Frustration with template previews at zenlyzen website

[ronhills]

I have not been able to get started with Zen Cart because almost every template listed on this forum sends me to a website named zenlyzen.com from which I receive a message "zenlyzen.com took too long to respond. ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT"

It seems that the only places you can actually view a template that you might want to use is on the sites that want to sell you their services.

It would be great to see all these zenlyzen.com posts deleted from the forum, so that the posts that remain are relevant.

Zen Cart seemed like a good choice at the time, but is proving to be a time waster instead.

[balihr]

Not sure how the templates listed on this forum send you to that domain...

The domain in question is registered to an individual that's not directly associated with Zen Cart (at least not to my knowledge) as she's running her own business and sells templates and services, and has contributed some free templates as well. I remember (or think) she WAS running a site where you were able to preview most of the templates, but no one can force her into continuing to offer such a service due to costs associated and time required to keep it running.

Most of the templates are extremely simple to install so you can easily preview it on your own - install Zen Cart and install all the templates you want to try out. Zen Cart is primarily a DIY solution (as opposed to other commercial platforms where you have to pay various fees for just about anything), so if you want to preview something, you're welcome to get your hands dirty and do it. Installing a template, especially for your own preview purposes, takes about 5 minutes (and that's if you DON'T really know what you're doing). If you get stuck, or need some help and guidance on how to install a template, I'm absolutely sure someone here will help you. And after you install 2-3 templates, you'll be a pro and will be having fun with testing out other templates.

[mc12345678]

Seeing who it was, I was able to locate a link that appears to still demonstrate some of the templates: https://picaflor-azul.com/free-respo...cart-templates

Yes, for a long time she provided free versions of templates that were fully compatible with whatever then current Zen Cart version. I don't know the backstory, but she no longer provides those services for free and most of the template's require a little TLC when installed with the latest version of ZC because they haven't been fully upgraded in a while. At the same time there is plenty of guidance in the associated forum thread (recommend starting at the end of the thread and working towards the front a little to see how to handle the latest issues as the early ones probably have been resolved.

[ronhills]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I will continue to search for a suitable template. I was hoping that the installation and setup would go faster, but my lack of shopping cart savvy is slowing me down. Thanks and regards.

[torvista]

As a side note, I assume you are looking for templates because you have finished the functional modifications / are happy ZC/ZC+mods will do everything you need for the products you have.
Be clear that the template is purely cosmetic and always eats a lot of time in endless tweaking, for little progress (sales). Also, if you drop a third-party template (that is not 100% following the rules) into the fileset at the onset, and subsequently do functional mods, that may make it more difficult to solve problems when you are learning. You can make the shop look like anything you want, but you need to make sure it offers the functions you need first.

[mc12345678]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I will continue to search for a suitable template. I was hoping that the installation and setup would go faster, but my lack of shopping cart savvy is slowing me down. Thanks and regards.

Regardless the ecommerce experience, realize the majority of the template aspect is Web site design. As such, it would be advisable to consider the form and function of the template(s) as the color and format of things like text can be easily changed through CSS modifications.

So if don't like the green text or the blue background, those can be modified to suit. If seeking such assistance on this forum (though there are a multitude of other Internet sites on such Web site design) recommend providing enough information that someone trying to help can reach the site via a Web browser.

[dbltoe]

Be clear that the template is purely cosmetic and always eats a lot of time in endless tweaking, for little progress (sales). Also, if you drop a third-party template (that is not 100% following the rules) into the fileset at the onset, and subsequently do functional mods, that may make it more difficult to solve problems when you are learning. You can make the shop look like anything you want, but you need to make sure it offers the functions you need first.

Great advice!

Case in point (even if older than most folks here).

Many of you may have heard of the Commodore 64. It came out in January of 1982 and was THE thing to have at $595 (today - ~$1,600). They sold like hotcakes even though they were one of the ugliest things you ever saw. "Just put a box around a keyboard and send it out the door" was obviously the design engineer's decision when the design team met. This block of plastic is, to this day, the highest selling computer of all time.

Not many of you are familiar with the Timex Sinclair 1000. It was introduced in 1982 as well (July). The Sinclair Basic software powered the product and it was a continuation of the Sinclair ZX81 which came out in 1980. A full two years ahead of any Commodore product. IMHO, the Sinclair product was FAR superior in that it would not accept a line of code unless the syntax was correct. You might have a value or variable incorrect but, you knew if the system accepted the line of code that it was good.

On the other hand, the Commodore would never tell you of a syntax error until you went to compile your code. And, unlike the Sinclair which put a blinking cursor between the line's good and bad code, the Commodore would not even tell you which line caused the "Illegal Bounds, Interrupt" notification. Commodore's only claim to fame was a more robust video card. Clive Sinclair was concerned with programming versus playing a game.

The Timex Sinclair was priced at nearly $500 LESS than the Commodore and out performed the Commodore in every way other than graphic capability.

Why then did Commodore do so well and make the Sinclair anything BUT a household name?

Timex felt that the Sinclair ZX 81 (March, 1981) needed a better "look". They pulled most of their product, announced the coming Timex Sinclair 1000 (July, 1982), and skipped the Consumer Electronic's Show in Vegas (January 1982).

There are still folks using both today and, as late as 2012, folks were debating which was/is the best.

My point? Had Timex just put a product in front of the people in January of 1982, you may never have heard of Commodore 64. Get to market with your product and then worry if the background color should be mauve or fuscia.

Maybe torvista should have been on the marketing team at Timex.

[ronhills]

Good advice.... and I remember both the Commodore 64 and the Timex Sinclair. Personally, I had a Tandy 1000.

[ronhills]

Thanks again for the reply. Is there a way to know which templates are reliable and which ones could be problematic? All advice is appreciated!

[mc12345678]

Thanks again for the reply. Is there a way to know which templates are reliable and which ones could be problematic? All advice is appreciated!

I had/have a C-64, neighbor had a tandy.

As far as "detection". There's a couple of things that can be done.

1. If the template has not been updated possibly within the last year - year and a half, there may be some minor issues to resolve. If not within the last 3-4 years, it probably is not very compatible with ZC 1.5.6x. This is not a hard fast rule as some templates and other code "work" differently than others and some address files that haven't been modified in all this time.
2. Forum thread review. Start at the end of the thread. How many issues are repeated, seem to be unanswered, claims of success with installing, tips provided about how to be successful, etc...
3. Download the template, compare the modified files from the template with the template_default version of a vanilla install. How much difference is there in the php code portion(s)? Does something that seems like it would be standard (display of random product for example) follow the same "pattern" in the template as in the original code? Remember(perhaps just now discovering) that there are folder areas other than in includes/templates where a template can override the default version.

4. Could navigate sites that have been put into the site gallery of this forum. Right click while on the page, view the page source and search for '/templates' for sites you like. You may see the name of a familiar template after that portion. It may just be custom, but won't know until try it out.

There are a number of "template" sites that are out there which many suggest to avoid because of the amount of "rework" that is needed for it to actually fully support ZC. It is this type of factor to which torvista was referring where if you know the store can give you what you want but the template can't? Either ditch the template or make it possible... sometimes though that can be tedious.

Most of the template's from the author identified in this thread require some minor action to work in ZC 1.5.5 and above. There is a thread about it: https://www.zen-cart.com/showthread....79#post1306879

Takes a little reading to get it all together, but the solution is in there as I recall (and why I have bookmarked that thread).

As others may have posted as well, there are those that will/can put one together but the advice above is definitely wise... sell... then make changes...