Some questions

Hi,

I'm still trying to customize my zen cart and I have some questions:

1. Can I add a link to the top nav bar (Home, Log In)?
2. When I click on a product and its page pops up, can I move the "Add this to my cart" box ou of the center column into the right column?
3. How can I remove the "Write a review" box at the bottom of that page?

Thanks a lot.

Ed

edgemeister:

Hi,

I'm still trying to customize my zen cart and I have some questions:

1. Can I add a link to the top nav bar (Home, Log In)?
2. When I click on a product and its page pops up, can I move the "Add this to my cart" box ou of the center column into the right column?
3. How can I remove the "Write a review" box at the bottom of that page?

Thanks a lot.

Ed

1. Yes... the way you add the link will depend on what you are linking to.
2. Why would you want to do this? This is the SECOND MOST IMPORTANT button on the website (the first being CONFIRM ORDER) - so why would you want to make it less prominent? You can shift its position within tpl_product_info_display.php - and if you really wanted to hide it from customers, you could use absolute positioning in the css I suppose - but this button needs to be clear and prominent.
3. You need to learn your admin controls - and the best way of doing this is to get the User Manual. The setting is under catalog > product types > product general > edit layout.

Hi,

Thanks for the quick response.

1. I 'd like to add the COWOA feature to the nav bar.
2. I don't really want to hide that field from customers, what gave you that idea? I just want to move it into the right column, it would be as prominent as it is right now.
3. I did go through all kinds of admin controls but didn't find that particular setting. Thanks for the tip.

Ed

The FUNCTIONS of the columns are not structured to accommodate features that are designed for the centre column. The Add-to cart is part of a <form> which is wholely built to render in the centre column, and its integrity cannot be split up. As I said, you can FORCE the position of an element using ABSOLUTE positioning in the CSS, but you will have to experiment with what is suitable. You will need to create a blank area in the side column (possibly using blank sidebox) that appears only on the product info page, and then use page-specific css to force the selector into that part of the screen. i still fail to see any user advantage here, but if you want to pursue something that is (in my humble opinion) completely pointless, then you can try as I suggest.

What "cowoa element" do you want in the header? Cowoa is only rendered at the shopping cart stage (ie: when there is something in the cart) so you will have to make the appearance of the link conditional. Look at the shopping cart in header options and see how this is governed by a product being in the cart.

Thanks for the detailed explanation re the "Add to Cart" box. I didn't know that this box was designed to only be rendered in the centre column, hence my question.

As to the COWOA feature, I just want to notify customers that they have an option to purchase without creating an account before they go any further. If they only see a "Log In" link, they might jump ship without ordering.

Does that make sense?

edgemeister:

As to the COWOA feature, I just want to notify customers that they have an option to purchase without creating an account before they go any further. If they only see a "Log In" link, they might jump ship without ordering.

Does that make sense?

Sort of... but most customers will not concern themselves with this element of the purchase process until it's time to checkout - and Numinix's FEC module offers them all options at the "login" stage - which is the point at which their attention is focusing on this step. You can re-name "log in" to something less onerous - like "sign up"... or just remove it completely from the header (though you may lose the "logout" feature coupled with that link). There are other ways to feature the "logout" link without having to show "login" and there are several posts discussing this.

Prior to that you want to keep them interested in shopping - so the PROMINENCE should be given to showcasing your products

My customer has a 30+ page website to showcase his ONE product!

What he wants is a simple buying experience for his customers to purchase by bypassing the creation of an account. Some people may want to sign in, that's why we want to keep this feature too.

As I had mentioned before, we just want to add a "notification" in the head nav bar that there is an option to purchase without signing in. I still don't know if that's possible and how to do it.

Ed

if the site is selling just ONE product then what you should do is place it as a single product in a single category, then set LAYOUT SETTINGS to open with a category - that category being the single one with the single product.

That will make the LANDING PAGE the actual product info page, where you can then set a BUY NOW feature.

If you have COWOA, or better still PayPal express, then the entire purchase process is a two-click operation.

You can HARD-CODE stuff into tpl_header.php (inside /templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/common/)

Zencart's CORE tpl_header.php has this section:

<div id="navMain">
    <ul class="back">
    <li><?php echo '<a href="' . HTTP_SERVER . DIR_WS_CATALOG . '">'; ?><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_CATALOG; ?></a></li>
<?php if ($_SESSION['customer_id']) { ?>
    <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_LOGOFF, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_LOGOFF; ?></a></li>
    <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_ACCOUNT, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_MY_ACCOUNT; ?></a></li>
<?php
      } else {
        if (STORE_STATUS == '0') {
?>
    <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_LOGIN, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_LOGIN; ?></a></li>
<?php } } ?>

<?php if ($_SESSION['cart']->count_contents() != 0) { ?>
    <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_SHOPPING_CART, '', 'NONSSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_CART_CONTENTS; ?></a></li>
    <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_CHECKOUT_SHIPPING, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_CHECKOUT; ?></a></li>
<?php }?>
</ul>
</div>

You could do something like this:

<div id="navMain">
    <ul class="back">
    <li><img src="images/cowoa.jpg" alt="You can checkout without having to create an account" /></li>
    <li><?php echo '<a href="' . HTTP_SERVER . DIR_WS_CATALOG . '">'; ?><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_CATALOG; ?></a></li>
<?php if ($_SESSION['customer_id']) { ?>
    <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_LOGOFF, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_LOGOFF; ?></a></li>
    <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_ACCOUNT, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_MY_ACCOUNT; ?></a></li>
<?php
      } else {
        if (STORE_STATUS == '0') {
?>
    <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_LOGIN, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_LOGIN; ?></a></li>
<?php } } ?>

<?php if ($_SESSION['cart']->count_contents() != 0) { ?>
    <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_SHOPPING_CART, '', 'NONSSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_CART_CONTENTS; ?></a></li>
    <li><a href="<?php echo zen_href_link(FILENAME_CHECKOUT_SHIPPING, '', 'SSL'); ?>"><?php echo HEADER_TITLE_CHECKOUT; ?></a></li>
<?php }?>
</ul>
</div>

WHERE cowoa.jpg is a suitably-sized image.

Schoolboy,

Thanks for the detailed response.

Post # 8: I had already done that a while ago. The product page IS the landing page.
Post # 9: I did that and it works as described. However, instead of an image I'd prefer a text along the lines "Purchase as Guest" or something like that. Just the same font/size as the existing links "Home" and "Log In". Is that possible?

Ed

Sounds like you want another link up there.

You can change the red part in schoolboy's post to something like:

I can't figure out where you would want the link to point to, though.

Thanks, that worked just fine.

To answer your question, I want that link to point to COWOA to tell people that they can purchase without the creation of an account.

Ed

Which line in that file do I have to remove in order to get rid of the "Home" link?

Thanks.

Ed

edgemeister:

Thanks, that worked just fine.

To answer your question, I want that link to point to COWOA to tell people that they can purchase without the creation of an account.

Ed

Well... what is the "landing page (url)" for your "COWOA"? Build that link into the <a href> command.

(PS: We can't teach basic HTML here... if you need tuition on basic HTML then there are some good tutorials at W3SCHOOLS.COM).

I'm still working on that COWOA thing. And I have not asked how to get a link into an <a href> command. But thanks anyway.

Ed

Re post #13

Never mind, figured it out.

Thanks guys.

Ed

edgemeister:

My customer has a 30+ page website to showcase his ONE product!

What he wants is a simple buying experience for his customers to purchase by bypassing the creation of an account. Some people may want to sign in, that's why we want to keep this feature too.

As I had mentioned before, we just want to add a "notification" in the head nav bar that there is an option to purchase without signing in. I still don't know if that's possible and how to do it.

Ed
Have you SEEN how the COWOA module works?? It adds the COWOA section to the login page.. If you like, you can move it above the login/create account options so it it the first option shown on the login page. (this is what I've done for a few clients) Like schoolboy pointed out you won't see this until you put something in the cart and attempt to checkout..

If you want to notify customers beyond that then by all means there's nothing precluding you from adding some kind of text to the header sectionof the site, but I think you are worrying over something relatively minor.. Install COWOA on a test site and you will see that customers a MORE THAN notified that they have an option to checkout without an account..

Yes I think that the point at which checkout options become a CONCERN to customers - is at the point of checkout. Until they get to that point, it is a non-issue - and the FUNCTIONALITY of COWOA is designed to alert customers to that option AS AND WHEN they need to know about it.

You are fussing over a non-issue...

OK guys.

Let me install COWOA and see what happens.

Thanks,

Ed

schoolboy:

Yes I think that the point at which checkout options become a CONCERN to customers - is at the point of checkout. Until they get to that point, it is a non-issue - and the FUNCTIONALITY of COWOA is designed to alert customers to that option AS AND WHEN they need to know about it.

You are fussing over a non-issue...nods in agreement :yes: