Wordpress On ZC [Support Thread]

[ladyink]

Well all may not be completely lost.. Search this post for my posts, and try my solution for using the WOZ sideboxes only..

I lost patience for all the things that seemed to not work quite right with this mod. Kiddos fix solved one issue, but the problems I had with new posts not being recognized by this mod drove me nuts.. Turns out all I really wanted (needed) were the sideboxes.. This how I have and will continue to use this mod going forward.. Skinning my WP blogs to match my Zen sites is a snap.. So for me this works..

Thanks! I will look though your posts tomorrow. I'd love to figure out how to make my blog match my Zen Cart. I started looking around but I have a few other things to take care of!!

Nancy

[DivaVocals]

Thanks! I will look though your posts tomorrow. I'd love to figure out how to make my blog match my Zen Cart. I started looking around but I have a few other things to take care of!!

Nancy

You're welcome.. Using only the WOZ sideboxes has worked out well.. I usually only use the one combo sidebox.. It seems to cover everything..

I found the easiest way to skin my WP blog was to start off with a template that has the same GENERAL layout that works with the Zen Cart site's layout. Then I only have to make simple image swaps, and stylesheet changes to update colors/images etc.. WP templates are fairly simple to modify.

[busyMom]

Ladyink, the blank page you describe raises a flag for me, having just gone through the debug I've been doing. A blank page is a common symptom. Check back through a few of my last half-dozen or so posts for debug techniques. If you turn on the error tracking in ZC, you can look at the logfile in the cache folder to see what error might be causing the blank page. I know that I've seen blank pages where the WP content should be when there was a wp_redirect call (see my post just before this one). I'm not familiar with the mod you are referring to, but if it finds the need to do a redirect, which is very likely if it is trying to redirect to a page with the generated sitemap, you could be running into the identical problem I was having with the trackback. If so, the fix I used may well work for you too. The underlying problem would occur for any WP code that uses the wp_redirect function to redirect to a new page under WOZ.

HTH Karen

[DivaVocals]

Ladyink, the blank page you describe raises a flag for me, having just gone through the debug I've been doing. A blank page is a common symptom. Check back through a few of my last half-dozen or so posts for debug techniques. If you turn on the error tracking in ZC, you can look at the logfile in the cache folder to see what error might be causing the blank page. I know that I've seen blank pages where the WP content should be when there was a wp_redirect call (see my post just before this one). I'm not familiar with the mod you are referring to, but if it finds the need to do a redirect, which is very likely if it is trying to redirect to a page with the generated sitemap, you could be running into the identical problem I was having with the trackback. If so, the fix I used may well work for you too. The underlying problem would occur for any WP code that uses the wp_redirect function to redirect to a new page under WOZ.

HTH Karen

I've read all of your posts, and while they may be crystal clear to folks who write code and actually know how to debug code, I suspect that for many folks (myself included) much of what you have posted here is a LOT over their heads.. I understand what you've done, and why, and what.. but I haven't a CLUE how to apply what you've discovered in your debugging..

Anyway you can provide the SIMPLE version of the your fix??

[busyMom]

LOL - not sure I can, Diva! My post from earlier today about putting the ob_start() call into your html_header.php is a single step... In your includes/templates/myTEMPLATE/common/html_header.php file add at the top following the change history tracking:

ob_start();

but unless you know why I did it, any WOZ users won't have an idea if it will address whatever problem they are having. Based on my research, I suspect that since I'm doing my development on my laptop using xampp, I don't have gzip_compression on while many others may, so if you read the zc forum post I posted a link to, it might explain why I'm the only one who has needed this so far!

The important thing I want to stress, though, is that no fix/workaround is a one-size fits all. These are not bugs in the WOZ mod and therefore I would not consider them bug fixes. Any changes I make that work for me are good workarounds in my unique environment, and I wouldn't advertise them as a cure-all for anybody else's environment. But it is possible that it can help someone else and that's why I've chosen to post whatever I can rather than just keep the info to myself.

The WOZ mod creates an intricate connection between two very complex code monsters, ZC and WP, that works very well IMHO. However, the specifics of how each template / environment / etc uses them does obviously require some coding skills. I would say that doing anything creative with WOZ is not for the faint of heart nor for those who wish to NOT get their hands into the code and just want to be able to hack their environment into working. That's why I have been providing the debug tools I've found to be useful as I went along, at least to help others avoid reinventing the wheel. I have my hands debugging my own issues, so I'm offering the tools to teach others how to fish, so to speak, whether they want to learn or want to be able to just go to the fish market without getting their hands dirty has to be a personal decision!

As for my suggestion to ladyink, she had mentioned that she had spent three days on it, so it was my assumption that she spent three days getting down and dirty with the code and might therefore benefit from calling her attention to some of the tips I have posted.

I realize this probably doesn't address your underlying question, but really it can't since I'm not trying to debug anyone's code but my own!
karen

[DivaVocals]

LOL - not sure I can, Diva! My post from earlier today about putting the ob_start() call into your html_header.php is a single step... In your includes/templates/myTEMPLATE/common/html_header.php file add at the top following the change history tracking:
but unless you know why I did it, any WOZ users won't have an idea if it will address whatever problem they are having. Based on my research, I suspect that since I'm doing my development on my laptop using xampp, I don't have gzip_compression on while many others may, so if you read the zc forum post I posted a link to, it might explain why I'm the only one who has needed this so far!

The important thing I want to stress, though, is that no fix/workaround is a one-size fits all. These are not bugs in the WOZ mod and therefore I would not consider them bug fixes. Any changes I make that work for me are good workarounds in my unique environment, and I wouldn't advertise them as a cure-all for anybody else's environment. But it is possible that it can help someone else and that's why I've chosen to post whatever I can rather than just keep the info to myself.

The WOZ mod creates an intricate connection between two very complex code monsters, ZC and WP, that works very well IMHO. However, the specifics of how each template / environment / etc uses them does obviously require some coding skills. I would say that doing anything creative with WOZ is not for the faint of heart nor for those who wish to NOT get their hands into the code and just want to be able to hack their environment into working. That's why I have been providing the debug tools I've found to be useful as I went along, at least to help others avoid reinventing the wheel. I have my hands debugging my own issues, so I'm offering the tools to teach others how to fish, so to speak, whether they want to learn or want to be able to just go to the fish market without getting their hands dirty has to be a personal decision!

As for my suggestion to ladyink, she had mentioned that she had spent three days on it, so it was my assumption that she spent three days getting down and dirty with the code and might therefore benefit from calling her attention to some of the tips I have posted.

I realize this probably doesn't address your underlying question, but really it can't since I'm not trying to debug anyone's code but my own!
karen

Fair enough.. I do get the code is complex.. It would have to be to link these two powerhouse open source solutions.. I understand most of your posts to a point, but since I'm not a coder, I remain clueless as to what to do with the information your have been sharing.. But I know that folks who can write code will find the information useful.. I love it when folks share their findings versus keeping it to themselves..


That said I don't think that many of us posting here on this thread are getting as down and dirty with the code as you have.. For those of us in that group, we installed WOZ despite the fact that there have been no updates in a good long and PRAYED that it would work with the latest version of WordPress.


I have been giving some very serious thought of gathering your information up and making ONE MORE ATTEMPT to hire a coder to fix WOZ for me. (Hope you don't mind...) I have to think about it.. Honestly for me while embedding the posts in ZC would be TRE cool, the fact is that the sideboxes for this mod are perfectly working for me.. I realized that my clients have never asked for their blogs to be imbedded in the ZC site, (turns out I was WAAAAAAYYYYY more interested in this functionality they ever were) they do expect their blog to visually MATCH the ZC site.. So this mod still has some usefulness for me..


Anyway.. I continue to look forward to reading your posts..


I wonder how the LATEST version of WordPress will play with the WOZ mod.. I can report that the latest version does not affect the WOZ sidebox functionality..

[busyMom]

Diva, WP 2.8 doesn't appear, on the surface, to have any functional changes that I would be concerned with. I'm planning to migrate my environment over, but I wanted to get through my last functional problem with the feed not working correctly first.

The much BIGGER issue is what will happen when ZC 2.0 becomes available since that code is a major upheaval. Whether those of us wanting to continue using WOZ will be able to find a minor modification to keep them integrated or whether it will also require a complete overhaul remains to be seen. It may be that down the road, your approach which protects you a little bit from this potential overhaul will be the only reasonable approach. But for my time and learning experiences, I'm sticking with the hopeful path because, like you (vs. your clients), I am really interested in having an integrated environment.

If I could point you to the most important debug tips I've posted to help you do your own debug, it would probably be these:

• http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpo...&postcount=810 which will post a debug file in the ZC cache directory each time you load a page (and if the page is successfully redirected, you will get a second debug file due to the redirected page load)
• http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpo...&postcount=812 so that you can put all kinds of debug messages to yourself throughout the areas of the code you are trying to debug. This would be the equivalent of sprinkling print or echo statements throughout code you are trying to debug, but it puts them into the debug file that was enabled in the cache directory in the previous tip instead of trying to print it out in the browser window where it can cause problems with your browser painting of what you are actually trying to debug
• http://chrispederick.com/work/web-developer/ Firefox web developer addon to help you analyze what the browser is actually drawing and seeing

I wouldn't even begin to know how to guide you any further without telling you how to debug your own code! I usually don't get more than a few hours a week to work on my own development. I have no formal php, html, java or ajax training but I have taught myself quite a bit throughout this journey. If you don't understand a function or code structure, make google your best friend. Know how I stumbled upon the op_start fix I needed? I googled 'php redirect without header' and did some research. It is not built in wisdom nor coder experience that has allowed me to get through my problems, it is resourcefulness, determination and a stick-with-it mentality that is helping me push forward. So with a basic set of tools at my side, all it takes is time and patience. I'm sure that if it becomes a priority for you, you'll be able to successfully get to the same point, but that's a big priority tradeoff and not too many people would be willing to do it!

[DivaVocals]

The much BIGGER issue is what will happen when ZC 2.0 becomes available since that code is a major upheaval.

I agree!!! This is my concern for ALL of the add-ons I consider "must haves" for every Zen site I build. It's my understanding that ALL of the current add-ons will have to be re-written because of the changes in the new 2.0 codebase.. So I'm going to hang in the cut for a little bit even after the 2.0 beta comes out . I think I'm going to be reading up on all the feedback with 1st before I setup my test site with the new 2.0 code..

If I could point you to the most important debug tips I've posted to help you do your own debug, it would probably be these:

http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpo...&postcount=810 which will post a debug file in the ZC cache directory each time you load a page (and if the page is successfully redirected, you will get a second debug file due to the redirected page load)
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpo...&postcount=812 so that you can put all kinds of debug messages to yourself throughout the areas of the code you are trying to debug. This would be the equivalent of sprinkling print or echo statements throughout code you are trying to debug, but it puts them into the debug file that was enabled in the cache directory in the previous tip instead of trying to print it out in the browser window where it can cause problems with your browser painting of what you are actually trying to debug
http://chrispederick.com/work/web-developer/ Firefox web developer addon to help you analyze what the browser is actually drawing and seeing

Thanks for the tip! If I decide to pursue paying for a full on fix for WOZ, I have a great starting point.. I have a developer friend who I spoke with about this recently, and he and I are gonna chat about this pretty soon.

I wouldn't even begin to know how to guide you any further without telling you how to debug your own code! I usually don't get more than a few hours a week to work on my own development. I have no formal php, html, java or ajax training but I have taught myself quite a bit throughout this journey. If you don't understand a function or code structure, make google your best friend. Know how I stumbled upon the op_start fix I needed? I googled 'php redirect without header' and did some research. It is not built in wisdom nor coder experience that has allowed me to get through my problems, it is resourcefulness, determination and a stick-with-it mentality that is helping me push forward. So with a basic set of tools at my side, all it takes is time and patience. I'm sure that if it becomes a priority for you, you'll be able to successfully get to the same point, but that's a big priority tradeoff and not too many people would be willing to do it!

I will stick to reading your tips for now!!


By day I am an IT Business Analyst/Project Manager (specializing in web-based applications). While I have a web-design certificate from one of the local universities, HTML/CSS/Javascript was the extent of my so-called "coding" experience.. As a BA/PM I don't actually write any code. However, my years of working in this capacity and working with some very talented developers and DBAs has provided me with some very valuable knowledge which comes in handy for my "side gig".. My knowledge of webdesign has certainly come in handy for my day job. However, when I decided to re-direct my "on the side" web designing activities to incorporate database driven content managment type of systems, I had to teach myself quite a bit to make this a viable offering I could confidently provide to my clients (and support)..

That said, I'm still not a coder.. (though one of my developer friends keep threatening to turn me into one!!) I will ALWAYS have MAD respect for what coders do. I am ALWAYS in awe when I turn in a set of functional requirements to see the developers I work with bringing my visions to life..

That said, even after alll of these years in software development, I'm still not sure it's a skillset I really want to fully master.. I have been able to figure things out quite a few things pretty well for a non coder (if I do say so myself!!!).. I have enlisted outside technical expertise when I have needed it for the things that haven't been so easy to figure out.. (so far, that's been a really RARE need).. I taught myself SQL years ago by making Google/Yahoo my friend too! So my hats off to you girl for self teaching yourself how to debug and write code.. I'll keep looking out for your tips and posts!!

[Spo0f]

Hi,

Quick question, i followed the the [a] route to install this mod. However got to the last part and i am obtaining a...

file not found /var/www/vhost/orcharddirect.co.uk/public_html/Blog/wp-config.php

All the files are in the correct places.

Have i defined it wrong? or is there another issue?

Thanks

[Spo0f]

My blog is situated here

http://www.orcharddirect.co.uk//Blog/

Dont no if this information helps?