Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 21
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Posts
    42
    Plugin Contributions
    0

    Default Newbie needs help simplifying ZenCart - TMI!

    I am working on designing an e-commerce site. I have lots of experience with webdesign both professional and personal. I have zero experience with ZenCart.

    I have a book and have been going through it. I have read some of the stickies here.

    Here is what I would like to accomplish:

    I don't want ZenCart to control the images on the site, there will be no "new products" "Featured products" etc. About the only thing like that that we will use is Gift Vouchers, but that will be later on.

    I have the entire site designed and laid out (it's not yet 100% completed though).

    You can see it here:

    www.connequestrian.com - the site is up for viewing, but none of the ZenCart stuff is yet in place.

    Take a look at the Ladies Tab.

    I will totally control the layout via html & css, I don't need ZenCart to do that for me.

    What I need ZenCart for is this:

    A customer will pick say a jacket. They will input a size & quantity and click "add to cart"

    I want ZenCart to control the cart and checkout process. I also want zencart to sotre their information (like amazon does) for repeat customers. The info stored will be name, address, etc. There will be NO storing of CC info on the site whatsoever. The customer will have to re-enter their card # for each purpose.

    I also want ZenCart to integrate with Authorize.net & CDGCommerce for the authorization of the CC transactions, etc. Zen cart will, once the CC has been approved, send emails to our distribution warehouse, and a few other key people.

    At this point I am going through all of the configuration stuff and spending hours turning off columns, changing many values (like picture size, etc.) to 0.

    Is this the right way to do it? It seems like I am spending most of my time to turn this stuff off. I want ZenCart to control the cart & CC transactions, but not the actual site layout. It seems to me that I must be doing this the LONG way. Myabe that's the only way to do it?

    Right now I have a mirror of the website setup on my own personal server at home, and have ZenCart, MyPHPAdmin, etc. all installed on my server at home. My plan was to go through the whole configuration there, and get things close to where I want them. Then take the zencart php code for submitting form data (size quantity, color, etc.) from the product pages to the actual cart itself, and cutting and pasting that into the predefined HTML (the site, with a few exceptions, is not going to be a widely dynamic one, and product lines are very small and will only change about twice a year, at least initially). So the product pages will have a small snippet of ZenCart code to "send"/submit the size, quantity, product ID number (hidden form data) to the actual ZenCart shopping cart for order processing.

    What's the best way to set this up? Am I doing this the long way, or am I proceeding slowly along in the best manner?

    Curently on the real site the zencart files are in the website's root directory (zencart is not yet active). In my instance, would it be better for organization purposes to place the zencart stuff into a /store directory? I figure that way all of the main website stuff will be in the root, and when a customer places an item in their car, or views either their cart, or their account information they will be directed to a /;store subdir. My thinking is if ZenCart is controlling the whole site layout, etc. putting it in the root dir is a good idea, but when it's just being used for shopping cart, orderprocessing, and account information/retention it might be easier to organize by putting all of that in a /store directory.

    Thanks for any help!!!!

    Brain21

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Lake Havasu, AZ
    Posts
    1,149
    Plugin Contributions
    0

    Default Re: Newbie needs help simplifying ZenCart - TMI!

    Hi Brian and Welcome to Zen

    For the short answer - you are doing it the best way.

    I did the same thing for a client who only wanted to use the checkout portion of zen and this is exactly the way we went about it.

    We did however give the Zen cart some styling - the header and such - so that it flowed seamlessly thru the site.

    Another thing that helps rather than changing image settings in the admin is to whip thru the css setting images to {display: none;} where you won't be using them.

    Hope that helps a little.
    When the world gets in my face I say Have A Nice Day.
    * I DO Think and I HAVE BEEN Zenned - therefore, I AM * I donate - do you?
    Custom Templates and Zen Services CRS Designs, Inc.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Posts
    42
    Plugin Contributions
    0

    Default Re: Newbie needs help simplifying ZenCart - TMI!

    Is there any way to define size, quantity, and color, and a hidden product ID number, and send that to the cart? Without going through the whole tedious process of selecting all of the size attirbutes, color attributes, dropdowns, etc. in the ZenCart stuff?

    Like an html form where I would have something like:



    <form name="Jacket" action="send_this_stuff_to_zencartcheckout.php"
    method="get">
    <select name="size">
    <option value="6792">small</option>
    <option value="6793">medium</option>
    <option value="6794" selected="selected">Large</option>
    </select>
    <br>
    <select name="Color">
    <option value="6792">red</option>
    <option value="6793">green</option>
    <option value="6794" selected="selected">blue</option>
    </select>
    <input type="submit" value="Add to cart">
    </form>



    This would be the only "code" on the standard HTML page.

    Then ZenCart would get the form data when the user adds to cart. ZenCart will know that a Jacket is $20 (and the weight for shipping) and it is medium and red. This would be displayed in the checkout, etc.?

    Also, the product has different ID#s depending on the size/color/item combination. Anyway to get zencart to handle that s I don't have to write some php or perl code?

    Thanks,

    Brain21

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Arizona
    Posts
    27,761
    Plugin Contributions
    9

    Default Re: Newbie needs help simplifying ZenCart - TMI!

    Hello Brian,

    Not to be argumentative, bit to present an oposing view.

    Looking at your currently designed page, while, as Tina stated, this can be done, I would suggest that you port this look over to a single column layout right within ZenCart and save yourself and others the troubles associated with having to maintain not only the Zen Cart script but also the html code.

    This look can be acheived within the Zen Cart framework quite easily. JMO
    Zen-Venom Get Bitten

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Lake Havasu, AZ
    Posts
    1,149
    Plugin Contributions
    0

    Default Re: Newbie needs help simplifying ZenCart - TMI!

    I didn't say it was the BEST thing to do nor the best way to do it- I simply said it could be done
    The only reason I did it was because the site owner specifically requested that it be done that way.
    When the world gets in my face I say Have A Nice Day.
    * I DO Think and I HAVE BEEN Zenned - therefore, I AM * I donate - do you?
    Custom Templates and Zen Services CRS Designs, Inc.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Arizona
    Posts
    27,761
    Plugin Contributions
    9

    Default Re: Newbie needs help simplifying ZenCart - TMI!

    Tina & Poster,

    No argument here...just an optional view.
    Zen-Venom Get Bitten

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Posts
    766
    Plugin Contributions
    0

    Default Re: Newbie needs help simplifying ZenCart - TMI!

    You may be surprised at how you can make Zencart not look like Zencart.

    This site was done using v1.27d and is also clothing which is why I thought of it for something like your store:

    http://annabrooks.com/index.php?main_page=index

    Link is not to give an opinion or promote anything, just an example.

    betty

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    West Salem, IL
    Posts
    2,739
    Plugin Contributions
    0

    Default Re: Newbie needs help simplifying ZenCart - TMI!

    I find this an intriguing thread to bad it got kinda quiet. I am interested in how the sessions are handled as you moved back and forth shopping.
    Mike
    GeekHost - Zen Cart Certified & PCI Compliant Hosting
    The Zen Cart Forum...Better than a monitor covered with post-it notes!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Posts
    42
    Plugin Contributions
    0

    Default Re: Newbie needs help simplifying ZenCart - TMI!

    I understand that it can be done using the template/override system, and that is basically the way that I am going about it now. But it gets REALLY cumbersome having to create **4** .php files just to create 1 page.

    For exaqmple, if in the traditional way I wanted to create test.html, now I have to create:

    /includes/modules/pages/test/header_php.php
    /includes/templates/test_template/teamplates/tpl_test_default.php
    /includes/extra_datafiles/test.php
    /includes/languages/english/test.php

    It's a bit like going from NY to LA via Europe & Asia

    Oh, and that doesn't count styles sheets, and if the page uses any Javascript.... all this for 1 page...


    It does make upkeep on these files a huge, annoying task. Why can't I just create a single html page?

    Since I don't NEED ZenCart for the regular old html pages, then why do I have to use it? I need it for the cart, shipping, and payment modules. THATS IT. Why can't I create in the Database the various products & Product ID #s (via zen cart), and then create a plain old HTML form that properly SUBMITS the data (via post) to the shopping cart module?????

    It seems rather "Rube Goldberg-ian". It seems like a system of php pages referring to other pages, referring to other pages, referring to others, etc. all to create 1, single page. No wonder so many folks have problems coming to terms with it.

    OK, you *can* do this, but why isn't it simple?

    Brain21

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    West Salem, IL
    Posts
    2,739
    Plugin Contributions
    0

    Default Re: Newbie needs help simplifying ZenCart - TMI!

    hmmm with all that I think I'll just stick with adjusting the default to look anyway I want and I'll drag the client along. Seems kinda like stuffing the workings of an old buick into a new porsche just because I like the fact I can work on the buick engine but I like the fancy guages on the dash of the porsche. Thats not to say I won't find it interesting to see how this comes out....
    Mike
    GeekHost - Zen Cart Certified & PCI Compliant Hosting
    The Zen Cart Forum...Better than a monitor covered with post-it notes!

 

 
Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Newbie needs help
    By chinpap in forum Installing on a Windows Server
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 4 Sep 2013, 12:29 PM
  2. Newbie needs help!!
    By richiec in forum Setting Up Categories, Products, Attributes
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 14 Mar 2009, 04:08 PM
  3. Newbie needs help..
    By alcofrolic in forum General Questions
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 8 Feb 2009, 11:04 PM
  4. Newbie needs help
    By RobertR in forum General Questions
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 29 Dec 2008, 10:42 PM
  5. Newbie needs help!
    By bluealice in forum Templates, Stylesheets, Page Layout
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 24 Sep 2007, 11:46 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
disjunctive-egg
Zen-Cart, Internet Selling Services, Klamath Falls, OR