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Product Listing Layout Help

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25 Jun 2011, 17:46
#1
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nolsowski

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Product Listing Layout Help

On my product listing page I have this huge gap between the top of the page to where it says Displaying 1 of 8 products. I noticed that when I add more sideboxes the products move farther down.

Is there a way to fix this? If not is there a way I can have the sideboxes turned off only on this page?

My test site is http://frompropertorocker.com/fptr_test/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_2_3

Thanks!
25 Jun 2011, 17:55
#2
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Re: Product Listing Layout Help

Your "easybiz" template seems to have hacked away at how the columns are structured. You will need to get in touch with the person who built this template and ask them how/why they altered the way the columns are ordered.
25 Jun 2011, 18:00
#3
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Re: Product Listing Layout Help

schoolboy:

Your "easybiz" template seems to have hacked away at how the columns are structured. You will need to get in touch with the person who built this template and ask them how/why they altered the way the columns are ordered.


Thanks! I am starting to think maybe I should find a different template lol. This one is so hard to get it the way I want it.
25 Jun 2011, 18:08
#4
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Re: Product Listing Layout Help

I just found the guy who made the template and he hasn't been on since Nov 2010. I think I will give up on this template and find a new one.

Thanks for the help!
25 Jun 2011, 18:12
#5
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Re: Product Listing Layout Help

Most "commercially available" templates are designed to LOOK BEAUTIFUL on the site that is selling them - so that innocent and gullible people fall in love with them and instantly buy them.

It's only AFTER they have been bought, and installed, that people realise they have acquired a bucket-load of problems that are extremely difficult to "edit" and which alter core behaviour so much that they are a nightmare to work with.

An incredible amount can be done with just a "clone" of the classic template, and the sensible installation of many free add-ons that are built to be easily accommodated in the core behaviour and general functional schema of zencart.
25 Jun 2011, 18:29
#6
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Re: Product Listing Layout Help

schoolboy:

Most "commercially available" templates are designed to LOOK BEAUTIFUL on the site that is selling them - so that innocent and gullible people fall in love with them and instantly buy them.

It's only AFTER they have been bought, and installed, that people realise they have acquired a bucket-load of problems that are extremely difficult to "edit" and which alter core behaviour so much that they are a nightmare to work with.

An incredible amount can be done with just a "clone" of the classic template, and the sensible installation of many free add-ons that are built to be easily accommodated in the core behaviour and general functional schema of zencart.


Thankfully I didn't buy this template. It looked like it was a premium but then they made it free.

Well it looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me lol.
25 Jun 2011, 18:38
#7
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Re: Product Listing Layout Help

WHile a "good looking" site tells your visitors (potential customers) a lot about your professionalism and attention to detail, remember that it is EFFICIENCY and FUNCTIONALITY that will impress them. If your product are WELL-DESCRIBED, with GOOD IMAGES that show necessary detail, and it's easy to CHECKOUT and PAY, then people will shop with you anyway.

Over time, you can "polish" your site as your skills-set improves, and surprise and delight your customers with a design that ADDS to their experience at your webshop.

But I always say to people... START SELLING !!!

Get a reasonable design up there, and get on with running your business. Get the cash coming in...

I have a client who (back in late 2005) wanted a site very urgently, so we just cloned the CLASSIC template, shoved in a couple of different background images, and took the site live.

Now, it's 2011, and her site looks exactly the way it did back in 2005 - and she does a LOT of business! She focuses on good SEO principles, good prices, traditional marketing methods, and sells products people want.
25 Jun 2011, 19:06
#8
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Re: Product Listing Layout Help

schoolboy:

WHile a "good looking" site tells your visitors (potential customers) a lot about your professionalism and attention to detail, remember that it is EFFICIENCY and FUNCTIONALITY that will impress them. If your product are WELL-DESCRIBED, with GOOD IMAGES that show necessary detail, and it's easy to CHECKOUT and PAY, then people will shop with you anyway.

Over time, you can "polish" your site as your skills-set improves, and surprise and delight your customers with a design that ADDS to their experience at your webshop.

But I always say to people... START SELLING !!!

Get a reasonable design up there, and get on with running your business. Get the cash coming in...

I have a client who (back in late 2005) wanted a site very urgently, so we just cloned the CLASSIC template, shoved in a couple of different background images, and took the site live.

Now, it's 2011, and her site looks exactly the way it did back in 2005 - and she does a LOT of business! She focuses on good SEO principles, good prices, traditional marketing methods, and sells products people want.


That's so true! I do have an actual site up but I don't like the layout so I thought I would try to make the test site the way I wanted it and then upload it to the live one.

The only reason I chose this template was because of the slideshow on the front and then next to it the 3 boxes where I can put my own images in. If I can figure out how to duplicate what they did and how it's laid out then I will be super happy and won't use this darn template lol.
25 Jun 2011, 19:11
#9
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Re: Product Listing Layout Help

nolsowski:

If I can figure out how to duplicate what they did and how it's laid out then I will be super happy
...


That's usually not too difficult.

Load the page where the slideshow plays, then look at the PAGE SOURCE (the html).

It will probably show a call to some jscript, some CSS, and if you look at the DIV in which the images are contained, they will have a style ID.

Then, look for the place where that jscript has been stored - probably in that template's jscript folder. There may also be a reference in includes/modules/pages/index/header.php (or there may be a jscript file in that location).

Anyway... just DUPLICATE everything that loads the slideshow, into YOUR NEW TEMPLATE, and it will work.
25 Jun 2011, 19:12
#10
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Re: Product Listing Layout Help

schoolboy:

That's usually not too difficult.

Load the page where the slideshow plays, then look at the PAGE SOURCE (the html).

It will probably show a call to some jscript, some CSS, and if you look at the DIV in which the images are contained, they will have a style ID.

Then, look for the place where that jscript has been stored - probably in that template's jscript folder. There may also be a reference in includes/modules/pages/index/header.php (or there may be a jscript file in that location).

Anyway... just DUPLICATE everything that loads the slideshow, into YOUR NEW TEMPLATE, and it will work.


Great thanks!
26 Jun 2011, 00:47
#11
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Re: Product Listing Layout Help

Well I managed to get it copied over but also managed to screw it up :laugh:

I can't seem to figure out why the slideshow isn't working. I can't for the life of me figure out what I am missing.

Here is my new test site http://frompropertorocker.com/fptrtest/index.php?main_page=index
26 Jun 2011, 16:57
#12
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Re: Product Listing Layout Help

I got the slideshow fixed but now I noticed that all my pages look exactly as the easybiz template. All I did was copied over the slideshow contents. and nothing else (that I know of) in the stylesheet.

Ugh! I am starting to get really aggravated lol. http://frompropertorocker.com/fptrtest/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_2&products_id=1
26 Jun 2011, 18:56
#13
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Re: Product Listing Layout Help

Never mind. I got this figured out too.

I just merged the tpl_main_page.php from the easybiz template to the template_default-tpl_main_page.php then uploaded that copy to my new template folder.

:D