how to do an Add ons install?

Hi eveyone
I am new to zencart and I downloded the " easy_populate_free__from_langer__modhole_v1-2-5-5" Addon and I dont know how to install it. I looked all over the site.
Your help is appreciated.

Thank you

riahi66:

Hi eveyone
I am new to zencart and I downloded the " easy_populate_free__from_langer__modhole_v1-2-5-5" Addon and I dont know how to install it. I looked all over the site.
Your help is appreciated.

Thank you
Instructions on how to install are contained in zip file.

Thank you
But the read me is just as confusing. I mainly use Joomla and it clearly states Install in its upper menu and then one can browse to the local folder to get the Addons and then upload. what would be the common procedure of installing all these zen cart add ons.

Thank you again

When zip file is unzipped, files are in folders which correspond to existing folders in zencart install..so upload files to corresponding folders in your own zencart..
Other zencart mods are uploaded to same/other folders , dependant on what that mod is designed to do.
Suggest you forget about Joomla and how it works, when
dealing with zencart...entirely different program both in content and construction.

I'm having a similar problem.

The install instructions for Easy Populate include this assumption:
"Readers know how to INSTALL modules on their zencarts."
and say only
"Upload all files in their respective directories."

I'm having difficulty finding basic instructions that tell me how to do this (i.e., what goes where). I've searched the FAQ and the forums and the Wiki (using "install addons" and "install modules" and numerous variations)
Is it similar to installing a template? I did that successfully.
I have read about the overrides system, but don't know how it might apply in this case with these files/folders.

I also note that the instructions for addons contributors specifically say that the install instructions should not assume any knowledge beyond how to unzip the file. I think I've figured out quite a bit more than that, but I'm still unsure where to put these files.

The folders/files available to be installed are:
admin/
admin/easypopulate.php
admin/includes/
admin/includes/boxes/
admin/includes/extra_datafiles/
admin/includes/functions/
admin/includes/languages/

install_sql
and a temp folder which is supposed to go in the store directory [fine with that]

Do I just dump everything listed in the admin folder above into the store admin folder? or do I need to make a new subdirectory called ezpop? or do I put it in /includes/modules or somewhere else? or do each of the specific files go in particular places? and which things require me to create new folders?

Where does the install_sql file go?

Thanks for any help you can provide.
If there is a page outlining general instructions for installing addons, please provide the url.

Thats EXACTLY my question - I have been searching for over an hour, googling, reading the FAQ's.

I have installed a bare bones template OK, but finding out how to install a module/addon is v hard for a newbie.

I can ftp, I have C panel and can upload via c panel I can change files using c panel or on my PC. I speak HTML, CSS and can edit PHP

This unanswered post is over a year old, why is it so hard to find this out?

Current version of Zen Cart
Bare Bones template
No addons!!

The add on I'd like to install is called 'Products In A Sidebox'

The Read me file says "Upload the files as they are.

Go to admin > tools > Layout Boxes Controller and turn on products_sidebox

The box heading can be changed in includes/languages/english/extra_definitions/products_sidebox_defines.php"

Upload- but where to?

That mod works like most. Once you've done one, it'll be clearer.

All the folders and files in the mod are contained within a folder called 'includes'. As luck would have it, your Zencart installation also contains a folder called 'includes'. Since folders can't be overwritten, you would just use your FTP program to drag and drop the 'includes' folder in the mod to the same level as the 'includes' folder in your store, namely the 'root' or top directory. The folders and files in the mod will then fall where they should.

Most mods are configured this way. Two caveats:

If the mod contains template or language files that would ordinarily be overriden in your custom template, the mod's author will generally provide folders with a generic template name (usually 'YOUR_TEMPLATE') to hold them. You need to change the name of those folders to the name of your custom template's folders.

Same thing in case the mod contains admin files. In many mods, you'll have two folders to upload: 'admin' and 'includes'. Change the 'admin' to the name you gave your admin folder before you upload the mod.

stevesh:

That mod works like most. Once you've done one, it'll be clearer.

All the folders and files in the mod are contained within a folder called 'includes'. As luck would have it, your Zencart installation also contains a folder called 'includes'. Since folders can't be overwritten, you would just use your FTP program to drag and drop the 'includes' folder in the mod to the same level as the 'includes' folder in your store, namely the 'root' or top directory. The folders and files in the mod will then fall where they should.

Most mods are configured this way. Two caveats:

If the mod contains template or language files that would ordinarily be overriden in your custom template, the mod's author will generally provide folders with a generic template name (usually 'YOUR_TEMPLATE') to hold them. You need to change the name of those folders to the name of your custom template's folders.

Same thing in case the mod contains admin files. In many mods, you'll have two folders to upload: 'admin' and 'includes'. Change the 'admin' to the name you gave your admin folder before you upload the mod.

So, in other words, even though my FTP program says "Uploading 'Includes' will override the 'Includes' on your site."
IT WILL NOT BE OVERRIDDEN, BUT THE CONTENTS OF THE NEW INCLUDES FOLDER WILL BE ADDED to the existing folder?

THAT SHOULD BE EXPLAINED. it is very vague and contradicts good computer practices... Caution must be taken when one overrides a file, right?

Correct, but that's not a Zencart thing. Directories can't be 'overwritten' in the sense that files can. As you say, dragging a folder to a place where a folder with the same name exists, it will add the files inside the folder you're dragging to the existing folder.

My FTP program doesn't produce a warning in that case - I'm not sure why yours does.

It not only doesn't contradict good computer practice, it is good (or at least standard) computer practice.

Most programs assume users know the basics of file and directory manipulation. It would be really tedious to include explanations of this sort of basic stuff in every mod's instructions.

This is the explanation I have been looking for. Thank you.

At the risk of repeating previous questions please can I clarify something.

If the contents of uploaded folders are added to the existing folder of the same name, what happens when the contents of those folders are also the same?

ie the Includes folder to be uploaded contains a Modules and a Templates folder, both of which contain a custom folder to be renamed which in turn contain files which exist under the same path in the existing includes folder eg includes/modules/CUSTOM/attributes.php exists in both the mod to upload and the current files on the server. Presumably the attributes.php file will be overwritten? Can I assume therefore that the intention is to ultimately overwrite the attributes.php file? The readme instructions for the mod say that to uninstall you simply delete uploaded files but obviously if a file has been overwritten by deleting it you lose the file altogether rather than restore to previous version.

This may be obvious and I apologise for irritating anyone but I'm new to Zen and just getting to grips on how it all works. Thank you very much in advance. :smile:

If your cart has includes/modules/CUSTOM/attributes.php
and CUSTOM is the name of your template
and the mod has includes/modules/CUSTOM/attributes.php

then uploading will install the mod's copy of attributes.php, which is the one your site will use.

Now note that the mod generally doesn't have

includes/modules/CUSTOM/

It might have

includes/modules/custom

or

includes/modules/YOUR_TEMPLATE

which would need to be renamed to includes/modules/CUSTOM. (Case matters.)

Thank you for the reply. The mod has CUSTOM which the readme file instructs you to rename to the name of your custom template. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

Anyway I've installed (after making more backups and copies than surely is rational!) and it seems to be working. Guess I'll feel a little more confident next time! Thanks again.