Complete novice to Zen Cart
Hi all!
I am new to Zen-Cart so I apologise in advance for my apparent cluelessness :)
I am just finishing my university degree and have decided to go into the on-line retail area. I'm not just looking for a quick money-earner but far from it. I have good access to fantastic products (my father's wholesale business) and I can see there is a good opportunity to expand into on-line sales. I have trialled e-commerce on 123reg.couk for a year or two to test the feasibility of the products, but I feel I need more control. I want to put a lot of time and effort in at the start so that I get things right. So I've been looking into other ecommerce solutions and feel the right one for me is Zen Cart.
I'll be honest, I'm totally new to ZC and have no idea where to start. Really I need somebody to point me in the right direction. I've been reading forums and websites but have not come across a simple answer to a very simple question. (I do apologise for my ignorance).
Right now, I have a MacBook in front of me...I have downloaded ZenCart, which is currently in a folder on my desktop. What on earth do I need to do to get started?
Thanks in advance for your help/responses
(unfortunately we were never taught things like this in IT lessons :) )
Re: Complete novice to Zen Cart
Click on the link on the top of this page called Tutorials/FAQ..
I would start here:
Re: Complete novice to Zen Cart
If you are serious about starting an online store, then you will need to consider it as a business venture, before you consider it as a "piece of software". Your experience with 123-reg will have set you on a good path, however.
Rather than try to install ZC on your Mac (possible, but finicky), choose one of the certified hosts (see link above), and get zencart installed on their servers. For novices, this is one of the more important decisions... If your host understands zencart, you will be in safe, reliable hands. I cannot over-stress this fact. Choose the right host!
If you intend to manage (technically) your site, then you need to have a reasonable knowledge of:
FTP (get a good FTP program)
CHMOD - File permissions
HTML (principles mostly)
CSS
Image file formats.
TXT editors (You will need a good TEXT EDITOR - we never edit code files in programs like MSWord...)
A good host will provide you with a proper propreitary C-Panel interface on your server. Learn how to use it.
Do not use Auto-install systems to install zencart. An important part of the learning process is doing a manual install.
Before you can install zencart, you will need to craete a database on the server. There are video tutorials on most good C-Panel systems, and it is actually very easy to create a database and a USER (who then needs a password). You associate the database with the user, giving him/her ALL permissions...
... then you load (via FTP) a full set of ZC files to your server, and start the installation.
It is RECOMMENDED you install the Demo Product data, as this will help you learn most aspects of your zencart store admin console.
This forum is very helpful... most of what I know was learned from others on this forum.
