Cart Keeper

The add-on works with CS-Cart and Multi-Vendor starting from version 4.3.1 and supports the CS-Cart, CS-Cart Ultimate, Multi-Vendor, Multi-Vendor Plus and Multi-Vendor Ultimate editions.

The add-on plugs into the product table on the cart page through the standard hooks of the views/checkout/components/cart_items.tpl template of the Responsive theme and themes based on it. If your theme overrides this template and lacks the checkout:items_list, checkout:product_icon and checkout:extra_list hooks, the checkboxes and the rows of set-aside items will not appear on the storefront until the hooks are put back into the template.

On Multi-Vendor the add-on supports separate checkout per vendor (the Direct Customer-to-Vendor Payments add-on): each vendor has its own table, its own Select all row and its own set-aside items.

If the add-on conflicts with your theme or another solution, please contact our support center.

After success payment, your order will be automatically marked as Paid within a few minutes. Once order changed to Paid status - add-on License activation passed success and you will received an e-mail with confirmation the receipt of payment and a second e-mail with a  download add-on link. You can also download the add-on in our License Management section of our website. To install the add-on on your website, please follow these steps:

1. Download the latest version of the add-on on our website in the "License Management" section or via the link sent by e-mail.
2. Go to Add-ons → Manage Add-ons and in the gear button, select Manual Installation.
3. Select the downloaded file and complete the installation of the add-on.

Add-on installation is completed. To go to the add-on settings page, select the installed add-on in the top menu Add-ons → CS-Commerce add-on

The add-on settings page is located at Add-ons → CS-Commerce Addons → Cart Keeper. You can also get there through Add-ons → Manage add-ons: when you open the add-on settings from the general list, the system redirects you to this page automatically.

The page consists of a single General settings tab. On the right there are blocks with information about the installed add-on version and the upgrade subscription period, a link to the documentation and an add-on rating form.

Settings per storefront

In the CS-Cart Ultimate and Multi-Vendor Ultimate editions with several storefronts, the settings are stored separately for each storefront. The storefront is selected with the switch in the page header. Until a storefront is selected, the fields cannot be edited and the standard Ultimate padlock icon appears next to each of them — when unlocked, the value is written to all storefronts at once.

In Multi-Vendor with a single storefront the settings are shared across the whole marketplace; there are no separate values for vendors.

Access rights

The add-on adds its own privilege group — Manage Cart Keeper. It contains two privileges: viewing the settings page and changing it. By default they are not granted to any user group, so an administrator with restricted permissions will not see the settings page until the privileges are granted to their group.

Privileges affect access to the settings page only. The cart behaves the same way for every customer on the storefront regardless of administrator permissions.

Return items to the cart automatically

Disabled by default. When an out-of-stock item becomes available again, it is returned to the order automatically as soon as the customer opens the cart or checkout page. The page shows the notification The product … is back in stock and has been returned to the order.

Auto-return applies to out-of-stock items only. Items the customer unchecked manually are not affected: they stay set aside until the customer checks them again.

When the setting is disabled, the row of an item that is back in stock is no longer dimmed, a green Back in stock label appears under the image, and the customer returns the item to the order by themselves — with the row checkbox or the Select all row.

Maximum number of kept items

How many unavailable or unchecked items are kept per customer session. The default value is 20, the allowed range is 1 to 100.

When the limit is exceeded, the oldest items are dropped — the ones that were set aside or ran out of stock before the others. On Multi-Vendor with separate checkout the limit applies to each vendor's cart separately.

The limit protects the session from growing: every kept item stores the product name, price, quantity, selected options and attachments. Twenty items is enough for most stores; raising the value makes sense when customers build long lists in the cart and actively use the checkboxes.

After changing the values, click Save. The new values take effect immediately; when the limit is lowered, already kept items are trimmed on the next change of the list.

Everything the add-on does happens on the cart page and during checkout. Three new elements appear in the product table: a checkbox on every row, a Select all row at the top of the table, and dimmed rows of set-aside and out-of-stock items.

The row checkbox

The checkbox sits to the left of the product image. It is checked by default — the item is part of the order; the tooltip reads Included in the order. Uncheck to set the item aside.

Unchecking it sets the item aside. The row stays where it was but becomes dimmed; its quantity can no longer be edited, and the price, cart totals, shipping cost and the list of products in the order are recalculated without this item. The add-on shows the notification The product … is set aside and will not be included in the order. Checking it again returns the item to the order with the same quantity and options that were selected, and to the same place in the table.

The cross to the right of the product name removes a set-aside item from the cart completely, together with the files uploaded for it.

The "Select all" row

The first row of the table holds a single checkbox and the Select all label. Its state depends on what is currently in the cart:

• if there are set-aside items available for ordering, the checkbox is unchecked — a click returns all such items to the order (Include all available items in the order);
• if there are no set-aside items, the checkbox is checked — a click sets all cart items aside (Set all items aside);
• if only out-of-stock items are left in the cart, the checkbox is disabled (No items available for the order).

The product ran out of stock

The CS-Cart core recalculates the cart every time it is opened and on every checkout step. If a product with inventory tracking has no stock left at all, or less than the minimum order quantity, the core removes it from the cart. The add-on intercepts that removal: the row stays in the table in a dimmed state, its checkbox is disabled (Out of stock — cannot be ordered right now), and an Out of stock label appears under the image. The standard core warning is replaced with the notification The product … is out of stock. It stays in your cart but is not included in the order.

If the stock is lower than the customer needs but not zero, the core does not remove the product — it reduces the quantity in the cart to the available one. The add-on does not interfere with this scenario; the customer sees the standard core message about the corrected quantity.

The row keeps its place in the table. Every time the cart is opened, the add-on checks whether the item is available again — in the saved quantity and with the saved options. As soon as it is, the row is no longer dimmed, the checkbox becomes active, and a green Back in stock label appears under the image. From there the item returns to the order via the checkbox, the Select all row, or automatically — see the Return items to the cart automatically setting.

When every item is set aside

When no item in the cart is selected, the page does not switch to "Your cart is empty": the table with the set-aside items stays on screen and the Proceed to checkout button becomes inactive. If the customer tries to go to checkout directly, they see the message titled No products selected: No products are included in the order: all items are set aside. Check the items you want to order.

The Clear cart button removes both regular and set-aside items.

Items the add-on does not keep

• products that are part of another product (product sets, parts of a configurable product) — they follow the parent item;
• gifts and free products added by promotions;
• products without inventory tracking and products allowed for pre-order — from the core's point of view they cannot "run out", so they are never removed from the cart and there is nothing to keep; their checkbox works as usual.

Where set-aside items are stored

Set-aside and out-of-stock items are stored in the customer's session next to the cart. Unlike the cart itself, they are not written to the database: after the session ends, or when the customer logs in from another device or browser, the list of set-aside items is not restored. Regular cart items behave as usual.

Multi-Vendor and separate checkout

Without separate checkout there is a single cart, and the rows of set-aside items show the vendor just like regular items do. When the Direct Customer-to-Vendor Payments add-on is enabled and orders are placed per vendor, each vendor has its own table, its own Select all row and its own set-aside items. If a vendor has nothing but set-aside items left, its block does not disappear from the page, and the checkout button for that vendor's order becomes inactive.

In order to have access to add-on upgrades, you must have an active upgrade subscription. If the subscription period has expired, you will only have access to upgrades released before the expiration date of your subscription. You can renew your upgrades subscription in the "License Management" section on our website.

The add-on supports instant upgrades via the CS-Cart Upgrade Center. The built-in CS-Cart Notification Center (bell) will notify you about new versions release of the add-on. Upgrades via Upgrades Center will allow you to switch to a newer version without losing add-on data and settings.

Before start an upgrade process, it is highly recommended to make a full backup of the site (database and files) of your store using the server or hosting methods. 

 Upgrade through the Upgrade Center

1. In the top menu, go to Administration → Upgrade Center;
2. In the gear menu, click "Refresh available upgrades"
3. Find and add-on on list of available upgrades and click the Download button and than Install button;
4. Follow all the instructions that will be shown during the upgrade process;
5. It is recommended to clear the CS-Cart templates cache after the upgrades are installed by deleting the var/cache folder on your server or adding the ctpl parameter to the address bar (example: https://domain.com/admin.php?ctpl).

Addon Reinstallation by uninstall old and install new:

Reinstalling an add-on means deleting the add-on's settings and data. Reinstallation will allow you to get a clean installation of the latest addon version. To reinstall the add-on with saving the add-on settings and data, please contact us via our Support Center to provide this service.

To completely reinstall an add-on without saving data, follow these steps:

1. Go to Add-ons → Manage add-ons and find the old installed add-on.
2. Click the delete button in the gear menu of the add-on.
3. Download the latest version of the add-on on our website in the "License Management" section.
4. Go to Add-ons → Manage add-ons and in the gear menu select Manual Installation. Select the previously downloaded file and complete the installation of the add-on.

The technical support of the add-on is already included in its price. Before contacting the support center, please make sure you are using the latest released version of the add-on. Old versions of the add-on are not supported by technical support.

To use our technical support, follow these steps:

1. On our support center site https://helpdesk.cs-commerce.com/, log in with your account;
2. Click on the "Create ticket" button;
3. Fill in all the required fields and create ticket (you will receive a confirmation email);
4. Expect a response from a specialist (a notification will be sent to your e-mail about the response) in accordance with the regulations of the technical support service.

If you have not received an answer within the time frame specified in the regulations, write us a message to the e-mail [email protected] with the subject of the ticket and we will try to resolve your issue as soon as possible.

Technical support via chat on the site, direct phone calls or e-mail letters is not provided. All help discuss goes through the support center. Carefully study the documentation for the add-on and the terms of technical support before creating a ticket. 

We recommend that you familiarize with the general restrictions:

1. Fragments of code or some files of an add-on may have a private (encoded) part. The coded part does not create problems on add-on customizations;
2. The add-on will work only on those domains that are specified in the user's license. If you try to use the solution the domains of which are not included in the license, the add-on will be automatically disabled;
3. Installing on local machines is not allowed by the licensing system. For the add-on to work on an additional domain (alias), specify this alias on the license management page. Up to three aliases are allowed per domain for testing and development purposes. You can change the main license domain yourself on the license management page.

To have possibility to add or change license domains and aliases, the upgrade subscription must be active. To change the license domain of an expired upgrades subscription, you must first renew your subscription.  

Version 1.0 of September 17, 2026

• The first release of the add-on.