OSC > Zen

No doubt this has been asked many a time but I couldn't find anything quick enough ...

I have been developing stores with OSCommerce for quite some time but lately have been drawn towards zen.

I have installed and played around with the back-end but before I commit I would like to ask a few questions, if I may.

Adding contributions
Believe it or not I couldn't find any info on actually adding contributions!
I understand that, most times, instructions come in the package 9or at least they should>) but I have downloaded a few that just contain the new file with no instructions etc. So my question is, where are the instructions?

Payment
How easy (bear in mind my usage of OSC) is it to implement payment through HSBC and Paypal (UK)?

Customisation
Depending on your knowledge of CSS, I am thinking zen is fairly straighforward to adapt/ customise as much as you desire. Is this correct?

OSC conversion
Bringing in a database from OSC to Zen either through phpmyadmin or Easy populate. Easy/ hard?

Thanks.

How easy (bear in mind my usage of OSC) is it to implement payment through HSBC and Paypal (UK)?

I have not used the HSBC module from the contribs section so I can not vouch for it, but PayPal is fully integrated with Zen Cart and a simple turn it on and configure it from the admin.

Depending on your knowledge of CSS, I am thinking zen is fairly straighforward to adapt/ customise as much as you desire. Is this correct?

Zen Cart uses a template override system and if you have a good knowledge of CSS you can do most customization with the stylesheets - there are may posts on the forum and a good section in the tutorials/FAQ on getting started.

Bringing in a database from OSC to Zen either through phpmyadmin or Easy populate. Easy/ hard?

Our database is structured differently, but you can map the fields from one to the other. Again there are articles in the tutorials/FAQ.

Thanks for the quick response Ken.

Can you point me to the best (easiest/ most comprehensive) osc - zen contribute, (there are a few and I want to make sure I get the right one.
All I want to do is import the excel spreadsheet (CVS via easy populate?) rather than try to overwrite the database through phpadmin.

Lastly, I have supplied a few contribs to osc and would look to doing the same for zen. Is there a process to contribute or is it just a case of ulpoad what you want?

Once again, thanks.

Welcome aboard! (And I'm sure Kim welcomes you too - not sure about Ken though :)

To add a contribution, go to Downloads (link at top of page) and click the button. You will need to have a login account for Downloads first. Don't be alarmed if you get an "upload failed" message - that is an intermittent glitch in the system that hasn't been fixed yet.
Submissions are reviewed by the admins before being activated - can take a day or so.

There are many well-documented mods; as I expect is familiar to you, the quality varies. You might check the wiki for more info. http://www.zen-cart.com/wiki/index.php/3rd_party_contributions

ken is a zen kim?

Anyway ... thanks, I'll just dive in and see what happens!