We are proud to announce that simpleCart(js) version 3 is ready for beta testing! We have learned a lot about what our users need and want over the past 3 years, and version 3 is a huge improvement that we hope you are going to love.

For the impatient, you can view the new code on the v3 branch on github: http://github.com/wojodesign/simplecart-js/tree/v3

Whats New?

The code has been rewritten from the ground up, and there are too many improvements to cover in this article. Some of the best updates include completely cookie-less storage with HTML5 localStorage, lots of events to handle all the customizations you could think of, plugins and extensions, more flexible formatting, more checkout options, better language and currency support, better performance, and easier syntax

How can I help?

The easiest way to help is to periodically visit http://swarm.simplecartjs.com and click “Join the Swarm”. We are striving to make sure simpleCart(js) works with other libraries and in every major browser; by simply visiting this page TestSwarm will run our tests in your browser to help achieve this.

You can also help by trying out the new code on a site. We have already tested a lot of the basic features, but getting the code on more sites will help us track down bugs and improve the usability and features. The documentation is a work in progress, but here are a few big points about using the new code:

New Options and Syntax

When setting options for simpleCart(js) v3, you simply send a settings object to a simpleCart() function:

 simpleCart({
   tax: 0.08,
   shipping: 10,
   currency: "USD"
 });

The option formats have changed a bit; you can see all the available options in the README.

jQuery, Prototype, or Mootools

simpleCart(js) v3 will require a library, such as jQuery, Prototype, and Mootools. A lot of thought has gone into how to work with every library and keep simpleCart(js) small and manageable. It turns out, almost every site that is using simpleCart(js) is also using one of these three libraries, so it made sense to use the expertise and hard work that goes into those great libraries to handle things like DOM manipulation, CSS selectors, and event handling.

The best part is that you can use any of these libraries interchangeably, and simpleCart(js) will simply figure out whats included and use it. Right now, these libraries seemed to cover the majority of sites, but if there is a strong request for others, we will try to include support.