Adding links to Information sidebox

Maybe a bit too hasty, probably my fault anyhow.

I finally realised that YOURTEMPLATE in my case is 'Classic' and went about creating folders and new files to replicate your walk through, and still it isnt working fully.

Ive got it this far:

http://ecristal.co.uk/zen/index.php?main_page=cancellations

But for some reason, its not displaying the main content.

Ive been through the woalk through's again and again, and still cant find the answer. Will plough on and try and work it out, unless somebody can help a little.

cheers

lee

Ok i tried it again with my name as a link, and all worked fine up until the last 2 points.

The information for thepage just doesnt display, and I have edited it and uploaded and saved locally and through Define Pages Editor.

So getting the link into the search box, and getting its page to display the header title and breadcrumb is fine, but no info displayo.

Would be great if anybody can spot the problem and let me finish this bit off for good, as that will be a good job done then.

cheers

lee

Hi All,

<rant warning!!!>
I am starting to get quite familiar with Zen Cart and I'm glad I choose this cart over the scores of others available...

However, there are some glaring glitches that perturb me to no end... The "Information" page is such a glitch, why in the world would you make it so hard to add and/or remove items from such an important file...

I have found the hard way that the easy solution is to create an EZpages side bar (it seems fairly obvious that EZpages didn't exist when this important page was first debuted) and Replicate the links as Kobra states, OK... that's cool, but it takes a Newb Zenner several hours of digging to discover this... The alternate solution appeals to the coder in me however it is absolutely not acceptable to my client...

As a Newb Zenner it seemed obvious that there would be a place in the admin panel with simple on/off toggles and a place to add more links... But it just ain't so!

<nearing end of rant>

So, I would like to request that this be changed in the next release and turned into an EZpage (unless there is some reason I am unaware of for keeping it in it's difficult to modify state) or at very least create a front end to turn off/on all of the links and a way to ADD additional links. (as you may have guessed, I had to add links and know I'm far from alone.)

<rant end>

I'm sorry if I sound negative in this post, I'm really not, I like Zen Cart and truly appreciate all of the work put into it. The only reason I am making this post is so that some poor soul won't have to spend hours in the future trying to figure this out... Let's face it gang, there is a LOT to learn with Zen cart and some of the intricacies are hidden deeply in the bowls of Zen cart and are far from obvious or intuitive.

Have a great week,

Gary777:smile:

Gary777,

You have to understand the history of Zen Cart to fathom why this is.

Short version: This is a fork allowed by the GPL license and the Zen Cart team have concentrated on making/adding to the frontend functionality almost exclusively as this is what potential customers have to contend with and is that not the main purpose of having a Cart?

And there are just so many hours in a day

Hi Kobra,

You are quite right my friend, and that is why I prefaced my post with the rant warning :wink:

I suspected and even knew that the functionality of the cart takes precedence... But sometimes a guy just has to blow off a little steam.

Again I meant no offense, I really am thrilled with Zen Cart. It's just one of those things where I feel that "if only I knew how to fix this" without having to learn the internals of ZC much better than I currently do (as you said, there are only so many hours in a day!) I would take this on myself just to spare some other chap. Lord knows I spent enough time digging that if I had known how to correct this I certainly had plenty of time to affect the change!

Thanks for your patience and help Kobra,

Best regards,

Gary777

PS: I'm getting Zenned, I can feel it... And I think I it just clicked! This is a Fork! Let me Guess... OSCommerce?

It does get easier, even if not intuitive.

I agree, I have just now found this thread after 3-4 hours of going through tutorials, tons of post and so on.

I am new to ZC, and I don't understand why it is so difficult to change links, add links to the Information sidebox.

I see alot of help in the forums but its garbled pointing to every which way and direction, very very confusing. When is the next release going to be? Or is it planned?

Also, how do I go abouts disabling the Information Links and adding ezpage info box with Important links?

:cry: sorry for ranting.....this is confusing :frusty:

chris32882:

Also, how do I go abouts disabling the Information Links and adding ezpage info box with Important links?

Hi Chris,

I understand your frustration completely! I had to deduce these steps via trial and error as I couldn't locate documentation. Once I finally figured it out it was an Aha! moment... Hopefully this will help.

I will attempt to walk you through this step by step... Let's call it "Add a link to the Information Sidebox" so others can search and find this...

1. Go to each link in the existing Information sidebar and copy each links link location, (just hover over the link on the main page of your store and write down the paths) below are the default file names, you will need this info in step 3, don't forget to replace the path with your domain path.

Shipping & Returns = http://your.domain.com/index.php?main_page=shippinginfo

Privacy = http://your.domain.com/index.php?main_page=privacy

Conditions = http://your.domain.com/index.php?main_page=conditions

Contact Us = http://your.domain.com/index.php?main_page=contact_us

Site Map = http://your.domain.com/index.php?main_page=site_map

Gift Certificate FAQ = http://your.domain.com/index.php?main_page=gv_faq

Discount Coupons = http://your.domain.com/index.php?main_page=discount_coupons

Newsletter Unsubscribe = http://your.domain.com/index.php?main_page=unsibscribe

2. Go into Admin > Tools > Layout Boxes Controller

a. Turn sideboxes/ezpages.php ON, set Column to LEFT and set your sort order as desired. (If you are already using EZpages this will already be on)

b. Turn OFF sideboxes/information.php

3. Go into Admin > Tools > EZ-Pages

a. Click create a new file
b. Name the file ( "Shipping & Returns" is the top default file name)
c. Click yes in the Sidebox section and set the sort order ( 1 is the default sort order for the Shipping & Returns link)
d. Do not enter any text in the HTML content box
e. Enter the path to the existing from step 1 above
I.E. http://your.domain.com/index.php?main_page=shippinginfo
f. Click Update

4. Repeat step 3 until you have created links for all of the default pages you want to use.

5. Go into Admin > Tools > EZ-Pages and make sure all of the above pages you just created are enabled for the Sidebox (the square icon in the Sidebox column is green) and turn on any that may be off. Tip - You can also change the order of the links by editing the file info here.

To create links to your own EZ-Pages for use in this sidebox do the following:

1. Go into Admin > Tools > EZ-Pages

a. Click create a new file
b. Name the file ( "MyLinks" is being used as an example)
c. Click yes in the Sidebox section and set the sort order ( 1 is the default sort order for the Shipping & Returns link)
d. Enter HTML for your new page in the HTML content box
e. Click Update

Note: you shouldn't use the links boxes at the bottom unless you want to point to an existing file, in which case you wouldn't add any HTML content, you would simply add the correct link for the internal or external file.

2. Repeat step 3 to create additional links as you desire.

I hope this is detailed enough to help you through, I've made a good effort to be through.

Gary777

Gary777:

Hi Chris,

I understand your frustration completely! I had to deduce these steps via trial and error as I couldn't locate documentation. Once I finally figured it out it was an Aha! moment... Hopefully this will help.

I will attempt to walk you through this step by step... Let's call it "Add a link to the Information Sidebox" so others can search and find this...

1. Go to each link in the existing Information sidebar and copy each links link location, (just hover over the link on the main page of your store and write down the paths) below are the default file names, you will need this info in step 3, don't forget to replace the path with your domain path.

Shipping & Returns = http://your.domain.com/index.php?main_page=shippinginfo

Privacy = http://your.domain.com/index.php?main_page=privacy

Conditions = http://your.domain.com/index.php?main_page=conditions

Contact Us = http://your.domain.com/index.php?main_page=contact_us

Site Map = http://your.domain.com/index.php?main_page=site_map

Gift Certificate FAQ = http://your.domain.com/index.php?main_page=gv_faq

Discount Coupons = http://your.domain.com/index.php?main_page=discount_coupons

Newsletter Unsubscribe = http://your.domain.com/index.php?main_page=unsibscribe

2. Go into Admin > Tools > Layout Boxes Controller

a. Turn sideboxes/ezpages.php ON, set Column to LEFT and set your sort order as desired. (If you are already using EZpages this will already be on)

b. Turn OFF sideboxes/information.php

3. Go into Admin > Tools > EZ-Pages

a. Click create a new file
b. Name the file ( "Shipping & Returns" is the top default file name)
c. Click yes in the Sidebox section and set the sort order ( 1 is the default sort order for the Shipping & Returns link)
d. Do not enter any text in the HTML content box
e. Enter the path to the existing from step 1 above
I.E. http://your.domain.com/index.php?main_page=shippinginfo
f. Click Update

4. Repeat step 3 until you have created links for all of the default pages you want to use.

5. Go into Admin > Tools > EZ-Pages and make sure all of the above pages you just created are enabled for the Sidebox (the square icon in the Sidebox column is green) and turn on any that may be off. Tip - You can also change the order of the links by editing the file info here.

To create links to your own EZ-Pages for use in this sidebox do the following:

1. Go into Admin > Tools > EZ-Pages

a. Click create a new file
b. Name the file ( "MyLinks" is being used as an example)
c. Click yes in the Sidebox section and set the sort order ( 1 is the default sort order for the Shipping & Returns link)
d. Enter HTML for your new page in the HTML content box
e. Click Update

Note: you shouldn't use the links boxes at the bottom unless you want to point to an existing file, in which case you wouldn't add any HTML content, you would simply add the correct link for the internal or external file.

2. Repeat step 3 to create additional links as you desire.

I hope this is detailed enough to help you through, I've made a good effort to be through.

Gary777

Gary777,

Yes this was very thorough! I appreciate it greatly. once I disable the information box, and create ezpage box will I be able to change the Title of the box as well?

Also Curious, Where are the html pages for information box links? and when I create an ezpage box link, where does that point to? html pages?

Take a look at: http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/ it isn't my site but a fellow person that has over come the link problem :)

Not sure how he had each page go directly to an html link instead..

Hi Chris,

Yes, however as usual the process is a bit obtuse...

You will need to create an override... Open the following file:

mystore/includes/languages/english/extra_definitions/ez_pages_definitions.php

Edit the file and change the 'Important Links' part of the following line to what you want to say:

define('BOX_HEADING_EZPAGES','Important Links');

Save this file to:
mystore/includes/languages/english/extra_definitions/YOUR_TEMPLATE/ez_pages_definitions.php

Replace YOUR_TEMPLATE with the name of the template you are using... If you are using the Classic template then you would save it as:
mystore/includes/languages/english/extra_definitions/classic/ez_pages_definitions.php

Wouldn't it be nice if we could just edit this in the "Define Pages Editor"?

For all I know there may be a plugin somewhere that will aloow us to do just that...

Hope this helps, enjoy!

Gary777

chris32882:

Also Curious, Where are the html pages for information box links? and when I create an ezpage box link, where does that point to? html pages?

Take a look at: http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/ it isn't my site but a fellow person that has over come the link problem :)

Not sure how he had each page go directly to an html link instead..

not sure if you got this last post or not it was on the last page....

Thanks again Gary

chris32882:

Also Curious, Where are the html pages for information box links? and when I create an ezpage box link, where does that point to? html pages?

Take a look at: http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/ it isn't my site but a fellow person that has over come the link problem :)

Not sure how he had each page go directly to an html link instead..

Chris,

The HTML pages in information.php are hard coded links to existing "Define Pages" and other stock pages. What you are doing via EZPages is point to existing ZC pages as set up in Admin > Tools > Define Pages Editor.

When you add you own links you are creating HTML pages that are now "EZpages," that's why you don't need the internal/external link.

When you create an EZPage page it's associated link points to the EZpage you have created, this is a built in feature.

In the page you refer to it appears that this person has hand coded the changes in the information.php file (this is the hard way to do things as noted at the start of this thread and not helpful to a person who doesn't understand ZC intimately, you wouldn't want an end user modifying this file... That's why we did the replacement with EZPages per Kobra.

Using the EZPages method you or your end user can simply add another page in EZPages and configure it to show up in the sidebox as detailed in my steps above. This is why they created EZPages...

If you view the source of http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/ you will see this:

<!--// bof: information //-->
<div class="leftBoxContainer" id="information" style="width: 150px">
<h3 class="leftBoxHeading" id="informationHeading">Information</h3>
<div id="informationContent" class="sideBoxContent">
<ul style="margin: 0; padding: 0; list-style-type: none;">
<li><a href="http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/about_us.html">About Us</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/shippinginfo.html">Shipping Info</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/returns.html">Returns</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/privacy.html">Privacy Notice</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/faqs.html">Faqs</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/contact_us.html">Contact Us</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/site_map.html">Site Map</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/gv_faq.html">Gift Certificate FAQ</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/discount_coupon.html">Discount Coupons</a></li>
</ul>

</div></div>
<!--// eof: information //-->

This line

<!--// bof: information //-->

tells you that they are calling (using a PHP require) information.php directly, using the hard way you physically modify the information.php page, the downside to this method is that you may have issues when upgrading or changing templates.

By contrast, if you view the source of a page using the EZPages method it will look like this...

<!--// bof: ezpages //-->
<div class="leftBoxContainer" id="ezpages" style="width: 200px">
<h3 class="leftBoxHeading" id="ezpagesHeading">Important Links</h3>
<div id="ezpagesContent" class="sideBoxContent">
<ul style="margin: 0; padding: 0; list-style-type: none;">
<li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=shippinginfo">Shipping & Returns</a></li>

<li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=privacy">Privacy Notice</a></li>
<li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=conditions">Conditions of Use</a></li>
<li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=contact_us">Contact Us</a></li>
<li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=site_map">Site Map</a></li>
<li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=90">Gift Certificates</a></li>
<li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=gv_faq">Gift Certificate FAQ</a></li>
<li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=discount_coupon">Discount Coupons</a></li>
<li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=unsubscribe">Newsletter Unsubscribe</a></li>
<li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=21">My Links</a></li>
<li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=28">Returns</a></li>
</ul>
</div></div>
<!--// eof: ezpages //-->

In this case it tells you that they are calling (using a PHP require) ezpages.php, and EZPages is handling the page dynamically based on how you set EZPages up via Admin > Tools > EZPages, I.E. It only shows the links you have on, and it shows them in the order you have set.

By the way, the <!--// eof: ezpages //--> statement tells you that this is end of that file call/include.

The beauty of the EZPages method is that you make a big change once and when you want to add to or modify your "Information" sidebox you can do so in a few seconds using EZPages.

Does this help clear it up any? (I know it is a lot to wrap your mind around at first... Wait until you walk away from it for a few days, it takes a while to figure it all out again!)

Gary777

PS: I'm starting to scare myself a little...

Gary777:

Chris,

The HTML pages in information.php are hard coded links to existing "Define Pages" and other stock pages. What you are doing via EZPages is point to existing ZC pages as set up in Admin > Tools > Define Pages Editor.

When you add you own links you are creating HTML pages that are now "EZpages," that's why you don't need the internal/external link.

When you create an EZPage page it's associated link points to the EZpage you have created, this is a built in feature.

In the page you refer to it appears that this person has hand coded the changes in the information.php file (this is the hard way to do things as noted at the start of this thread and not helpful to a person who doesn't understand ZC intimately, you wouldn't want an end user modifying this file... That's why we did the replacement with EZPages per Kobra.

Using the EZPages method you or your end user can simply add another page in EZPages and configure it to show up in the sidebox as detailed in my steps above. This is why they created EZPages...

If you view the source of http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/ you will see this:

<!--// bof: information //--> <div class="leftBoxContainer" id="information" style="width: 150px"> <h3 class="leftBoxHeading" id="informationHeading">Information</h3> <div id="informationContent" class="sideBoxContent"> <ul style="margin: 0; padding: 0; list-style-type: none;"> <li><a href="http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/about_us.html">About Us</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/shippinginfo.html">Shipping Info</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/returns.html">Returns</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/privacy.html">Privacy Notice</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/faqs.html">Faqs</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/contact_us.html">Contact Us</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/site_map.html">Site Map</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/gv_faq.html">Gift Certificate FAQ</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.reynoldsgiftshop.com/discount_coupon.html">Discount Coupons</a></li> </ul> </div></div> <!--// eof: information //--> ``` > > This line > <!--// bof: information //--> > > tells you that they are calling (using a PHP require) information.php directly, using the hard way you physically modify the information.php page, the downside to this method is that you may have issues when upgrading or changing templates. > > By contrast, if you view the source of a page using the EZPages method it will look like this... > > ``` <!--// bof: ezpages //--> <div class="leftBoxContainer" id="ezpages" style="width: 200px"> <h3 class="leftBoxHeading" id="ezpagesHeading">Important Links</h3> <div id="ezpagesContent" class="sideBoxContent"> <ul style="margin: 0; padding: 0; list-style-type: none;"> <li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=shippinginfo">Shipping & Returns</a></li> <li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=privacy">Privacy Notice</a></li> <li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=conditions">Conditions of Use</a></li> <li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=contact_us">Contact Us</a></li> <li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=site_map">Site Map</a></li> <li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=90">Gift Certificates</a></li> <li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=gv_faq">Gift Certificate FAQ</a></li> <li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=discount_coupon">Discount Coupons</a></li> <li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=unsubscribe">Newsletter Unsubscribe</a></li> <li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=21">My Links</a></li> <li><a href="http://mysite.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=28">Returns</a></li> </ul> </div></div> <!--// eof: ezpages //--> ``` > > In this case it tells you that they are calling (using a PHP require) ezpages.php, and EZPages is handling the page dynamically based on how you set EZPages up via Admin > Tools > EZPages, I.E. It only shows the links you have on, and it shows them in the order you have set. > > By the way, the <!--// eof: ezpages //--> statement tells you that this is end of that file call/include. > > The beauty of the EZPages method is that you make a big change once and when you want to add to or modify your "Information" sidebox you can do so in a few seconds using EZPages. > > Does this help clear it up any? (I know it is a lot to wrap your mind around at first... Wait until you walk away from it for a few days, it takes a while to figure it all out again!) > > Gary777 > > PS: I'm starting to scare myself a little...

Don't scare yourself, its not Halloween yet :)

And Yes, this does clear everything up. I wonder if the devs will eventually do away with information.php, or recode it. I see great potential in Zen-Cart

Gary777 -:clap: This is exactly the write up that I needed and what most people (who don't want to get into the ugly coding) needed. This needs to be added the the FAQ / Tutorial section. Whoever controls that - I hope you're listening.

I have reproduced the few items I want from "Information" as EZ-Pages and turned off "Information". One less module on the homepage=faster load.

I understand the history of "Information" but EZ-pages and the ability to toggle them on/off and place them where ever has superceded Information, IMO.

Thanks again, Gary.

Gary777:

Hi Chris,

I understand your frustration completely! I had to deduce these steps via trial and error as I couldn't locate documentation. Once I finally figured it out it was an Aha! moment... Hopefully this will help.

I will attempt to walk you through this step by step... Let's call it "Add a link to the Information Sidebox" so others can search and find this...

1. Go to each link in the existing Information sidebar and copy each links link location, (just hover over the link on the main page of your store and write down the paths) below are the default file names, you will need this info in step 3, don't forget to replace the path with your domain path.

Shipping & Returns = http://your.domain.com/index.php?main_page=shippinginfo

<snip>

2. Repeat step 3 to create additional links as you desire.

I hope this is detailed enough to help you through, I've made a good effort to be through.

Gary777

After searching forever I found this thread but I don't think it's the easiest solution.

What I'm trying to do is add links to the Information Box easily, not recreate it the whole thing. I first created an EZ-page and made sure I put a value under sidebar.

I'm new to zen cart and not a php programmer

I opened both files tpl_ezpages.php & tpl_information.php with a HTML editor.

These files are under
includes/templates/YOUR_THEME/sideboxes/

This worked for me in my theme.

In tpl_information.php find

  for ($i=0; $i<6; $i++) {
    $content .='<li>'.preg_replace('/^([^>]+>)/i', '$1', $information[$i]) . '</li>' . "\n";
  }

after add this

  for ($i=1, $n=sizeof($var_linksList); $i<=$n; $i++) { 
    $content .= '<li><a href="' . $var_linksList[$i]['link'] . '">' . $var_linksList[$i]['name'] . '</a></li>' . "\n" ;
  } // end FOR loop

That code was taken from tpl_ezpages.php.

I figured out the information sidebar is

<ul><li>the info links</li></ul>

and
the ezpage sidebar was the same

<ul><li>ezpages</li></ul>

why not combine them?

Try it.

To sort the links....I have no clue. Maybe someone can figure that out?

I made a mistake. You need a value on HEADER not SIDEBAR for it to work.

kobra:

Have a look at the about us module in the downloads/sidebox area and read the steps for this as these are the same as for others

Thank you kobra, I did exactly this and it worked perfect to add two new links. Very smooth!