Admin login gone after new template install

Zencart version 1.3.8a on GoDaddy hosting with zenflavor free template. The template looks good and is working, however once it was installed I no longer have access to the Admin page. Instead I get a blank page with this:

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at (full server path deleted by me)/zencart/includes/languages/english/meta_tags.php:1) in (output started at (deleted)/zencart/admin/includes/init_includes/init_templates.php on line 36

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at (output started at (deleted)/zencart/includes/languages/english/meta_tags.php:1) in (output started at (deleted)/zencart/admin/includes/functions/general.php on line 21

I didn't know if it was safe to post the full server path, I figured it wasn't needed anyway. Any idea what I can do? I can't get into Admin to choose another template. I have looked everywhere in the forum.

candyt3:

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at (full server path deleted by me)/zencart/includes/languages/english/meta_tags.php:1) in ...

Looking up that error message in the FAQ area reveals this article: https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/index.php?article=87 ... which shows how you've got blank lines/spaces at the beginning of the filename specified.

DrByte:

Looking up that error message in the FAQ area reveals this article: https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/index.php?article=87 ... which shows how you've got blank lines/spaces at the beginning of the filename specified.
Thank you for your quick reply. I looked in the new, custom files and did spot a blank line at the beginning of one of the php files. However, correcting it and uploading it didn't change anything.

I looked in the file referenced in the error
zencart/includes/languages/english/meta_tags.php:1

This is an original file that was working before I installed the custom template. I removed the header info from the meta_tags file (not the code, just removed the name of the store and the tagline---because that info is listed in the custom template tpl_header.php file. But that didn't change a thing.

I am not familiar enough with code toimmediately spot errors, but my software tells me there is an unmatched end tag in both the tpl header and footer files in the custom template. I don't know if it helps to paste it here as it looks like it's text-wrapped now. This is just a small part of code in this file.

Have you thought about restoring the backup you made just before you installed the new template...

... you do have a backup... :huh: ?

Yes, I have a backup. Will try that later this evening.

candyt3:

Thank you for your quick reply. I looked in the new, custom files and did spot a blank line at the beginning of one of the php files. However, correcting it and uploading it didn't change anything.Are you sure the upload "took"? If you look at the file again now, is the first line blank? The file needs to begin with just <?php

candyt3:

I am not familiar enough with code toimmediately spot errors, but my software tells me there is an unmatched end tag in both the tpl header and footer files in the custom template.
If it's referring to a PHP tag, read this FAQ before getting too worried about that: https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/index.php?article=313

Things are going from bad to worse. I think at this point I should delete the store and reinstall. Now I have two more errors in addition to the first two. :lamo:

Warning: session_start() [function.session-start]: Cannot send session cookie - headers already sent by (output started at /zencart/admin/includes/functions/general.php:1) in /zencart/includes/functions/sessions.php on line 108

Warning: session_start() [function.session-start]: Cannot send session cache limiter - headers already sent (output started at /zencart/admin/includes/functions/general.php:1) in /zencart/includes/functions/sessions.php on line 108

Sounds like the same problem ... extra stuff at the beginning of the file ... in this case the general.php file, on line 1.

There were no problems until I installed the custom template, so I am not going to reinstall it.

I did restore with a backup, and finally did discover the problem. Someone mentioned using a different program to edit php files with. I had been using Micro$oft Expression Web, and if you are cringing right now, let me explain that it's the software my boss bought for me to use on the company FP enabled website.

Once I downloaded Notepad++ and used that program to edit files, all the problems disappeared. I went on to create my own template and installed it successfully.

The strange thing about Expression Web, I was editing carefully in code view but it was making undetectable changes. I don't know what it was doing but it wasn't me. I kept performing the exact steps over and over and there were always errors. Notepad++ made it a breeze. It was a real relief! More than one program was mentioned here on the forum, I just happened to choose the Notepad++.

Lesson---if the pros on the forum suggest the problem is your software, believe it! Save yourself days of tearing your hair out!:clap:

NEVER touch your zencart files with any program that has Microsoft in the name!

(Perhaps a bit harsh... but MS programs tends to behave like a bull in a china shop with most forms of OS code.)

ROFLMAO!!!

Very good advice! I will never, ever do that again!:blush: