PLEASE create a custom template! If you don't, all your changes will be overwritten by the next upgrade/update and all the work you put into your site will be LOST.

There's a ton of information on the override (custom template) system in the tutorials/FAQ.

To create a very basic custom template (you can build from there), you need:
  • includes/languages/YOUR_TEMPLATE/english.php
  • includes/languages/english/YOUR_TEMPLATE/index.php
  • includes/languages/english/YOUR_TEMPLATE/meta_tags.php
  • includes/languages/english/YOUR_TEMPLATE/header.php (to change the logo)
  • includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/template_info.php
  • includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/common/tpl_header.php
  • includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/common/tpl_footer.php
  • includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/images/logo.gif
  • includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/css/stylesheet.css


Anywhere you see a /classic/ folder, you can create a folder for your custom template. You can copy the necessary files from either the /classic/ folder, the /template_default/ folder or the parent folder.

Edit includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/template_info.php to give your template identifying information so you'll recognize it in the admin under tools->template selection.

You can see the free templates available for Zen Cart in action at http://(sorry, site offline)/.