Where are the directories and files located?

Hi There,

I'm new to Zen Cart and can't figure out where the <zc-home> directories and/or files are located.

I've been reading the forums and the 'e-Start Your Web Store with Zen Cart' book, but there are all these references to files and directories, e.g., includes/templates/classic. How do I get to them? Where are they???

Thanks for your help in advance!

-Alyssa, lost in Zen land

Your question is a bit vague. Tell us what you are trying to do, maybe we can point you in the right direction.

Do you have a domain name and web host? Do you have Zen Cart installed somewhere? Who installed it - you, your host or...?

If you have a host, they can tell you how to get to your server control panel. The file manager in that is what you use to see the location of the files on the server.

Thanks for your replies, bobdog and gjh42. yes, I'm using lunarpages as my web host. I have an old site up on my domain, which is www.milkandhoney.com. The zen cart store i'm working on can be seen at www.milkandhoney.com/zcart. Lunarpages installed zen cart for me. I do know how to get to my server's control panel and file manager.

I suppose my question is vague because I don't know where to go to begin customizing my cart with the Template Override System.

In Chapter 17, p. 269, the Zen Cart book says, "As an example, take a look at the snippet of HTML code that appears in <zc-home>includes/languages/english/html_includes/define_contact_us.php. The code prints the header of the Contact Us page as Contact US Sample Text...."

Where is that HTML code? I don't understand where to find it.

Sorry if this is a stupid question! Thanks for helping - it is so very much appreciated!

-Alyssa

The e-Start book covers the basic processes of installing and setting up Zen Cart on your local computer in detail. This means that the instructions for editing are shorter than they would be if you start out on a remote server.
<zc-home> means the folder where your Zen Cart is installed, probably /public_html/ or /htdocs/ or /www/ or similar.

If the files are on your pc, you open the file in a text editor and read it. Notepad will do in a pinch, but do not ever use Word or another word processing program. Notepad++ or CrimsonEditor are free programs downloadable from sourceforge.net, and they understand CSS, HTML, PHP and other programs and will treat them right and highlight elements and help show you errors.

If your program files are on a remote computer, you first need to download them to your pc to edit them. Use an FTP program like Filezilla. Appendix A - Utility Software covers these things.

Your best bet is to download the latest version of ZC to your computer and unzip it there. You don't have to be able to run it from your computer, but you'll be able to see the structure. After that, follow gjh42's suggestions and you should be on your way to being Zenned. :cool:

The <zc-home> syntax is explained in the Note on pg 46 of the book. It refers to the directory where your Zen Cart folder is located.

For example, if you follow the instructions in the book and give your top-most Zen Cart folder the name "store", then the <zc-home> directory could be "C:\server\xampp\htdocs\store" or "D:\test\xammp\htdocs\store" or something else.

On your server, <zc-home> could possibly be "/home/alyssa/public_html/store" or "/home/alyssa/www/store" as gjh42 kindly pointed out.

milkandhoney:

Hi There,

I'm new to Zen Cart and can't figure out where the <zc-home> directories and/or files are located.

I've been reading the forums and the 'e-Start Your Web Store with Zen Cart' book, but there are all these references to files and directories, e.g., includes/templates/classic. How do I get to them? Where are they???

Thanks for your help in advance!

-Alyssa, lost in Zen land

Thank you so much for replying! :clap:

I followed your instructions and downloaded a new copy of Zen cart onto my computer, like it says in the book on p.45-46. I got stuck on p. 46 #5. where it says, "unpack the downloaded file to the <xampp-home>/htdocs directory." I typed that into my file extraction wizard and it said that it was unable to create the specified directory. Is there somewhere else to access the directory?

So I just extracted it to a file in My Documents, but now when I open it, there are 18 different documents within the Zen cart folder and I'm lost again.

Anyway, I'm not sure that downloading it is what I need. Do you understand that I have already been working on customizing zen cart which was downloaded by my server, Lunar pages, about 6 months ago? Don't I need to access the files I've already been working on?

I found the file manager on my server's control panel. Only problem is that I currently have the "old" website up (not Zen Cart), so I don't think I can access Zen Cart files there.

Should I get rid of my old site while I'm customizing Zen Cart so that index.html refers to my Zen Cart front page? I've been working on Zen cart as www.milk-and-honey/zcart so that people don't see the site in construction until it's done. If I should get rid of the old site, how do I do it? I have FileZilla, but I used Dreamweaver to put the files of the old site up.

Thank you for any help you can offer.

-Alyssa:cry:

Use Filezilla to download the files you changed and put them in the appropriate folders on your local computer. You don't need to be able to run ZC locally, that's optional.

You should be able to access your ZC files from both Filezilla and your control panel. From what you said, you've got ZC installed in its own directory on your domain. Accessing that information shouldn't be a problem.

Hi Alyssa,

Allow me to break up your questions and answer them separately.

The 1st part relates to installation on your ***local ***computer.

On p.46 #5, you should type the full path instead of the short form "<xampp-home>/htdocs" used in the book. For example, you can type "C:\server\xampp\htdocs".

Seeing 18 different documents is correct. The important thing is to make sure they conform to the directory structure as shown on the screen shot on p.46 #6. They shouldn't be anywhere under the "My Documents" folder though.

The 2nd part relates to your current ZC store on your ***remote ***host.

If you already have a working ZC store on your remote host, you may choose not to install a local ZC store. You can continue working directly on your remote ZC store as you are currently doing.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to be saying you are having problems locating and accessing your ZC files on your server?

milkandhoney:

Only problem is that I currently have the "old" website up (not Zen Cart), so I don't think I can access Zen Cart files there.

If that is the case, you can either use your host's File Manager program or your FTP program and search for the relevant ZC files under your web server's document root directory. For example, try "/home/alyssa/public_html/zcart" or "/home/alyssa/www/zcart".

Lastly, there is no need to get rid of your "old" site at the moment. Just continue working on your store at www.milk-and-honey/zcart until you are ready to go 'live'. Once that time comes, you may like to refer to this thread for more information :smile:

Thank you so very much for your help! :hug:

I finally accessed my files on the remote server and began changing code because of your guidance, something I've been trying to figure out for a month.

Thank you Thank you Thank you....

Thank you so much for your help!:hug:

I finally accessed my files on the remote server as a result of your guidance, which I've been trying to do for over a month!

Thank you Thank you Thank you....

Thanks for letting us know it worked for you. :smile: