Ceon URI Mapping v4.x

[DivaVocals]

Time is money and I have a business to develop…doesn’t everyone here? I assume everyone who is commenting in this thread has a business and so has costs associated with that business.

I looked at the fee charged by the current suppliers of the URI Mapping Manager and I read the comments about the efforts that various people may make to basically provide that functionality for free and I think “why are you bothering”? Don’t you have something more profitable to do with your time?
That fee doesn’t even equate to my phone bill or four fours of a quality coder.

It’s a paltry business cost…doesn’t everyone have more profitable things to do with their time than reinvent the wheel?
Add more products, improve the content, active marketing….etc. the list is endless as to what you can do to make more money, but trying to save the fee for some software and spending lots of hours in the process strikes me as absurd and unjustifiable.
Put it in your business plan and present it to your bank as an efficient use of your time, see if they agree.

I’m not trying to justify the change in the price, but that is the past and this is the present. Who cares where the money goes? It’s a product for sale like any other. The fact that Conor massively undervalued his efforts has been to the benefit of many people here in the past, but that’s the past.

I’m looking at a Zen Cart connector for the ERP I am using and that is over 400 euros, but I’ll probably buy it. It’s a business cost and if I offset it against me doing it myself over six months between 10pm-1am every night, it’s not up for discussion.

In conclusion, I'm saying if you have a business, be business-like and value your time realistically, look at the big picture.

ps I have no connection to the suppliers of this mod!!
[/RANT]

Speaking only for myself, I am not trying to re-invent anything.. I proposed to share a simple SQL file that would be of use for a FREQUENTLY asked question in all of the Ceon URI Mapping support threads.. and it's also something I've been asked about privately over the last few years as well.. The time for me to convert my old spreadsheet to a SQL file is nothing because of the way I've constructed my spreadsheet.. So when my time permits, I will create and share a SQL file that will create mapping table records for the default pages based on the instructions in the readme for doing this. Not because I'm trying to re-invent the wheel. I simply wanted to share a way to automate something already covered in the Ceon URI Mapping readme document (adding records to the Mapping table for all of the default Zen Cart pages). It should provide a means for novice owners to add the default pages to the mappings table without having to know how to use PHPmyAdmin.

So I don't disagree with you that the cost of the Mapping Manager is minor, and I am a BIG proponent that DIY shopowners need to be prepared to INVEST in their site dev costs from time to time.. However, I know first hand from watching this module for the last 4 years that some business owners are not (for their own reasons) going to spend the money to purchase the Mappings Manager no matter how awesome it is.. and given the increase in cost for it, I don't imagine that that this will change. These shopowners will instead go through all their products, categories and EZ Pages and re-save them one by one to auto-generate the URIs. Then they will come here and ask about how to create pretty links for the rest of the Zen Cart pages (contact us, sitemap, etc..), and they will be pointed to the instructions in the readme for doing this.. And as recent posts have demonstrated, while those these instructions are easy for those who understand how to use PHPmyAdmin, not all shopowners are comfortable/able to use PHPmyAdmin to execute those instructions. What I am planning to share bridges that gap by creating records in the Mappings table for the default Zen Cart pages.. It is really the conversion of something I used before I obtained my own copy of the Mappings Manager.. Not a waste of MY TIME, and not re-inventing the wheel..

And while I cannot speak for mc12345678 and his time or motives, I do know that what he is doing with EP appears to be something that has also been asked about. (How to use EP with Ceon URI Mappings) So if he has come up with a means to use EP to populate the mappings table it too closes a gap that has been identified.. this too is not reinventing the wheel.. to the contrary it would save time for those using EP and Ceon URI Mapping together..

[picandnix]

You had me nodding right up to this statement...

Who cares where the money goes?

Surely the money should go to the *owner* of the product that is being sold?

[torvista]

@Diva and mc12345678
It's these efforts that people like yourselves make, that ensure this forum and hence Zen Cart is by far the best for DIY shop owners, I really don't know where you find the time. Its a relatively small group of people that continue to do the support in a lot of areas and more power to your elbow, I hope you get lots of real work out of it.

My comments are aimed at the people who continue to think everything should be for free and WILL waste their time trying to do everything on the cheap when they don't have the technical skills to do so, rather than getting real and accepting any business needs some investment and getting on with it.

@picandnix
You are right, of course it matters where the money goes...when you know the history.
New users only need to know a product works and they have to put a value on the purchase and the benefits it returns, same as any business purchase. Who sells it is not relevant to them.
Others who know more just see the price difference and are piqued that they missed the boat on not purchasing it earlier.
Others know a bit more or have personal experience and are piqued that its not going to Conor himself and that he made less money out of it, and that is the most irritating of all.
But, that was then, this is now and we have to move on.
At least Conor's products are still available and keep his reputation and memory intact. It would really be more tragic if they had gone with him.

[DivaVocals]

@Diva and mc12345678
It's these efforts that people like yourselves make, that ensure this forum and hence Zen Cart is by far the best for DIY shop owners, I really don't know where you find the time. Its a relatively small group of people that continue to do the support in a lot of areas and more power to your elbow, I hope you get lots of real work out of it.

Time! Yes indeed.. I do not have time to sit around create/contribute stuff just for the heck of it.. Most of what I've contributed back has been based on things I've done (or needed) for my own clients, and wanted to share back with the community (Super Orders and Edit Orders are examples of this). The SQL file I propose to share is one of those things.. So for me it's already real work that I'm simply choosing to share rather than a means to obtain real work.. One place it DOES pay back for me though is in my day job (because my clients web design/dev is not my primary source of income). Everything I learn here DEFINITELY has been put to use there..

My comments are aimed at the people who continue to think everything should be for free and WILL waste their time trying to do everything on the cheap when they don't have the technical skills to do so, rather than getting real and accepting any business needs some investment and getting on with it.

Oh you are preaching to the choir my friend.. I have said frequently said the very same thing, and have been accused of all kinds of terrible things by these very kinds of business owners.. Bottomline is business owners need to INVEST in their businesses, and just because Zen Cart is free doesn't mean that everything associated with building ones Zen Cart site is (or should be) free.. For this reason, there's LOTS I've done (or commissioned on behalf of for my clients) that I have NOT shared with the community (nor will I EVER share) for these reasons.. My clients have INVESTED in their sites because they get that they will not be able to as you aptly put it "do everything on the cheap when they don't have the technical skills to do so".

[crixus]

Go to your database and follow the picture example for each url you are wanting to create.

Attachment 13264

After Do that. about_us

[mc12345678]

After Do that. about_us

As usual, please provide more information. When going to the site provided in the picture, the address resolves to something else. Also, when browing the sitte, an about us link does not appeartto exist to try to click on and see what is going on/being redirected.

[countrycharm]

After Do that. about_us

As usual, please provide more information. When going to the site provided in the picture, the address resolves to something else. Also, when browing the sitte, an about us link does not appeartto exist to try to click on and see what is going on/being redirected.

mc12345678;1224623 is right going to the site provided in the picture does not show us anything, so there is no way we can help you without more information and the link to your site so we can see what you are talking about.

[crixus]

mc12345678;1224623 is right going to the site provided in the picture does not show us anything, so there is no way we can help you without more information and the link to your site so we can see what you are talking about.

Gratitude. I really appreciate your help. Thank you so so so and so much. for help me a few post ago. you are really a nice man.

Thanks a loT countrycharm :)

[apogeerockets]

Ahhh!! The mod has been working so well that I haven't been on this thread in nigh a year, and I now find out Conor has passed!

That said, I'm having compatibility issues with the URI Mapper and the Ultimate Zen Cart mobile template. The URIs work, but I am getting NO IMAGES when visiting a page via the generated URI. Has anyone tried to use the two together? Instead of product_info, it uses product_mobile templates. I'm decent at coding, just wondering if anyone has a suggestion on where to start looking for a solution...... I can PM someone our beta address and login info if needed.

[DivaVocals]

Ahhh!! The mod has been working so well that I haven't been on this thread in nigh a year, and I now find out Conor has passed!

That said, I'm having compatibility issues with the URI Mapper and the Ultimate Zen Cart mobile template. The URIs work, but I am getting NO IMAGES when visiting a page via the generated URI. Has anyone tried to use the two together? Instead of product_info, it uses product_mobile templates. I'm decent at coding, just wondering if anyone has a suggestion on where to start looking for a solution...... I can PM someone our beta address and login info if needed.

You're not going to like my answer, but you need to go back to the template maker. Ceon URI works with ANY add-on, or template which uses Zen Carts built in functions, classes, etc.

"product_mobile" sounds like a custom product page for mobile. Sounds like it is missing code code required to display images.. That's not caused by this module..