Is Zencart an ecommerce website builder ?

Hi,

I am confused, I was using a website builder software and trying to integrate it to zencart then I discovered that if I create my categories in the other software (soholaunch) and have zencart as my shopping cart I cannot go back to my categories created in soholaunch.

OK so that is the background that got me started exploring zencart in detail.

Now I have a very basic question? Is zencart a shopping cart or a full fledged ecommerce website building software?

I mean is there any reason not to build my whole website using zencart? What will I not be able to do with this approach?

Someone please enlighten...

Regards,
VitalWares
https://www.vitalwares.com

Zen Cart is a complete e-commerce solution.

It handles all product presentation and sales, and it has basic CMS functions (EZ-Pages) which allow you to include non-product pages in the site without leaving Zen Cart.

See the features list.

Zen Cart is an eCommerce solution with complete Admin support for your Categories, Products, Purchasing and Shipping of them. The Templating portion is not yet developed as much as it will be but does help to get your own, Custom Template in use.

It is not designed as a Web site Builder.

Website Rob:

Zen Cart is an eCommerce solution with complete Admin support for your Categories, Products, Purchasing and Shipping of them. The Templating portion is not yet developed as much as it will be but does help to get your own, Custom Template in use.

It is not designed as a Web site Builder.

Ok so what can I NOT do uing zencart that I can using a regular website builder ?

Regards,
VitalWares

Better question is what do you want to be able to do?

Kim:

Better question is what do you want to be able to do?

I want to be able to build another website very similar to https://www.vitalwares.com

With another domain name a lot of features that I am missing right now, processing in the canadian currency, have weight and state based shipping integrate with PSI gate payment gateway have very flexible tax rules

and Still have the same look and feel.

Regards,
Vitalwares.

If a "website builder" is a tool that walks you through setting up the appearance of your site, Zen Cart doesn't do that. It has all the abilities of customizing appearance and function, but you need to use them individually on your own initiative.

A quick look at your current site shows nothing that would present any challenge in Zen Cart beyond styling (using the stylesheet) and some admin settings.

vitalwares:

I want to be able to build another website very similar to https://www.vitalwares.com

With another domain name a lot of features that I am missing right now, processing in the canadian currency, have weight and state based shipping integrate with PSI gate payment gateway have very flexible tax rules

and Still have the same look and feel.

Regards,
Vitalwares.

That question has been answered in a previous post. Your Template must be setup manually is all. You only need to decide if you want to do the Template changes, to match your current look, or pay someone to do it for you. Either way, the HTML errors in your current site should be removed for best results.

For me, I found that Zen Cart is a fairly steep hill to climb initially, especially if you're coming from something that is "automated". I know it drove me nuts for a while. The thing is it's more than worth the work of learning it. As you can see I've only made about 40 posts so I'm still very new to what ZC is all about but I've come a long, long way in understanding just how great it is. Plain and simple it is all you'll ever need for an e-commerce/CMS solution. I'm finding new(to me) and better ways to use it all the time. The features and customizability are amazing once you get into the nuts and bolts of it. I recently created my first custom template for it ( www.amishroundtables.com ) and couldn't be happier. Making a site like vitalwares is pretty simple if you take the time to read the docs in the help section and make use of the forums.
Take the time to learn it and you'll never want anything else. I have several other sites set up on different cart systems (quickshopping cart - godaddy, cartweaver and monster commerce) and nothing even comes close. I'm currently trying to figure out the best way to get away from these other carts without loosing my rankings. Once I figure that out I'll never look back.
From everything I've seen and continue to find out, ZC can do just about anything and everything you could want a site to do.
Personally I believe ZC was the best decision that I've ever made when it comes to websites.

Website Rob:

Either way, the HTML errors in your current site should be removed for best results.

HTML errors in my current website ? Please tell me what you found, I was not able to see any errors! Will really appreciate the feedback.

Regards,
Vitalwares
https://www.vitalwares.com

You site has an encoding error that prevents the w3 validator even getting to work on it. See here. This means that it may appear fine in your browser, but not work in browsers with different default encodings.

My local validator suggests a further 74 validation errors, which you will be able to see once you've sorted out your encoding issues.

vitalwares:

Hi,

I am confused, I was using a website builder software and trying to integrate it to zencart then I discovered that if I create my categories in the other software (soholaunch) and have zencart as my shopping cart I cannot go back to my categories created in soholaunch.

OK so that is the background that got me started exploring zencart in detail.

Now I have a very basic question? Is zencart a shopping cart or a full fledged ecommerce website building software?

I mean is there any reason not to build my whole website using zencart? What will I not be able to do with this approach?

Someone please enlighten...

Regards,
VitalWares
https://www.vitalwares.com

Hi I just wanted to reple my own post for the benefit of the readers, yes zencart can be (and should be ) used as a full fledged website builder, I hav managed to do everything i set out to and a lot more with this wonderful application. ZENCART ROCKS!!!

Please feel free to checout my new website made a 100% with zencart!

Great site!
Really simple and superb!

Would have bought something if I had the money :smile:

Thank you for your kind words..

I just wanted to also mention that I would not have been possible without all the help I get from this community and its helpful members.

Thank you everybody (glen, kuroi, a_brezin, sage fish, zencart team and many others I dont even know the names of)

Hi Vitalwares

Just to let you know that your links are broken in your signature.

Araunah:

Hi Vitalwares

Just to let you know that your links are broken in your signature.

Thank you so much!

Thank you so much!

No problem. You are welcome.

Your site looks amazing. I currently have my site set up using soholaunch, but am looking at zencart, I love how clean the look of your shopping site is. Did you use one of their templates?