Page customization - side boxes, new pages, links and locations

I know that this post may upset a couple people because I'm asking for a lot but I have to give it a shot.

I'm reading the forum left right and center trying to

1. find out how to edit my side boxes,
   1.2) change their names and the information inside of them,
   1.3 add buttons and images in my newly created side boxes

2. Create new pages
   2.1) Add any DHTML or PHP in those new pages
   2.2) allow or disallow certain side boxes from showing up on different pages

And a couple other little things. I'll say this next, I've learned how to add a new page and add the link to my new page in the "Important Links" side box but, any futher than that I seem to be required to edit the php files directly.

Is there a module or addition that I could add into my Admin Panel to help me customize my boxes and pages a bit easier?

Is there a list of directory paths and the files I should edit in order to get desired changes on my Zen Cart?

I figured if someone asks then maybe I could possibly get a good module or page where a lot of the information is knitted together, and maybe it would create a nice sticky on the forum :D

Hopefully if we find a decent page or a couple links to different posts, it will minimize the ammount of time Zen Cart users spend running around in the forums looking at single posts.

Chris

Just an addition to the post to nullify a few of my inquires....

I saw a reply to an earlier post of mine and DrByte sujested buying the Zen Cart book.. I remember noticing that this book contains 400 pages or somewhere around that.

I think that this book may be just the thing I need.

Chris

Hi Chris,

I've read your post, lots of info to take it, which is okay, i myself am new to Zen-Cart. From what I have found there are no mods for this... I've been customizing my entire shop by hand thus far. The mods I have found don't seem to help in such a "specific" way as you would like them too, rather they are more general in nature. So i've found that editing the files by hand helps with learning the CSS/PHP coding.

I am currently trying to figure out how to position the text in my Sidebox Heading, but am having little luck with it. Im sure it's there, just need some help, if anyone reads this forum and could help us or if you could help me Chris I would greatly appreciate it!

If you have a question, perhaps I may be able to help you if it's an issue I have already tackled.

-Swelter83

I have the book, and it is hugely helpful on many levels, but when I attempted to change the text in the side-boxes, I got lost. I'm very new to working with files on a server, etc. -- so everything seems more complicated to me (I know I'm capable of learning, but I'm on a little bit of overload right now).

There is a section in the book that identifies which directories to override to perform certain functions -- one of them is to "change the test that is displayed in your web-pages. i.e., the title of your side-boxes).

However, it then sends you to a "particular directory" ... I'm sure most folks know exactly what that means, but for me ... unless I go there and it says, "Particular directory", I'm at a loss.

I feel very appreciative that folks are willing to take time away from their lives and families to help "me", but if someone can actually lay out "how" you make these changes, I'd be grateful.

I've figured out how to disable the boxes I do not need, however ... there are two sponsor boxes which I can't get rid of. What I want to do is add content to these boxes, so that I can add more information to my site without pushing my product images too far down on the pages.

Those side boxes are great -- they look very sharp and would be useful to include all kinds of information .... does anyone know of a way to change these ... something that even a newbie like myself could do?

Respectfully,

Hey Pwood,
Thanks for the reply.

What seems to be your problem exactly?

It sounds to me like you are trying to change the images in your sidebox headers? Also, it seems to be that you are a bit confused about how to
setup your override directory? If this is the case let me know; send me a
private message or post on here and i'll be glad to to give you my ICQ# or AIM SN to help you in any way I can with setting up your files! :D

It was very confusing to me at first as well! :D

-Swelter 83

Just a quick side note to PWood...
i checked out the site you have linked in your signature.
if thats your site, thats a very nice job!

Did you do that? if you did then Im sure you can give me some pointers as well! LOL

swelter83:

Hi Chris,

I've read your post, lots of info to take it, which is okay, i myself am new to Zen-Cart. From what I have found there are no mods for this... I've been customizing my entire shop by hand thus far. The mods I have found don't seem to help in such a "specific" way as you would like them too, rather they are more general in nature. So i've found that editing the files by hand helps with learning the CASS/PHP coding.

I am currently trying to figure out how to position the text in my Side box Heading, but am having little luck with it. I'm sure it's there, just need some help, if anyone reads this forum and could help us or if you could help me Chris I would greatly appreciate it!

If you have a question, perhaps I may be able to help you if it's an issue I have already tackled.

-Swelter83

I'm not a coder, but have been customizing my site for a few months now. Was using OsCommerce and zen is actually easier once you get the hang of it. Almost everything in zen in terms of positioning things and so forth is done from the stylesheet and templates. I didn't know squat about either one, but through reading the forums, asking questions, and doing A LOT of trial and error I have found my way.

Moving text in your side boxes is done via the stylesheet.css file. Look for the following portion of your style sheet (This is the default one in zen):

/*sideboxes*/

Below that are the elements that control the positioning, colors, fonts, ect for the various side boxes. To move the text in the heading look for different style names with "Heading" in it example: ```
h3.leftBoxHeading, H.leftBoxHeading a,
h3.rightBoxHeading, h3.rightBoxHeading a {
font-size: 12px;
color: #006600;
}
#manufacturersHeading, #currenciesHeading, #musicgenresHeading, #recordcompaniesHeading, #searchHeading, #search-headerHeading {
font-size: 12px;
color: #006600;
}

.leftBoxHeading, .centerBoxHeading, .rightBoxHeading {
margin: 0em;

border-bottom: 1px solid #D5E3D7;
background-color: #D1D7DC;
background-image: url(../images/cellpic1.gif);
padding: 5px 2px;
}

All these control something with the side box headings.  I learned to change things by changing one of the elements and then seeing what it did on the site.  I then made a note of it for future reference.

Another good tool is TopStyle (Paid) or TopStyle Lite (Free) they are very helpful in modifying CSS.

If any of you need specific help then post here or send me a PM and I will try and help.  Try to get it yourself though as you will learn much faster and it will stick with you.

Good Luck

Good post Pinetree!
I know what you mean, i've done lots of trial and error stuff and it does start to come around after a little while. Im finding it easier day by day to work my way around in zen-cart.