Things every New Zenner needs to know

[resellrightsshop]

Hi obesechicken13

I am in the midst of producing a video and pictorial guide. I will endeavour to get this out and available as soon as I can

All the best
John Chadwick

[jackie.taferner]

obesechicken,

1. installation
https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/i...hp?article=107

2. backing up
This module will give you an easy way to backup http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?ma...products_id=81, otherwise use phpMyAdmin or contact your hosting company for assistance

3. changing templates, I like the guide posted in this thread but a lot of it is rather overwhelming and I just followed the install txt file. Newbies can't read 6 pages of technical text to get how something works. Please summarize.
1. download template
2. upload template files as instructed in the template's documents
3. go to Admin > Tools > Template Selection to choose your new template.

4. FTP how does this work? Any videos?
I recommend Filezilla, you can download it and find instructions how to use it on their website: http://filezilla-project.org/

5. Finding a free web host.
There's no such thing. It is recommended to host your website at a Zen Certified host, list available here: http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?ma...es&pages_id=10


All of that said, if you do not have the technical expertise or knowledge to setup an ecommerce site, install a template, use FTP, backup files, or find appropriate hosting - then you should hire a professional to do so. It will save you time on getting the site setup, and a LOT of headaches down the road.

Get it done right in the first place if you are unsure how to handle the technical aspects. Imagine an ecommerce store that wasn't setup properly, and your customer's credit card data is compromised by a hacker, then you're sued for liability. Just a thought...

[eves2222]

Is there any info for Newbies to design their own look and feel for zencart??

[jackie.taferner]

eves2222,

1. open this folder: /includes/templates/classic/ and poke around at the files. This is an all-inclusive template that controls the display of most any page you would want to edit.

2. Copy that folder, and rename it to your own template ie: /includes/templates/mytemplate

3. Upload those files to your store server, then go to Admin > Tools > Template Selection and choose your template from the dropdown

4. Make changes to the template as you wish and see how it looks on the front end. (you may want to start with the CSS files)


Another thought is to Google Zen Cart Templates and see what you find. There are a lot of great looking templates for cheap, that will get your store looking good real fast.

[obesechicken13]

obesechicken,

1. installation
https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/i...hp?article=107

2. backing up
This module will give you an easy way to backup http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?ma...products_id=81, otherwise use phpMyAdmin or contact your hosting company for assistance

3. changing templates, I like the guide posted in this thread but a lot of it is rather overwhelming and I just followed the install txt file. Newbies can't read 6 pages of technical text to get how something works. Please summarize.
1. download template
2. upload template files as instructed in the template's documents
3. go to Admin > Tools > Template Selection to choose your new template.

4. FTP how does this work? Any videos?
I recommend Filezilla, you can download it and find instructions how to use it on their website: http://filezilla-project.org/

5. Finding a free web host.
There's no such thing. It is recommended to host your website at a Zen Certified host, list available here: http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?ma...es&pages_id=10


All of that said, if you do not have the technical expertise or knowledge to setup an ecommerce site, install a template, use FTP, backup files, or find appropriate hosting - then you should hire a professional to do so. It will save you time on getting the site setup, and a LOT of headaches down the road.

Get it done right in the first place if you are unsure how to handle the technical aspects. Imagine an ecommerce store that wasn't setup properly, and your customer's credit card data is compromised by a hacker, then you're sued for liability. Just a thought...

Yes thank you, I know most of these things now. It was just a big headache learning it all. Perhaps you are right that one should get a professional to do the job instead. However a large amount of the people using zen cart aren't going to hire a professional since zen cart is advertised almost like a do-it-yourself kit.

I especially liked how you summarized the installation guide on templates. Imo that is how guides should be like.

And I think it's great that video tutorials will be made to supplement the text guides.

[jackie.taferner]

I certainly agree. When I was a newb it took me a long time to figure that stuff out. Thing is, once you get the hang of it, the system's pretty common-sense based. It's just not very apparent to anyone starting out. KISS (keep it simple stupid) is the best way to go about configuring & learning zen cart. The most obvious answer is the right one!

Hopefully we can figure a way to fix the disconnect between those that get it already, and those that don't. Just because it's easy in hindsight, doesn't mean newbies will be able to figure it out right off the bat.

[bigmo337]

Maybe a good idea would be. Some expert setting up a Zen Cart store from scratch and then customizing it etc etc.

And explaining step by step what he did.

A bit like "this is how I (the expert) did it", rather than "here is how you (the newbie) can do it".

Some weekly tasks that you can complete. I am a computer science student. Yes Coding makes sense to me, but in the end Zen Cart makes me feel like a mute. I can understand it to some extent, but can't do anything with it.

It is a bit messy for newbies.

[Kim]

It is a bit messy for newbies.

Messy how?

[ALiepinieks]

for the record, i found it a little 'messy' at first also. not to say i don't love using it, playing with it, working on it etc., but little things (for me) like language files not being referenced consistently (e.g. some sidebox info is in english.php, other has it's own file - perhaps this is by design but didn't seem that way), css being quite complex even for a default template and so on made my learning curve quite steep, albeit i enjoyed it.

having said this, i'm no computer science student : )

[itcetera]

It would be great to see a sample page of a newly installed zen cart with where to change each item overwritten on the page. Some one could look at the item they are trying to change,edit or get rid of, and see exactly where to edit. Maybe a list of what you need to know before you start. Just a couple of ideas I thought would have helped me.