Integrating ZenCart With My Design ??

[Jack Gleeson]

Hello all,

I'm new to the community but after a bit of research I decided to go with zencart because it had the best reviews.

I've already designed and built the site which I need to add the shopping cart too, I'm wondering if this is a problem due to the fact I've been reading round and it seems that zencart runs from templates ?

Does this mean that I'll have to scrap my design and try to create a template to fit zencart from scratch ?

Or can I use my design and sort of customise zencart to fit in where I need it.

I'm a web developer so the PHP, XHTML, CSS, MYSql is not a problem to understand but I just thought I'd get some advise from some zencart guru's before I try to reinvent the wheel

Thanks alot
Jack

[kobra]

In general, the best approach is to make ZenCart look like your current design, or "Skin" Zencart with the design elements you currently have.

If you navigate this site, you can see that there is ZenCart, vBulletin, KnowledgeBuilder & others all brought together in an almost seameless presentation. Each runs from their own interface and that interface is designed(templated) to appear in the same style.

Attempting to run the cart from an html frontend design, while possible, will consume more of your time and effort than making ZenCart look the way you want.

When you state "it seems that zencart runs from templates", I am not positive what you mean. ZenCart is essentially a DB application, with an interface that retreives information that can be presented in any style that you have.

So I suggest that you navigate through this site and I hope that you see what I am referring to.

[Jack Gleeson]

What I ment by "runs on templates" was ;

basically uses the database to store information and is displayed using css and xhtml template files.

I think you sort of answered my question and with me having to basically start from the beginning again so that I can make zencart look how I'd like my design to look.

Is there any tutorials that cover the best way to make a skin or template, e.g what each element in the CSS files actually is and what it changes?

Also is it best to start a new template or edit the previous one?

How long do you estimate it would take to create a new template for my specific design in terms of how much work is involved in creating a template, is it similar to a forum skin ?

Once again
Thank you

[kobra]

Official packaged documentation is lacking...but there is FAQ's and the wiki here that covers most of the common areas.
wiki Customization
Tutorials & FAQ's

Also is it best to start a new template or edit the previous one?

After reading, you should create your own template and use the override system as this will preserve all your edited files when an upgrade is applied. ONLY COPY those files that you edit to your template/override folders and not all the files. This is to keep the # of files that you have to cross check in an upgrade to a minimum.

How long do you estimate it would take to create a new template for my specific design

Post a link to a representation of your current design for an estimation as this can be from 2 hours to 2 months.....

[Jack Gleeson]

The design I have come up with so far is along the lines of this;

Index page:
http://www.emotionindesign.co.uk/Images/index.JPG

Item Description;
http://www.emotionindesign.co.uk/Images/items_info.JPG

I'm considering starting a template, realistically could I achieve that look with Zencart ?

How long long do you think it would take?

Also I read what you said about templates, So I only upload the template files I need to either edit or make myself into my new template folder ?

This sounds like a lengthly process all in all, Isnt there anyway of just having a chunk of code, inserting it into my site and that produces elements from the Zencart e.g. shopping cart, login section, things along them lines ?

[Kim]

This sounds like a lengthly process all in all, Isnt there anyway of just having a chunk of code, inserting it into my site and that produces elements from the Zencart e.g. shopping cart, login section, things along them lines ?

No, Zen Cart is not a checkout system, it is not a "buy now" button. It is an ecommerce solution. It is meant to run the whole site.

[Jack Gleeson]

I might aswell write my own to suit my needs then using PHP and MYSql,

I can't imagine it taking as long as writing a new template for ZenCart.

[kobra]

I might aswell write my own to suit my needs then using PHP and MYSql,

If you are looking for a secure environment where the customer fill feel inclined to purchase with SSL sessions etc, you are talking abot writing alot mor than you might first envision. Looking at your mockup this would be an easy port. It also looks as though the owner would want inventory functions, order tracking and the many other things that you say you will "just write your own" and it will be faster.

But you decide what and where you want to expend your time.

[Jack Gleeson]

I dont think it will be to difficult to write a secure shopping cart, I suppose all the module stuff which ZenCart offer would consume time but to be honest I only need certain things, as far as SSL and sessions go, they are easily wrote in PHP and can be stored easily enough and securely in a database, the SSL can be achieved through the server.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking ZenCart, I just think it's trying to do alot more than I need.

ZenCart reminds me more of a phpnuke templating system and as a Web Developer I tend to stay away from templating systems as I can write my own code.

Dont get me wrong, for people who are new to server side coding, template engines are fine but not for professionals.

It's not professional to rely on someone elses code in my opinion.

[Kim]

While Zen Cart may not the the right thing for the project you are working on, I personally would have no problem integrating your design.

May I suggest that you download and install Zen Cart at some point and "play" with it a bit. I think you will find that it is an amazingly flexible piece of software, not only for it's functionality, but also the design. You can do anything you want if you have the time and the skills.