I am wondering if anyone can offer me a honest opinion rather then one that says “go with a professional”.
I’ve been teaching myself how to code websites and I’ve put together four designs that I am going to approach local businesses with, they are websites such as hotels, and as part of the designs I want to include php scripts with a booking facility.
I’ve been looking at the scripts on offer from phpjabbers.com and from trying the demo, the scripts look professional, easy to use and offer clients a way to manage the scripts.
Now, I understand many simply ignore these scripts and say “Go with a professional” but can anyone offer me a balanced opinion on these scripts, such as things to be wary of and any potential issues with using them? Also does anyone have anything positive to say about them? and if not, why?
I have used one of the free scripts from PHPJabbers and it has served me well. I downloaded another and it is using outdated code and PHP functions and IMO shouldn’t be being offered at all even for free. As far as I can see the scripts are professionally built. I haven’t tried their paid scripts. Like many things in life, there’s no simple answer; it depends on the script. I would certainly want to ask what they use to access MySQL - mysqli_* or PDO and if they use prepared statements.
I appreciate the reply I guess I would be taking a gamble as i’m putting my trust in developers offering a script and relying on their support if there are any issues, but for the price point (of their paid scripts) i’m leaning towards making a purchase.
My main area of concern is not having the knowledge to tackle any issues and learning how to fix or re-code scripts doesn’t happen overnight, so again I just have to decide if its worth taking that gamble, but its nice to hear from someone who has actually used their services.
I’ve used many commercial off the shelf scripts over the years, I still do albeit in the form of content management systems and associated addons.
When looking at commercial scripts here’s a checklist for you:
Support
This is one of the main considerations. If you need help with the script it’s good to be able to get answers in a timely fashion, so look for what support is available. Often commercial script developers have online resources that are only available after purchase such as forums and online documentation.
It’s also worth asking in forums like these if anyone has had any experience with the script you’re looking at.
Is the script regularly updated?
Look for a “changelog” as this will tell you how regularly updates occur. A changelog will reflect things like enhancements, bug fixes, security improvements and updates to cater for changes to the programming language (eg to support latest versions of PHP).
Most good script developers will release updated versions regularly, personally if a fairly complex script like a booking system hasn’t been updated in the last 12-18 months I’d be on the cautious side.
Ease of use
How easy will it be for you to work with the script? Think about setting it up, integrations, modifications and templating. Some scripts are more painful to work with than others.
How extendable is it?
Sometimes you’ll need the script to do something a bit extra than what it does out of the box. As an example with a booking system you may want to use a payment processor that’s not included in the base install. Can the script do this and how much may it cost? Extensibility can become important if your client asks for something special.
Look at alternatives
In other words shop around! Make a list of all the possible scripts that look like they may work for you and compare them. Again it’s worth asking around for other people’s recommendations.
Total cost of ownership
A $49 script might look like a good deal but if you spent many hours getting it to work how you want it can start to get expensive to use. On the other hand one that costs $299 may let you get things going with the minimal amount of hassle. There’s no right or wrong here but a quality product will always win the day irrespective of the price.
Personally I would be happy paying a higher price if I knew of a developer that I could trust to complete the work and offer me a solution tailored to my needs, however I unfortunately don’t have such a contact and while I understand I can ask on forums such as this, the scripts I have just purchased appear great value…I say great value now, but who knows if I will be of the same opinion in 3-6 months time!
But as I said, thank you for the reply as I have asked for opinions on other forums and the standard reply is “go with a professional” “don’t trust these scripts” and they may be right (for the majority of the time) yet I prefer to hear balanced opinions, even if people have an issue with off the shelf scripts.
Yes “go with a professional/don’t trust the scripts” is a common answer, but often just thrown in because of a narrow minded opinion.
When you look at it using someone else’s code always carries a certain amount of risk, that just part and parcel of web development. Sometimes you just have to go with your instincts and give it a go - the worst that could happen is losing your money, and the sort of prices they quote it’s not a huge amount (by 1st world standards anyway). I remember back in the day when I purchased a lot of different scripts you got the odd one that didn’t live up to expectations, but in the main most of them got the job done.
For PHP jabbers/Stivasoft I’ve never seen anything negative about them, unlike some.
My main area of concern is security rather then performance bugs as I can handle purchasing a script that turns out to be useless - its no different from investing money in software that doesn’t perform as expected (we have all been there).
The one area I can’t gamble on, is security, so once the script is installed and tested performance wise, I will try and find a solution that allows me to test for security flaws - anyone know of a ethical hacker?
I do find this part of web development makes me uneasy, as I have high standards when it comes to html/css/layout and if I’m honest I’m not 100% confident in using these off-shelf-scripts but if I’m serious about finding clients, I have to have a system in place for certain businesses and their needs.
I may actually use these scripts as a way to show what is possible, say I approach a business with the scripts installed, as a template style website and once I secure their services, I can then approach a developer, show them the scripts and ask for a quote for a tailored script.
For security issues for specific scripts have a look at a site like https://www.cvedetails.com/ which logs known vulnerabilities. If you find one that affects the script you want then check with the vendor to see if it’s been patched.
It’s worth noting that just about every script will have a vulnerability or two at some point, and that includes big names like Wordpress and Drupal that are used on millions of sites.
There are two takeaways from this:
How quickly a vendor releases fixes and patches for the script in question
I guess I would be taking a gamble as i’m putting my trust in developers offering a script and relying on their support if there are any issues, but for the price point (of their paid scripts) i’m leaning towards making a purchase.