Things every New Zenner needs to know

Update on my progress. After much scratching (about 7 hours all told):

I have got Zen Cart running on my mac.
I have created my own template folder with a new template_info.php
I think I have created a new template set. At least I followed the instructions. Problem is there are no templates in my new templates folder

So I'm stuck here. I'm not sure what I should do now so that I can build my own site. I was under the impression that at this stage I might be able to hack away at some template and remove all the files I don't want or edit the CSS in some way. Can't figure out how to do that.

I tried pointing my browser at index.php but I just get a blank page which I half expect seeing as I haven't actually done anything that would update it from its virgin state and that is confirmed when I open it in Dreamweaver. I'm floundering in the dark now.

Could someone point me in the right direction. If anyone is that interested, the site is up at glampamtextiles.co.uk in the form of a portfolio of work and my client wants to make it an ecommerce site. So that should give at least some idea of what I'm trying to build.

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Originally Posted by Sermonzone

PRE-EMPTIVE EDIT:

A lot of documentation has been added to the Knowledgebase:
https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/i...hp?category=16

Further, you will find great value in the eStart Your Web Store with Zen Cart users manual, which walks you through setting up your Zen Cart site from start to finish, along with many day-to-day tasks.
You can get your copy of the book here: http://www.lulu.com/content/466605


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Original discussion:
New Zen Cart users get easily frustrated. They often do not know how to find answers to their questions and if they stumble onto the right answer they don't realize it's the right answer. The recent 'reboot' for the forum so closely on the heels of the upgrade to 1.3 seems to have made things worse.

I am considering writing a "Getting Started" style document that focuses on templates, overrides, colors, text, images and the like. Perhaps a reasonable title will be "Top 10 Questions asked by New Zenners" or "10 things every New Zenner should know but doesn't know where to find."

I would like to hear from New Zenners about this project. What did you have the most trouble with? What documents did you feel were lacking? What were the top problems and questions you had? -- Things like that.

Part of the rationale for this project is that as users can perform more tasks without having to post a thread like "I am such a newb and have no idea what I am doing" it will free the Devs for more time in core upgrades. Hopefully, users that are more successful at the beginning will press on and have a viable online business and donate back to Zen Cart.

I will be away from the forum for a few days (niece's wedding) this weekend. Further, I don't plan to reply to every post. This is a place to collect feedback from new users.

If more experienced users post, perhaps you could list the mistakes you most often see.

The final location for the project is uncertain. In many ways, it will be a duplicate of material in the FAQ and Wiki. However, much of that material needs to be updated and New Zenners seem to not read it or not understand it. I will continue to try to coordinate this with the Devs so that it benefits the most in the community.

Please presume a successful install of ZenCart 1.3+. I would like to focus on customizations issues that every new users is likely to experience.

Feel free to PM with info you would rather not be in the forum.

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This is my 2nd install of ZC within 2 days. The first one I installed in /public_html/fotosbyerika.com/zen. I couldn't figure it out. I want to sell my photographs online but I got error messages instead. I changed the name to oldfotosbyerika.com and did a fresh install, this time into /public_html. I then renamed it fotosbyerika.com. That seems to work better except that I don't like anything about the theme.

So, I guess what would help is a little hand-holding and walking us newbees through the process. Once up and running, we won't need you quite so much. Oh, I don't want to buy the book. Is that bad?

I've been running websites for a few years now but still find myself stumped by new programs. Mostly, I've been using WordPress and Coppermine.:P

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Oh, I don't want to buy the book. Is that bad?

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Would you drive a new car without reading the owner's manual to find out what all the buttons and switches do? The eStart book IS the Owner's Manual. It is your choice.

This is the 594th reply in this thread; the forum as a whole has 680,532 posts; let's assume that just 5% of those are answers to questions - that's 34000 answers...a fair bit of hand-holding I'd say.

You don't want to buy the book - your choice, but believe me, if you want to make money out of your website, a small investment will save you hours upon hours of searching for info or trial and error exercises...how much is your time worth to you?

However, let's be clear, the book is about the admin side of your store; it is NOT about building a really swish template.

I'm a small business owner not a computer programmer. I would like to see some simple comprehensive instructions in layman's terms! How to videos would be very helpful also. I'm new to Zen Cart and for me its like being in a foreign country where no one speaks English! :wacko:

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How to videos would be very helpful also.

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There are some available BUT NOT FREE

Veteran Zenners:

I looked into all the e-commerce sites available (open source and paid) and I settled on Zen.

Reason?

Zen has the absolute best help forum on the internet. The wiki's and other help documents are awesome as are the contributions by the veterans on this forum.

My store is installed, looks good (for now) and all it took from me was some research within this forum.

Thank you to all the veteran posters who take time out of their schedules to help make this open source project successful!

Peace,
Ken

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Originally Posted by bama1965

Veteran Zenners:

I looked into all the e-commerce sites available (open source and paid) and I settled on Zen.

Reason?

Zen has the absolute best help forum on the internet. The wiki's and other help documents are awesome as are the contributions by the veterans on this forum.

My store is installed, looks good (for now) and all it took from me was some research within this forum.

Thank you to all the veteran posters who take time out of their schedules to help make this open source project successful!

Peace,
Ken

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+1 Ken

A builder put up a sign that read "Free house to anyone!". A man shows up to find just the frame of the house built and all of the rest of the material needed to finish it neatly piled up around the site. The builder said all of it was free to the person that would put effort into finishing the house. The man went away sad because the builder would not tell him what the house was supposed to look like nor would he stay and show him how to put it together. Sound familiar?

I dare say that ZC has more resources to complete the framework than any other open source system out there. The framework is free, but you have to put the effort into it. I am grateful for the help that I get on this site when I get stuck. I usually only ask after having put the time in to try an figure it out for my self. Take the time to learn the basics of HTML, CSS, PHP and maybe some SQL. You won't regret it and you just might end up with a beautiful "free mansion" of a site that all you had to do is spend the time learning and creating.

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7) The override system. Makes no sense when you read the basic everyday reply in a post. We need to know NUMBER ONE (like a blank diagram would be amazing) and then we need to know WHERE SPECIFICALLY the /whatever/ folder goes. Zen cart is quite a huge expandable tree and thus very easy to get LOST in. Trying to know where to put a /whatever/ folder when we don't know where anything else is doesn't work.

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AMEN!!!

Old instructions - in the Wiki and elsewhere - do NOT help a 'newbie'. I just loaded the cart today and can NOT figure out how to make a custom template. This should be upfront and a very EASY task to accomplish.

I'm NOT giving up - but I will say - everything I read - for almost the past 2 weeks - Zen is user friendly. I can build in Dreamweaver and wysiwyg (which is NOT what you get) TEN websites under my belt - and I can't make a template????:frusty:

:blush: Sorry! I do NOT mean to rant - just frustrated :(

About "the" book - is it up to date with the version I just got today? I have NO problem purchasing something that will be useful in learning how to use this cart. If it's "old" - outdated info, I'm afraid I will not be able to figure out what the heck I'm doing:unsure:
THANKS!!!!!

edit: I would like to get the hard copy - anyone else have it? does it come quickly? the actual book I mean, not the 'smarts' to figure it out :)