Project Roadmap
This roadmap keeps Shop3 development phased, reviewable, and aligned with OpenCart conventions. It tracks direction and current focus; it does not duplicate detailed architecture rules.
Progress Tracking
| Phase | Status | Current focus | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 0 - Foundation | In Progress | Workflow, documentation, OC3 dev environment | Naming and settings architecture are established; consolidated documentation is being prepared. |
| Phase 1 - Theme Core Architecture | In Progress | Settings, config, assets, helpers, cache, compatibility boundaries | Architecture/design work before larger implementation. |
| Phase 2 - Design System | Planned | Tokens and reusable UI rules | No visual implementation yet. |
| Phase 3 - Layout Engine | Planned | Header, navigation, footer, layout containers | Depends on architecture decisions and design tokens. |
| Phase 4 - Catalog Experience | Planned | Category and listing UX | Depends on layout and card foundations. |
| Phase 5 - Product Page | Planned | Product detail UX | Depends on design system and catalog patterns. |
| Phase 6 - Theme Admin | Planned | Settings UI and persistence | Depends on Theme Settings Engine approval. |
| Phase 7 - Homepage Builder | Planned | Homepage sections and reusable blocks | Drag/drop requires later justification. |
| Phase 8 - Performance Layer | Planned | CSS, JS, image, cache, DOM strategy | Iterative across implementation phases. |
| Phase 9 - Compatibility and Ecosystem | Planned | OC3 extensions and store features | Validate against common ecosystem modules. |
| Phase 10 - OC4 Migration Layer | Future | OC4 compatibility planning | No premature OC4 implementation in OC3 core. |
| Phase 11 - Release Engineering | Future | Packaging, docs, demo, deploy | Later-stage production readiness. |
Current Focus
- Theme Settings Engine Architecture
- Theme Core Internal Architecture
- Design Tokens System
- Asset Loading Strategy
- Header Architecture
Phase 0 - Foundation
Status: In Progress
Includes GitHub workflow, OPS workflow, OpenCart 3 development environment, initial repository foundation, theme naming conventions, and base architecture docs.
Phase 1 - Theme Core Architecture
Status: In Progress
Includes settings engine architecture, theme configuration strategy, asset loading strategy, helper/service boundaries, cache strategy, and OC3/OC4 compatibility boundaries.
Phase 2 - Design System
Status: Planned
Includes typography, colours/tokens, spacing, buttons, forms, cards, grid/container rules, and mobile behaviour.
Phase 3 - Layout Engine
Status: Planned
Includes header, navigation, mobile menu, footer, breadcrumbs, layout containers, and sticky elements.
Phase 4 - Catalog Experience
Status: Planned
Includes category pages, product cards, filters, sorting, pagination, wishlist/compare UX, and stickers/labels.
Phase 5 - Product Page
Status: Planned
Includes gallery, options/variants, sticky buy block, tabs, reviews, delivery/payment blocks, and upsell/cross-sell surfaces.
Phase 6 - Theme Admin
Status: Planned
Includes settings UI, section-based saving, presets, import/export, validation, and cache invalidation.
Phase 7 - Homepage Builder
Status: Planned
Includes sections, reusable blocks, homepage layouts, and drag/drop only if justified later.
Phase 8 - Performance Layer
Status: Planned
Includes critical CSS, lazy loading, deferred JavaScript, image strategy, cache strategy, and DOM weight reduction.
Phase 9 - Compatibility and Ecosystem
Status: Planned
Includes common OC3 modules, SEO modules, filter modules, checkout compatibility, multilingual stores, multicurrency stores, and multistore.
Phase 10 - OC4 Migration Layer
Status: Future
Includes admin compatibility, extension migration, event system adaptation, installer adaptation, and marketplace package structure.
Phase 11 - Release Engineering
Status: Future
Includes packaging, installer, docs, demo content, updater strategy, and production deploy to opencart.link.