Zen Cart Support FAQ
Here you can find answers to questions about how the board works. Use the links or search box below to find your way around.
Forum Do's and Don'ts
Do:
- Search for posts relevant to your problem.
- Read the searchable docs to see if the answer is there.
- Make the headline for your post relevant to your problem.
- Tell us about your host and versions of php and mysql so that we can diagnose more easily.
- Help others where you can. The best way to learn a subject is to teach someone else.
Don't:
- Post links to commercial services.
- Bump your post. If you have not gotten an answer in a reasonable amount of time. Post a reply to your own existing post with more details of what you have and haven't done to attempt to cure the problem or find answers to your questions. Try to explain it in a different way if maybe it's unclear.
- Private Message the Support Team trying to get their attention for your post. The whole idea of the forum is education and a problem solved privately benefits no one except you.
- Cross Post. Cross Posting is posting the same message in multiple threads or posting links to threads on other boards. It's seen as spam.
- Use banners or other images in your signature line. You will be asked to remove them.
- Hold independent contests or raffles.
- Use barcodes as avatars ... that is just sneaky advertising.
Before you post a question on the forum ...
Before you post:
- Check the searchable documentation at https://docs.zen-cart.com
- Search the forum
Done all of the above and still having a problem?
- Post your problem in the appropriate forum category.
- You should include answers to all of these questions:
- What version of Zen Cart?
- Is it a new install or an upgrade?
- What the addons/contributions you have installed?
- What customizations have you made?
- What type of server are you using?
- Are you installing locally?
- What operating system?
- What version of PHP is installed on the server?
- What version of MYSQL is installed on the server?
- What you were doing when your problem occurred?
- What are the steps to reproduce the problem?
- Have you attempted to fix the problem?
- What steps have you taken?
- Any other details that might be important, i.e. the port number
If your problem is visual in nature, try switching your template back to "Classic" temporarily and see if the problem persists. Include the results of this observation in your post.
Only post once (not multiple times on the same issue) and then be patient. We are all volunteers, we all live in different time zones, we all have lives, and the expert you need at that moment may just not be available.
If you haven't received an answer in a reasonable amount of time you may reply to your own post WITH MORE information. DO NOT post "Well?" or "Can someone please help". That is considered bumping and you will probably get yelled at.
Duplicate posts are subject to being locked or deleted, as they simply bring confusion to those helping or others reading/searching for information later, and are seen as spam-like.
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
This is well worth the read: Link to asking Smart Questions
Signature Line Guidelines
Updated August 2011
You may:
- You may have one *link* for your business. This must just be a simple hyperlink to your business website, with no advertising copy.
Example: https://www.my-site.com or <a href="https://www.my-site.com">My Store</a> - You may have one link for each Zen Cart powered store that you operate. This must just be a simple hyperlink to your business website, with no advertising copy.
Example: https://www.my-site.com or <a href="https://www.my-site.com">My Store</a> - You may have links to any contributions that you have created/amended. Links must be to the Zen Cart download area. Offsite links are not allowed.
- Other content such as 'Thought of the day', Quotes etc are acceptable as long as they conform to all of the other rules herein.
An acceptable signature line would be:
John Smithhttps://www.my-site.com
Happy to be Zenning today
You may not:
- You may not use any URLs that contain 'affiliate' links, unless those links have been previously approved by the Zen Cart team.
- You may not use any images in your signature or barcodes as your avatar.
- You may not have any sales/marketing material.
- You may not exceed 250 characters in your signature.
- You may not have any content or links that reference material that is offensive or may be considered to be offensive.
We define 'offensive' as:
- Content that is intended to harass, belittle, humiliate, threaten or cause embarrassment to a fellow member.
- Content that contains vulgar, obscene or indecent language or images.
- Content that defames, abuses or threatens others.
- Content that is bigoted, hateful or racially offensive.
- Content that advocates illegal activity or discusses illegal activities with the intent to commit them.
- Content that uses unauthorized copyrighted material.
An unacceptable signature:
John SmithFollow me on Twitter - twitter.com/johnsmith
Buy my shoes! Cheap knocks offs at myShoesCheap.com
If your site contains material not suitable for certain audiences, please be sure to provide a warning!
The Zen Cart founders and moderators will be the final arbiters of any dispute over the interpretation of these rules.
Zen Cart™ Forum Code of Conduct
When you log on to the Zen Cart® forum or visit as a guest, you have agreed to follow this Code of Conduct. It applies to all forum posts, private messages, emails and any other communication originating from this web site.
You agree that you will not:
- Send, post or distribute any form of active commercial solicitation.
- Send, post or distribute any communication that is intended to harass, belittle, humiliate, threaten or cause embarrassment to a fellow member.
- Send, post or distribute material that contains vulgar, obscene or indecent language or images.
- Send, post or distribute any communication that contains spam (multiple copies in one area or the same communication in multiple areas).
- Send, post or distribute material that defames, abuses or threatens others.
- Send, post or make statements that are bigoted, hateful or racially offensive.
- Send, post or distribute material that advocates illegal activity or discusses illegal activities with the intent to commit them.
- Send, post or distribute unauthorized copyrighted material.
Communicating on message boards, via PM and email is different from face-to-face communication. Only the words are seen, not your facial expressions or tone of voice. Please pay careful attention to how you use your words.
Remember that the words you enter in a burst of passion or indignant anger will be there for you and everyone else to see (even in search engines), sometimes long after those intense feelings have passed. That's not meant to discourage spontaneity, but just a friendly reminder of the long-term existence and effects of what you post.
You may, from time to time, find yourself in disagreement with someone else's opinion. At times like these, please keep in mind it's safer and more polite to take issue with the comments rather than the person.
Statements, postings, Private Message's or other communications from the Zen Cart website, that violate the above terms will be deleted from the forums upon discovery. While we may attempt to notify you if we move or delete a post, we are under no obligation to do so. Depending on the nature of the violation, the Zen Cart® Moderators, at their sole discretion may terminate a customer's account.
How do I find what posts I've made?
You can ...
- Click on your Username inside any post
- Select "Find other posts by this user" from the pulldown menu.
OR ...
- Click on the "Settings" link in the upper-right forum nav bar.
- Pick "Find more posts by this member" or "Find all threads started by this member".
OR ...
- Click "Quick Links" in the forum menu bar
- Choose the "Members List"
- Click the Search Members or look through the alphabetical lists.
- Click the forum member's name to view their profile.
- Choose the Statistics tab
- Click the "Find all posts by..." or "Find all threads started by ..." link
