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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    1
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    Default Serious Customization

    Hi there. I had a quick question about customizing the cart templates. I have dealt with several different carts and attempts to customize them for different people. I have this cart which i custom programmed,
    http://www.thestockholmagency.com/shop/

    We are looking to update the look and feel of the site as well as add some features to the store that are not currently in it. zencart can probably do all the things they need to do just fine, but im nervous about customizing it. its been a real pain in the past and i was wondering how manage extracting information from the database is managed? Does zencart use its own language to create templates, and overrides? Is the template code done in php? Most systems i have seen or worked with seem to try and keep you in a very standard layout. If you try to deviate to much from that it doesn't work because the level of customization of the tokens they use to place page elements isn't very good. Here is an example of what i mean.

    Miva: you insert their token, and it plops out a chunk of html. Sometimes you have access to the formating of that text, but since its all done in their proprietary engine, you can't easily modify strings for example.

    Comersus: Sloppy code that isn't setup the way i would like it to be but this is closer to what im looking for only i need something in PHP over ASP. Comersus does every page by including a header and footer which is your page layout. The header and footer use asp includes to pull in other page snips or tokens from the database to get your category list or such things. then between the includes of the header and footer the main content of the page is output. so basically you have to take your page design it divide it into two parts, where you have to have a center area or one central spot where the majority of your content will go. again this is pretty limiting.

    In ZenCart would i have access to data objects like
    PHP Code:
    $categorylist->nextCat(); 
    and similar for products, maybe like:
    PHP Code:
    $prod $products->nextProd();
    echo 
    $prod.name."<br>".$prod.price
    So having seen the current cart i programmed and the layout of it, and knowing that its going to change some, but in general be similar. how difficult would it be to customize this cart to something like that?

    I guess im not sure how to ask this question but i hope it makes sense to someone who can answer it for me. thanks!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Dartmouth, NS Canada
    Posts
    2,378
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    0

    Default Re: Serious Customization

    I'll offer a quick reply only, since I'm far from an expert. Your site looks like it could easily be reproduced in Zen Cart.

    But I believe you're stopped at your requirement "i need something in PHP over ASP". Zen Cart runs in PHP and MySQL.

    Rob

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Posts
    33,715
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    0

    Default Re: Serious Customization

    Your layout is very "standard" - start by buying the book for the background and the basic tech knowledge about the Admin you'll need and Then install the program *with* the demo products so you can see things in action.
    Please do not PM for support issues: a private solution doesn't benefit the community.

    Be careful with unsolicited advice via email or PM - Make sure the person you are talking to is a reliable source.

 

 

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