Here is the process that i used to install multi sites and add new sites to the main one. This process has taken over 2 months because the lack of good documentation targeted to newbies and the overall lack of support in this forum (SOME people have been very helpful for some parts). So i'm posting this so maybe i can help one person who is struggling.
First of all, here are my facts:
Hosting on a Hostgator VPS.
One main site and 7 add on sites.
Installed about 6 mods to the basic 1.5.1 version of Zen Cart.
Here are the steps i used:
- installed zen cart 1.5.1 for the main site (maindomain.com) and uploaded a new template for it and got it working the way i wanted.
2a. install the multi site module just as stated in the documentation.
2b. create a _config.php file for the main site at includes/config_sites/maindomain.com_config.php.. you will also have to create another one for the www version - includes/config_sites/www.maindomain.com_config.php. Here are the basic contents of that file:
<?php
$template_dir = "template_name";
define('SITE_NAME','your store name');
define('HTTP_SERVER', 'http://www.maindomain.com');
define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'http://www.maindomain.com'); (more on SSL later)
?>
- create your 2nd site by creating an 'addon domain' in your Cpanel of your main site (this can also be done by creating a subdomain but i won't cover that here). if you don't know how to do this contact your hosting company. you can test this site using addondomain.maindomain.com until you are ready to have your site go live and point your DNS to your live site.
- pick a template for this 2nd site and install in your maindomain folders just like you installed the template for the main site. you will then need to go into the admin section of your main site and click on tools/template selection and then click the 'edit' button, pull down the new template and click update. then you have to go to tools/layout boxes controller and click the 'reset' button at the bottom of that page.
- install the multi site module AGAIN but for the 2nd template. this ones a bit tricky but what it means it replace the template folder name with the 2nd template folder names and then install. you will have to do this with every site you have. it allows the multi site to correctly show products in sidebars, searches, and home page on your sites.
- create a _config.php file for the 2nd site at includes/config_sites/addondomain.com_config.php.. you will also have to create another one for the www version - includes/config_sites/www.addondomain.com_config.php. Here are the basic contents of that file:
<?php
$template_dir = "template_name";
define('SITE_NAME','your site name');
define('HTTP_SERVER', 'http://www.addondomain.com');
define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'http://www.addondomain.com'); (more on SSL later)
?>
now go to addondomain.maindomain.com or addondomain.com (depending on if you propagated your DNS) and you should see your site.
You will now probably need to customize/modify the template of your 2nd site and you can do that through the _config.php file you just set up and SOME settings can be modified through the admin section of the main site (Layout boxes controller settings can be changed this way). Still not sure of all the variances here but when in doubt, don't change the main site settings because it may change your main site and break it.
if you've gotten this far and have a site you can see, then you might get into deeper issues - some of which i've resolved and some that others have seem to resolved. things like banners, e-z pages, and SSL all require some extra effort.
here is how i resolved the SSL issues. I bought a godaddy multi domain SSL and set it up with 5 domains. I then had my hosting company install this SSL on the server. i then had to go into each of the _config.php files and change this:
define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'http://www.addondomain.com'); to this:
define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'https://www.addondomain.com');
sounds simple but it took a week to get this working and now works great..
if anyone has any questions, they can message me and hopefully i can help.. i'm not a Guru or a tech wizard just a Doctorate in banging my head because of this module for over 2 months.
