v1.38a install to use original 2010 template and upgrade but curl issue :/

[flappingfish]

hi there hoping someone can help me, i've had my domain and hosting for about a week now waiting for my hosting company to resolve an issue, so far id say about 6 days of the week i've been waiting for a response. anytime i ask for an update i get nowhere either.

the issue seems to be that when i'm getting past the software license acceptance page and it goes to system requirements it says

CURL problems detected: 0 => more info...
CURL problems detected: 28 => Connection timed out after 4001 milliseconds more info...
CURL requires SSL support. Please notify webmaster or hosting company. 28 => Connection timed out after 4001 milliseconds more info...

further down it says

CURL NON-SSL Capability = CURL problems detected: 0 => Click here for more info
CURL SSL Capability = Okay
CURL NON-SSL Capability via Proxy = CURL problems detected: 28 => Connection timed out after 4001 milliseconds Click here for more info
CURL SSL Capability via Proxy = CURL requires SSL support. Please notify webmaster or hosting company. 28 => Connection timed out after 4001 milliseconds Click here for more info

when in the server info page i can see curl is enabled so it makes no sense to me and the server guys haven't sorted it yet so im wondering if possibly anyone can help me?

my template was designed for 1.38a and php4.4 for "optimal" performance according to the template site i used. if i apply the template to the most recent release it hangs and wont load past the very first graphic which is the background banner at the top of the page. noting this isn't the template sites fault all they did was resend me the template i bought ten years ago.

my thought was to install it to 1.38 and then make a backup once working right and upgrade it one zen at a time, backing up each time i got it right then once on final version i could then get the payment modules of choice setup ect. I have had the site working ten years ago so its annoying i cant get it working myself this time.

on 1.38 install if i ignore the curl error and advance i enter the database details and get an sql syntax error. furthest i seemed to get is with my template on latest version hanging though as described above. the error after the database details screen shows the following....

Installation In Progress...

1064 You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MariaDB server version for the right syntax to use near 'TYPE=MyISAM' at line 1
in:
[CREATE TABLE upgrade_exceptions ( upgrade_exception_id smallint(5) NOT NULL auto_increment, sql_file varchar(50) default NULL, reason varchar(200) default NULL, errordate datetime default '0001-01-01 00:00:00', sqlstatement text, PRIMARY KEY (upgrade_exception_id) ) TYPE=MyISAM;]

big company the hostring company and the fact they are keeping me waiting for an answer makes me think i may need to install a more advanced version, i would want to save the template though is this possible to adapt the template to work on latest zencart?

website url is crazygamer.uk

[DrByte]

You probably won't be able to get v1.3.8 to run on a modern webserver (due to 3 reasons: old PHP incompatibilities; newer SSL/TLS security negotiation methods that didn't exist when v138 was written but are now required; and MySQL version incompatibilities, again things that were completely different back when v138 was written). (Even if your host could downgrade the PHP version really far back it probably won't work due to TLS and MySQL version differences.)

First thing I'd do to test whether the hosting company should be kept or dropped is to install v157b and see if you still get the CURL error. Then complete the install to see whether any other errors get triggered. If the database and CURL errors don't appear then just assume the ancient 138 won't work on this server (as I expect).

Then rework your plan about how to use the old template.
The templates have had a lot of changes over the years, so you've probably got a lot of merging of updates to do. But you don't need a working "live" site to do that. Just a 3-way text-file-comparison tool.
Sure you can do all those compares in stages between Zen Cart versions if you want (ignore the "letters" in the versions, just use the highest letter of each numbered series).
But don't worry about looking at visual representations until you've finished the upgrade of all your template's files.
Then make corrections from there.

[flappingfish]

thankyou dr byte for that great response, kudos :)

its a very well know hosting company big international multi office kind of company. the customer service seems great they just got stumped on this one. they have an auto installer and you can actually choose 1.38 as an option but it fails to install :/ same with every other version on the auto installer tbh.

If i manually install it works though on latest version very nicely until i go to load my template.
i did have this site running 2010 to around 2014 on another url and closed my business for personal reasons. i think i upgraded it to around 1.5ish possibly. am i better installing it direct to latest version if 157b works through the install??

im not great at coding if im honest, merging files on such a large scale id be bound to get something wrong is there a good place to hire someone to merge the template with new code to get it to load and function correctly? ive got one custom built module too not sure if that would need some editing to work again

[DrByte]

Thinking from a businessperson perspective, I look at two primary factors: what the business needs and the cost of getting there.

I'd be looking at whether the template you're looking at that was built for the 2010 landscape suits the modern needs of the 2021 landscape.
Most of the techniques used (on a technical level, to "do" the functionality in your purchased template) in 2010 are superceded with new techniques now.
Chances are a lot of your shoppers are going to be using mobile devices, so if your purchased template doesn't adapt well for mobile then you may be better off starting with something that does.

So, keeping in mind what your customers "need", does that template make sense? (I haven't seen it, I'm not making a judgement. Just telling you my thinking process.)

If not, would a newer template be a better starting point, and adapt it to implement the critical features your business and customers require?

Then the cost (including time and money and frustration and tech skill).
Specifically, what's the cost of patching through 10 years of upgrades and then still being saddled with a bunch of outdated tech used to implement various functionality and therefore also the cost of modernizing those dependencies...
vs a new template that already uses modern tech dependencies but needs customizing to your color scheme and particular feature requirements. (And (especially in the short term) can you live without certain "visual" things that might be "nice to have" vs focused on selling your products/services efficiently for your customers.)
(Plus, more modern templates often have a larger base of people that could help with customizing things if needed.)

I accept that lots of people think a website should have certain "pet" features. I get that. But if they're not business-critical then make those things "phase 3" and instead focus on getting the store functional for its basic essentials.

That said, a great starting point to consider if you're interested in a relatively modern foundation for a standards-based mobile-friendly template is this Bootstrap 4 template: https://www.zen-cart.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=2191

Hopefully that gives you another angle to look at things. I know it can be frustrating to have "one idea in mind" but get stuck in the weeds on technical issues. Sometimes taking these other perspectives helps adjust the thinking and even open up creative paths that bypass the other roadblocks.

Hope it's helpful.

[flappingfish]

It does help, i'm thinking at this as restoring the buisness to how it was but then i think i had one review for my old domain that actually said something along the lines of "the shops real, great item posted fast but website looks terrible". I thought he was just being picky as no one else said that but maybe he was the first of many that had seen more modern layouts?

if you enter the url crazygamer.co.uk into the wayback machine that gives you an idea of what i had up and running at the time, it looked ok on mobiles too in my opinion but perhaps im just being nostalgic and wanting it to be exactly the same down to the unique name for my admin folder ect?

[flappingfish]

https://ibb.co/kS31Pqv this is a screenshot from the template folder left there as an example

[flappingfish]

now im getting this error....

Related Products not installed
WARNING: An Error occurred, please refresh the page and try again.If you were entering information, press the BACK button in your browser and re-check the information you had entered to be sure you left no blank fields.

just completed install of 157 trying to log into admin and the button to submit details says "text_submit" any ideas what i've done here please?

[DrByte]

Related Products not installed

Sounds like an addon.

WARNING: An Error occurred, please refresh the page and try again.If you were entering information, press the BACK button in your browser and re-check the information you had entered to be sure you left no blank fields.

See https://docs.zen-cart.com/user/troub...rror_occurred/
(The search is quite comprehensive in the docs site)

trying to log into admin and the button to submit details says "text_submit" any ideas what i've done here please?

That's probably in uppercase, right? Seems like a language file is missing from the server: /your_admin/includes/languages/english/login.php
Probably has errors in the logs mentioning it too. (Logs mentioned in the docs page link above)

[flappingfish]

not sure how but i got it up and running through the install if you check out the home page now you can see the hang error i'm seeing. as I can finally get into the admin panel to see whats happening log wise for my template i think it may have given clues, i'm assuming these files are outdated and need blending together as you said earlier....

[26-Nov-2020 02:19:43 UTC] Request URI: /, IP address: 92.236.55.221
#1 each() called at [/home/u554521074/domains/crazygamer.uk/public_html/includes/templates/theme156/common/tpl_header.php:68]
#2 require(/home/u554521074/domains/crazygamer.uk/public_html/includes/templates/theme156/common/tpl_header.php) called at [/home/u554521074/domains/crazygamer.uk/public_html/includes/templates/theme156/common/tpl_main_page.php:69]
#3 require(/home/u554521074/domains/crazygamer.uk/public_html/includes/templates/theme156/common/tpl_main_page.php) called at [/home/u554521074/domains/crazygamer.uk/public_html/index.php:94]
--> PHP Deprecated: The each() function is deprecated. This message will be suppressed on further calls in /home/u554521074/domains/crazygamer.uk/public_html/includes/templates/theme156/common/tpl_header.php on line 68.

[26-Nov-2020 02:19:43 UTC] PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function ereg_replace() in /home/u554521074/domains/crazygamer.uk/public_html/includes/templates/theme156/common/tpl_header.php:76
Stack trace:
#0 /home/u554521074/domains/crazygamer.uk/public_html/includes/templates/theme156/common/tpl_main_page.php(69): require()
#1 /home/u554521074/domains/crazygamer.uk/public_html/index.php(94): require('/home/u55452107...')
#2 {main}
thrown in /home/u554521074/domains/crazygamer.uk/public_html/includes/templates/theme156/common/tpl_header.php on line 76

[26-Nov-2020 02:19:43 UTC] Request URI: /, IP address: 92.236.55.221
--> PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function ereg_replace() in /home/u554521074/domains/crazygamer.uk/public_html/includes/templates/theme156/common/tpl_header.php:76
Stack trace:
#0 /home/u554521074/domains/crazygamer.uk/public_html/includes/templates/theme156/common/tpl_main_page.php(69): require()
#1 /home/u554521074/domains/crazygamer.uk/public_html/index.php(94): require('/home/u55452107...')
#2 {main}
thrown in /home/u554521074/domains/crazygamer.uk/public_html/includes/templates/theme156/common/tpl_header.php on line 76.

any other template i try to load just causes the error i shared previously and i have to delete to update it. has the change admin folder to match and upload method to load a new template changed with the latest zen? with standard template it works but this one hangs so i know the install is finally good at least :) ive backed it up to make sure it doesnt mess up again and make me start from square one at least

[flappingfish]

* @license http://www.zen-cart.com/license/2_0.txt GNU Public License V2.0
* @version $Id: tpl_header.php 4813 2006-10-23 02:13:53Z drbyte $

you wrote this header according to the first few lines :) or is that just that they have modified your source code for the template?