How hard is it to change a template when you have SQL patches in the system?

[Clover]

Hi all!

The business I work for uses a Zen Cart page that looks... well, like it's from 2001.

We hired a guy who manages it and hosts it on his server. I asked him if he could change the template to something more modern, but he says it's extremely difficult; it's a wholesale business, so the business paid him to write patches that would make price breaks when a person buys more. (Like if you buy 24 of something it's 5.99 each, if you by 60 of something, you get them for 4.99.) He says that changing it would make the site go screwy.

I've seen the template we have installed looking much nicer than it does on our site. It's "##########" theme. It looks great on sample pages I've seen - responsive, makes good use of space, has a carousel banner, etc. However, ours looks like an old Geocities site and is *somewhat* responsive, but when you shrink your window, some things awkwardly overlap.

Is it really as hard to update as he says it is? I'm just a designer and know very little about SQL... Like, I don't even know enough to know what I don't know.

Are we stuck with our embarrassingly bad website for all eternity?

Thanks so much! I really appreciate any input on this!!

[torvista]

We hired a guy who manages it and hosts it on his server.

First thing is to get it 100% under your control...then allow him access as necessary.
Next make a copy on another server, delete your customer and order data and get another developer to do what you want.

[swguy]

Steve is correct. Hire someone to move your site to another server and do the changes. There are lots of people on this forum that do that kind of work all the time without "making the site go screwy."

[Clover]

First thing is to get it 100% under your control...then allow him access as necessary.
Next make a copy on another server, delete your customer and order data and get another developer to do what you want.

Thanks for the response! That seems like the best way to go about it. Can you use Google Drive or something like that instead of a server? Or, do I absolutely need my own server?

[Clover]

Steve is correct. Hire someone to move your site to another server and do the changes. There are lots of people on this forum that do that kind of work all the time without "making the site go screwy."

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Thanks for the confirmation!

[swguy]

Thanks for the response! That seems like the best way to go about it. Can you use Google Drive or something like that instead of a server? Or, do I absolutely need my own server?

To be clear, when people say "your own server" they mean an account on a commercial hosting service. There are any number of companies that provide Zen Cart hosting; you can see one list by clicking the Services link at the top of the forum page. It takes you here: https://www.zen-cart.com/content.php?3-services

[Clover]

To be clear, when people say "your own server" they mean an account on a commercial hosting service. There are any number of companies that provide Zen Cart hosting; you can see one list by clicking the Services link at the top of the forum page. It takes you here: https://www.zen-cart.com/content.php?3-services

oh, okay. I set up a zen cart on cPanel through namecheap a few months ago (just to try to wrap my head around zen cart without messing up the company's site.) I guess I just thought that wasn't the typical way; When I asked the guy we hired where our zen cart files were actually located, he said "my own server" so, I wasn't super sure what he meant by that. I thought it was on his own physical server.

[Trinity14]

Clover,

Working with a highly customized zen cart can be a bit tricky. Hopefully 'your guy' coded with proper use of the template overwrite system. That will make it easier to find your custom information. There's a great wholesale module in the plugins section - Twitch Wholesale with Twitch Wholesale Attributes that doesn't require SQL scripts to make the site work.

You can have a great responsive AND current website without compromise.

You or the business you work for should have access to the website files on 'your guys' server. If you make a copy of the files, you can use them on your own 'testing' server.

Let us know if you need more help.

[mc12345678]

While not every single plugin requires some sort of sql to support operation, if something has settings (on/off, display this or not, apply to this characteristic, etc.) there is some amount of sql involved. How that is incorporated (separate sql file or as some part of an install/remove script) can be different. Also, if the software is to interface with the database in any way (get a price, set a price, identify information about something) then sql will be involved. As trinity14 called out about use of the override system, there are other coding aspects that should have been implemented at least after initial development to streamline use and reusability where those things may have involved sql statements.

Long and short, sql will most likely be involved and should not be a "selling" point and would say involved some amount of miscommunication/understanding related to the current developer.

As pointed out earlier, it certainly is important to have/regain full access to all things related to the site and to make backups both in case something happens and to support independent development.

[swguy]

When I asked the guy we hired where our zen cart files were actually located, he said "my own server" so, I wasn't super sure what he meant by that. I thought it was on his own physical server.

He might well have his own physical server. You don't need to - you can get a hosting company to provide that as a service to you. You want a managed Linux hosting account (with CPanel) so they take care of the details of server upgrades and management for you.