Three Weeks Later and I'm not in Zen....

I'm a maroon, granted. I could really use some help. :smile:

I've spent weeks now installing, reinstalling, praying, etc., with no working shop to show for my efforts. I've read so much of the wiki and this forum that I feel like an expert in all things ZC except how to actually get a store running. I feel like manually pushing a bullet into my skull. :lamo:

At the moment, at http://www.pearlzplus.com, I've supposedly got 2 products in my db, but for the life of me I can't get them to show up on my main page, or anywhere else. I had installed the demo package, but have deleted in the Admin all the products that came with the demo, and have put in my 2. Still, no go. What does one do to get products to show in the main center column? Do I need to become a Chinese citizen?

I feel more or less able to customize all the other things on this page that still need tweaking, as this is the millionth time through for me. But I cannot for the life of me get a product out of Admin and onto the page. Can someone please restore my sanity? Thank you!

When you added products, did you first set up category/ies for them to reside in?
i.e no category/ies will result in no product/s showing.

did you first set up category/ies for them

Thanks for the quick reply, Misty, and for not snarking my shop-in-progress-long-road-to-Zen.

Indeed, I have put first created a Bracelets category, with then a test and a Topaz wrist/ankle bracelet pair of products. I remember reading in a post elsewhere on this forum that even after deleting the demo package the category ids start at 170-something, and my category's id is 65 (I am mystified as to how how these ids are generated, but that's a story for another day). If that somehow were the issue causing my problem, I don't know how to change a category's id.

If that's not the issue, then I'm afraid I really don't know much about how Zc displays products, .php-wise or html-wise. I'm useless as to where to go looking to remedy this situation.

But the quick reply has led me to put the bullet down and just ponder eating a lemon. :smile: All apologies to my Chinese brothers and sisters for any previous misunderstandings.

We were all maroons once.

Two things:

You implied that you had the demo products installed at one time - how did you remove them?

When you first installed Zencart, you saw the Classic template. Now your site is using the default template. Was that intentional, and if so, why?

Personally, and as you have not travelled far, would reinstall
zencart, using Classic template.. and without demo products,
as to continue down current road not ideal...

stevesh:

You implied that you had the demo products installed at one time - how did you remove them?

I deleted them in the Admin->Categories menu.

stevesh:

you first installed Zencart, you saw the Classic template. Now your site is using the default template. Was that intentional, and if so, why?

Intentional, yes, but perhaps not so smart. I'm down to just trying to get one shop to work. Previously I've been trying to get the multisite module to work, and so I've gotten used to specifying templates. Since there were no custom templates yet in this case--and since I've had such a tough time getting custom templates to work well--I suppose I kind of brain-farted and for no good-reason specified the default template. Now that you mention it seems like waaaaaay overkill.

Misty, your suggestion to reinstall is interesting. I'm neutral on the idea. I've read in several places on the forum that deleting the demo products is not a problem, so if that's not the problem with my shop, and assuming I reconfigure to the classic template, what else in my HTML or otherwise indicates that I'm already off on the "not ideal" path? Because clearly I am but don't see how. :dontgetit

Thanks to you both, and all, for your help. :bigups:

Misty, your suggestion to reinstall is interesting. I'm neutral on the idea. I've read in several places on the forum that deleting the demo products is not a problem
Happened to myself when first started using ZenCart 6 years
ago..could not get anything to configure, just as you are now finding...
:wink:

I am still a new zenner - just hang in there and it will all fall together- I have found as I come across importatn bits of imformation I will hard copy it and make notes in a binder so that 1-2 months from now I can have it when all of a sudden the light bulb goes on! hang in all these 'all knowing zenners' are great!

Mine looked like that once. !

misty:

could not get anything to configure, just as you are now finding...
:wink:

I inherited this Zencart from someone who installed and abandoned it a year and a half ago. After two and a half weeks of trying to fix what he'd Frankensteined, I just decided to start from scratch. I've edited so many .php files at this point, and the stylesheet, and tried out so many templates, that I'm just goofy with this. I feel like a mechanic who can install a new gas tank on an automobile, upgrade the engine, put in a new carburateur, and balance the wheels, but who has no idea where the key goes, how to start the car, nor how to drive it once it's going. :ohmy:

Once I figure it out (God Willing!) though, I do think I'll be speedin' nicely down the motorway.:cool:

I too went though something like this on my first site. I reinstalled ZC three times before I was satisfied. It removes so much doubt to just start over fresh. And the third time it goes really fast! :laugh:

So don't hesitate. Use your cPanel to delete the database. (Or just use a different DB name for the new one, I guess.) Delete all the ZC files using your FTP program. Then install a completely new and fresh copy.

Then, have a look at the free templates in Free Software Add Ons, as well as at (sorry, site offline). You'll be glad you did.

Rob

I just want to say I agree with all the advice you've been given so far and let you know that we've ALL been there at some point, so you keep plugging away. That lightbulb will go on... eventually. :laugh: One day you'll realize you've been Zenned and you'll wonder why you thought it was so difficult.

Thanks for your advice Rob, stitchnkitty, and afo.

I suppose Misty and your all's nod toward yet another install can't be a bad idea, so I'll go for it.

Question (which I'm so sorry to have to ask at this late date!): When I reinstall, and I have a classic and template_default, the classic template has no /common directory, so there's no tpl_main_page.php, no tpl_. at all. So when I'm defining pages and whatnot through the Admin, I'm not confident that my changes will affect the classic template, or any other template I end up using. If indeed Admin changes to define pages are saved in /includes/languages/english/html_includes (or thereabouts), then what is the importance exactly of the /common directory in a template's directory?

Sorry to muddy the otherwise clear waters with this, but the light bulb has not yet gone on. Or it's a UV bulb. :cry: :smile:

You shouldn't be using/modifying the classic or template_default templates. You should be creating your own template which will protect your changes from being overwritten.

Any where you see a /classic folder, you can create a folder for your own template. There's more info on creating a custom template in the Tutorials/FAQ (link above).

There are free templates available for Zen Cart. You can modify them any way you like and they're a great way to see how to construct your own template. You can see them in action at http://(sorry, site offline)/. Just use the pull down menu to change templates and get an idea of how it'd look.

riverlife:

When I reinstall, and I have a classic and template_default, the classic template has no /common directory, so there's no tpl_main_page.php, no tpl_. at all. So when I'm defining pages and whatnot through the Admin, I'm not confident that my changes will affect the classic template, or any other template I end up using. If indeed Admin changes to define pages are saved in /includes/languages/english/html_includes (or thereabouts), then what is the importance exactly of the /common directory in a template's directory?

Here's the way it works:

Zencart looks for the installed template name in template_info.pfp.

It then goes to the folder with that name which would contain the override file it's looking for if it exists. If there's no override file, it goes to the proper folder in template_default and uses that one.

The Classic template doesn't have a common folder because the template designer didn't need to override any of the files in the default template common folder.