart + Drupal 6
I found this thread looking for a Drupal 6 + Ubercart related info and decided to take your advice and check out Magento.
While I have not dived into the backend code of Magento, I can assure you all the front end features magento provides can be done in Ubercart fairly easily. While Ubercart does not provide them out of the box, you can add fivestar for ratings, comments for reviews, nodereferences for wishlists, jquery for product image zooming and taxonomy for free-tagging. Bam, now ubercart has all the same features as Magento's front end.
As for the backend, ubercart does a fairly great job at providing a intuitive user interface on the admin side. While it does not load it's panels with Ajax, I don't feel this would add much of a "functional" improvement, more just jazz to speed up administration. They do have some nice looking tables with sorting and stuff though.
Other features again, can be provided by Drupal or Ubercart modules.
Promotions = uc_coupons
Newsletter = simplenews
And all the other admin features are drupal or ubercart standard.
What you do get from ubercart though that perhaps you might not get from Magenta is a great and simple codebase which is easily expendable to suit you and your clients needs with fairly minimal effort. I for one, will stick with Ubercart and most importantly Drupal as I believe it will be around into the future and will give me the best return on my investment of time.