Just the Beginning - english.php & meta_tags

I read the thread below and checked, checked and doublechecked that I placed my override folder in the right place according to this link:
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35245

And the answer is yes, they are located in the right place

the modified english.php file lives in:
includes/custom

and the modified meta_tags.php lives in:
includes/languages/custom

I'm not seeing the changes to the title bar or the copyright at the bottom of my index page. At first I thought it was because my index page for zencart is temporarily renamed index2.php (in the root)
but even when renamed back to index.php, the changes don't show up.

What am I doing wrong?
http://spritelygoods.com/index2.php

(the coverup index is currently still there as index.htm if you just go to Spritelygoods.com) I'm going to have to figure out how to put that in an override folder soon....

TIA. Hopefully it isn't something dreadfully obvious.

Couldn't tell you much ... your site does not work with the index.php renamed index2.php ...

I'll change it back if it helps with the troubleshooting...
I'll likely need a pointer on how to set up a "false" homepage at some point because I don't want people watching the site while I try to bring it up...and I'd rather not have the "site down for maintenance" page up there either....
tho that might be a workable temporary solution ;)

Down for Maintenance has an Admin IP Override ...

You should really be using you own template and override directories ...

Currently, you are using Classic ... this will get wiped out on an upgrade ...

How do you think your custom work will show if you do not have your custom template installed? :blink:

You indicate that you are using a /custom directory ...

You have to finish setting that up to see your changes reflected ...

alright - index.php is back as index.php

the items I changed:
in english.php:

I changed the footer to say:
define('FOOTER_TEXT_BODY', 'all content and photos copyright 2006 Spritely Goods.');

in meta_tags.php I changed the title bar to say:
// page title

define('TITLE', 'Spritely Goods');

// Site Tagline

define('SITE_TAGLINE', 'Luxury Blended Fibers, Unique Handspun Yarns & Original Patterns');

// Custom Keywords

define('CUSTOM_KEYWORDS', 'yarn, patterns, amigurumi, merino, wool, silk, fiber, handspun, luxury, crochet, unique');

none of it appears to be overriding.

Thanks for your help. This does not bode well for my aspirations :(

Ajeh:

You should really be using you own template and override directories ...

Currently, you are using Classic ... this will get wiped out on an upgrade ...

How do you think your custom work will show if you do not have your custom template installed? :blink:

You indicate that you are using a /custom directory ...

You have to finish setting that up to see your changes reflected ...

sigh thank you for stating something that was not obvious to me.
I figured I'd start with something easy like changing the title bar and the footer...just to see if I could get things to work.
Was hoping to not have to get my head complety wrapped around creating a new template quite yet. I haven't absorbed everything I read yet.

Thanks again for your patience!

wahoo!
it only took a ridiculous chunk of the evening and I still can't figure out how to put HTML links into a php document...
but at least it's mine :P
Thanks for your help, Ajeh!

Sprite,

Not sure about the time it takes to do the html in php thing. BUT, setting up template overrides takes about 30 minutes.

Here is the basic concept. Like all software, Zen Cart has periodic updates. When you update, patch or upgrade your cart do you want to lose all your editing? NO. You want all the little tweaks and fixes to stay put. If you have edited files and they get overwritten in an patch, well, back to square one. But, there is a solution! Overrides! The Devs have devised (like that little alliterative thing there) a way to keep all your customized work. You create special folders that do not get overwritten in the future.

Also, as you develop your cart in the future everyone that tries to help you knows what the structure is.

Try this tutorial for setting up overrides - http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/faq.php?faq=template_customize#faq_overrides. it should be much clearer and simpler than what you referenced above. the Wiki also have several great threads.

In the long run it will be a time saver.

Perhaps you already understood all this and I have misread what is going on. In that case, completely disregard the text above and figure out that html in php thing. (grin)

Best wishes.

Sermonzone - thanks for the pointer - I had that link along with another that helped me get the template set up - once I understood it, that part was, as you mentioned, reasonably quick to set up. I then proceeded to try to figure out how to redirect traffic to my existing very basic shop - I had been using an index.htm file to do this in the root directory and renaming the index.php to index2.php - but that effectively broke the zenshop for me...So I decided to fix the down for maintenance page to act as a redirect of sorts - but I could not for the life of me figure out where the document resided that had the text that I had to change...I eventually found it.

The main problem first is I don't have a good understanding of the file structure - I can guess, and so far have managed to figure it out - but it hasn't been "easy" :D

I'll get there slowly but surely - I'm determined to figure this out. Better for me to learn it than hire out for it I think. Esp if I intend to set up more than one of these in the future. LOL

I really appreciate everyones help here!