Quote Originally Posted by pheniks View Post
I would like to preface my contribution to this thread with the following:

  • I am a multiply certified web server admin and developer.
  • I am interested in contributing to projects such as Zen Cart. I am especially interested in documentation projects.
  • I am blunt and do not mince words. It tends to lead to misunderstanding.
  • I am all about Open Source and supporting the projects and community.


Things Every New Zenner Needs to Know (could this be a wiki unto itself?)

1. How to install and secure Zen Cart

2. What add ons are available, how to install them, and what they do. Include pros and cons and some reviews/ratings?

3. The template system/How to make the store look like I want it to. (This could be a sub-wiki unto itself). I would highly recommend a thorough dissection of a template directory, file structure, files, etc. with a couple levels of drill down depending on how deep the user might want to go. More information is better than less.

4. Recommended Periodic Maintenance. Every three-thousand hits, change the oil...

5. A pretty thorough documentation on the admin section.

6. A crash course on the admin section.

7. A how to get up and running fast when you don't care what the site looks like, you just want to, got to, have to have a site -NOW-! Tutorial.

I really do recommend the inclusion of the image/graphics information suggested early in this thread. That has to be one of the most inclusive, least insulting, comprehensive, and not overly technical explanations I have read, ever. Kudos Ryk! Some tutorials on how to do this in Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, etc. could be really cool addition to this.

The most common question I see in the forums regarding site customization goes something like this:

How do I get Object_A to change/go away/move/act differently?

If there is a definitive reference, we might not have to answer these same questions over and over and over again as most new users seem to not be willing to search through tens of thousands of threads to find their answer. The documentation is actually pretty sparse and there seems to be a little of the figure out the CSS file yourself attitude here and there.

Now, all that being said, I really am interested in contributing to this project. I might even be able to host a wiki or similar to this end at least through development if not full time.
Most, if not all of these topics can be found in the wiki and/or Tutorials/FAQ sections.

5 and 6 can be found in the "eStart your web store with Zen Cart" book check the link at the top right of the page.

How do I get Object_A to change/go away/move/act differently?

If there is a definitive reference, we might not have to answer these same questions over and over and over again as most new users seem to not be willing to search through tens of thousands of threads to find their answer. The documentation is actually pretty sparse and there seems to be a little of the figure out the CSS file yourself attitude here and there.
Answers to a lot of the most common questions can be found here: www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/index.php?category=16
or here: www.zen-cart.com/wiki/index.php/Top_10_questions