there has to be a way to do this

Hi Everyone,

First of all I want to thank all the people who have helped me till now.
Reading the threads i realize how dedicated and patient you have to be to help us newbies along.

At this stage i am only working locally with MAMP and it has been good to learn but now i would like to test "site to customers" functionality still locally (I don't really have the dough to pay for a remote server and the free ones i tried have been hell connecting to)

I keep being discouraged to try and set up Mercury on the Mac (osx10.4.11) on the threads treating the subject but every now and zen :wink: someone has worked it out without telling how.

So my question is this: Is there anyone out there who could tell me how to set up ZC locally to test emails functionality etc... I have downloaded Mercury 1708Mac.

i got the book because i was being told that it would be an invaluable tool and zen i read to ignore that part...

To tell you the truth i don't feel confident enough yet to connect with the rest of world and i'd rather keep on learning locally.

Cheers to you all

IMHO, I think it's best to avoid setting up Mercury on your Mac (OS X and above) unless you are pretty confident on the Unix/Linux system administration part.

This is because the Mac already comes bundled with it's own mail sending/receiving server program (e.g. postfix for sending email). Since OS X is a Unix-based OS, you can also install other Unix-based email server programs.

The problem comes in when security holes are accidentally opened up or one runs into certain software conflicts which require Unix-based knowledge to resolve. These can get very complicated.

To test your mail templates and settings, you can always set up dummy test accounts on your 'live' server when you've settled on a host.

Thank you for taking the time to reply to me.

Not really what i was hoping for but i will take your advice.

I am just so clumsy with all this computer stuff that i am still apprehensive with going live. I am trying to connect with a free hosting service (zymic-RSC) but what was i expecting? I can't ftp to it.

I am a student with very limited resources at the moment. All i want is to test ZC.

Would you know of another free hosting service?

Thanks anyway

I do not know of any 'free' hosting service that offers even 'adequate' support for running Zen Cart.

Users either have problems administering their accounts (e.g. as in your case with the FTP restriction) and/or have problems with site performance and security (e.g. too many sites on one server).

It's not their fault as they can't dedicate too many resources (labor, hardware, etc) to running free sites from which they cannot recover their costs.

Don't forget, even some commercial web hosts have problems hosting Zen Cart sites as mentioned in other threads.

For your case, perhaps it would be best to familiarize yourself with the software and then build it up locally until you are satisfied with the products/services you are offering and the site design you want.

After that, look for a "reliable" host and transfer your local site to your remote host. Test your email and remote payment/shipping settings after that. You should be up and running pretty quickly that way; and thus cut down on your hosting fees.

Some costs are, however, unavoidable if you plan to run Zen Cart as a commercial for-profit venture e.g. SSL.

PS: It's best to host with one of the "Certified Hosts" as it'll reduce lots of unforeseen headaches in future.