Links Inoperable, all link locations

[KenBaker]

To whom may help:

A few days ago I completed a new install of Zen Cart 1.5.5 using a Toshiba laptop still running Windows Vista Home Version (2007) and installed to a website hosted by HostGator. The Apache hosting server is running OS Linux 3.12.44-94.ELK6.x86_64 along with PHP version 5.5.30 (Zend: 2.5.0) and SQL version 5.5.23 (with options for later versions of both).

I installed Zen Cart via ftp and by running the zc_install program. MyZen Cart store's address is:

http://lunekeltkar.xibeta.com/catalog/

For the past several days, I've been working to create a customized template for my Zen Cart installation. I named my custom template folder 'emporium'. I haven't installed any plug-ins or add-ons. Please note that I'm just now building this site, so there's not much to see there, if you go to look at it, and I've still many wrinkles to work out. I've been working out the wrinkles one by one by studying the Zen Cart forum postings and FAQs, so that I didn't bother people with meandering questions that have already been answered. So far so good, but despite several days of effort and searching, I can't figure out a problem with my Contact Us link.

Here's the essential problem: The Contact Us link (renamed "In Touch" in my customized template) doesn't work either in the Information sidebox or on the Site Map. When I click the link in either place, I get a standard HostGator 404 error. Along with standard definitions (as in my customized english.php file), I've located these files that (I assume) should work together to produce both the Contact Us link and the Contact Page itself:

modules

includes/modules/pages/contact_us/header_php.php
includes/modules/pages/contact_us/on_load_main.js

definitions

includes/languages/english/emporium/contact_us.php

text

includes/languages/english/html_includes/emporium/define_contact_us.php

contact page

includes/templates/emporium/templates/tpl_contact_us_default.php

I have the Contact Us Page Status set to 1 in the Define Page Status Configuration set. Thinking that I had inadvertently broken a file while customizing, I switched back to the Responsive Classic Template (installation files untouched) so that I could study the link properly operating as a way to fix the problem in my customized template. I found, though, that the Contact Us link also doesn't work either in the Responsive Classic Template or in the Classic Contemporary Green template.

I don't know if the following information bears on the problem, but I'll include it just in case. Here's a rendered link (About Us) from the Information sidebox that works:

<a href="http://lunekeltkar.xibeta.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=about_us">About the Emporium</a>

Here's the rendered link for the broken Contact Us link:

<a href="https://gator4244.hostgator.com/-kennith69/index.php?main_page=contact_us&amp;zenid=d181ffa1c4e852bbd10f2e6dc60bec75">In Touch</a>

The first part of the link ('https://gator4244.hostgator.com/-kennith69') is I assume the link for the HostGator 404 error page. The remainder of the link ('/index.php?main_page=contact_us&amp;zenid=d181ffa1c4e852bbd10f2e6dc60bec75') identifies the page that isn't manifesting, although this link alone has an addended ZenID. I don't know what that addendum may indicate.

I don't know where to look farther for a solution to this problem. Any direction would be appreciated.

Regards,

Ken Baker

[swguy]

In fact, none of your links work (the Login link at the top of the page also gives a 404). The problem is in your configure.php file.

[kobra]

I would say that somewhere somehow you have hard coded this into your fileset

When I hover over "In Touch" the hostgator link displays even before it is clicked

So it looks like you have hard coded the 404 link

Try using the developers toolkit in the ZenCart admin and search for "hostgator"
See where it may be in your files

Ahhh good catch swguy - - it appears that https links lead to a 404
Check the configure.php file and set ssl to "false" and see if that changes anything

[KenBaker]

swguy,

You assert:

In fact, none of your links work (the Login link at the top of the page also gives a 404). The problem is in your configure.php file.

This assertion is incorrect. All of my current links work save for the Contact Us and the Log In links. I already knew that my Log In link doesn't work, but that's a wrinkle to be ironed out on another day. Right now I'm trying to iron out the problem with my Contact Us page.

I'll take a look at the configure.php file, but I've made no changes to that file, so I can't imagine how it might have gotten broken. At any rate, I find it a bit of a puzzle that the Contact Us link doesn't work with either of the two standard template installations (the Responsive Classic and the Classic Contemporary Green templates). I had assumed that these standard templates would be operational right out of the box.

Ken Baker

[DrByte]

of the two standard template installations (the Responsive Classic and the Classic Contemporary Green templates). I had assumed that these standard templates would be operational right out of the box.

Actually, they do work properly out-of-the-box.

It seems you've got a configuration problem, particularly since forms such as contact-us attempt to submit via SSL. If your SSL is misconfigured in your configure.php then of course you'll get problems similar to what you said you know exist for login.

[mc12345678]

By default, the two pages that have a problem (among other such pages) are to be served via https when https is enabled in the includes/configure.php file. Because these two specific links are not generated properly, it implies that the parts that create a https: page are incorrect (at least for your setup). So yes, out of the box, the links do get properly generated, but if the box is told that ssl is enabled and it is not or if it is told that it is enabled and given the wrong path to get there, then it won't come out right. :)

[KenBaker]

kobra,

Thanks for the direction. I opened /includes/configure.php and changed this line:

define('ENABLE_SSL', 'false'); [Originally it read 'true'.]

I uploaded the edited configure.php file to the website directory, but when I refreshed the screen, the entire site reverted to a pre-install screen for Zen Cart, and I can't get the site back. I suppose I broke something even more seriously in the configure.php file, but I'm too discouraged to try to ferret out the errors today. I'll try to figure it out tomorrow.

Thanks again for the direction,

Ken Baker

[kobra]

I opened /includes/configure.php and changed this line:

What application did you open that file with??

If not a code editor then yes most likely muffed it up

One free code editor is notepad++

[carlwhat]

it seems that the current problem is related to your DB credentials.

i would double check these entries in the configure.php file (and most closely the last 3):

define('DB_TYPE', 'mysql'); // always 'mysql'
define('DB_PREFIX', ''); // prefix for database table names -- preferred to be left empty
define('DB_CHARSET', 'utf8'); // 'utf8' or 'latin1' are most common
define('DB_SERVER', 'localhost');  // address of your db server
define('DB_SERVER_USERNAME', 'USERNAME');
define('DB_SERVER_PASSWORD', 'PASSWORD');
define('DB_DATABASE', 'DATABASE NAME');

good luck!

[KenBaker]

Good morning, kobra,


You ask:

What application did you open that file with??

If not a code editor then yes most likely muffed it up

One free code editor is notepad++

I do happen to use Notepad++, v. 6.9.1 (still with the kludgy desktop icon, for sentimental reasons). Whatever happened essentially reset my configure.php files to the default, out-of-the-box settings (save for the SSL setting that I manually changed, which did change to 'false'). So far this morning I've been able to recoup about 95% of my customized Zen Cart setup, though I can't view it at present, as I haven't been able to get Zen Cart connected to the ZC database that I set up for my store. That should be a relatively easy glitch to resolve, which I expect that I can manage on my own.

I recognize, of course, that I caused this problem, not the ZC program. I know that software programs occasionally misbehave, but in my experience the problems that I've encountered with programs almost always turn out to be problems with me.

I'm still a bit puzzled by the SSL problem. I have a shared SSL certificate through my hosting service with HostGator (not the best SSL choice, I know, but I can't afford an individual SSL certificate at present). Before setting up Zen Cart originally, I got the secure server address from HostGator. Thus, when I configured my Zen Cart store, I activated SSL and entered the secure server address that I had been given by HostGator. I thought that these steps would ensure that the SSL pages would work properly when I activated my Zen Cart store. Obviously that wasn't the case. I clearly recognize that this SSL glitch arises somewhere between me and HostGator, as I'm sure that this built-in Zen Cart SSL protocol has worked fine for likely thousands of other ZC sites. I'm on hold with HostGator (67 minutes and counting) to figure out what went wrong.

Again, thanks for your help,

Ken Baker