Another indicator of how well a shopping cart plugin integrates with WordPress is how well it utilizes WordPress-provided admin UI styles and layout.
It is also important that the layout of the plugin you choose is intuitive and free of quirks. The following is the assessment of the admin user interface of each shopping cart plugin.
You can click on the name of the product below to view its full review.
Shopp
Shopp's admin UI is very clean and professional. It looks just like WordPress' native screens, with the addition of ajax effects where appropriate. There clearly is a high level of attention to details in Shopp's admin UI.
Shopp
Shopp utilizes the WordPress admin UI, and is clean and professionally designed. The interface looks just like the familiar WordPress UI, making it easier to navigate around it. The primary menus around which everything is categorized are: Shopp, Catalog and Setup.
Cart66
Cart66 admin UI is very professional and makes very good use of WordPress styles.
GetShopped (WP e-Commerce)
GetShopped employs the standard WordPress UI, and is cleanly designed. There is one top level menu which contains all the links to manage products and coupons, while the other named ’store’ is tucked under the main ‘settings’ menu, which I think should have been kept in the GetShopped top level menu itself.
eShop
eShop makes good use of built-in WordPress admin styles, but then it adds its own ugly touches to the interface. And there are inconsistencies in the admin design that make some features of the plugin hard to spot. Once you get used to the plugin, you become blind to these things, though.
The other thing I don't like about eShop's admin menus is that they are spread all over the place. There's one top level menu. Then there's another menu under WordPress "Settings". Then there's yet another menu under WordPress "Appearance". This makes stuff difficult to find, especially with lack of proper documentation.
MarketPress
MarketPress has the best admin UI among other shopping cart plugins. It's intuitive and easy to understand. Once you install the plugin, you feel as if there aren't enough option pages, but once you dig deeper, you discover more screens where you can adjust the settings. So, the interface doesn't interrupt you, and yet it can accommodate you when you need more flexibility.
The plugin makes use of WordPress' built-in admin styles, so working with this plugin feels just like working with any other part in WordPress.
Tribulant Shopping Cart
The admin user interface for Tribulant Shopping Cart is very good. The menus are sensibly labeled and well laid out. I just don't like that there are so many administration screens. Other than that, it's pretty good.
YAK
YAK creates four menu items under WordPress Settings and three menu items under WordPress Tools, which I think is a lot, compared with other plugins. What's worse, the menu items under tools, such as orders, products, and sales reports, they don't even belong there.
That said, the layout of the screens are well done and easy to understand and use.
ShopperPress
The admin UI of ShopperPress takes nothing from WordPress. It is completely custom-built. Using ShopperPress doesn't even feel like you're within WordPress.
DukaPress
DukaPress admin interface looks simple and clean. It makes good use of WordPress styles, so it looks native to WordPress. I wish DukaPress didn't make more than one top level menu though.
The settings page also utilizes layout and interface behaviors that are not native to WordPress. It's not a big deal, though.
wpStoreCart
wpStoreCart UI design needs serious reworking. The plugin's screens are busy and visual elements seem to be scattered. There's also the problem of redundant menus. The same links appear in several visible places at once. And not to mention the small UI glitches here and there.
Jigoshop
Jigoshop admin uses the standard WordPress UI elements. However in comparison to many other free ecommerce shopping cart solutions; the admin interface is extremely well designed with a clean and wonderful interface. The Jigoshop admin dashboard gives you a visual summary of all your orders – pending, completed, etc. along with a nice sales chart.
Zingiri Web Shop
Although Zingiri Web Shop has all the admin features you would want from a decent shopping cart; in terms of design, however, the admin UI lacks the panache some other products have. The admin UI could have used more CSS and visual enhancements. Still, all said and done, the admin UI helps you get the work done.
TheCartPress
TheCartPress admin uses the standard WordPress UI elements. But there is nothing to write home about. The interface looks like a clutter of menus thrown around randomly by an angry designer. It is difficult to find ones way around the various elements of the interface. A little tidying up in the next version by the developers would definitely help. Also adding some nice icons will surely spruce up the interface and make it more bearable.
WP Online Store
The WP Online Store admin UI is a direct port of the osCommerce software. So if you have ever used osCommerce before you will feel like home. As in osCommerce, there are an enormous number of options and settings available; getting to know them all can take quite a while. All the menus are properly categorized making it quick and easy to find thing. My only grudge is that the admin UI design has not been updated to reflect the modern Web style.
