There has been a lot of talk on our forum about crowdfunding of modules lately. We have decided that we would like to try the idea out. We look at it as a way for the community to help us further the mission of thirty bees in providing the best possible ecommerce software for free. While at the same time helping choose the direction of thirty bees.

Over the last week we have been discussing how to handle this and which module to choose to try this system out. We have had lots of suggestions for different modules, so we have narrowed the field down to 4 modules and we will let the community vote on on which one we should start with first. Without further delay, here is the list.

As a note the price next to the module is the cost it will take to develop the module. Once the modules are developed they will always be free and open source.

Elastic Search Module €2000

There is a huge thread on the thirty bees forum about needing a better search. We have talked about the different options, the time involved, and what would be the best approach. We came up with using Elastic Search as a module would be the best way. This would allow store owners to host a search on their site as opposed to services like Algolia that have a monthly fee. At the same time Elastic Search can give some very powerful features as well.

Better search ability; in word, minimum length, weighted words, and blacklisted words

More search types; ajax, regular, and instant

Elastic cluster support

Better search support; typos, field weights, ability to exclude fields, and better operand support

Auto indexing, cron jobs, cron module integration, manual indexation, ability to add missing products, and indexation update on save

Complete filter system replacing Layered Navigation

Filters that work on special pages like best sellers, new products, and search pages

Templates to allow the module to work in columns and the center column

Infinite scroll possibility

plus a few other features that might be needed

A Better Review Module €1000

Reviews drive sales, getting reviews for products is hard though. We want to develop a module that makes it easier for shop owners to get reviews from their customers. We also want to give shop owners the ability to be able to customize the review module to their needs by having options so they can configure the module for their need. Below are some of the features we have planned.

Verified reviews

Followup review emails

More configuration options such as stars, thumbs up, ect

The ability to respond to reviews

Coupon generation for verified purchase reviews

Moderation capability

Ability to manually add reviews

More templates and hooks for hooking to categories and columns on your site

Plus a few more features to help manage and collect reviews

Google Merchant Center Module €1500

Google Merchant center is one of the most used areas for advertising as an ecommerce site owner. Having a stable, feature rich FREE Google Merchant Center module is a priority for us. We feel it would help our merchants grow, without having to spend hundreds of dollars on a module or service to send your product data to Google. Some of the features we have planned for the module are below.

The ability to pick which categories to send to Google

The ability to pick what combinations to send to your Google feed

Per product level selection

Capability to send promotions to Google shopping

Multi shop compatibility

Feeds on a per country level and per language level

Multiple currency support

and more features for successfully sending your feed to Google

A Better Blog Module €1000

The blog module we currently have is good, but we could make it a lot better. Most sites have blogs these days, so having one integrated in the core of thirty bees is a top priority. But not having enough features is as bad as not having a blog. That is why we have plans to expand the blog module. The list of new features we have come up with is below.

Post preview

More author information, including a biography and picture

Shortcode functionality where widgets, buttons, and products could be easily inserted into posts

More template layout options / themes for the blog

SEO panel for rich data and meta data

Delayed publications

Better social media integration

A block to display related posts on product pages

RSS feed

Plus more features to integrate the module more tightly with thirty bees

Now that you know what modules we are considering, cast your vote below. The winning module will be selected for our crowdfunding campaign.