WordPress® for Zen Cart® (wp4zen) [Support Thread]

[picandnix]

Just wanting to add my tuppence worth...
Easy to install, literally a few minutes (including setting up a new install of WP). ****IF***** you follow the instructions carefully!

Thank you Diva & Lat9

[DivaVocals]

Just wanting to add my tuppence worth...
Easy to install, literally a few minutes (including setting up a new install of WP). ****IF***** you follow the instructions carefully!

and that's the important part.. This module was meant to be eazy peezy to use and install!!! It also helps it one is not mixing up apples and oranges (mixing up WP4Zen install with the Zen4WP installl)

Thank you Diva & Lat9

You're welcome!!!

[buildingblocks]

I am being told by an "seo specialist" that for seo purposes embedding wordpress into zen cart is needed as opposed to the sidebox methods. I'm in favor of the sideboxes. Any opinions on the difference for seo purposes?

[lat9]

I am being told by an "seo specialist" that for seo purposes embedding wordpress into zen cart is needed as opposed to the sidebox methods. I'm in favor of the sideboxes. Any opinions on the difference for seo purposes?

... and, how much is this "seo specialist" suggesting you pay for the embedding? I'd be interested to hear the why of his/her statement that embedding is better than sidebox implementation.

[DivaVocals]

I am being told by an "seo specialist" that for seo purposes embedding wordpress into zen cart is needed as opposed to the sidebox methods. I'm in favor of the sideboxes. Any opinions on the difference for seo purposes?

Well.. the term "seo purposes" is as vague as it gets.. sooooo.. to Cindy's point...

I'd be interested to hear the why of his/her statement that embedding is better than sidebox implementation.

ME TOO!!!

[buildingblocks]

Among other site recommendations they are saying that 'integration of the blog must be done right for seo purposes' and also because sessions and shopping cart won't be carried across and as of yet to my knowledge no figure quote other than just very expensive. I have recommended (to the site owner) the sidebox method for zen on wordpress and wordpress on zen cart. I'm not an seo expert but I think the sidebox method is the perfect option. I sent them links to the mods but I don't think they have checked them out fully.

edit:

yes some of it is vague and some of what they are telling the site owner makes things sound way more complicated than needs be.

[DivaVocals]

Among other site recommendations they are saying that 'integration of the blog must be done right for seo purposes'

Yeah.. that entire statement is vague and says NOTHING.. Doesn't answer the OBVIOUS question of WHAT they mean by "blog integration". Because TECHNICALLY, "integration" can be as SIMPLE as displaying ANY blog content in the store.. That doesn't mean that blog embedding is the ONLY way to achieve integration.. rather blog embedding is only ONE kind of integration (and the most problematic and potentially destructive one IMHO)

I have one recent client build where I have taken integration to a whole new level IMHO.. Not only am I displaying WordPress post and page lists, the blog and store share the theme/template elements (header, footer, slideshow). Notice not ONE BIT of my integration on this or any other site requires "embedding" the blog.

So these jokers saying "integration of the blog must be done right for seo purposes", well yes.. this is obvious.. but so must ANY integration (duh!). Anything broken or working improperly on a site has a "potential" negative impact to SEO What they are NOT saying is what is their "definition" of integration. and if they ever get around to providing something more than vague statements to your client, then they should be able to say why they recommend what they consider integration. (and I'll be right here ready to say why their answer is gonna be B.S. -- in fact I kinda already know what they're gonna say.. So you can read my thoughts on this now http://zencart-wordpress-integration...s-integration/)

sessions and shopping cart won't be carried across and as of yet to my knowledge

Ahhhhh.. shopping cart & persistent sessions.. the holy grail of WordPress Zen Cart integration.. the feature that folks had repeatedly told me "couldn't be done".. Well it's done! (YEAH BABY!!) Well don't look for a Zen Cart module to do this.. (and WHY would a ZEN CART module do this anyway..) You need a WORDPRESS plugin for this kind of magic..

Go to the WordPress plugin repo to download and try the free version of Zen Cart® for WordPress (zen4wp). The premium version of Zen Cart® for WordPress (zen4wp) plugin adds support for the shopping cart & sessions, and does this PERFECTLY..

Zen Cart® for WordPress Basic (zen4wp) is a FREE WordPress plugin that allows shopowners to display Zen Cart content on their WordPress site via a series of widgets

Zen Cart® for WordPress Premium (zen4wp) extends the functionality of Zen Cart® for WordPress Basic (zen4wp) by adding additional widgets and shortcodes. (including the shopping cart widget)

See Zen Cart® for WordPress (zen4wp) & WordPress for Zen Cart® (wp4zen) in action at these sites:

• http://eyeitalia(dot)com
• http://tablelegworld(dot)com
• My website (see my signature for the link)
• http://lakesidefasteners(dot)ca
• http://laserdiscvault.(dot)com

no figure quote other than just very expensive.

Of course.. no surprise there.. a VAGUE justification that sounds meaningful with a HIGH price tag..

the sidebox method for zen on wordpress and wordpress on zen cart. I'm not an seo expert but I think the sidebox method is the perfect option. I sent them links to the mods but I don't think they have checked them out fully..

I'm no SEO expert, but I am a bu!!$h!t expert, and the vague statements from these SEO "experts" score a 10 on my bu!!$h!t meter..

[Invizix]

I am being told by an "seo specialist" that for seo purposes embedding wordpress into zen cart is needed as opposed to the sidebox methods. I'm in favor of the sideboxes. Any opinions on the difference for seo purposes?

Seems to me is that your so-called "seo specialist" is a shark just like most of those "SEO Specialist" types are, it's a scam and they are looking for new prey everyday. Embedding has nothing to do with SEO. There are a multitude of things that DO matter when it comes to SEO.

Registration Length
Utilization of SSL Certificate
Having a Responsive Template
Site Relevance
Page Title Length
META Descriptors
Keyword Consistancy
ALT Attributes
Text versus HTML Ratio [hence why a blog can be important]
Amount of Pages Indexed
Broken Links
Backlinks
WWW Resolve
Proper robots,txt
Using a Favicon
Site Loadtime and Response [this one is huge]
Utilization of Structured Data Markup
Overall Website Security
Traffic Into Your Site
Image Optimizations
Compression
Leveraging of Browser Caching
Minification of CSS, HTML and Javascript

All the above are things and i'm sure there are more that DO matter, not if WOrdpress is embedded or not.

[adb34]

Before I look at adding this plugin to my shop, does it work with v1.5.4?

[lat9]

Yes, the plugin works on Zen Cart v1.5.4 and on WordPress versions up to 4.2.4. I'm using the "latest posts" portion on my website.