book on zen cart

Is there a good book that can explain zen-cart in a better way than the FAQ? they are hard to understand. its very hard to do simple changes. any help would be appreciated

Unfortunately there is no book that is supported by the authors of Zancart. Maybe we can point in the the direction. Please write back with more info on what you need help on.

Having a simpler way to make basic changes to the banner. Seems like parts of the site are in different files and this needs to be explained better. Letting people know ahead of time what changes you can make to the default template and clarifying the difference between the classic, template_default, & blue_strip. If it was explained better in the beginning, less mistakes would be made. Making changes is confusing because some is in template_default and some is in classic. Also understanding when its time to use a custom template.

I'm sure this is more but overall simply and clarify how basic modification are done.

Thanks

Blus Strip? What version of Zen Cart are you using?

The blue_strip is in ver. 1.2.7. I see that I now have a link to install ver 1.3.0. If I upgrade will it leave all the items I have entered there? I use Bluhost webhosting.

I decided to upgrade to 1.3.0. I can change thae banner later. All the items are there. But at the top of the page it get this mssage:

Warning: I am able to write to the configuration file: /home/portlao0/public_html/shop/includes/configure.php. This is a potential security risk - please set the right user permissions on this file.

at: http://www.portlandwinegear.com/shop

How do I set the user permissions and what should they be?

Thanks

Rather than look for a book have you tried the link called FAQ and the one for the wiki....

I know this sounds like a really crappy answer but just about everything you need to know is in there....

and for 1.3.0.1 DOnt use bluestrip it was junk to begin with ( sorry devs ) and classic is made backwards compatible so its kinda wonky in 1.3

best to create your OWN template ( like the faq says ) and use the template_default as a roadmap.

but DONT change anything in template_default

OK.

How do I set the permissions so the red warning message goes away?
http://www.portlandwinegear.com/shop

you use either control panel or ftp and chmod the public_html/shop/includes/configure.php to 644

if ftp dosnt work use the filemanager in your cpanel

This is covered in the FAQ

I just did that, but it still shows the warning message at the top

http://www.portlandwinegear.com/shop/

I changed both /includes/configuse.php and /admin/includes/configure.php to 644, I refreshed the browser but I still see the error message. Now what?

in ftp when you change the permissions remember to refresh the ftp window

some hosts dont allow low settings

you might have to do this inside cpanels file manager

I got it... I had to change the permission for the includes/configure.php to 444 not 644. Now the warning is gone.

http://www.portlandwinegear.com/shop/

Thanks

Thats right. A number of hosts do not allow setting permissions to 644 for some reason (mine included). Setting to 444 is perfectly acceptable. If you should need to modify the file you may need to temporarily change the permissions to something like 755 while you make the modification. Be sure that when you are finished modifying the file to set it back to 444 so as to prevent others from being able to mess with it (security issue).

Here is what the numbers mean:

444 = (r-- r-- r--): owner/group/others are all only able to read the file. They cannot write to it or execute it.
644 = (rw- r-- r--): same as 444 except the owner can write to it.
755 = (rwx r-x r-x): owner can read, write and execute the file, members in the user group and others can read and execute the file but cannot write to it.

r = read, w = write and x = execute.

In the format above, the first group of three characters represents the owner's level of permission, the second group represents permission for others in the same user group as the owner, and the final 3 characters represent the permission for all others (including website visitors).

If you were able to set to 644 the owner (you) could modify the file while all others would be restricted. In that case you would not need to change permissions in order to modify it. Just leave it at 644.

The permissions are set on the host server usually through the user's control panel. They can also be set using the chmod command in many ftp programs, or or through terminal or telnet access to the server. (most webhosts do not allow terminal or telnet access.)

I hope this helps anyone who found that 644 didn't work to understand what's going on. For a tutorial on this go to http://catcode.com/teachmod/