1.2.x to 1.3.x = redesign required?

[kuroi]

Sorry- you'll have to take that up with the designer. :)

Langer- the template default does validate.

So does "future Zen" (boy do I regret that name) as it is just template default with a revised stylesheet, a handful of images and the define statements for its template_info file.

http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=ht...Fzc1301test%2F

Personally, I'm finding upgrading sites from 1.2 to 1.3 relatively straightforward, and almost always easiest to do by rebuilding them based on template default rather than trying to convert the template, so hopefully future compatibility shouldn't be too much of a problem. The challenge, as Kim says, comes when somebody has made extensive changes to the underlying code.

P.S. It does however, mean letting go of table-based design philosophies.

[langer]

here's my re-work of the xhtml classic template from the downloads. Seems pretty resilient across firefox, konqueror and IE. If anyone can find a browser that it can't handle, please let me know.

http://nicholaskeown.com/zc130/

I'll make it available for download soon, though mosst changes are in the CSS.

[kuroi]

here's my re-work of the xhtml classic template from the downloads. Seems pretty resilient across firefox, konqueror and IE. If anyone can find a browser that it can't handle, please let me know.

Nice work. Personally I find the classic design a bit boxy and dated, but this is a good implementation of it that will hopefully help users who feel comfortable with this look, but want to avoid the problems that come with using the "Classic Template".

[sprogy]

I am unable to get any template to work in 1.3.+.

Even by copying the deafault tempalte folder in its entirity, pages are messed up, pics are gone, even the css doesnt look like its working, as the are very few items that math from the deafault tempalte.

Nuts.. thinking of swinging back over to 1.2+, even though I really really need the EzPages utility.. the time I've spent trying to find a work around I could have spent better on adding a few pages manually.

However, I do love and appreciaite what you guys @ Zen do, believ its a religion in its own right.

[kuroi]

I am unable to get any template to work in 1.3.+.

Even by copying the deafault tempalte folder in its entirity, pages are messed up, pics are gone, even the css doesnt look like its working, as the are very few items that math from the deafault tempalte.

Nuts.. thinking of swinging back over to 1.2+, even though I really really need the EzPages utility.. the time I've spent trying to find a work around I could have spent better on adding a few pages manually.

However, I do love and appreciaite what you guys @ Zen do, believ its a religion in its own right.

Do you mean that you can't get any 1.2 templates to work in 1.3 (which wouldn't be a surprise, and is the point langer made at the header of this thread), or that you can't get any of the 1.3 templates available from the downloads section on this site to work, all of which do when installed properly on a 1.3 system and none of which need workarounds?

I recommend that you try installing future Zen (not because I wrote it) but because it it was written as a lightweight template with the objective of being very easy indeed to install. SO if that doesn't work, it would yield big clues as to where the problem lies.

[sprogy]

I think I've fallen in love with you.....

Looks like i can sort it out from what you've otld me.

Tried a few of the templates in the d/l section i KNOW i can get it sorted by using one of them and manipulating all my old stuff into it or by using newwer version of dowlaodable add ons...

Rock on!

Thanks.

Dave / Sprogy / Noodles

[sprogy]

Well... I've been playing about with the site over the last 48 hours, and the CSS, and overides work a treat, and are much easier to work with than before in v1.2+.

If your considering upgrading to 1.3+, I would suggest you d/l to a local machine, and have a play around, before you decide to make the jump..

Inevitably, I re did the whole site from scratch [apart from the database], using a stock template from Zen Cart's download section, it involved 48 hours of work, and a lot of coffe and cigs, but it was well well worth it.

[kuroi]

As you say, rebuilding sites on the 1.3 base is relatively straightforward. One to three days is reasonable depending upon the complexity and any special requirements. The biggest problem is often not the site design, but whether the add-ins on the old site are compatible with 1.3.

[dbltoe]

Another thing that I've noticed throughout the threads is a botched FTP of files.

Make it a point to verify the files after FTPing to the server BEFORE going any further.

[sprogy]

Top advice.

Just about to sling the local stuff back to the server for action.. wish me luck!

[of course i made a back up... now where did i put it?]