The Book . . .

[shonny]

Having already bought a couple of pricey books on osCommerce, and finding the one I have received so far (by David Mercer) sadly wanting, I am interested to get some factual info about THE BOOK (e-Start Your Web Store With Zen Cart) before acquiring it.

What I am after is a guide much like the Adobe 'Classroom in a Book' series that takes you by the hand and guide you through the whole process, step by step, without too many unnecessary explanations.

As an example, showing what files to get into to make changes to a template by telling you EVERY step you must take IN PLAIN ENGLISH, not taking it for granted that you have some knowledge of what to do next.

Is THE BOOK like that, so that instead of going all over this forum in search for answers, it takes you by the hand (figuratively) on a journey through the whole process without skipping 'obvious' steps (that are not so obvious when you don't know what they are)?

As hopefully is obvious, I am not very interested in learning the why's and wherefore's, but the what's and how's to set up Zen Carts.
Will THE BOOK deliver?

Shonny

[colemanpa]

The book delivers, it's a step by step guide on how to set up a cart and keep it going. here's the tread about the book, you should search before you post.

http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showth...t=buy+the+book

[gjh42]

The book is excellent for what it is, a manual for setting up and operating a Zen Cart store.

It has basic customization coverage, and very little about the details of template creation and file modification. That is a whole other subject that would require a large book (or two) to cover properly.

[shonny]

The book is excellent for what it is, a manual for setting up and operating a Zen Cart store.

It has basic customization coverage, and very little about the details of template creation and file modification. That is a whole other subject that would require a large book (or two) to cover properly.

Thanks Glenn,
That was what I really wanted to know.
Will no doubt get the book at some stage, but obviously it won't help me with what I want to know at this stage.
Cheers,
Jonn

[madmumbler]

The book is good for a starting point, to learn how to set-up and manage your store. It is for new/basic users to get their store configured, up, and running.

For more detailed information beyond a basic explanation of the template override system, you need to look to other tutorials. (Disclaimer: see my sig line, but I am not the only one with template tutorials.)

HTH,

[Ajeh]

I like the book a lot ... helps me remember what the heck we wrote in the code ...

[canopy]

Hi Shonny,

I'm not familiar with Adobe's 'Classroom in a Book' format and have not used one so I can't comment whether the book follows the same format.

The book seeks to equip store owners with all the necessary skills to run their store(s) efficiently with just the features that come right out-of-the-box with Zen Cart. It literally offers a step-by-step approach (step1, step2, step 3,...) to setting up and managing your Zen Cart store.

Although it covers a majority of Zen Cart's functions, it does not touch on 3rd-party mods. It touches on how the Template Override System works and how to create a simple template but does not go into full details on how to actually produce a nice-looking template as what is nice is subjective and also would require advanced skills like PHP, CSS, etc. and definitely another book to cover.

Do refer to the thread that colemanpa has kindly provided to find out whether the book suits your needs.