Need help to do an upgrade from 1.5.0 to 1.5.5

mc12345678:

You pick the filename (ending with .php) placing it say at the root of the store.
Open the empty file.
Paste the content from above being sure not to have anything before the <?php
Then with the file at the root of the store: yoursite/yourfile.php

Suggestion is that the filename not be phpinfo.php. Too obvious and again allows one to see the system setup from outside the site.

Now, again, this is the same information provided by ZC in the admin and is discussed more as a learning opportunity than as something needed for resolution.

That code that you provided: there is no closing of the <?php ?

CaroleAs:

That code that you provided: there is no closing of the <?php ?

Correct. The closing ?> is not necessary. It will be seen in many ZC files; however, as the file(s) are modified for other reasons the closing ?> is being removed.

Since I am installing a TEST store, on a TEST site, what is the recommended way to install/test mods like the MailChimp subscription and Google Analytics? Is that going to be feasible without messing things around with the live store "information"? just checking (better check before instead of fixing later!)

CaroleAs:

Since I am installing a TEST store, on a TEST site, what is the recommended way to install/test mods like the MailChimp subscription and Google Analytics? Is that going to be feasible without messing things around with the live store "information"? just checking (better check before instead of fixing later!)

Generally speaking google analytics just works... that said, it is also more of a self-tracking tool than anything. Visits to the site are communicated back to google, it's not quite where it's visits are an issue. Google bots can and will attempt to access the site "in question" and report back the problems experienced. But, generally speaking. It just works and not sure what testing you had in mind that couldn't be done with a live site.

Now, mailchimp on the other hand. Kind of have two options. Either you enter multiple email addresses that you "own" as accounts and setup to only mail to those "users" or you notify a few people that you would like their assistance in testing this new feature and again setup mail rules to only include your small group. Some things can be identified off the bat regarding install/operation, but the proof in the pudding is the message(s) actually getting sent/received... and you don't want to lose your customer base.

mc12345678:

Generally speaking google analytics just works... that said, it is also more of a self-tracking tool than anything. Visits to the site are communicated back to google, it's not quite where it's visits are an issue. Google bots can and will attempt to access the site "in question" and report back the problems experienced. But, generally speaking. It just works and not sure what testing you had in mind that couldn't be done with a live site.

Now, mailchimp on the other hand. Kind of have two options. Either you enter multiple email addresses that you "own" as accounts and setup to only mail to those "users" or you notify a few people that you would like their assistance in testing this new feature and again setup mail rules to only include your small group. Some things can be identified off the bat regarding install/operation, but the proof in the pudding is the message(s) actually getting sent/received... and you don't want to lose your customer base.

Thanks. For the Google Analytics, the idea of "testing" was mostly to test the installation, making sure i don't forget something in the process, etc. Just like other mods i have already installed that are going to be super easy to add now that i know what to look for, etc.

I'll deal with MailChimp later today. I had issues (still do) on the live site, so it will be something that needs testing, although, maybe in this version of ZC, things will work out?

Now, on a completely different topic, the version 1.5.5 is responsive, and it is a format that i am not familiar with (i never use my phone to browse the net) so i only know the "old way". I have had a chance to edit the front end to have a "similar" look as my current site (similar colors for example but I am wondering what other formatting settings can or cannot be tweaked with a responsive theme. For example, does the store have to be full width of the screen for ALL monitors? If not, what CAN be adjusted in terms of size? Box size? Store width? Image size? Obviously, I am not expecting a full class on this but just some pointers to help me understand what can/cannot/should not be adjusted in "size formatting" for responsive theme.

Thanks again.

Well, first of all, many browsers offer emulation mode to "act" like one device or another. Then the responsive aspect relates to the resolution of the device/screen. Make screen smaller from left-to-right and things should "move".

Some things out-of-the-box with ZC 1.5.5 are not even displayed on mobile devices (majority of sideboxes), they can be modified or a setting added into the underlying code that displays sideboxes (as done with many of the responsive templates offered in the downloads section, though there are some "issues" with them that are addressed in yet another thread.)

Anyways, sizing should be considered from a relative perspective. Ie. Remember smaller screen width and things get moved/pushed around. I'm drawing a little bit of a blank at the moment of what the preferred method of size identification is such as %, pt or em, but I thought em responded differently across browsers and could cause misalignment.

If you haven't discovered it yet, pressing F12 on a PC (don't know the command for Mac) will enter some form of development mode in the browser. From there you should have options to "play" with such as modifying the css and actually the html of the page to test what it would look like. Then you should be able to identify which css file needs modification and what to change. The html part, you'd have to use the developers tool kit to hone in on the issue.
I can't remember but I think it is frank that has suggested the responsive template modification "plugin" that is offered on the site because there are some aspects of the responsive template that are a bit "locked together". Ie. An html reference is provided, to which css tries to apply, but then along comes jquery/javascript to add/modify the html, next thing you know additional css is applied or the change you expect to be able to apply has gotten overridden, etc... it was the first integral responsive template to ZC, and pretty much since it's release unfortunately for the ZC community the author has been far less engaged in the ZC system (publicly). There were other things going on unrelated to ZC support at the time, so "history" will never really know what happened.

Sorry, I digressed again. Hopefully though some pointers have been gained by the discussion. Also there are plenty of others coming through that could also help out with more info.

I guess i'll go with the simplest approach for now.

I can never make sense of what i see with that F12 key. I never seem to see anything more than the header or something like that which makes no sense. But i'll tweak some things for now. My comparison (without the images) is getting closer, even if i cannot expect the same thing with a different theme (and i'll be getting rid of a few details along the way for a cleaner look)

Current: http://creationcassel.com/store
Test: http://challengemehq.com

Try a different browser if it doesn't seem to make sense. I know that one of them makes things too weird and just seems difficult to do something so easy. I prefer firefox for this type work, but my computer is in a sort of transition period, versions are a little screwy and there are now like two different types of firefox. Anyways, here's a picture of your test site from my mobile. Note the upper left area of the screen where the image behind "comes through".

Didn't compare to your live site yet, just looked at the in maintenance mode one. :) nice colors though. I mean I like the colors in themselves, some would say should go all white...

Anyways, here's a picture of your test site from my mobile. Note the upper left area of the screen where the image behind "comes through".
Is that good or not? Normal or not?

Didn't compare to your live site yet, just looked at the in maintenance mode one. :) nice colors though. I mean I like the colors in themselves, some would say should go all white...
Thanks. I don't tend to like too much change at once, and a LOT of my customers are older people (60+) so I don't want to scare them with a drastic change! I can always tweak things gradually afterward.

CaroleAs:

Is that good or not? Normal or not?
Eh. It's hard to say good or not. To me, it looks like the menu bar was not fully "considered". Like, it's incomplete. I don't get a "buyers problem" feeling from it, but also as a long time mobile user, I prefer being able to see a page as if it were standard size on a desktop... or at least to have the capability to do so. Anyways, it was a little distracting because I thought perhaps it was a design consideration that would all some page element to appear overtop the menu. Of course if that were the case, then the problem could exist that options in the menu bar would not be selectable nor at that time visible. Fortunately the menu bar isn't so big that it takes up viewing space (which really I think is the reason I don't like how such mobile views have been pushed to the general public.) there's no way to "back out" and quickly navigate to another section. It's just scroll through what is present and maybe zoom in.

CaroleAs:

Thanks. I don't tend to like too much change at once, and a LOT of my customers are older people (60+) so I don't want to scare them with a drastic change! I can always tweak things gradually afterward.
Well, there's arguments each way on making change and targetting ones audience. Depending on the level of change, sometimes the "here's the old" and where to find it now can make a world of difference rather than "surprise!" it's all new, good luck in finding it! :) all of that takes time to do of course.

mc12345678:

Eh. It's hard to say good or not. To me, it looks like the menu bar was not fully "considered". Like, it's incomplete. I don't get a "buyers problem" feeling from it, but also as a long time mobile user, I prefer being able to see a page as if it were standard size on a desktop... or at least to have the capability to do so. Anyways, it was a little distracting because I thought perhaps it was a design consideration that would all some page element to appear overtop the menu. Of course if that were the case, then the problem could exist that options in the menu bar would not be selectable nor at that time visible. Fortunately the menu bar isn't so big that it takes up viewing space (which really I think is the reason I don't like how such mobile views have been pushed to the general public.) there's no way to "back out" and quickly navigate to another section. It's just scroll through what is present and maybe zoom in.

Maybe i should remove the Maintenance mode? Maybe it would display differently.
In fact, there should be something above that header, but maybe it does not show while in maintenance. How about now?

CaroleAs:

Maybe i should remove the Maintenance mode? Maybe it would display differently.
In fact, there should be something above that header, but maybe it does not show while in maintenance. How about now?
Maintenance mode doesn't typically affect css related items. Here's the same area with the site out of maintenance mode:

Didn't see any sort of a banner above the area...

Here's the same area when I view in "desktop" mode on my mobile device. Note how the links at the top "blend" into the image and background. If I were to scroll down further with the white background at the top, the links would be "invisible".

Hum... where the Login is now, is supposed to show Home, Login, and eventually Shopping Cart, Checkout, and such.
I wonder how it would be addressed.

CaroleAs:

Hum... where the Login is now, is supposed to show Home, Login, and eventually Shopping Cart, Checkout, and such.
I wonder how it would be addressed.
"Home" is in the image itself as a result of themenu banner not having a background that covers the remainder of the page. It's basically all a css issue.

When I scroll to have a color behind the upper menu, the two links appear.

Your menu background "color" is hardcoded to the top of the screen instead of the floating menu.

mc12345678:

"Home" is in the image itself as a result of themenu banner not having a background that covers the remainder of the page. It's basically all a css issue.

When I scroll to have a color behind the upper menu, the two links appear.

Your menu background "color" is hardcoded to the top of the screen instead of the floating menu.

I guess it is the kind of detail that someone will need to help me with because i would have no clue where to change that as i don't even know what "variable" is controling that.

Is there a list of "variables" to know what each one means? It would be too long to ask for every details one by one! ;)

CaroleAs:

I guess it is the kind of detail that someone will need to help me with because i would have no clue where to change that as i don't even know what "variable" is controling that.

Is there a list of "variables" to know what each one means? It would be too long to ask for every details one by one!
At this point of web page development, your more in the realm of other Internet searches and less about ZC specifically. As to "variables" there are kind of two of concern with this aspect. The object to be modified, and what can be done with it.

Unfortunately (for you :P) this is also where F12 comes in to make things easier. A sort of "half view" can also be shown by right clicking and selecting view source. Then you find the text/image to affect. Before that should be some sort of opening html tag. A div, span, a, input, etc... sometimes an object is wrapped in multiple such tags in any sequence (important though to close a tag in reverse of it being opened. It is doing this wrong that can affect html page validation or break javascript/jquery type operations)

As to what can be donewith each such tag? I've yet to find a truly comprehensive source that identifies what specifically can be used (or not used) for each tag. Like if you observe in the login section there are "words" inside of the input boxes. Some of this is added by jquery, but it is through the use of the tags that it seems possible. Anyways, such text I don't think can be added to say just a span that contains an image...

W3schools.com offers a lot of "instruction" on the topic and you can search the Internet for things like how to provide a solid background behind a floating menu bar.

Again, the F12 feature or inspect this object should guide you to a listing of the css that provides the look of the selected object. This should include the filename and line number within the file as well as the tag "build-up" that gives the current object it's look. Css is cascade style sheet. The definition that is last presented is what "rules". Order is governed by the load sequence of files that end with css as an extension. Then at least with ZC there is jquery/javascript that loads after all of that (typically) and that can throw off all of your best efforts which leads us back to the modified version of the ZC responsive_default template... :) wheeeeee around in a circle we go!

mc12345678:

At this point of web page development, your more in the realm of other Internet searches and less about ZC specifically. As to "variables" there are kind of two of concern with this aspect. The object to be modified, and what can be done with it.

Unfortunately (for you :P) this is also where F12 comes in to make things easier. A sort of "half view" can also be shown by right clicking and selecting view source. Then you find the text/image to affect. Before that should be some sort of opening html tag. A div, span, a, input, etc... sometimes an object is wrapped in multiple such tags in any sequence (important though to close a tag in reverse of it being opened. It is doing this wrong that can affect html page validation or break javascript/jquery type operations)

As to what can be donewith each such tag? I've yet to find a truly comprehensive source that identifies what specifically can be used (or not used) for each tag. Like if you observe in the login section there are "words" inside of the input boxes. Some of this is added by jquery, but it is through the use of the tags that it seems possible. Anyways, such text I don't think can be added to say just a span that contains an image...

W3schools.com offers a lot of "instruction" on the topic and you can search the Internet for things like how to provide a solid background behind a floating menu bar.

Again, the F12 feature or inspect this object should guide you to a listing of the css that provides the look of the selected object. This should include the filename and line number within the file as well as the tag "build-up" that gives the current object it's look. Css is cascade style sheet. The definition that is last presented is what "rules". Order is governed by the load sequence of files that end with css as an extension. Then at least with ZC there is jquery/javascript that loads after all of that (typically) and that can throw off all of your best efforts which leads us back to the modified version of the ZC responsive_default template... :) wheeeeee around in a circle we go!

Guess what? You just gave me one gem in this: although i kept hearing about using the F12, it is the first time i hear about the RIGHT-CLICK when using it. So, I obviously learned something that will be helpful going forward! That was the missing piece for me, now F12 makes sense!!!

Thank you VERY MUCH!

CaroleAs:

Guess what? You just gave me one gem in this: although i kept hearing about using the F12, it is the first time i hear about the RIGHT-CLICK when using it. So, I obviously learned something that will be helpful going forward! That was the missing piece for me, now F12 makes sense!!!

Thank you VERY MUCH!
Well, they offer somewhat two different things. Viewing source generally allows you to just see the html code, F12 should offer to see the code and then within it typically to also right click and edit it. It also offers other aspects of working with the page: the console (which is typically good when it is empty because no errors occurred), source tab to see the javascript on the page and other tabs to get to css and other aspects of page load depending on the browser being used... but, good that some other nugget came out of it. :)

I am almost done "testing" the installation of the mods I'll be using. I guess I don't need too many from the start.

My current tweak is on the formatting, and I feel I am almost there. Just a few questions:
Test site: http://challengemehq.com

• where do I put the file for my header (and does it have to be a specific size considering it is a responsive theme??)
• how do I add some padding between the outer border and the sideboxes?
• and in the Mailchimp sidebox, the entry field boxes seem awfully narrow. How do I stretch them to at least the width of the box itself (or close to it)?
• in any product description, is there a way to get the description on the right of the image, wrapped around? It looks odd to have all that blank space and evenything written below all the images.

And just as a follow up (not css related), I had edited all my "buttons" instead of using the "boring" ones, like "add to cart", "write a review", etc. (and in French too). Where would I have placed them? And where will i have to place them again. I just cannot remember.

Thanks.