changing colour of menus, picture and file access

[BlankTheMan]

hi all. i got the latest version installed. My boss just installed zen cart and im busy setting it up. It's a brand new install. I got a few questions.

1st: how do i change the colour of the top of the menus? I'm trying to edit the default template that came with the install. I'm trying to change it to orange and it's green right now.

2nd: the top left corner has "powered by zencart" pic. How do i change that picture?

3rd: everything i try do, it says it can't write to a specific folder or file, what must i ask the boss to edit so i can write to it? eg the banner manager, i can't add more banners. the define pages editor as well but i actually can't see what the define pages editor does.

There was one more question which of course i'll only remember once i've posted this. I have looked through the forums but can't seem to find answers. I also looked through each menu in the admin section. Also is there a way to edit all this without having to edit the php files in one of the folders? i'd like to edit through the admin menu. If not then let me know the only way to edit this.

Thank you in advance for the help.

[stevesh]

Read through the Tutorials/FAQ section for answers to most of your questions.

As for your last question, there are many options available in Admin - in many cases, you'll need to experiment: look through all the menus and try things to see what happens.

Changing the look of your store mostly is done by editing files, though, especially stylesheet.css.

You'll need to set the permissions of files (and possibly the folders they're contained in) you want to edit to writable on the server, although in a standard Zencart installation, the permissions are usually correct.

Also, I can't imagine trying to configure and style Zencart if I had to go to the 'boss' every time I needed to do something on the server. You should ask him/her for FTP access so you can do everything yourself.

[BlankTheMan]

thanx for the reply. i did read the the faq , that's why i'm here. Please could you post a link because clearly i'm missing something somewhere.

[afo]

The answers to your first 2 questions lies in creating your own custom template. Editing/modifying the classic or default template that comes with Zen Cart is a BAD idea since those files are overwritten with any update/upgrade. There's tons of information in the Tutorials/FAQ about custom templates.

There are also free templates available for Zen Cart that will give you a jump start on customizing the look. You can see most of them in action at http://(sorry, site offline)/

[BlankTheMan]

I've read through the FAQ and forums, that's why i ended up posting here. Thanx for the template link, i'll look through the templates and hopefully i'll find something i can use.

I read somewhere in the forum that changin the default template was easy. That's why i asked. "easy" was his exacts words. Anyway link for the other question please???

[afo]

Not knowing the context of the "easy" comment, I can't really tell what the person meant. He/she may have been talking about how easy it is to change to another template.

You should NEVER change those files for the reason I mentioned earlier. Plus, if you're having an issue with your template, being able to go back to the one that came with Zen Cart can help diagnose the problem. For example, something's not displaying correctly in your custom template. If it displays correctly using the classic template, the problem is in the customization.

1. Colors are controlled by the stylesheet.
2. The logo should be in header.php.
3. As Steve noted, the permissions are something that need to be set outside of Zen Cart. I believe there may be a discussion of permissions in the Tutorials/FAQ.

This list is a bit outdated, but it'll give you an idea where to start to create a very basic custom template (you can build from there):

• 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 and header text)
• includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/template_info.php
• includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/common/tpl_header.php <- may not be necessary
• includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/common/tpl_footer.php <- may not be necessary
• includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/images/logo.gif (or .jpg or .png)
• 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.

Note: if you've changed the height of the logo in header.php, you may need to change it in your stylesheet as well:

#logoWrapper{
background-image: url(../images/header_bg.jpg);
background-repeat: repeat-x;
background-color: #ffffff;
height:75px; <-adjust this line if necessary
}

[BlankTheMan]

thanx guys for the speedy response. I do appreciate it. So I can't edit the things i asked for in the admin menu? I did look through the menu and clicked each button before i posted all this in the forums. I thought maybe i missed something since it's the first time I'm using zen cart. You saying i have to edit the files in the template folder only? Ok thanx alot.

Do have another quick question. I've downloaded a template but now how do i install it ? I use another web design program and they install it through the admin menu. How do we install template through zen cart?

[afo]

For your editing work, you'll need a good text editor like Notepad++ or Crimson Editor. You'll also need an FTP client (if you don't already have one) like FileZilla. All of the programs I mentioned are free on the net.

Although some files can be edited through the Zen Cart admin, most cannot.

There should be instructions included with the template on installing it. It's a fairly simple matter of FTPing the folders/files to the site. Once that's done, you go to admin>tools>template selection and select your template from the pulldown menu. You'll also have to go to admin>tools>layout boxes controller and reset the sideboxes. Most of us freak out the first time we change templates and realize a bunch of stuff appears to be gone