All of this.. this could be my story too.. In addition I still work in software development as a business analyst dealing MAINLY with web-based applications.. I too started out with BBEdit, Front Page, Dreamweaver (and some strange one off product MS put out to compete with Flash)
SOME of what I learned in the good old BBEdit, Front Page, Dreamweaver days of creating static websites is useful, for troubleshooting the page output when it goes awry, but Schoolboy is right, the HTML OUTPUT is created on the fly dynamically, and you really must understand that concept to jump into this.
This is to say you can do it, but you have to step back from what you think you know and learn some new concepts. AND to Schoolboy's point you REALLY cannot take on clients until you can confidently be sure you can manage their needs.. Just knowing how to install Zen Cart, and slapping on a template will NOT be enough in this regard. (though many do believe that this is enough)
To share my own story.. I learned this lesson the HARD way with my first ecommerce client (she was my ONLY client too for a long time:laugh:).. She wanted to convert her static HTML site into a real shopping cart.. I did a little research and I installed Joomla, and their horrible e-commerce plugin VirtueMart. I was in over my head in NO TIME with one broken feature after another that I had NO IDEA how to fix. Unlike this forum, their community is LESS than helpful, and OFTEN arrogant (including and ESPECIALLY the lead developer). I was astounded how much my "Web Design Certification" was of NO USE to me in maintaining this site.. The straw that broke the camels back for me was when PayPal's IPN stopped functioning and though there were HUNDREDS of posts with the same issue, not only did the community or the developers not help, they all but told us that the problem was non-existant. That's when I had to cry uncle and admit that my knowledge of HTML and my "Web Design Certification" (from a local university no doubt) were not enough to help me out of the mess I was in.. Besides that, my client was NOW asking for features I had NO IDEA how to deliver to her.
Eventually I found Zen Cart.. took the time to learn it, and determine what I needed to know in order to properly support my client (and hopefully other clients eventually). I eventually converted her site for free. (It was the least I could do as it was MY mistake which led me to putting her with the product she was using) That was many moons ago, and that first client stuck with me despite the many bonehead mistakes I made along the way..
Today thanks to this forum and the many resources and people it has, I am a LITTLE less green:laugh: than I was when I foolishly set down my Virtue Mart path, but I am learning new stuff everyday.. I am a HUGE Zen Cart fan, and will continue to be because frankly for e-commerce I haven't found a framework that does it better for my client's needs.. I have cultivated a number of resources to help me do this too. For super specific custom stuff (like a event management module with ticket/merchandise sales), I have a resource that I hire for this kind of custom work. For graphic design work, I have another resource for custom graphics.. I learned that there's a LOT I DO need to know, but I don't need to know how to do everything, and frankly no one really can.. Folks who do design can't necessarily do custom coding and vice versa.. My daytime pursuits provide me project planning and requirements/specifications management skills and that doesn't hurt..
The point I think some of us are making to the OP is that installing Zen Cart is easy, but to know whether what he/she wants to do will work or even HOW to do it will require a bit of the "rolling up the sleeves" kind of mentality.. If the OP REALLY wants to support clients/offer a service, he/she needs to make sure they can in fact support that service.. Set up a test site or even a local server.. Install Zen Cart and have a play at it..
schoolboy:
Dreamweaver will not be of any help to you either. Put it back in its box and don't use it again (for a while at least, anyway).
CMS sites (like zencart, wordpress, joomla, drupal ...) are what are known as DYNAMIC CONTENT sites... There are no "html pages" - until a visitor clicks a link, and then the software assembles the page for that visitor.
When the visitor clicks another link, the "page" they are on evaporates forever, and a NEW page is assembled (again, just for that person).
You will have had experience in building STATIC html pages, and (while the RESULT is html), CMS platforms use a code (such as PHP) associated with a DATABASE (MySQL), and pages are built on-the-fly - or DYAMICALLY.
This is a fundamental difference in website composition from what you may have been used to.
I went through the same curve - having started building sites (19 years ago) on notepad, then moving to MS FrontPage, then to Dreamweaver and Adobe Fireworks and a few others besides.
ALL these systems did not prepare me well enough for database-driven technologies, and to understand this stuff well enough to build responsible, reliable and secure sites, there is quite a lot of learning to do.
If a fool like me can do it, then I am sure you can too... but it is quite a steep curve - especially if you intend taking on paying clients, who will have very high demands...
