difficulty adding a new template

[billcurley]

Regardless of the template I upload and then select when I then go to refresh my site page all I get is a blank page or as it appears just the background of the template. What am I missing or doing wrong here?
I downloaded the template zipfile, unzipped it, opened the includes file and then transferred the template to my server
specifically having difficulties with Andover Modern, but had the same issue with Alysa Rounded, and Aberdeen Neutral

Any help would be greatly appreciated

[stevesh]

Have you checked your /cache folder for error log files ?

Does the site work with the Classic template selected ?

[billcurley]

Have you checked your /cache folder for error log files ?

Does the site work with the Classic template selected ?

Not to sound too stupid, but where would I find this? I didn't see any errors in the top portion of Filezilla. Yes the site works with the ugly aweful default Classic template

[SPH]

All of the templates you mention should be a straight-forward upload and install.

Do you have a link so we can see?

Are you certain you uploaded to the correct area?

[schoolboy]

Yes the site works with the ugly aweful default Classic template

This template is not designed to "look pretty". It is fundamentally a diagnostic tool, designed to render content and functions in manners that follow core zencart behaviour. If a site "works properly" when using the CLASSIC template, it assists designers and developers in narrowing down possible faults in custom code.

This is why it is strongly recommended that the classic template (and all its constituent parts) is NEVER edited, and that new installations should immediately be constructed around a CUSTOM template.

Ugly and awful (SP) it may be... but it is an amazing assistant when it comes to debugging template-related issues.

[billcurley]

here is a link to my site with the blank (background image showing only.
http://www.lyricleather.com//index.p...1d5it4uh284dd3

I really don't want to leave it that way for too long.

I uploaded the template to www/includes/templates folder. As I believe the instructiuons said, after downloading the template I unzipped and copied the template portion from the includes portion of the download

[billcurley]

here is a link to my site with the blank (background image showing only.
http://www.lyricleather.com//index.p...1d5it4uh284dd3

I really don't want to leave it that way for too long.

I uploaded the template to www/includes/templates folder. As I believe the instructiuons said, after downloading the template I unzipped and copied the template portion from the includes portion of the download

I know I have seen others with the same complaint/issue with other templates, but I have yet to see any reply that assisted with what caused the problem and how to fix it.

[billcurley]

Cleared my browser cache and still only seeing a grey screen displayed for my site

[stevesh]

If you FTP to your files and folders, there will be a folder named /cache in the root (top) directory. Inside that folder, there should be error log files with long, unreadable names. Open the newest one and post the contents here if it isn't clear what it's telling you.

[billcurley]

Thanks Steve, I'm not sure this is everything that is going wrong. I was trying to edit the Header as well and while it worked once I can't seem to edit it again. I switched back to the classic template, deleted the Andover Modern template on my server and then uploaded it again, still no change.
This is what I found in the cache folder under www

[08-Jun-2012 05:27:11] PHP Fatal error: require() [<a href='function.require'>function.require</a>]: Failed opening required 'includes/modules/sideboxes/languages_header.php' (include_path='.:/usr/lib64/php:/usr/lib/php:/usr/share/pear') in /home2/lyriclea/public_html/includes/templates/andover_modern/common/tpl_header.php on line 44

I know that the error is probably very basic and I'm not stupid, but I am certainly feeling rather dumb as I try to learn and find my way around Zen Cart. I was originally going to build my site in Dreamweaver, but quickly realized that it would take me forever to write all the code. I never learned how to use the drag and drop features of Dreamweaver, just writing code with it.

Thanks to everyone for their assistance thus far.