Things every New Zenner needs to know

What directories all the images are in. IE: buttons, icons, images etc.

Thanks to all for excellent input. Feel free to encourage other new users to post their questions in this thread. More feedback will likely produce a better quality document.

It is GOOD to repeat a question from a previous post. It will help us gauge how many people are struggling with that particular problem. The explanation does not have to be long, just a basic questions list.

No one is alarmed or offended by the frank portrayal of the frustration you are going through. One of the major themes in this project is to decide how to help new users with limited programming experience.

Please be as specific as possible. It is already clear that we need a dictionary or glossary. When you say, "I don't know what any of this means" it would be more helpful to say, "I don't what a breadcrumb is" or "What is file comparison?"

Please continue to post links to urls and/or threads that gave helpful explanations. I will contact the authors about using their material.

Thanks to several seasoned users that have taken already interest.

I completely agree on the glossary idea. Though I don't have any specific examples at the moment, but what confused me the most was commerce and buisness type jargon.

Also, there is a LOT of good info out there in the forum, but as already mentioned, it can be a real pain to find. Setting up shipping calculators was a bit confusing for me (all the abbreviations and options??? I was only familiar with like 6 different shipping options, 3 for UPS and 3 for USPS, I have little to no idea what most of the differences are in those, or even how to ship in that method).

Setting up the tax class could use some explination too, for some reason it defaults for "florida" and I had a hard time figuring out how to add "Massachusetts"

Also, the currency conversion was wrong I believe (US Dollars converted to Euro), it was the inverse of what it was supposed to be, that is it calculated the Euro as less valuable than the Dollar, but in fact it is more valuable. Also, setting up a system to automatically retrieve this information from a website would be sweet, since currency conversions change daily. But I guess this is getting into a suggestion for later versions of zen cart, not a noob tutorial.

My bf has done most of my store so I didn't run into certain things, but since he has become busy with school and his store I have tried to do things on my own.

My problems have been those darn button/banners. Explain in simple turns how they work and which ones rotate and which do not. I have finally got mine to work.

The basic attributes weren't such a problem since I have done them before, but the problem I am having now is how to upload files onto the site so the customer doesn't have to email me their pic seprate. Which btw no one has answered yet.

If I think of more I will post again but those are the two problems I'm having with.

BTW this is a great idea!!!

Jessica

If need to prepare images of screen capture and flash moives for the purposes of demo and tutor.
Please refer to a freeware Wink
Its a Win program, easy to use and can produce smaller file size.

.

I'd love a tour of the admin panel, it took me about a fortnight to explore it properly and there are still bits I dont touch because I'm unclear exactly what they do! I kind of get paranoid that all kinds of wierd stuff will occur when my cart goes live, because I wont have fully configured the thing. I do appreciate that thats a huge ask, though.

Thank you so much for doing this, its people like yourself who make using zencart a bit less scary for people like me who have no computer smarts. :thumbsup:

I would like to see a clear explanation of the how to make basic changes like to the header banner and which files control which changes. The most confusing part of Zen Cart is you have to deal with three or more separate files to make simple changes, Also the word Override is very confusing, translate that at the beginning. Doesn't it mean your making a custom page? See I still don't know what it means. The FAQ section leaves a lot of things out or is too hard to find. Nobody wants to spend a hour looking through the FAQ and you still can't find what you're looking for. The FAQ needs to be re-written. Also a better explanation for making your own custom pages. It's so confusing now I wouldn't even try to make any custom pages outside of just changing the header banner.

Keep it simple.

Thanks

Additional worthy items for your list:

• How to backup shoppe, including file directories and database.
• Include applicable database lingo in the Glossary.
• Mention phpmyadmin.
• Mention DB prefixes.
• Mention patching store DB (via admin).
• Tools for batch product uploads.
• Mention XHTML and CSS validation.
• Basic reference to security issues, directing store owners to specific documentation.
• Document the pre-flight check for zc_install process.
• Document post install recommends.
• Light reference to 3rd party install scripts (e.g. Fantastico). Semi-automated install processes are used more often these days, hiding many of the configuration details from the storeowner. (i.e. what is configure.php anyway?)

PayPal.

I opened my shop this week.
The orders don't show up in admin, but the payments come in.
Embarrassed to ask the customer what he/she bought.

I went through Merlin's tutorial, and a lot of stuff found on the forum. Nothing has helped. The shop is on a shared Linux server and port 80 is available. I don't use SSL, but plan to, and will have to use another port instead of 443. But that's the future...

All the addresses are correctly filled in both in admin and at PayPal. I have reloaded the paypal parts from the fresh unzip, uninstalled and reinstalled.

I have changed the permissions on the ipn_main_handler and checkout_process to 755.

But I have no idea what else I could do!

Then, when I log into PayPal, the footer talks about PayPal UK. But the URL on top starts with paypal.com and no uk. But on the other hand, the payments go through, so the address to paypal must be correct? - I'm in Europe.

If I get no information into admin about the purchases, how is is possible that they are completed at paypal? They have then received an answer to the post from my server??? (I read the PayPal instructions with a magnifying glass!)

So, please, when you update your tutorials/instructions, try to make it as comprehensive as possible.

Thankyou.

wtashby:

I would like to see a solid and thorough explanation on ZenCart's CSS. What to change for a specific effect, etc. Especially since 1.3x is more CSS based, and that seems to be the direction for future releases as well.

A well thought out, well commented tutorial with a fully commented (NO abbreviations) CSS file example would help newbies and struggling intermediates tremendously.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

a comment for each code will be a great help for us to know what that code affects/changes

More thanks for the feedback.

Not to disappoint, but I cannot write "Everything you ever wanted to know about Zen Cart." It would be too massive a project.

Every topic mentioned above is worthy of detailed instruction. Someone else will have to handle most of them however. I need to focus on helping brand new Zen users deal with the most critical needs in customizing their cart.

Also, simpler and clearer instructions will require more reading not less. No article or tutorial can substitute for hard work, study and the editing process on the users part. There is no EASY explanation for Zen Cart.

My plan is to write, edit and gather materials that better adsress the issues that new Zen users have the most trouble understanding and implementing.

As you see posts by new users ask them to give feedback in this thread.

Sermonzone:

I cannot write "Everything you ever wanted to know about Zen Cart." It would be too massive a project...I need to focus on helping brand new Zen users deal with the most critical needs in customizing their cart...My plan is to write, edit and gather materials that better adsress the issues that new Zen users have the most trouble understanding and implementing.
Question. What criteria to apply to decide "the most critical needs in customizing their cart" and delimit "the issues that new Zen users have the most trouble understanding and implementing"?

This is a rhetorical question, meaning you certainly will want to narrow down (define) your newbie criteria BEFORE emabarking on your doc project. Authoring the original docs is only half the battle, maintaining/updating the docs are the other half. Recommend writing in general terms, so that your docs will not require updating for every minor Zen Cart release and will not be a chore to maintain. Otherwise your docs could become quickly dated (e.g. contain incorrect info) and irrelevant.

Consider avoiding hard URL links to forum threads. As discovered, with the recent forum migration, URL's to quality stickies and other informative threads can become useless at a moments notice (e.g. just see all the dead URL's now lurking in the archived forums). Just my $0.02.

Documenting can be a thankless infinite task, if you let it be such.

I wish you good luck with your newbie doc project!

Woody

Woody,

My hope was to have new users tell us what they had trouble with. If new Zenners will list their biggest problems we could update the materials that answer those problems.

We are on the same page about simplicity and keeping docs current. I will PM a list of the first rough draft of questions.

TO NEW ZEN USERS - please list the issues you are having the most trouble with. If it repeats something posted earlier, that will tell us how important the topic is and make sure we include it in the revised docs.

Sermonzone:

My hope was to have new users tell us what they had trouble with. If new Zenners will list their biggest problems we could update the materials that answer those problems.
They aleady have. The questions are posted in the forums ;-)

We are on the same page about simplicity and keeping docs current. I will PM a list of the first rough draft of questions.
As I just stated many of the "questions" have already been answered in the forums. Especially in the forum archives. Many of the draft questions you PM'd me are quite broad. Books have been written on some the topic ;-) I recommend narrowing the scope. And why not post the list of questions to this thread than PM? Recommend searching the forums on Ajeh, Kim, DrByte, and Wilt (Zen Cart Devs who regularly post to the forums) and other community folks who have been around for awhile (Merlin, etc). You will find clear answers to many questions (or subset of your questions). Then if answers need fleshed out and/or questions remain then do ask around ;-)

Good luck.

Woody

Sermonzone:

Woody,

My hope was to have new users tell us what they had trouble with. If new Zenners will list their biggest problems we could update the materials that answer those problems.

We are on the same page about simplicity and keeping docs current. I will PM a list of the first rough draft of questions.

TO NEW ZEN USERS - please list the issues you are having the most trouble with. If it repeats something posted earlier, that will tell us how important the topic is and make sure we include it in the revised docs.

In keeping with the spirit of this thread, I would like to repeat what I (and others) have stated, not only in earlier posts to this thread, but in many other threads as well.

CSS, CSS, CSS!

With Zen moving away from tables, and becomming more and more CSS oriented, nothing would help New Zenners more than a thourough and well commented explanation of ZenCart's CSS system.

I've studied many different online css sources and found that there is no "set" standard for css verbage. As long as the verbage in the css file and php(or html) files match, it works. By this I mean that Zen's CSS language is not the same as the CSS language you might find in other online resources. That can be VERY confusing to newbies.

So, by creating a tutorial based on ZenCart's Default Template CSS that not only tells, but shows where the classes, id's, div, etc. are, what they do and how to modify or customize them, would go a long LONG way to making life easier for us newbies (probaly some oldtimers too).

The other thing would be the override system (though this is well explained in the faq's)

Okay... in the interest of narrowing things down. Here are the two TOP problems/frustrations I encounter as a zen newbie

**1) the physical structure of zen (what talks to what and where the heck does it live) A basic actual real outline saved as a .jpg or .gif or whatever the heck. Like a something you can actually look at and hold in your little hand. An expanded simplified tree. Catch my drift?

2. CSS layout. I mean: take a COMPLETE stylesheet. empty it so that the framework the (style/div/wrapper/thingys) is still there but the actual end part (width 100% etc. etc.) isn't and replace with color coded comments (BTW make comments all the SAME color, so we know exactly whats a comment) for EACH thingy... saying like "this is your sidebox" or "this is your actual thingy that makes your product appear" or whatever.

Everything I listed numerically above really are problems, but these TWO are the biggest. (for me anyways, I don't know for everyone else but I'm willing to bet most of us)**

Both of these things can be made into downloadable tiny files you can print and tape to your desk/wall/pegboard/forehead whatever. You can make notes; you trace it with your finger if neccessary to figure out where that special little thingy lives that controls the other wonderful whatchamacallit.

Just ideas. I don't know if the Zen tree would be something doable. But honestly once a newbie had these two tools then they could really get a leg up on being much much more self sufficient. Combine this kinda thing with all the definitions/docs/and forum posts and they/we can find what we need, know where it goes, and know where on the CSS thing to look and change something. Then we can learn more from there and start to become proficient.

ladysaat:

[B]1) the physical structure of zen (what talks to what and where the heck does it live) A basic actual real outline saved as a .jpg or .gif or whatever the heck. Like a something you can actually look at and hold in your little hand. An expanded simplified tree. Catch my drift?

Just an analogy - If you need to change a flat tire, do you really need to know how the entire car was built, and where all the parts are located OR do you just need to know that you have to jack the car up, remove the lug nuts, pull the flat tire off and replace it with the spare and replace the lug nuts.?

:D
Just playing devil's advocate a little bit here....

How do we get to the spare? Under the car or in the trunk.

If in the trunk, do we push a button in the glove box, on the remote, or have to use a key.

If underneath, do we have to crank it down?

If we have to crank it down...

Okay, I'll quit. And, yes, I agree that those things would be found in a basic manual IF someone knew what to look under in the index. Got a manual with my cell phone but even the Sprint reps can not tell me how to use the speaker phone feature!
:D

Every read the car manual?

Yeps ... got AAA too ... :cry:

Just saying there are times when you need an Illustrated Parts Breakdown.:D