Needed Serious Help..

So I am trying to set up my store site the way I want, and I am running into nothing but walls. It was really helpfulw hen I found this help stuff but there is another issue I'm having, and that is with finding the coding to change things myself.. everything says its where you capitalize this and that, like for instance on how to remove the sen cart art of whatever that is fixed at the top left, you go into how but I have no idea how to even get into the coding, if someone could help me I would appreciate it big time. Thanks

1. Unzip Zen Cart on your local computer.
2. Get a good text editor like Crimson Editor or Notepad++ (free on the net)
3. Get a good FTP client like Filezilla (free on the net)
4. Use the text editor to change the files as outlined in the tutorials
5. Use the FTP client to upload the changed files to your custom template folders on your website
6. Select your template from admin>tools>template selection

thank you so much for getting back to me, but is there anyway to do it through the control panel because it isn't saved on my computer.

You will want to apply the How do I create a new Custom Template? tutorial; the basic tools you will need to do that are:

Your host/server control panel (cPanel or whatever) and its File Manager for making new folders and moving/copying files.

A good text/file editor like Notepad++ or CrimsonEditor (both free from Sourceforge) for actually making the changes to files.

An FTP program like Filezilla (also free) for moving edited files and pictures between your pc and your server.

If you do not have a set of the Zen Cart files on your computer, download a set from Sourceforge and unzip it. The server control panel is not generally a good place to edit PHP files.

thank you so much! :smile:

okay, now I am probably sounding rediculous and like I don't know what I'm doing, but the suggestion that I got still didn't help me. I can't open the files in my file manager in order to edit them.. Is there another way to do it? If it helps I am using host monster. I just want to be able to customize the way it looks before movning on with the rest of the site.. If someone could please help me on how to get rid of that zen cart thing on the top, and change some of the colors around.. I don't know where to go to get the css.. I tried file manager, and it isn't downloaded to my computer it is through hostmonster. Thanks so much.

In all honesty a load of the issues you are having are in the help files/ tutorials etc or have been asked many times before.

Zen cart is stupidly easy to get set up and working out of the box. It's pretty much easy to make minor CSS changes (colours, fonts), remove sideboxes etc

When you want to start shifting elements around the page, for example, you'll need to edit some of the PHP files. For this you really need to understand the basics of web development.

You need to have a good text editor, or even something like dreamweaver, and a good ftp client set up on your machine.
You NEED a local copy in case you mess up or the server falls over/ gets hacked and need to make back-ups regularly.

it's not the html or web development that is the issue.. it's getting to the files.. as stuidly easy as it may be, I can't seem to come up with them.. so if you could point me in that direction, because I have yet to come across any help that says where I can locate them.

Do you have an FTP program to use (mentioned by posters twice already)?

Once you have your FTP program open you will see all the Zen Cart files.

The majority of the files you will want to edit are located in the languages and template folders.

Please read up on setting up your "custom" folders.

Tina

Please DON'T use the editor available in your file manager/webmaster panel. It can cause all sorts of problems with php files.

rallygirl11:

so if you could point me in that direction, because I have yet to come across any help that says where I can locate them.

The files will be in the folder on your server where you put them during the installation...

If your zencart loads when you type into your browser:

https://www.mywebsite.com

... then your ZC installation is in your site ROOT folder (often called public_html, or www, or just html - ask your host what the root is labelled on your server if you're not sure.)

If your zencart loads when you type into your browser:

https://www.mywebsite.com/store

... then you have installed ZC in a SUB-directory called "store" and it will be found under public_html/store, for example.

Note for thread:

Issues have been resolved - OP access for FTP was limited so files could not be seen.

OP corrected the FTP access and is happily on her way to editing her files - overrides for custom folders and original files backup are in place.

rallygirl11 ~ Good luck with your ZenCart. Feel free to IM me again if you get stuck.

Tina

I got all of my other issues taken care of before that were posted but now I am having a new issue... i am changing my page, the colors, and this and that.. but i can not find for the life of me in the coding where i am to change the side boxes, or the new products for january box.. then i will need to change the notifications box, and the tell a friend box..also my shopping cart box, once you add things.. if someone could please tell me where exactly i am changing these i would very much appreciate it. thank you so much!

Many of the classes and ids you will want to change are not yet listed in your stylesheet; they are provided in the PHP code in case someone wants to use them. You can add to the stylesheet any you don't find there already.

The best way for you to find which selectors to style is to install Firefox and its Web Developer extension. The Information > Display Element Information button will give all sorts of useful info for any element you click on, including the class/id.

If you want to change colors for a whole group of elements, find the highest container or "ancestor" that includes just them; or else the class tag that they all have in common.
If you want to change just one element, find its id, which will be unique.

(Class tags are identified by a . at the beginning; id tags begin with a #.)

Actually no worries, Tina helped me figure it out. Thanks for responding I appreciate it. :smile: