New user - Very Frustrated!

I like the layout of the default template, but of course I cant just throw that on my new site and expect to sell anything. I'm having trouble making my own default template. I've read how to create your own custom template, but I find myself often going back to the default template directory to modify files like gif files, and such like the logo.gif file. How do I tell zen cart to keep all pictures and such in my own directory. I'd really like to just get rid of the default template folders or rename them or something. There is so much documentation and so many how-to's for zen cart that it's driving me crazy!! :wacko::wacko::wacko: I don't know what one to follow! What I dont want to happen is when I get my site the way I want it, and there is a zen cart update, and I've modified settings in say the english.php file, and the update modifies my modifications, and my site gets screwed up

I purchased the book E-Start your web store with zen cart, It's great... for learning how to install zen cart. It includes nothing about making your own templates correctly. Too bad.

To create a very basic custom template (you can build from there), you need:
includes/languages/YOUR_TEMPLATE/english.php
includes/languages/english/YOUR_TEMPLATE/index.php
includes/languages/english/YOUR_TEMPLATE/header.php (to change the logo)
includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/template_info.php
includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/common/tpl_header.php
includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/common/tpl_footer.php
includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/images/logo.gif
includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/css/stylesheet.css

Any where you see a /classic/ folder, you can create a folder for your custom template. You can copy the necessary files from either the /classic/ folder or the /template_default/ folder. Of course, where it says YOUR_TEMPLATE, you can substitute any name you like for your template.

After you've done that go into your admin under tools->template selection and select your template from the pull down menu.

Add an images directory to your custom template as follows:

includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/images.

now place your custom images in this new folder

Clyde is right. NEVER put any of your custom images in folders like /classic/ or /template_default/. Same goes for files you edit. Why? Because they'll get overwritten with an upgrade/update and you'll lose all your hard work.

Have you seen this FAQ with the overrides chart? Or there's a downloadable/printable one in Downloads/Other Modules. These will help you visualize where you may put a custom (your_template) folder.

https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/index.php?article=143

Only put copies of files that you modify in your custom folders. ZenCart will first look for files in your custom folders, and if a file it needs is not there, it will find it in the template_default folder. So it's not a good idea to remove or rename the template_default folders and files.