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Factors to consider before choosing an open-source script for your website
Benefits of using open-source scripts
The Internet is increasingly becoming more accessible for lots of people around the world to connect. This has also made it easier for a lot of web developers to form communities where they share ideas and collaborate in terms of writing code for specific projects, usually known as open-source scripts.
The availability and easy accessibility of these open-source scripts has made it easier for both web developers and people who are not web developers to be able to easily create websites.
There are many open-source scripts out there for eg. WordPress, Opencart, Prestashop, Cubecart, etc…and it can be a little daunting to know which one will best fit your business idea especially if you are a business owner trying to build your website on a low budget.
If you are a business owner or an individual that may be wondering which open-source script will be best for creating your website, don’t worry our Web Design Experts at TurnUpHosting describes the factors to consider before choosing an open-source script in depth in this article.
There are many factors to consider before choosing an open-source script for your website and some of these factors include the type of website you need, for eg. do you need a website just for informational purposes, e-commerce purposes, blogging, etc…whether your website will require some serious customizations that are not available in many open-source scripts, and whether you can easily get help from members of that open-source script’s community should you have any questions or need clarification later down the line.
Some of these factors have been explained below.
Knowing the type of website that will be needed for your business idea is a very essential factor that can help you narrow down the selection of an open-source script. For eg., if you need a website to display only information about your business and services or for blogging or news purposes, then an open-source script like WordPress will be a good open-source script to use to create your website.
If your business idea includes e-commerce that may need some customizations, then you can use an open-source script like Opencart, Prestashop, Cubecart, or even WordPress with the Woocommerce plugin installed.
Most of these open-source communities have marketplaces that allow developers to create and sell custom features that can help expand the functionality of your website. This is very helpful for web developers that contribute in one way or the other to help improve the security, functionality, and longevity of some of the open-source projects as it provides them with an avenue to at least earn some money for the time and work that they put in.
Checking to see if the open-source script that you are exploring has a strong community that provides support and shares ideas to help solve some of the issues that current users face is a very important factor that can help you decide on which open-source script to use.
Since most open-source scripts usually are coded by a team of web developers, sometimes, there may be bugs in some of the scripts that need to be fixed to ensure the proper functioning of websites for current users.
An open-source script that has a strong and vibrant community is very vital especially when it comes to the issue of bug fixes, they can provide immediate help with code corrections that can ensure the website of current users run smoothly.
Choosing an open-source script with a less engaged community can be detrimental to your website should there be bugs or security loopholes in the script used for creating your website.
To summarize, knowing the type of website needed for your business and whether customizations may be required, plus checking to see if the open-source script you are exploring has a strong and vibrant community are all important factors to consider before choosing an open-source script for your website.
