Should I delete some stuff? & where to DL product list?

1.3.8 fresh install website https://www.wannaspeed.com/catalog

Ok basically I just installed zen cart, there is already a basic store layout when you first download and install it. I now have my own custom folders and will be adding my own products. I deleted the demo products from the admin panel. I'm assuming it removed them from the folders....

What I want to know is should I delete all the stuff for the template that came with zen cart, now that I have my own template. The images and whatever else I don't use for my site. I think it has a template called classic template? Or do I need to leave everything? It seems like the site might be faster without all the unnecessary stuff.

I also read that I can download the product list and open it in MS excel to change the attributes off the products.

^^^ Top, right, blue box - click tutorials/FAQ

That was not helpful at all. I have already been reading all the information in that area while working on my site. For most things I find what I'm looking for but there is like a billion pages of information. I don't even know how to search for what I'm asking about.

I type variations of "what can I delete", "delete original template", "remove template" and the search comes back with a 100 threads on customizing the side bar. The only relevant search result is the one I posted!

dudemaaan:

Ok basically I just installed zen cart, there is already a basic store layout when you first download and install it.If you opt to install the demo products, yes.
If you opt to NOT install the demo products, then you'll have an empty store ready for your own products to be added fresh.
dudemaaan:

I now have my own custom folders and will be adding my own products. I deleted the demo products from the admin panel. I'm assuming it removed them from the folders....I'm not sure what you mean by "removed them from the folders". Zen Cart doesn't store products in folders. It stores product details in the database, which isn't part of the folders where all the Zen Cart PHP files are located.

dudemaaan:

What I want to know is should I delete all the stuff for the template that came with zen cart, now that I have my own template. The images and whatever else I don't use for my site. I think it has a template called classic template? Or do I need to leave everything?If you want to delete all the folders named "classic", that will be fine. Unnecessary, but fine.
You DO need to leave the "template_default" folder, and other master folders, though, since the master/original files are what drives the site.
dudemaaan:

It seems like the site might be faster without all the unnecessary stuff.I guess that depends on what you deem "unnecessary". If you're referring to the "classic" template files, if you don't have the classic template active, then its presence is insignificant and might affect performance by a microsecond.

dudemaaan:

I also read that I can download the product list and open it in MS excel to change the attributes off the products.Some people have met with varying degrees of happiness using the EasyPopulate addon from the Free Addons area, as it purports to offer the ability to edit product details.
Don't confuse product "details" with "attributes", since "attributes" in Zen Cart are a very specific feature, very different from things like product name, description, weight, price, etc.

Alright thats more helpful. I think I installed the complete store initially just to have a visual aid. As I developed my own site, I deleted the zen products and started adding my own. It seemed like there was a lot of stuf that wasn't mine when I first started and now even though it's not visually on my site, I felt like it was in the background somewhere taking up space and making my menus more complicated. I did read somewhere else to leave the template default, and that I could delete the classic template. I had no purpose for it and like my root folders clean so I removed it.

Easy populate sounds like it might be a helpful addon. I was also reading up on image handler 2. I'm not quite sure where to install things like this though. IH2 documentation says "Install the contents of the Store_Root folder, guess where? in your store root, where index.php is" Well I have 2 index.php files one under admin. And the other at includes> languages>english>CUSTOM.

I imagine I put it in the first location, does that mean I move the whole store_root folder over or just the contents....in which case a couple of the folders will be over written...

dudemaaan:

IH2 documentation says "Install the contents of the Store_Root folder, guess where? in your store root, where index.php is" Well I have 2 index.php files one under admin. And the other at includes> languages>english>CUSTOM.It's referring to the index.php file that your store runs from.
It's impossible to document EXACTLY where that file will be located, since your webserver will put the files in once place, and another webserver will put them someplace else.

The "index.php" it's referring to is the one that is located at wherever your store URL points to. So, if your store runs from a URL like 'http://your_domain.com/mystore/index.php' ... then that's the index.php that it's talking about.

dudemaaan:

I imagine I put it in the first location, does that mean I move the whole store_root folder over or just the contents....in which case a couple of the folders will be over written...
The addon, as with virtually ALL addons you'll see for Zen Cart and most PHP applications, consists of additional files to be uploaded to the server. And, those files must go into their prescribed locations.
The zip file you have contains folders and the files are inside their respective prescribed folders.
So ... simply find the matching folder structure on your server, and put the files up there.
You're not "replacing" folders. You're adding files TO the folders.

In SOME cases you might be replacing individual files. You should ALWAYS be careful about doing that, especially if you've already manually edited said files, in which case you want to manually merge the new changes with your custom edits so you don't lose anything from either side. Usually the documentation will outline that.
I'm not sure what IH2 does in that regard.

It's really very simple ... upload the new files to the corresponding locations on the server.

But ... talking about IH2 is now way off topic from deleting products or removing templates, etc.