Trying to just get started..

[TheGoodTimber]

If there is an information page about this, please let me know, I was not able to find one. I am attempting to build a new website for our business. We are currently working through Zoovy.com and the cost, along with the limitations, are just not suiting our needs anymore. I have the 'website' basically done, but having absolutely no experience using shopping carts, I am feeling very lost in trying to implement Zen Cart into the site.

I currently have the website set up in Dreamweaver. I see that I am able to use Zen Cart with Dreamweaver as noted in the support pages here. However, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to do this. How do I put Zen Cart into Dreamweaver and then apply that system into the site itself? Right now, I just have Zen Cart folders next to website page folders.

Also, once I figure out how to properly work this, am I able to see it in preview mode via Dreamweaver? Or do I have to host it live on a server to test it?

[kobra]

It is best to work on a live site
DW is basically for html pages which ZenCart has none being a php application

[stevesh]

Put Dreamweaver aside while you're working with Zencart. All you need is a good FTP program and a good text editor. WYSIWYG editors like Dreamweaver are essentially worthless with dynamic, PHP software like Zencart.

[picandnix]

If there is an information page about this, please let me know, I was not able to find one. I am attempting to build a new website for our business. We are currently working through Zoovy.com and the cost, along with the limitations, are just not suiting our needs anymore. I have the 'website' basically done, but having absolutely no experience using shopping carts, I am feeling very lost in trying to implement Zen Cart into the site.

I currently have the website set up in Dreamweaver. I see that I am able to use Zen Cart with Dreamweaver as noted in the support pages here. However, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to do this. How do I put Zen Cart into Dreamweaver and then apply that system into the site itself? Right now, I just have Zen Cart folders next to website page folders.

Also, once I figure out how to properly work this, am I able to see it in preview mode via Dreamweaver? Or do I have to host it live on a server to test it?

Am I reading your post wrongly or are you trying to place Zen Cart into a website you have built? If so then basically you cannot, but you can make zen cart look like the site you have been building instead.

[starcad]

If there is an information page about this, please let me know, I was not able to find one. I am attempting to build a new website for our business. We are currently working through Zoovy.com and the cost, along with the limitations, are just not suiting our needs anymore. I have the 'website' basically done, but having absolutely no experience using shopping carts, I am feeling very lost in trying to implement Zen Cart into the site.

I currently have the website set up in Dreamweaver. I see that I am able to use Zen Cart with Dreamweaver as noted in the support pages here. However, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to do this. How do I put Zen Cart into Dreamweaver and then apply that system into the site itself? Right now, I just have Zen Cart folders next to website page folders.

Also, once I figure out how to properly work this, am I able to see it in preview mode via Dreamweaver? Or do I have to host it live on a server to test it?

Welcome to Zen Cart,

I've been using it for around 6 years now and I still have questions. The forums are the the best source for answers and there are a lot of people here that can help.

As kobra stated it is best to work on a live site and you can put it in off line mode while you work on it. Zen Cart is by far the easiest shopping cart software to use and modify. It is written in PHP and generates the html ( dynamic ) you see, using different modules and other code.

DW makes pretty web pages and like stevesh said it is best to put DW away until you learn the basics of Zen Cart. There are a bunch of configurations in just the basic Zen Cart that your can change. However Dream Weaver is not the program to use. It is far better to work on a live site and as picandnix stated it is better to make Zen Cart look like the site you are building in Dream Weaver.

Another alternative is to build your main site in Dream Weaver and then add a link to your Zen Cart shop. That way you can drive traffic to your main site and take advantage of what ever you have already built in Dream Weaver.

Again, there is a ton of information in the forum and always very knowledgeable people here that are willing to assist you with any questions you may have.

[CultureClick]

RULE #1 - Don't get discouraged!

If I were you I would just start fresh with a brand new download of ZenCart, honestly - if you can do all the stuff you've described, it would probably be faster and easier for you to start from scratch.

I'm just getting started too. I have found that ZenCart is above all LOGICAL, you can figure it out. This website just oozes with resources and information. The Goh Koon Hoek book is useful, but really, it says something like, We assume our reader knows X, Y and Z - and if you really knew all that, you wouldn't need the book! There are a few other books out by other authors, and the one that helps me the most other than GHK's is Sureed Sarkar's. (I hope I am permitted to utter that name here, I don't know about ZenCart politics.)

The one thing I could wish for is that some folks would realize that not everyone on this forum, and certainly not everyone using ZenCart, is fluent in HTML, CSS, PHP, and has ten years of formal training and twenty years of industry experience. If people seem snarky occasionally, it's just because they think they know more than you, and the reason they think so, is because they do.

CultureClick the baby Zenner