Product Pages loading slowly

Thank you all....and no I have not modified the default template....I chose Classic, am using the override system, but what I'm wondering is how to switch it back to the default as advised when the only template showing up in the admin menu is the one mentioned above. I've never had much to do with templates....this cart has been being modified and upgraded since 2004 and the blue are my custom buttons, css etc. In fact, perhaps that is an issue...my button code or some redundant java script from old mods...maybe it is not as big a mess as I think as I did do a clean install of 1.3.9h when I had the opportunity.

LINUX vs WINDOWS....or DOZE...as the case may be....

My server has begun offering LINUX and I tried in vain to install and upgrade it last January, but have found an article by Dr Byte that may reveal what I was doing wrong.... but I like this idea to just move it for the sake of comparing performance..thanks....no changes...and I think I can do that. so I'll give that a try today.

athena:

...and no I have not modified the default template....I chose Classic, am using the override system, but what I'm wondering is how to switch it back to the default as advised when the only template showing up in the admin menu is the one mentioned above.

OK, let me clarify this for you...

Zencart "packaged" comes with "classic" as the "starter template" - so when you install ZC for the first time, it will present itself for view using the "classic" template. It is therefore called the "default template", because it "naturally" uses the "classic" initial configurations to render the site visible on a browser screen.

As you know, inside your template system is a CORE file system called "template_default". This set of folders houses all the CORE files that ZC will use, when it fails to find an OVER-RIDE of any particular core file.

If you open includes/templates/classic/ on a fresh download of the software and you look for a /templates/ folder, you will not find one... it is completely EMPTY... This means the "classic" template has no custom over-rides.... is uses all the template_default files.

Therefore, CLASSIC is the DEFAULT TEMPLATE...

Now you appear to have (for quite a while) done modifications to "classic" and created custom files within its structure - so you have used what is usually the DEFAULT TEMPLATE to customise your site.

The reason this is not such a good idea is because CLASSIC is an excellent "diagnostic tool"... Left untouched, it is guaranteed to use only CORE FILES (and therefore render CORE behaviour). So when people have problems, one of the first steps in trying to work out where the problem lies is switching back to CLASSIC - because (if it is un-touched) it will operate strictly on CORE protocols. If (after switching to classic) the problem disappears, it allows you to "isolate" your problem to being somewhere is a CUSTOMISED file - making the process of fixing the issue more focused and (hopefully) faster.

You no longer have a "clean" classic template - so reverting to the default template isn't possible. You're using it as your "custom" template.

This doesn't mean the problem will never be found... it just makes it more challenging to find.

Anyway, might be an opportunity for you to upgrade from 1.3.9 to 1.5.1 .. Might be an idea

OMG! to quote my niece..... ;(

You mean I never figured that out after all these years?

Still working on the Linux install.....

athena:

O

Still working on the Linux install.....

It's taking a very long time...

Well, I'm forfeiting the opportunity to find what is wrong by just rebuilding with 1.5.1 on my host Linux server.

Reading my zen manual on template override.....(when all else fails)...and going to test after importing my products and categories with no mods installed.....

I've been installing my mods and finding that every step of the way my cart is so much faster on the Linux server.

I've been playing around with importing my customers and products but have a few days to go to go live.

TEMPLATE: I don't think the template was the issue, but I'm following better protocols now.

It really seems that zen runs much faster on Linux at less than a parse time of 1.0 and on my old windows server....lowest parse time 2.7 but up to 12.+ ....it is truly amazing...like dial up compared to cable internet.

athena:

It really seems that zen runs much faster on Linux at less than a parse time of 1.0 and on my old windows server....lowest parse time 2.7 but up to 12.+ ....it is truly amazing...like dial up compared to cable internet.

Although I'm no fan of Windoze (esp for server use), as a general rule any speed differences between these and Linux servers are negligible (all else being equal), so for you to have significantly noticeable increase is suggesting that there was almost certainly something amiss with your original install.

Don't be too surprised if you eventually re-install one of the modules you were using only to find the problem returns. At least if this does happen you'll have a better idea of the culprit.

Cheers
Rod

Just to close the subject I did get everything up and running.

My limited understanding of mysql and either my server or my browser's delays in manifesting my changes I think lent to my confusion about whether or not the upgrade had occurred.

My windows server is great but they admitted I was on a very busy one and that there are some things that occur in the background when running php programs like zencart that take longer to process.

Thanks all for your insights. I'm now implementing the template over ride system properly....boy, am I beat....snowing again...need a vacation and some blue-green scenery.