My website won't work!! Harteshomestore.com

[Lindawheeler]

Newbie and a noob, about 4 years ago we stupidly was sold a website (yes zen cart version ...Jurassic) it cost us over £1000 and yes we now know it is an open source/free template.. We have now got it upgraded to version v1.3.9h

We are having problems with the rolling banners on the homepage namely the "shop now" button
Also the rolling banner below with the products on, they are staying on the image eg. WristWatch but when pressed takes you to a ornament.

Another issue is the "contact us" once pressed it just goes to a blank screen

All of the above problems seem to be linked, the error message is redirect loop???
Please feel free to have a look at our website HARTESHOMESTORE.COM and any help would be gratefully received.

P.s I'm not very technically minded with code etc so lehmans terms appreciated.

[stevesh]

Well, the bad news is that your site uses a commercial template from Template Monster. Zenners here can't buy all those templates to troubleshoot your issues, so all we can do is look at your site with the tools we have.

First, check your /cache folder on the server for error log files and post the newest one here.

It appears that the links which the images point to are hard-coded and were just set to any random number, so the thumbnail doesn't necessarily correspond to the proper product. That slider is part of your template, not Zencart, so you'll need to find the file where they're set. The description is still reading as the default text (Lorem Ipsum ....), so you might be able to use the Admin - Tools - Developers Tool Kit to search for lorem to find the proper file.

[nigelt74]

When you say you have now got it upgraded to 1.39h, when did this happen? as 1.39h was released about 5 yrs ago,
1) Have your issues happened recently,
2) is this template something that was installed by the original developer, or have you installed it recently
3) Normally with these templates there is some sort of instruction manual pdf file, that explains how to set up the slides, were you given these when the site was set up?

[Lindawheeler]

We bought the first zen cart from a company (ouch) we was not happy with it once they said all the development had been done and they tried to refer us to a seo team for yet more money,this was about 4 years ago. We was having no luck customer wise so I showed a friend of mine who,s speciality is computers and ecommerce. He said that the site will never be found and will never move forward as it was one of the earliest versions of zen cart(basically we had been ripped off) so my friend jumped in and kept the inventory database and then installed version 1.39h. Ok the site looks crisper and smoother than the original website, but ever since, we have had problems with the zoom on images, the quick link(shop now) , contact us.

We feel like throwing the towel in, we have had the site 3 years now and I can count the number of orders on my hands and feet

[DivaVocals]

**deleted**

Forum is tripping again..

[DivaVocals]

Blank page = error log file. Tells us what error log is generated when you visit the contact us page. To find your error logs see this FAQ:
https://www.zen-cart.com/content.php...art-of-a-page)


If I may be blunt, regarding your site being found, you have a lot of work to do to get it found.. Your site won't be found simply because your page content is darn near non existent.. There is a lack of unique content, and it's clear that your site's meta tags are still pulling the original out the box default Zen Cart site name and data.


Your site's meta section from your home page for example reads:

<title>Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
<meta name="keywords" content="Xmas Shop Kitchenware Homeware Furniture Toys & Halloween Sales & Offers ecommerce, open source, shop, online shopping " />
<meta name="description" content="Zen Cart! :  - Xmas Shop Kitchenware Homeware Furniture Toys & Halloween Sales & Offers ecommerce, open source, shop, online shopping" />

The name of your business/site is NOT: Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce
Your site description tells us next to nothing about YOUR business. And again, the name of your business is not Zen Cart!.


All this tells me is that you've not edited you meta_tags.php file so your site uses the Zen Cart default data.. Also means that the search engines broadcast this information out to anyone who happens to stumble on your site.. (and given that your site title and description have zero connection to the actual purpose of your site, there won't be many folks who stumble across this site.)


Your product pages meta tags are no better:

<title>CP67 LARGE WHITE/SILVER ELEPHANT [CP67] - £24.99 : Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
[COLOR=grey]<meta name="keywords" content="CP67 LARGE WHITE/SILVER ELEPHANT [CP67] Xmas Shop Kitchenware Homeware Furniture Toys & Halloween Sales & Offers ecommerce, open source, shop, online shopping" />
<meta name="description" content="Zen Cart! CP67 LARGE WHITE/SILVER ELEPHANT [CP67] - Part of our Platinum Fired Ceramic Range, the White and Silver Elephant is a stunning decorative piece of chrome and white glazed pottery. Height : 15cm Width : 17cm Depth : 9cm " />

It's clear that you've not added product or category meta tags (managed from the categories/product manager in the admin) since your site is simply pulling the defaults


Which leads me to your product descriptions. They are not descriptive at all. This description doesn REALLY describe this product from a customer's POV, and they sound a LOT like the ones your supplier probably provided to you. You can't expect people to find your products with descriptions that are lost in a "sea of sameness" on a site where you haven't even updated the information the search engines need to find you and make you stand out... Try searching for "Part of our Platinum Fired Ceramic Range" or "Benjamins SKILLFWD Hard Wooden Case for Apple iPhone 5 Teak". See how many other sites come up from these two searches alone.. This "sea of sameness" will also make the search engines devalue your site as well.. Sites with more activity and the same descriptions and product names will ALWAYS outrank your site.


Are you selling gift certificates??? I didn't see any.. there's no reason to show the Gift Certificates FAQ in the information sidebox.

[Merlinpa1969]

Those who need to know will get this reference and had NOTHING TO DO WITH THE OP

I Smell Flipper involvement

[Lindawheeler]

A big thank you for all those who replied and pointed me in the right directions, 10 out of 10 guys.