meta_tags.php override not working - what am i doing wrong

It has taken me a lot of time over the past year to get my site working and now fine tuning. I have made the mistake of changing files and not creating a CUSTOM (my own name) folder so now i am trying to go back and do that not only to optimise for search engines but also so i can accept program updates and not screw some custom changes i have made.

I have now put focus on my meta tags. i went into each product and filled out the title, description, keywords and when i click on to those products i see the title showing up....hopefully my choice of wording will optimise my site better now...BUT...i would like to edit the meta-tag.php and have made the changes in my editor using the includes/languages/english/meta-tag.php file...so now i am trying to upload the finished file in includes/languages/english/MYNEWNAME/meta-tag.php and i go and refresh my home page and I see the old tag line still...i do not understand why it isn't overriding to my new file.

Please confirm you file name is: meta_tags.php NOT meta-tag.php

That would make the correct path:
includes/languages/english/MYNEWNAME/meta_tags.php

Website Rob:

Please confirm you file name is: meta_tags.php NOT meta-tag.php

That would make the correct path:
includes/languages/english/MYNEWNAME/meta_tags.php

CONFIRMED

sorry 4 the typo...no chg in the file name.

If you are not seeing changes to whatever file you just uploaded, delete the current file and upload again.

For various reasons, there are times when an upload does not work as it should.

Website Rob:

If you are not seeing changes to whatever file you just uploaded, delete the current file and upload again.

For various reasons, there are times when an upload does not work as it should.

i did and also verified i am uploading the modified and not the old...do i have to tell the cart somehow what my custom name is?

Can you copy & paste the change you are trying to make?

Website Rob:

If you are not seeing changes to whatever file you just uploaded, delete the current file and upload again.

For various reasons, there are times when an upload does not work as it should.

as far as the meta_tag.php file is concerned I simply am trying to change the current title shown when going to my home page to be more keyword rich. I am looking to add keywords in the appropriate spot as well since i realize they were still at the zen cart default...no wonder when doing a search on typical keywords i search page after page and give up 30 pages in finding not a single incident of my site. i am trying to make the content of each page include typical search keywords in my description...years ago in my old biz i used to come up in the first page but that is because there weren't many wedding album designers...now there are tons and i am so dry with work i NEED to optimise any way i can.

i could simply open up the original meta_tag.php file and make the adjustment but the goal is to have it override to my custom named folder because when i first started editing my site it took me almost a year to complete because of so many things going on....so i didn't follow the directions wel enough the first time...i simply want overrides to work as it is supposed to.

do i have to tell the cart somehow what my custom name is?

Have you set up your custom template (includes/templates), and selected it in admin as your template?

TShooters:

Have you set up your custom template (includes/templates), and selected it in admin as your template?

last night in my search to try to resolve this i DID read about this and wondered if i needed to do this...but because i wasn't actually creating a new template at this point i was hoping someone would verify this detail. So if i follow that instruction this will now recognize my folders throughout the site to be one to refer to? does a custom template have to do or look like anything? is it an actual html file or something visual?

so i followed the directions on creating a custom template..problem is...apparently my entire site was editing the classic theme so if i choose my new custom template in the tools section of the admin my site is blank. so i figured...ok...my site was an edited version of classic so i will just go in and put the meta_tag.php file in the classic folder...i refresh and my site is blank so i removed it to get it back to where it should be.

i could just give up at this point, but i have added things such as the ability to log in as my customer....when i did that and then opted to install the latest zen update...my plugins were wiped out and i had to upload again. I don't wnat to have to upload these modifications every time i see there is an update to the cart itself so i figured i should try to implement the custom capabilities to avoid that...not sure what to do now.

To get back to the Classic template, you'll need to go to admin/tools and select it as your template.

If you don't have anything in your includes/templates/custom folder, your site would be blank. At the least, a template needs a includes/templates/custom(your template name)/css/stylesheet.css there.

schoolboy gives an excellent tutorial on setting up a custom template after customizing Classic or template_default, here:
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=135481

Don't give up! Understanding the override system sometimes takes a little time. Most of us have been there.

A link to your site is always helpful.

funny thing is...i went into the meta file that is right inside the english folder and just to see if i had some success i changed the site title to the new one....and it too was blank...which is weird cuz all i did was edit that line...so i just switch it back and no problem....uggg.

it doesn't seem like this should be difficult to understand....i am going to read that info in hopes it is different from what i have already read.

my site is https://www.mydesignerstudio.com/cafe

i don't want it to say fine templates....because fine isn't going to help ppl find me...i want that whole line to include the words ppl may be typing to find designers who do wedding albums like me...

Look in includes/languages/english/classic/header.php to see if the unwanted text "fine" is there. Most probably the :

define('HEADER_ALT_TEXT',

TShooters:

Look in includes/languages/english/classic/header.php to see if the unwanted text "fine" is there. Most probably the :

define('HEADER_ALT_TEXT',

the header.php isn't in the classic but just the english folder. i copied to the classic and changed that line which DOES contain the "fine" text...nothing. I then just went ahead and changed the header.php found in the english folder and again...no change...this "fine" sentence is in the header, the meta_tag file...and when changed...nothing modifies....some file is being used and i can't locate it...never did i even think i would be spending THIS much time on this one little thing.

Use the Developers Tool Kit in Admin/Tools to search for the word "fine". It will show you in what files it's located. Bottom search box, search in All Files-Catalog.

It's also in the alt text for your logo.png (which shows up while your image is loading).

Hope this helps!

TShooters:

Use the Developers Tool Kit in Admin/Tools to search for the word "fine". It will show you in what files it's located. Bottom search box, search in All Files-Catalog.

It's also in the alt text for your logo.png (which shows up while your image is loading).

Hope this helps!

thanks...i have a lot of little tid bits of work to fix this site...grrr.

what is teh best way to get this site to show up in keyword google searches? I could search for hours and no wonder i am not getting enough clients. i have been in the industry in one facet or another for 8 years...i should be considered a leader in the industry and once pretty much was....having kids....further added to the task list and about 5 different websites over the years has ruined my placement.

You should Stop All Work on your site and get your Template situation sorted out.

mydesignerstudio . com/cafe/includes/templates/template_default/images/logo.png

The above tells me you have not properly setup the Template overrides system and thus, any further work would be pointless. You can use the Tutorial/FAQ link, top of this page, for more info on what you need for overrides.

because the logo should be found in

/includes/templates/MYNEWCUSTOMFOLDER/images/logo.png ??

i briefly read the previous suggested link and saw that i could do a winmerge or something like that to find all the files that are different from each other.

if i have product files located in a particular folder for when customers purchase...is all this fixing i need to do going to affect that? Will those folders be moving as well? My product files are HUGE and it appears as if i am going to have to download my entire site and maybe try to do this offline....is that how i proceed??

live and learn

Read the FAQs to learn more about the overrides system. That will tell you what needs to be done; which is not as bad as you may think.