Will downloading a new template mess me up?

[MamaT]

Hi there! We are diving into the world of a family website/webstore, and are new zenners. There has been another person helping to design our site and she has done most of the "behind the scenes" stuff so far. My husband is not happy with the template that was chosen, and now that we see there are more options, we would like to change.

I asked about a new template and she said that wouldn't be able to be done without losing and having to redo all of the design that she had already started. Is this accurate? I don't want to lose the work that she has done, but we need to be happy with this site as well. I really think I'll need to learn to do it on my own and not continue to bother her with these things.

SO....as I stated, my first question is....am I able to change the template without losing what has been done so far? If so, do I just click on the download button that is found on the desired template and it will automatically be changed and in my existing "admin center"?

[afo]

The template controls the look of your site, so if you change templates, you won't see the changes your designer made. They won't be lost, they just may not be used by the new template.

That said, you may be able to copy some of the elements the designer added. To better advise you, you'd have to post more info to the forum, so we can better tell what's going on.

Anyway, adding a template is fairly easy. You upload the folders/files to your website and select the template from the pulldown menu in admin>tools>template selection. Don't forget to press "reset" in admin>tools>layout boxes controller.

I'm hoping you found the new template at http://(sorry, site offline)/.

[MamaT]

Thank you Mary Ellen.

Yes, that is where I have been looking at templates, and would choose one from there as well.

So you are saying that downloading a new template WOULD reset everything to a default status?

What other information would you need from me? This is ALL Greek to me so I'll be needing a hand holding as I walk through. Even reading some of the tutorials doesn't make sense, because I don't know where to go to get to that "starting point"

[afo]

Once you hit "reset" on the layout boxes controller, lots of your setting will be back to where you had them. There may be other things to consider (like your logo), but that you should be able to copy from the current template to the new one.

If your site is online, it's usually easier to help if we can see the site itself. Otherwise, we're pretty much guessing in the dark.

Don't worry about not understanding. There's a learning curve to Zen Cart, but once you get the hang of it, you'll wonder why you thought it was difficult. Just keep in mind that some and is to be expected when you're just starting out with something new.

[MamaT]

Once you hit "reset" on the layout boxes controller, lots of your setting will be back to where you had them. There may be other things to consider (like your logo), but that you should be able to copy from the current template to the new one.

What do I need to do to save and copy the logo and pictures then? I'm assuming that I also want to copy all of the descriptions I started plugging in to a word document then, so they are not lost? The product photos were quickies that were put in just to get an idea of how it all worked, those will be retaken with better lighting and a non-wrinkled background later anyway

If your site is online, it's usually easier to help if we can see the site itself. Otherwise, we're pretty much guessing in the dark.

You can see the very raw site here: trueharttreasures.com The logo and photos are going to stay similar, but the colors are still being worked on.

Don't worry about not understanding. There's a learning curve to Zen Cart, but once you get the hang of it, you'll wonder why you thought it was difficult. Just keep in mind that some and is to be expected when you're just starting out with something new.

LOL! I've already had my share of those! I hope it get's easier......that thought is what's keeping me going

It was recommended to me that I ask the woman who designed the logo and such if she followed the overrides procedure or not.

Is there a way for me to see if she did? And if not, is there a way for me to do it myself?

It was said that if she did I could install the new template and move the custom pages (from the other template) to the new template (custom) pages. I really don't have much for custom pages yet, mainly the logo and pics.

Maybe once you see the site and what I'm talking about, you will have some better ideas for what steps to take here....

[afo]

I like what she did with the site.

The good news is she used the templating/override system. Your current template is 12541. Now, if you decide to go with a different template and then change your mind, you can always go back to admin>tools>template selection and choose 12541 again. It's as simple as that.

All your categories and product pictures (ie anything stored in the database) will be carried over to the new template, so no worries about that. You'll have to copy the logo over to the new template.

[MamaT]

I like what she did with the site.

The good news is she used the templating/override system. Your current template is 12541. Now, if you decide to go with a different template and then change your mind, you can always go back to admin>tools>template selection and choose 12541 again. It's as simple as that.

All your categories and product pictures (ie anything stored in the database) will be carried over to the new template, so no worries about that. You'll have to copy the logo over to the new template.

Good news!

What do I need to do to save the logo and pictures to be able to transfer them over?

[MamaT]

And once I get those saved, I think I'm going to try this one:
http://(sorry, site offline)/138/ind...ir=zencart_zen

Do I just click that button in the upper right, and it automatically goes into my admin area? Right now all it shows in there is the Theme 12541, and Classic Contemporary Green.

[charmedbytina2]

You will need to upload the files to your server through your FTP program.

Once the files are on the server, then you can select the template in your admin.

Just a quick note - for that template there is a fix post in the support thread about the tabs across the top (the download has the images in white - so they don't show up.

This is what the template + the fix looks like in action.

http://getmorethriftstore.com (pardon the load time - owner has HUGE images on the site - just can't get her to optimize them!)

Tina

[afo]

You don't have to save them anywhere. They're safe where they are. Installing a new template won't hurt them in any way.

In order to use the template, you have to download it. This will put a zip file on your computer. Some hosts allow you to transfer the zip file to your website and unzip/install it there. Alternately, you can unzip it on your computer and FTP the /includes folder to the root of your Zen Cart and let the FTP take it from there. You can also upload the files/folders one by one with FTP if you prefer.

Once the new template has been uploaded to your website, you should see it available from the pulldown menu.