The reverse-engineering approach

[tdblanchard]

When I had my epiphany in theming Word Press, it was pretty gosh darn simple once I put two and two together. Now I'm throwin' WP blogs on almost every site I build close to nothing extra.
Before, I would try to mash together a default theme with my very neatly, semantically perfect html and by the end of the second hour, my head would be ready to implode with frustration.
Then I realized, "just take your beautiful html and pepper in the WP-specific tags for any/all the modules you need. As long as you have that

<?php get_header(); ?>

at the top of the document, you're good to go!" WOW!
And all I really needed were a few of the elements found in most blogs (search, categories, comment boxes, etc...)

Now I'm delving into this Zen jammy and I'm waiting for the same epiphany...
Nothing yet (day two).
Where is the neatly gathered list of zen-specific tags for common shopping cart elements?

I would buy the book that seems to pop up everywhere, but I'm afraid that just gives you a "designers" hand-held wlak through the process.

I successfully got my shell looking good, but it's the innards that are driving me bonkers.
Let's just say, for instance, I'm selling hats. Three different kinds of hats, but you can upgrade them to leather.

All I want is three templates:
1. the homepage with the three categories in a nifty design that makes three categories take up a whole page. (Basically, I have this coded in html and really just need to link to the three category pages).
2. a category index page that lists all the hats in said category.
and
3. the hat detail page with a radio button for the leather option and an "add to cart" button (that I designed).

And I guess the check out process would need some love too, but once I get to that, I'd imagine I've learned what I need to finish up.
What am I missing here?

[gjh42]

Are you trying to get Zen Cart functions dropped into spots in your HTML pages? That is not going to work. ZC is designed to function as a complete site, controlling its own pages.

It is possible to install Zen Cart in a subfolder, style it to look like your main site, and have links to go from one to the other. This does run the risk of losing the session and customers' cart contents if they leave the ZC part for a long time.

Have you tried styling the Zen Cart home page (define_main_page.php in Tools > Define Pages Editor), or the product listing page or product info page?

[tdblanchard]

That sounds eerily similar to what the WP community said at first. But the majority of folks on there were simply scared to edit any php whatsoever.
If that is indeed the case, then between that and the lack of customizability of the admin section, I may have to cry "Uncle".

After spending a lot of time/money on front-end design, that admin section is one ugly, bitter pill for clients to have to swallow

[gjh42]

Determined people have done all kinds of things with Zen Cart. Search the forum and you will find various posts with various claims.
There is a "Sidebox Anywhere" mod designed to allow an element to display outside the ZC installation, but what you are talking about seems to be to replace the entire core ZC organization with your own.
"The Book" is an operator's manual to help people install and configure their shop functions, not a design/customization manual.
If the admitted homeliness of the admin is what you don't like about it, you can change the styling. It is about the oldest area in ZC, and is scheduled for a complete functional and presumably esthetic makeover in a future version (after essential front-end code upgrades).

[tdblanchard]

I appreciate your ears for my rants.
I think I'm finding my way around the app somewhat successfully. Sometimes I think my dog knows more than I do about code

[afo]

Dogs know everything. They're just too smart to let on.