Shopping Cart or E-commerce site

[Booksmythe]

I am transitioning from 1shoppingcart.com which is a full-featured, fairly expensive shopping cart. For any product that I loaded into their site, I would get an ID # that I could load as a link on my website. When somebody wanted to check out they would click on the link, it would take them to what looked like my shopping cart but was actually at the 1shoppingcart.com site. It worked well—just expensive.

Zencart starts to look more and more like an e-commerce solution with layout already finished. My website has been working for some time. I don't want to redesign the whole thing at this time. I just want to put a link on the website to take the customer to the zencart shopping cart checkout. How do I do that?

Thanks.

[Kim]

I just want to put a link on the website to take the customer to the zencart shopping cart checkout. How do I do that?

You don't. Zen Cart is a full featured ecommerce program.

[Booksmythe]

Zen "Cart" is rather a misleading name then, isn't it?

Is there a way to integrate use of the shopping cart functions with the more sophisticated design programs such as Adobe GoLive, Dreamweaver, or even HotDog?

[kobra]

Is there a way to integrate use of the shopping cart functions with the more sophisticated design programs such as Adobe GoLive, Dreamweaver, or even HotDog?

All of these are NOT php environments but rather html xhtml coding devices.

"sophisticated design programs" I read as easy, not generally "sophisticated"

There is little in the way of a WYSIWYG php editor mostly for the reason that "pages" as most define them as do not exist.

They are assembled server side from pieces pre-defined and mostly
header
center section
footer\

Zen Cart IMO is not misleading - You might be expecting something else but as Kim stated it is "Zen Cart" NOT "Zen Pieces" or "Zen Buy now buttons"

[swguy]

Is there a way to integrate use of the shopping cart functions with the more sophisticated design programs such as Adobe GoLive, Dreamweaver, or even HotDog?

Sure, but Zen Cart isn't it. Zen Cart is a complete solution.

If you have a website that you just want to nail an "add to cart" button onto, look at FoxyCart.

[Booksmythe]

Actually HotDog from Sausage Software also lets you edit PHP. It is a good coding program that also lets you preview what you've created.

The advantage of many of the fee per month shopping carts is that they work with existing websites.

Am I correct that if I wish to use ZenCart, I basically have to start over and throw out my existing website?

[afo]

As Kim has already stated, Zen Cart is NOT a backend solution, so you would have to start over.

[gjh42]

"lets you edit PHP. It is a good coding program that also lets you preview what you've created."

You can actually do this with Zen Cart. If you have a local server setup on your pc and a copy of your website installed on it (anyone can do this), you can edit PHP files in something like Notepad++ and see the effect as soon as you refresh the page. Of course this is straight PHP coding, not a wysiwyg editor that does the coding for you.

You can make the Zen Cart template match just about any existing design, so you don't have to throw out the design, just recreate it in ZC.