Really really hard to customize - any easy hints?

I appreciate all the power that Zen Cart seems to offer, but I am finding it really, really, really (really!) hard to customize. I don't mean special customization either - just getting my shop's basic info to override the sample text...

I read through the FAQs, but the folder hierarchies for override files never seem to quite be where they say they are in the FAQs and I am getting completely lost about where to keep things.

And when I edit documents with the page editor in Admin Tools they end up in some default area rather than in the custom override folder and I don't know where to move them afterwards, or if I need to.

And I can't figure out where some text is in order to edit it.

I'm afraid that I'm just making a big mess of it. Plus I'm worried that the way I did it I will lose modifications when it comes time to upgrade.

At the pace I'm proceeding it seems like it will take months to finish getting my site up.

Are there any up-to-date newbie documents with current path hierarchies and step-by-step instructions that would help get me through this process?

Thanks!

doug

You mean, like some sort of manual? :)

http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=16

Hello Doug

It certainly helps if you have a reasonable knowledge of PHP and MySQL, but, like yourself, many new Zenners struggle with the fundamental principles of how this whole thing hangs together.

I would strongly advise that you buy the book (see link, top right of this page).

This book will help you establish the purposes (and resultant effects) of all the ADMIN configurations that are available.

The book does not delve significantly into the PHP code itself (other than a few references), as this is not its purpose.

However... by working your way through the book, you will soon learn how to configure many layout options.

I believe that if you use the book in this way, when you are confident enough to "tweak" the core code, you'll do so with a better understanding of how ADMIN participates in these processes.

schoolboy:

Hello Doug

It certainly helps if you have a reasonable knowledge of PHP and MySQL, but, like yourself, many new Zenners struggle with the fundamental principles of how this whole thing hangs together.

I would strongly advise that you buy the book (see link, top right of this page).

This book will help you establish the purposes (and resultant effects) of all the ADMIN configurations that are available.

The book does not delve significantly into the PHP code itself (other than a few references), as this is not its purpose.

However... by working your way through the book, you will soon learn how to configure many layout options.

I believe that if you use the book in this way, when you are confident enough to "tweak" the core code, you'll do so with a better understanding of how ADMIN participates in these processes.

Thanks for your response.

I think the problem I am having is not so much dealing with PHP or SQL as with the organization of the actual Zen Cart files hierarchy itself - what is controlled where - particularly taking into account customizations and avoiding having things overwritten when upgrades occur.

The problem is that the FAQ seems to say one thing about where the files are located, but I am actually finding them in different locations. So I have no confidence about what I'm doing.

Does the book have to be ordered and physically shipped, or is there an online version?

Thanks...

doug

To get a baseline understanding of customizations, I tell people to read

http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/faq.php?faq=catalog_issues#faq_template_customize

Scott

I found this helpful
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/faq.php?faq=template_customize

once you get the hang of customisation, it is quite easy
I have made my own notes so I can build a site in virtually no time at all

I am also still confused with the define pages editor in admin for main page, shipping info etc

While swguy and zas are pointing to some good FAQ information, those particular FAQ documents are superceded by the knowledgebase, found at: https://tutorials.zen-cart.com
There, you'll find numerous articles on templating, overrides, etc ... which are more up to date than the older FAQ system (all the FAQs were copied over to the KB and updated).

Also, the Overrides Chart is a helpful reference:
http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?main_page=product_contrib_info&cPath=40_47&products_id=298

DrByte:

While swguy and zas are pointing to some good FAQ information, those particular FAQ documents are superceded by the knowledgebase, found at: https://tutorials.zen-cart.com
There, you'll find numerous articles on templating, overrides, etc ... which are more up to date than the older FAQ system (all the FAQs were copied over to the KB and updated).

That's where I was getting my info from, like on how to edit header.php, etc.

But the big problem with those tutorial pages is that the exact folder hierarchies don't literally match up with what is in those documents. Following the instructions literally led me to create a file and place it in the hierarchy and have it have no effect.

Then I noticed if I sort of looked at the hierarchy and moved the custom header.php file elsewhere the customizations took effect.

But I can't do that for each and every file because it was just happenstance that I stumbled across the right location.

I know I'm not explaining myself clearly, but the hierarchies described in the tutorials/FAQs are definitely different than the actual ones.

doug

douglerner:

I know I'm not explaining myself clearly, but the hierarchies described in the tutorials/FAQs are definitely different than the actual ones.

If you don't mind pointing out which ones are wrong, we'll take a review of them to get them fixed.

DrByte:

If you don't mind pointing out which ones are wrong, we'll take a review of them to get them fixed.

I think the root of the problem I am having is that I started with an article there that recommended creating a certain hierarchy. I'm sorry if I sound confused, but I was just looking around the tutorial/FAQ section trying to stumble across the same article again and now I can't find it.

Maybe if you can point me to one solid verifiable starting point I can go from there.

A related question is this though - even though I changed my "template" in tools to point to my custom folder the files being edited in the "page definitions" editor tool don't seem to be those in the custom folder.

doug

Everyone starts out :blink: and :frusty:. Once you get the hang of it you'll wonder why you thought it was so difficult and you'll feel :smartalec: and :cool:.

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.

I recommend unzipping a copy of the latest ZC on your hard drive for two reasons.

1. You can see the folder/file structure which will make things clearer
2. You can edit files locally and FTP them to your site making an instant "backup"of your online store

ALWAYS use a good text editor like Notepad or Crimson Editor when working with ZC.

Have you created a custom folder in includes/languages/english/html_includes/your_template_name,
and copied the define_***.php pages from html_includes to it that you intend to
customize/modify?

If so, when you open them in admin/tools/define pages editor, it should
say at the top above the edit box:
Editing file: ..../includes/languages/english/html_includes/your_custom_template/define_***.php

as for the define-pages issue, TShooters is right. I would add that you need to make the files in the custom folder writable (chmod 777) or else the editor will tell you they're read-only and have you confused ;)

afo:

Everyone starts out :blink: and :frusty:. Once you get the hang of it you'll wonder why you thought it was so difficult and you'll feel :smartalec: and :cool:.

To create a very basic custom template (you can build from there), you need:
includes/languages/YOUR_TEMPLATE/english.php

First, again, thanks everybody for your supportive notes. I greatly appreciate it.

Stopping here at instruction one...

I downloaded zen-cart to my computer and unzipped it so I can work there and upload, as suggested. Good idea.

My first question is about this very first item. I named YOUR_TEMPLATE just "custom", so the first item you wrote says that I need

includes/languages/custom/english.php

In includes/languages/classic there is one file called "empty.txt". Do I need to copy that into my new "custom" folder?

There is no english.php inside "classic". Should I copy english.pho from includes/languages.english.php to includes/languages/custom/english.php?

These are the little "hanging threads" that I am getting confused about. I don't want to make any wrong assumptions here since I don't exactly know what I am doing. :)

Thanks,

doug

afo:

Everyone starts out :blink: and :frusty:. Once you get the hang of it you'll wonder why you thought it was so difficult and you'll feel :smartalec: and :cool:.

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.

I recommend unzipping a copy of the latest ZC on your hard drive for two reasons.

1. You can see the folder/file structure which will make things clearer
2. You can edit files locally and FTP them to your site making an instant "backup"of your online store

ALWAYS use a good text editor like Notepad or Crimson Editor when working with ZC.

Arg...

I added those files and then made just one change to index.php to change logo.gif to logo.jpg (because that is what I uploaded to ... wherever... I can't keep track anymore.

Anyway, now if I go to my site it says:

Fatal error: Cannot redeclare class base in /home/doug/public_html/taonoyume/includes/classes/class.base.php on line **17

doug

**

Yes, in the case of english.php, copy the one that's in /english/. There are a few others like that. The /classic/ folder does indicate where overrides are possible. If the file you want to modify isn't in the /classic/ folder, copy it from the next higher level.

You should have uploaded your logo.jpg file to includes/templates/custom/images/.

I'm not sure what's causing the error you're getting, but I've seen it mentioned on the forum before. Try searching for it.

BTW, I made that list when I did a prototype cart for someone. That's all I changed to create http://www.pamperedwebsites.com/kstreet/.

where on earth can i change the browser level title for both the shopping cart and the admin area???

cheers

Might look in the other post where you asked this:
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?p=354204#post354204

afo:

Yes, in the case of english.php, copy the one that's in /english/. There are a few others like that. The /classic/ folder does indicate where overrides are possible. If the file you want to modify isn't in the /classic/ folder, copy it from the next higher level.

You should have uploaded your logo.jpg file to includes/templates/custom/images/.

I'm not sure what's causing the error you're getting, but I've seen it mentioned on the forum before. Try searching for it.

BTW, I made that list when I did a prototype cart for someone. That's all I changed to create http://www.pamperedwebsites.com/kstreet/.

Yes, that's where I uploaded logo.jpg to.

From the error message, and not really knowing anything about PHP, but from my knowledge about other server-side scripting languages, I was suspecting that the problem was with a re-definition of a class in index.php.

So I removed the copy of index.php that I copied from the top level and, based on your list, had added to includes/languages/english/custom - along with header.php and the error went away.

So I think that line of your instructions should perhaps be removed.

doug