Display Model Number on Category Page

looking at all of the files that control our site's look.. they are ALL under the folder template_default which based on what you are saying are the CORE files. correct?

briandoakes:

Yeah thats what I meant.. a fresh install on a local or separate server... NOT on our live site.. something where I can look at it and understand how it works then try to implement on our development site first and then maybe our live site.

Well... there may be some value in doing this to learn core functionality... but I think it would be more advantageous to get your head round your developer's customisations.

As I said, a fresh install will not give you any indication where changes have been made in the CODE...

briandoakes:

So in theory, if i installed a fresh version of 1.39 somewhere and then looked at the code that generates the Model Number and tried to bring that into this existing mess, in theory it should work properly? Or is there more to it you think?

In theory, that would work -- IF you can find and fit back into the customized files what was taken out. But in the long run you simply must get the customizations put into the proper override folders. There are two main reasons for doing so. As mentioned, having a clean stock classic template is a useful tool for debugging problems. Also, if your customizations are in the classic template files, they will all be overwritten when next you do an upgrade -- which I think you'll agree would be a Very Bad Thing.

Whether you want to tackle the clean up of your template now or just deal with the model number issue is up to you. But at some point, you'll have to do it all.

Rob

briandoakes:

looking at all of the files that control our site's look.. they are ALL under the folder template_default which based on what you are saying are the CORE files. correct?

Yes... your developer has modified CORE files... :(

This makes finding changes that much harder... and my idea of changing CLASSIC to CUSTOM will have no value - because he has not used "CLASSIC" as the over-ride folder system...

... he's done changes to the CORE files themselves...

@Schoolboy, correct, but I wont be able to get my head around my developer's code if im not even able to tell what he removed in the first place, ya know? Like to give you an example, on the links I gave before, there used to be just a "ADD TO CART" button, but looking at the code, I was able to figure out how to add the "MORE INFO" button.. once Im able to understand how something works Im able to easily make changes...

@rstevenson. Thanks... In theory, I think when we upgrade to the newest version of ZenCart, I am going to do it 100% the right way, unfortunately at this point, Im stuck dealing with someone else's headache.

@schoolboy, so basically Im screwed at this point, because even if I wanted to load the classic template in and change the existing one to a custom template, Ill lose it once I load the classic in since thats where our developer wrote our template?

OK...

In ONE sense, there is some hope...

Because he has modified CORE stuff, when you do your FILE COMPARISONS, you will find it a little easier, because you can instruct WINMERGE to make direct comparisons to the DIRECTORY LEVEL, without having to instruct it to look in any CUSTOM folders. (There aren't any).

WINMERGE will then show you a LIST of changed files in HIS template_default folders, compared with the ORIGINAL template_default folders.

Ironically... this will help you get those files into a CUSTOM system more easily...

briandoakes:

@schoolboy, so basically Im screwed at this point, because even if I wanted to load the classic template in and change the existing one to a custom template, Ill lose it once I load the classic in since thats where our developer wrote our template?

NO... DON'T DO THIS...

Your site's "Classic" (default) structure has been used for CUSTOM dev work...

If you try to load a new "CLASSIC" structure to the live site, you will destroy all the work that has been done...

agreed... the good news is.. I am actually planning on doing a site redesign soon, which means hiring a developer who knows what he's doing and will be able to organize it properly. On one hand this has all be a great learning experience for me, because Ive had to look at ZenCart code and PHP and figure out how to make things happen functionally when Im not even a developer. When I saw the simple way to add Product ID, i figure "this would be easy to get the model # to show up" unfortunately I was mistaken. LOL

And when we do our site redesign, it's going to be all CSS.

What you need to do right now is get the entire site's FOLDER STRUCTURE (and their files) FTP'd to your local machine.

Once there, you can start a more ordered process of correcting issues.

Don't tamper with LIVE stuff... You need to do your analysis and corrections OFF-LINE...

agreed. thats what I was saying.. if i tried to do that, id lose everything.. which is why Im going to set up a completely separate environment running ZenCart version that is running here and see if I can get changes working on that environment then try to apply them to this..

schoolboy:

What you need to do right now is get the entire site's FOLDER STRUCTURE (and their files) FTP'd to your local machine.

Once there, you can start a more ordered process of correcting issues.

Don't tamper with LIVE stuff... You need to do your analysis and corrections OFF-LINE...

I have been working with offline local files this entire time. the link I sent you before was a testing area, not live. Ill make changes locally then upload to testing to see how it works, but i have already backed up everything.

briandoakes:

I have been working with offline local files this entire time. the link I sent you before was a testing area, not live. Ill make changes locally then upload to testing to see how it works, but i have already backed up everything.

Why didn't YOU develop the site. Looks like you know the protocol...:D

schoolboy:

Why didn't YOU develop the site. Looks like you know the protocol...:D

HA! Thanks.. because this site was done long before I even got here. Like I said.. my profusion I am a creative guy, but I understand framework and logic of sites and can manipulate code once I know how it works. I couldnt write PHP from scratch, but if I saw how a piece worked, I could figure out how to edit it and duplicate it with changes.

Let me ask one final question...

As someone relatively new to ZenCart.. if I wanted to start a theme from scratch and built it out on my own, what would be the best way to start?

I know someone mentioned Template Monster. are they bad to use as a starting point for ZC Templates?

Id like to get a basic Template and then just stylize and theme the heck out of it, but im not sure where to start nor do i know how to install a new theme.

if you could point me in the direction of some good starting points, I might just look to redo our site from scratch properly so that it will be easier to manage moving forward.

thanks again for all the help today!

Don't touch Template Monster... if you think you have problems now, they are nothing compared to those that Template Monster will give you.

Because the TEMPLATE system in zencart is so flexible, you can try a number of templates without affecting the sites CORE behaviour.

In YOUR case, this is now not possible, because your developer has tampered with the CORE files...

... so whatever "template" you try to introduce now, will NOT WORK AS DESIGNED, because your site will FORCE elements of your (now modified) CORE system into that template's CUSTOM system.

Your first step will be to "extract" all customised core files, put them where they should be (in a proper over-ride system) and then re-load the original core files to the DEFAULT system.

You DO NOT WANT to simply "overwrite" those core files now... if you do, you will overwrite your developer's work - and in effect break the entire site.

Ok, so in short.. any thoughts on how to extract all of these customized core files and put them where they need to be?

While responding. I have downloaded ZenCart to my local machine and have a fresh, running version of it running locally. by doing this I was able to turn on and off the Model Number on Product Listings and hopefully will be able to figure out how to get the functionality from there and place it into my live site.

However, moving forward I want to do this the right way. I want to use this fresh and local copy (and I will even upgrade to 1.50) and want to learn how to add a new theme to it. So aside from Template Monster, could you point me in the direction of where I could get themes to try and install? I just want to learn how the theme / template installation process works so that when Im ready, I will be able to install my own custom theme.

If you're familiar with Wordpress, that process is super easy, you make your theme, drop it in the themes directory and hit "Apply Theme" so I want to learn ZC's version of this.

Choose any of the templates by picaflor azul in the zencart addons section. Anne's templates are neat and clean, and the vast majority have been upgraded to work with Zc1.5

We use the all_business template quite a lot...

There are also a lot of other very good templates. The PURE series by 12leaves (see Google) are also good.

briandoakes:

Ok, so in short.. any thoughts on how to extract all of these customized core files and put them where they need to be?

A file compare program (WINMERGE) will give you a very quick LISTING of files in DIRECTORY "A" that are different from their comparative files in DIRECTORY "B"

In your case, your MODIFIED files are all likely to be in the main "includes" folder (not admin/includes)... just the main includes folder.

So...

In winmerge,

in the first location selector option... navigate to the location on your hard drive where you have FTP's your site to, and drill down to that "includes" folder

in the second location selector option... navigate to the location on your hard drive where you have unzipped the same version of ZC, and drill down to the "includes" folder.

Then do the comparison...

This will LIST all files that are UNCHANGED and CHANGED..

You can reasonably assume that all the CHANGED files are those customised by your developer.

It is likely that CHANGED files will appear in:
/includes/languages/
/includes/modules/
/includes/templates/

BUT THERE COULD BE OTHERS IN OTHER DIRECTORIES TOO...

These now need to be MOVED into a CUSTOM (over-ride) structure, that meets the directory arrangement of such override structure (viz: your "custom" template system.)

In effect, you will be EXTRACTING all CORE files that were edited, and will be putting them into their appropriate OVER-RIDE folder.

When you have extracted EVERY SINGLE FILE in this way - and MADE SURE they are in the proper override folder, you have the basis of your custom template.

Then.... you will be able to RESTORE the CORE system to the way it is meant to be... by overwriting it with the original files... it will be safe to do this now, because the customised files will be in their over-ride folders

(OVER-RIDE and CUSTOM folders essentially means the same thing).

You could then LOAD your "new" custom template in the same way that you would load any new template. Your site will be very confused at first as it is "expecting" certain settings. You will need to reset various settings - the first being the LAYOUT BOXES CONTROLLER RESET, and possibly several others in various admin areas.

Bear in mind that your developer MIGHT have changed core files elsewhere - possibly even in the ADMIN area of the site... We don't know... so it might be necessary to "WINMERGE INSPECT" Every single folder...