Centerbox Categories module vs. default Centerbox

[notageek]

Hi. I installed Numinix's Centerbox Categories module, to show category images on the first page.

I am trying to troubleshoot why my two main category icons sit one on top of the other unless I add subcategory images in between them. I have the two top categories' sort orders (in the Admin->Categories) set to 0 as it made no difference to change the sort order, and I have the category numbers listed in the order I want them displayed in the Index Listing->Categories Centerbox List.

In trying to troubleshoot this, I found that there are a lot of beginning/ending tabs in my browser's "view page source", as follows:

<!-- begin categories center box module -->

<!-- bof: categoriesc center box module -->

[QUOTE]<div id="categoriesCenterBox" class="centerBoxWrapper">
<div class="content">
<h2 class="centerBoxHeading">Categories</h2>
<div class="centerBoxContentsFeatured centeredContent back" style="width:0%;"><a href="http://www.riverfrontsouth.com/index.php?main_page=index&amp;cPath=65"><img src="images/wwwincludesimageshlplayalongimagesDHIAXE624BK" alt="Musical Solutions" title=" Musical Solutions " width="100" height="100" /></a>
<br /><a href="http://www.riverfrontsouth.com/index.php?main_page=index&amp;cPath=65">Musical Solutions</a></div>
<div class="centerBoxContentsFeatured centeredContent back" style="width:0%;"><a href="http://www.riverfrontsouth.com/index.php?main_page=index&amp;cPath=78"><img src="images/wwwincludesimageshlplayalongimages/QUOTE]

<!-- eof: categories center box module -->
<!-- end categories center box module -->

<!-- begin categories center box module -->
<!-- end categories center box module -->


<!-- bof: featured products -->
<!-- eof: featured products -->

<!-- begin categories center box module -->
<!-- end categories center box module -->

<!-- bof: specials -->
<!-- eof: specials -->

<!-- begin categories center box module -->
<!-- end categories center box module -->

The above is exactly how it appears in the browser's "view page source."

QUESTION 1: I am not sure why the blue-colored text differs from the green-coded text, and why it says "categoriesc" in the begin statement and just "categories" in the end statement.

QUESTION 2: Why are there so many of these:
<!---begin categories center box module-->
<!-- end categories center box module -->

QUESTION 3: What is the significance of the different ways of calling the "begin" and "end" vs. "bof:" and "eof:"? Is this how I am to decipher which code was added by the module and which code pertains to the default Zen Cart?
-------

Just to clarify, in case it is helpful in addressing the above questions:

The following 3 settings are in the default Zen Cart:

Layout Settings->Categories - always show on main page = 1 to show
Layout Settings->Main Page - opens with category = 0 (zero indicates only top categories will be shown)
Layout Settings->Categories - always open to show subcategories = 0 (0 allows only top categories)

The following settings are added by Numinix's Centerbox Categories module:

Index Listing->show categories on main page = 1
Index Listing->Categories Centerbox List = 1, 14 (the numbers of my two categories)
Index Listing->frontpage categories columns per row = 3

In addition, it should be noted that the Layout Settings controls refer to sidebox settings, except for "Main Page - opens with category," which refers to opening with a chosen single category in the center box.

The Centerbox Categories is turned on with Admin->Index Listing->Categories->Centerbox List, but ONLY IF
the setting in Admin->Layout Settings->Main page opens with category is set to BLANK (not zero which says it means "the" (presumably single) top category will show).

[gjh42]

Since that mod is hosted on numinix's site and not available in Free Addons, you need to get support for it on his site. Nobody here is going to know what is wrong or how to fix it.

There is no significance to the various comment styles; they are just the practices of the different people who wrote the comments. They may be useful in distinguishing what was done by whom.

The Main page opens with category setting of 0 calls for the "Top" category, which is above all the normal top categories so it shows them as if they were its subcats (which they technically are).

[notageek]

Thanks for the reply. The explanation of 0 being essentially/pragmatically the top category makes perfect sense.

I have been trying to understand the workings of the centerbox for a while, both in the default Zen Cart and with Numinix's module, and although I have posted a much reduced form of my specific problem to the Numinix forum, your simple comment has helped me a lot with understanding the workings of Zen Cart, and is much appreciated.

[notageek]

Growing pains: I had the totally foreign idea after reading your post that I should hafe actually looked at the module's code before posting. I now see that the "bof:" and "eof:" is from the module's code.

Also, from your comment, I had the idea to stop using 0 for the category sort order for either category, and I numbered the sort orders as 1 and 2. This fixed part of the problem, which is that I can now read the top image which previously was scrambled with the second category's image. The text beneath the image(s) is still scrambled and I can only see the top image.

But it goes to show that the smallest of leads can lead somewhere. I didn't feel justified in posting a theoretical question on a forum devoted solely to operation of a module, since it is a smaller group looking at the limited module forum, but now I have something more pragmatic to post there. Thanks again.

[notageek]

Okay. It was really simple. I had the categories set at 5 per row, but only had the two top categories activated, not the subcategories. The images for some reason placed themselves one on top of the other.

I changed the setting to 2 per row. Voila! There they are, evenly spaced and displayed separately.

I suppose to many people that would have been an obvious thing to try first. Hopefully I will try the simple approach first with my next problem that seems daunting.

[notageek]

I came back to this problem because I again experienced superimposition of categories. I saw here that I had 5 per row and changed the setting to 2 per row to correct this, and checked Admin->Configuration->Maximum, but saw that I already had set 2 per row. I ultimately found the setting to change was a parallel setting to the maximum setting, in Admin->Configuration->Index Listing->"front page categories columns per row."

I hope this helps someone.