shop help

[poppetface]

Hi i had a website made for me but its now not working properly so i am seeing if i can get some advice from this forum to help me fix the problems with the site then make some changes to my site aswell. I am using zencart version v1.3.9h

First problems is when you click on a a product or catergory the page no longer loads. There is also loads of things i want to change on the website e.g the slidebar at the top the front page description catergories ect. I can use a computer resonably well but i am just wanting to know how complicated it is to adjust all these problems on my site or would be a better idea to get a designer to do it for me again?

www.poppetface.co.uk

[schoolboy]

Someone (your site designer) has installed one of the so-called "SEO URL" modules.

This is generally a BAD IDEA. and the only solution is to remove the module. These modules have NO influence on search engine rankings, and cause a lot of problems.

You (or someone) will first have to remove that module before you can start working on other issues.

A knowledgeable person could remove it in under an hour.

In the meantime, you could try DISABLING it... IF there is a switch for it in the admin panel.

Look under your CONFIGURATION menu and see of there is a control set for "SEO URL" or something like that. There may then be a setting to turn it off, or set it to false.

That is a TEMPORARY fix... best solution is to get rid of it completely.

[poppetface]

Hi many thanks for the reply, in the zencart admin there is Ceon URI Mapping (SEO) which has the option to turn this off shall i do this?

[stevesh]

Yes. Turn it off and see if your pages come back.

[poppetface]

I have my pages back now which is great thanks alot for that help.
Now adjusting everything else is this going to be really complicated ? or is this something that an expert really needs to do?

[stevesh]

I can use a computer resonably well but i am just wanting to know how complicated it is to adjust all these problems on my site or would be a better idea to get a designer to do it for me again?

Only you can answer that. Zencart has a learning curve like any other program, but it isn't that difficult, and you have the forum if you get stuck.

I would suggest you read through all the Tutorials/FAQ entries and spend some time poking around the admin options, then see if you can do it yourself.

For the main page content, Admin - Tools - Define Pages Editor and select define_main_page.php.

Also, look in admin and see what version of Zencart you're using. If it isn't 1.3.9h or 1.5.0, you need to upgrade.

[poppetface]

Thanks for all the help so far i will just list my ideas for my site and if anyone has any advice or can explain if it is simple to make the changes then that would be great.

The main sliding banner at the top of the home page i am thinking of changing this to the logo of the brands which i am now stocking instead of the pictures of children. Then the pink box next to it with the free postage deal in it removing this completely and just have the sliding bar going over that area aswell.

I have been told that if i make all the text on the website plain and simple then it will make the site alot more google friendly?

Also the main page insted of all that text shorten it right down to explain about new products and put new product boxes in the middle of the page to help with more new product promotion.

I want to change the colour of the shopping cart and maybe make it a little smaller, what do you guys think?

Also i was told that if i removed the about us box at the top of the page and just made it a more small word next to the home and login links this could make the site slightly more google friendly?

Also is there away of removing all the products from the site in one go as its mainly all old stock which i don't have anymore?

Is there away of with the products linking multiple images to one product.

Also when you click on a product it says how many units in stock is there away of removing this or if it can't be removed can it be linked to the product attributes e.g 2 units of age 2 ect.

I think thats mainly it for now so if anyone knows if this is all simple any advice and help would be great.

www.poppetface.co.uk

[fairestcape]

The template you are using is quite heavily customised, so a LOT of core zencart behaviour has been modified.

Because of these customisations, many questions you ask on this forum may not give you the answer you need, because people answer stuff largely based on CORE behaviour.

FOR EXAMPLE... Your question:

The main sliding banner at the top of the home page i am thinking of changing this to the logo of the brands which i am now stocking instead of the pictures of children. Then the pink box next to it with the free postage deal in it removing this completely and just have the sliding bar going over that area aswell.

CAN actually be resolved by putting the following declarations at the bottom of your stylesheet.css file

#right_wrapper {visibility:hidden; height:0px}

#left_wrapper {width: 888px;}

But there is no core "left_wrapper" or "right_wrapper" DIV in standard zencart.

Your designers have structured this themselves.

While this is perfectly permissible, it does mean that people helping you may need to spend time learning your site structure first.

[poppetface]

Ok many thanks for the replies i think the best thing for me to do is contact my original designers and speak to them with regards to the changes i want to make with the layout ect.

But with regards to removing all the products on my site in one go is there away of doing this as its mainly all old stock so i thought it would probably be best to start again.

I was also told by one person that to make my images look better on my website that i need to save each image in 3 different sizes, small,medium,large in different folders to load through filezilla is this really worth doing?