Installing new template

**xzyla** · 5 Apr 2013, 04:16 PM

I am thinking of purchasing a new template for my ecommerce site. I have spent a lot of time setting up my product lines and checkout options. Can I load a new purchased template without wiping out my existing categories and products?

**kobra** · 5 Apr 2013, 04:24 PM

If you are using ZenCart v138a you really need to upgrade NOW
Do it on your schedule versus getting hacked and then having to perform a clean and an upgrade

If considering purchasing a template - PLEASE do not get a Template Monster template as they are fraught with issues
Search this forum for them and see for yourself

But installing a template will not alter you entered categories & products

**xzyla** · 5 Apr 2013, 04:55 PM

Thanks for your prompt reply. I was actually looking a Template Monster so thanks for the advice; however, I did load a free template to see how it would work and it wiped out everything when I selected the new template.

How do I go about having all of my content show up when I switch templates?

**stevesh** · 5 Apr 2013, 04:59 PM

What do you mean when you say 'wiped out everything' ? After you select your new template you have to go to Layout Boxes Controller and click on Reset to get the sideboxes to appear.

**gjh42** · 5 Apr 2013, 05:02 PM

If you mean your sideboxes disappeared when you activated the new template, that is normal. You need to go to Tools > Layout Boxes Controller and hit the reset button at the bottom after you install a new template, so that a set of entries is created in the database for this template's sidebox settings.

**xzyla** · 5 Apr 2013, 05:13 PM

I did this but nothing shows up except the banner with the zencart logo and blank page. How do I get all of my products to appear?

**gjh42** · 5 Apr 2013, 05:31 PM

It sounds like there is some code error in your new template files, or perhaps a file corrupted or missing, that is terminating output after the header. We may be able to tell more about your problem if we can see it live.

Newer versions of Zen Cart have a built-in error logging feature, but yours doesn't unless you specially installed it. Yet another reason to upgrade now, before you go customizing templates. Your products, customers and similar data will be unaffected by upgrading.