Guidance on administration & change in column's width in products list.

[websitecurious]

Hello, I have posted before on a different category regarding of a way to sync peach tree (sage) and zen cart data. I had recently just being ask to help and try to maintain a website. I have dealt with very basic website creation before, and just started to read about zen cart and peach tree. I have search the forum and looked online to familiarize myself with an overall idea of how I should approach things. I am suppose to upload images, change product descriptions, add/remove/size/edit columns of reference from products listed under respected categories (columns ex: part numbers-material-size-year-price), and the usual visual appeals.
I was given an administrator's log in username and password. I have signed in to familiarize with the menus and actions. I was able to do the simple stuff like changing headings, title's size/color/descriptions and modifying titles on columns and data underneath in what appears to be an already integrated table for that particular page on the website. It looked simple at first.. but soon realized I couldn't edit certain things. As I looked through the forum's posts I noticed people talked about scripts, modules and going through php files. From the version and php info page once logged in, it appears that zen cart is running under a Linux server host.
Is there a way to check if anything has been installed/run on zen cart? How could I access files / stylesheets and back up data in order to be able to modify the website as desired? I had a clear idea that I could maintain some parts of the website with ease, yet I think trying to learn all at once has made everything confusing, or maybe I am not thinking things through right. I have a feeling I need to contact the host perhaps.
Any advice on how to approach the understanding of zen cart? any simple coding that can do miracles for a newbie? I have been looking at tutorials, but I feel I can't grasp where all folder and directories come from, or how the coding/structure is layered out. I'd like to at least leave an appealing and working site ready, while learning all the ins and outs possible of zen cart. Thanks in advance for any information!

[schoolboy]

Zencart is no different (in essence) from any other database-driven, dynamic website.

There are no "web pages" as such (even though what eventually gets sent to a person's browser screen is HTML).

In a CMS, pages are built "on-the-fly" and the content within the page is determined largely by each individual visitor's actions on the site. When they click a link, or perform an action (such as "Add To Cart"), several hundred things can happen, almost simultaneously. The site can perform some calculations, temporarily store the results, collect other data, and then it will assemble a brand new "web page" and throw that at the visitor's browser.

When the visitor performs another action (Go To Checkout), the "page" they are viewing evaporates forever, and a new one is cobbled together - again, several hundred things may go on in the background before the NEW page is compiled by the PHP, and delivered to the viewer's browser screen.

SO...

Managing a CMS (a dynamic content site) requires a new way of thinking about how content is managed and compiled, and while a knowledge of HTML is important, you will need to learn some of the basics of PHP and how it relates to a database, if you intend to professionally manage the site.

Your host is unlikely to be able to help you - because they just don't have time, and are possibly not that skilled in zencart. And the question is... what do they help you with?

This forum assumes that members have at least a "working knowledge" of basic webmastership, and a reasonable understanding of code and database relationships. We cannot "teach" that here - firstly because general webmaster knowledge is not exclusive to zencart, and secondly because there are thousands of excellent tutorial sites on the internet that deal with this (so don't re-invent the wheel).

Back in 2004 I was in your position... a skilled HTML user, but no idea of dynamic site operation.

I loaded up zencart on a server and spent 3 months using it as a learning tool.

Since then I have built over 200 zencart sites and as you can see, post quite a bit of help and advice on this forum.

If a fool like me can get his head round this, then practically anyone can. You just have to go out and learn the fundamentals. Load up a test webshop and spend a couple of hours a day playing with it.

I do provide training and consulting commercially, but that is something outside of this forum.

There are many free tutorials and tons of videos on youtube. So you don't have to pay anyone to learn this stuff.