Shopping Cart or E-commerce site

[Booksmythe]

Zen "Cart" is rather a misleading name then, isn't it?

Is there a way to integrate use of the shopping cart functions with the more sophisticated design programs such as Adobe GoLive, Dreamweaver, or even HotDog?

[kobra]

Is there a way to integrate use of the shopping cart functions with the more sophisticated design programs such as Adobe GoLive, Dreamweaver, or even HotDog?

All of these are NOT php environments but rather html xhtml coding devices.

"sophisticated design programs" I read as easy, not generally "sophisticated"

There is little in the way of a WYSIWYG php editor mostly for the reason that "pages" as most define them as do not exist.

They are assembled server side from pieces pre-defined and mostly
header
center section
footer\

Zen Cart IMO is not misleading - You might be expecting something else but as Kim stated it is "Zen Cart" NOT "Zen Pieces" or "Zen Buy now buttons"

[swguy]

Is there a way to integrate use of the shopping cart functions with the more sophisticated design programs such as Adobe GoLive, Dreamweaver, or even HotDog?

Sure, but Zen Cart isn't it. Zen Cart is a complete solution.

If you have a website that you just want to nail an "add to cart" button onto, look at FoxyCart.

[Booksmythe]

Actually HotDog from Sausage Software also lets you edit PHP. It is a good coding program that also lets you preview what you've created.

The advantage of many of the fee per month shopping carts is that they work with existing websites.

Am I correct that if I wish to use ZenCart, I basically have to start over and throw out my existing website?

[afo]

As Kim has already stated, Zen Cart is NOT a backend solution, so you would have to start over.

[gjh42]

"lets you edit PHP. It is a good coding program that also lets you preview what you've created."

You can actually do this with Zen Cart. If you have a local server setup on your pc and a copy of your website installed on it (anyone can do this), you can edit PHP files in something like Notepad++ and see the effect as soon as you refresh the page. Of course this is straight PHP coding, not a wysiwyg editor that does the coding for you.

You can make the Zen Cart template match just about any existing design, so you don't have to throw out the design, just recreate it in ZC.

[afo]

Notepad++ and Crimson Editor are free downloads from the net and are good editors to use for php. SmartFTP and Filezilla are good FTP clients and are also free on the net.

The Firefox browser with the web developer addon will allow you to tinker with the stylesheet (css) and see the results on the fly. You'll have to save the changes separately and upload them to the site.

[Booksmythe]

I originally created the website in HTML and CSS. The database management, gateway interaction, and other back-end "shopping cart" features were handled with 1shoppingcart.com which gradually grew more and more expensive.

I found this approach appealing since I'm using a remote server, I had maximum control over the client side design, and the learning curve was not too high. My goal is to still to have the control over the design, but with a shopping cart that I own (or is free) and that I can put onto the remote server. [The webmaster for the server suggested ZenCart.]

I don't mind learning PHP or ASP or whatever, but that is probably not the most expedient way to transition. (You know, time = money)

Is there a back-end shopping cart that I can buy or get via open-source that will allow me to interact with existing websites?

Otherwise, I have to basically translate from one language to another instead of having them work together.

By the way, thanks for all the help with this.

[gjh42]

Can you give a link to your existing site so we can see what layout you want?

Depending on the layout, recreating the template in ZC may be quite straightforward CSS/HTML/PHP reshuffling, or it may require considerable PHP recoding. Many modifications are already available from the Download section.