Can't change background color? (or any color, for that matter)

[philanthropybooks]

http://www.philanthropybooks.com/cart/

I just started trying to modify the classic green template yesterday. I have tried editing the main background color and the ugly green color with no success. I have looked in the FAQ for the answer, found something similar, but could not find the files needed to override the security. It also won't let me change the original banner to one of my own. I want to officially open my site by October 1st so I have a lot to do! :)

Any help is very much appreciated.

[gjh42]

"On September 27th of 2009, I decided to expand my venture.. so I purchased my own domain."

Building a well-organized bookstore in four days is a pretty tall order, let alone making a decent-looking customized template. You have a lot of research to do, as well as decisions you should have already started on your store's organization and policies.

What files were you looking for? What security do you need to override? Have you become basically familiar with your hosting control panel?

[philanthropybooks]

"On September 27th of 2009, I decided to expand my venture.. so I purchased my own domain."

Building a well-organized bookstore in four days is a pretty tall order, let alone making a decent-looking customized template. You have a lot of research to do, as well as decisions you should have already started on your store's organization and policies.

What files were you looking for? What security do you need to override? Have you become basically familiar with your hosting control panel?

I have had the stores organization and polices. I don't have any products uploaded to the current site yet.

This is not my first website, but this is my first time using Zen Cart. I am not looking for any files, I know where they are located. I HAVE made the changes in the stylesheet, but they do not take affect on the actual site. That was my question; I was not asking to be hounded because I started this venture 4 days ago.

[stevesh]

What method/program are you using to edit the files?

Have you set file permissions other than during the installation process?

The default permissions should allow you to edit stylesheet.css.

Just for the record, I don't see Glenn's comments as 'hounding'. It is, I think, important to see this forum the way those of us who spend a lot of time here view it: not as a Knowledge Base, but as a community. You'll often get advice here rather than/in addition to technical answers. Part of the deal.

[philanthropybooks]

What method/program are you using to edit the files?

Have you set file permissions other than during the installation process?

The default permissions should allow you to edit stylesheet.css.

Just for the record, I don't see Glenn's comments as 'hounding'. It is, I think, important to see this forum the way those of us who spend a lot of time here view it: not as a Knowledge Base, but as a community. You'll often get advice here rather than/in addition to technical answers. Part of the deal.

I am using cPanel.

I'm pretty sure the permissions weren't messed with during the installation. On the FAQ question similar to mine, it said find two files called .htaccess. I could find them when putting the name in the search box of my program, but when I would follow the path they wouldn't be there.

Thank you :)

[stevesh]

Try using a FTP program (like Filezilla (free)) to download and upload files, and a good text editor like Notepad ++ (free) to edit the files, and see if that helps. You can also view/change permissions in Filezilla.

[philanthropybooks]

I just edited the index.php for the main page, and when I clicked save, and viewed my changes, all the other changes I had previously made (background color, heading image) changed as well.

So I guess my problem is cleared up.

I apologize for assuming earlier.

Thank you for the help!

[gjh42]

If you intend to build a full-fledged bookstore, with dedicated bookstore-type organization and search capability, you should look at the Product Type Book mod in Free Addons. It is a big piece of software, but it will let you set up in a professional way.

If you're just doing a little shop, you may be able to get away without that.

Hmm... index.php is not a file you should normally be editing. Perhaps you meant another file, to fix the index page?

By the way, I was simply pointing out that you may not have known what was involved in setting up an e-commerce site and the amount of time it would take to do it right.

[philanthropybooks]

If you intend to build a full-fledged bookstore, with dedicated bookstore-type organization and search capability, you should look at the Product Type Book mod in Free Addons. It is a big piece of software, but it will let you set up in a professional way.

If you're just doing a little shop, you may be able to get away without that.

Hmm... index.php is not a file you should normally be editing. Perhaps you meant another file, to fix the index page?

By the way, I was simply pointing out that you may not have known what was involved in setting up an e-commerce site and the amount of time it would take to do it right.

Thank you for the tip.
I have about 7,000 books, so I may go in that route.

I can't remember which file it was now, but it was the style for the main page.
Thanks! :)

[soucucap]

Take that, you sweet thing!