adding proctucts and creating second pages

[moondogw]

ok i'm getting better at this. i used htlm code from my brothers page. i can't figure out how to get my page to display pictures of proctucts. and how to create the the next page if they click an item. sorry i just don't get it. www.ddsflramarket.com

[schoolboy]

Zencart is not HTML... You have a rather steep learning curve ahead of you...

[moondogw]

ok php code. still it is kicking my a$$ any help

[schoolboy]

Product data is added in the ADMIN section of your site,

admin >>> categories/products

This information is stored in chunks in the DATABASE. You do not create any "pages" - zencart creates the pages for you.

[moondogw]

do i need to create these folders , i found admin but not the other 2. under admin i have backups, images, includes

[stevesh]

What schoolboy meant is that you add products to your site using the Zencaert Admin. If you haven't changed the folder name (and you should) point your browser to www. yoursitename.com/admin to log in.

[schoolboy]

do i need to create these folders , i found admin but not the other 2. under admin i have backups, images, includes

You need to understand that a CMS site uses TWO distinct systems - each reliant on the other - but functionally separate.

The FIRST system is a set of php code files and other "static" resources, such as images.

The SECOND system is the database that stores information and other DYNAMIC resources.

What a CMS does, essentially, is ASSEMBLE html pages "on-the-fly", before sending them to a user's computer to then be displayed on screen, via an internet browser (Firefox, MSIE).

The "pages" are not static... They do not exist until the viewer initiates an ACTION - either via a link, or an action button (eg: "Add to Cart").

The code then gets busy putting the "page" together - calling in all the resources necessary to render the data acccoring to the request it just received.

When it has put all the pieces together (think of a jigsaw puzzle) the page goes down the wire to the user's computer and is rendered on screen.

When the user performs another action (link click or action button) the page they are on EVAPORATES forever, and the code then gets busy assembling a NEW page - possibly performing some calculations on the way - before sending THAT new page to the user's browser.

Because the information on a "page" can contain data that is COMMON to other "pages", much of this information is stored in a database.

So, there are no "product pages". There are no directories in which this info is stored.

You manage the INPUT of relevant data via the shop's ADMIN CONSOLE, where there are features for adding, editing and removing data. Additionally the database is also a store of on-off setting for many of the components and elements that can be rendered on a "page" (for design purposes).

[moondogw]

oh! i get it. i'm going at it backwards. i'm trying to write code for the index page, and there isn't 1. zen writes the page. can u explain how to add 1 product , pic, price, short discription to my 1st page. somthing like u see at www.ddsfleamarket.com, and i'll be so close to haveing a working website. thanx 4 ur help.

[moondogw]

hey guys, what i hope the last problem i can't figure out where to turn on the contact us button

[stevesh]

The 'Contact Us' link is in the Information sidebox, which you'll have to turn on in Admin - Tools - Layout Boxes Controller.