Changing the design using Dreamweaver

[getrelics]

I'm very new using Zen Cart and loving it so far! My question is, can I change the look of my store design using Dreamweaver? Not to change the layout, but something like adding a background image or changing a link to a pdf.

Thanks!

[stevesh]

Possible, maybe (haven't used DW), but not recommended. The 'look' of Zencart is mostly changed by edits to the stylesheets and template files, which are most easily changed using a text editor.

[twitchtoo]

I'm very new using Zen Cart and loving it so far! My question is, can I change the look of my store design using Dreamweaver? Not to change the layout, but something like adding a background image or changing a link to a pdf.

Thanks!

Yes you can do everything with Dreamweaver. Setup your 'site' and connect via ftp. You can download only the files you use to work on them locally or get the entire site if you'd like. It will also highlight code and scans for common syntax errors.

[torvista]

can I change the look of my store design using Dreamweaver?

No...and yes!

You cannot view a page in DW and just move stuff around and edit it as you can with a static website page: in ZC every page is built by several files and database data, every time you view it.

You change the style of the stuff on the page by changing the stylesheet. (whatever.css)
You can change the layout of some of the stuff on the page by some admin options, and the rest by modifying a copy of the template file that builds that page (whatever.php) to move around the blocks of code that build the page html.

You can use any text editing tool to edit those files but its better to use something like Dreamweaver which will insert valid css and do automatic syntax-checking of the php files to avoid simple mistakes.

That's using Dreamweaver as a file editor.

You can go further and set it up so you can navigate and use the site within DW and this will help to identify the files being used to build those pages.

This question has been asked before and pooh-poohed by the great and the good...before the current version CS6 of DW which added syntax-checking.

I use it all the time, no more white screens of death from unbalanced quote marks, just my hacking!