to use an addtioanl CMS or not

this is continued form a rabbit trail on http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42105&page=15 but I am trying to keep that thread pure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ogie56 View Post
yes,made new html page and now working on stylesheet, but I can't seem to locate where to change the header wrapper to bring it down from the top ,my end up going back to joomla because i already have that designed but I didn't use It because of virumart sucks
Two things..

1. I don't think you need Joomla for your particular site.. You really can do EVERYTHING you are trying to do in ZenCart. You can use the defined pages and EZ pages to create all of the "non shopping" content.
2. Go back and look at the link I posted (it's on page 14). IF you decide to go with Joomla (a step I don't think you need to do), you don't HAVE to use VirtueMart. The link I posted is a Joomla main site with a ZenCart for shopping.. I used THIS template contrib to tie both together esthetically.

Now that said, (and please do not take this the wrong way) I gather that you are not very experienced with HTML and such (hence the need for the WYSIWYG tool) this is not a slam.. just an observation.. If you are at the level skill wise that I think you are at, combining Joomla with ZenCart is a LOT of work, and you are gonna have to have some GOOD understanding/experience with CSS to make it LOOK & feel seemless.. That said I had a few tricky areas on my site where I that I had to turn to greater CSS experts for help..

IMO you should REALLY give a looksee at doing your entire site in ZenCart.. I've seen NOTHING in your current site that gives me the sense that this is not a viable solution..
My thoughts ogie are that you dont need to use any additional CMS's on top of your zen cart ezpages will allow you you keep its all running the same. stuff w/o having the trouble of having to learn one more programs interface.

It really depends on the situation: the design, the content needed to be changed, how often? etc...

Those aspects combined with the user's skill level...
It may be easier for one person to change ZC ez-pages frequently than to design and maintain a Joomla site linked with a ZC site.
For the experienced developer, the converse may be true.

Two brilliant people have responded to a thread w/o having read the previous one on the other thread. maybe branching the thread was not a very good idea? OR maybe their responses were intentionality vague, so that this thread can heap others
this is a specific case. the conversation started on
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42105&page=14 and http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42105&page=15 but was a rabbit trail so I made this one, as it was a valuable but off topic conversation.

Yellow1912's and my comments were general in nature, not intended to address the OP's specific situation. It would be good to get ogie's and Diva's further thoughts on this.

My take is that that site could not only be completely done in Zen Cart, it could look sharper and more professional that way, using the built-in navigation and structural functions (edited for template style).

gjh42:

Yellow1912's and my comments were general in nature, not intended to address the OP's specific situation. It would be good to get ogie's and Diva's further thoughts on this.

** My take is that that site could not only be completely done in Zen Cart, it could look sharper and more professional that way, using the built-in navigation and structural functions** (edited for template style).

I'll post here what I stated in the other thread:
I actually wasn't suggesting that he (ogie) use another CMS for his site at all. If you re-read my posts, you'll see that what I WAS suggesting is that he use ZenCart for his ENTIRE site.. I also suggested that IF he used Joomla for his main site, that this template contrib was a great way to tie the two programs together esthetically.. (It's what I did with the site link I posted earlier in that thread -- if you recall, ogie --and you-- both asked for examples of this contrib in action.. I posted a site which happens to be a Joomla site using this template to tie the two together (Joomla & ZenCart)..) While my suggestion for ogie to use ZenCart to do his entire site is probably off topic for that thread, with all due respect, I do think that the rest of my suggestions are still on topic. Even if my comments do mention Joomla, I was simply offering ideas on how THIS template could be used if he went that route.. It was after all the SAME dilemma I was trying to resolve when I decided to use this contrib to solve the SAME problem.. (I was building a Joomla site and needed a way to use ZenCart with it instead of Virtuemart)

Now let me add a few additional thoughts.. What Glenn says is really the suggestion I was trying to make to ogie.. If you look through the other thread I suggested it a few times.. I think he needs to do his ENTIRE site in ZenCart.. IMO, part of the difficulty he is having with the embed template is that his WYSIWYG tool is interfering with his ability to create the proper imbed file needed to make the imbedded template work properly.. Clearly his skill in creating this file without the use of a WYSIWYG tool may be a handicap. That is why I suggested that he use ZenCart and create the ENTIRE site in ZenCart.. I WHOLEHEARTEDLY agree with what Glenn has said here, and at the end of the day it was what I was REALLY trying to get across to ogie..

However since ogie had mentioned Joolma, and his desire to NOT use VirtueMart for his e-commerce solution, I wanted him to see that I chose to use the embedded template solution as a way to tie these two programs together in a seemless fashion.. IMO, this is probably not a solution for an HTML newbie, and I ALSO mentioned this in my post.. Perhaps I should have used those specific words, but I was trying to be a little less blunt.. My comments were meant to share with others that this is but ONE of MANY ways that the embedded template could be used.. No disrespect meant here, but I fail to see how sharing my suggested use was off topic..

Yes, Diva, I was adding my voice in agreement with your assessment of ogie's case. We're on the same page...

gjh42:

Yes, Diva, I was adding my voice in agreement with your assessment of ogie's case. We're on the same page...
So are all the experienced zenners in agreement. that should be enough truthyness for one person.

gjh42:

Yes, Diva, I was adding my voice in agreement with your assessment of ogie's case. We're on the same page...Got it Glen..:wink: I knew that.. If my ZenCart hero agrees with me, I am honored! :smile:

Just so it's clear to anyone else reading this post, the comments in red posted above were posted in response to Josh's post here: http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpost.php?p=539626&postcount=149

Well, I guess I started something here. but as I said I'm no coder or zen expert but have had zencart It for over a year. however I'm disabled and was having surgery and having one more soon, but I had a good shop going but sales were not great. so with everything I just let it ride over the winter and . just getting to where I can be on computer for a while so. when I saw that template - mod. I thought Iwould give it a try. and yes I don't know html but learning. and I have a great joomla site up and running with my own template on a different site. so that's why i was whating to see a sample on this and Diva did so that's all If iwas to use joomla Iwould use zencart with it. butalso worried about security with Joomla. I Have looked at Drupal and would work , and all the other CMS's . so right now I'm doing a complete zencart site. also what I have on my site right now is only a little bit of what will be on the site. It will have a fuull gallery ,shop,video training and reading,so many more pages than now so. Yes I Again thank Everybody for your help!

ogie56:

Well, I guess I started something here. but as I said I'm no coder or zen expert but have had zencart It for over a year. however I'm disabled and was having surgery and having one more soon, but I had a good shop going but sales were not great. so with everything I just let it ride over the winter and . just getting to where I can be on computer for a while so. when I saw that template - mod. I thought Iwould give it a try. and yes I don't know html but learning. and I have a great joomla site up and running with my own template on a different site. so that's why i was whating to see a sample on this and Diva did so that's all If iwas to use joomla Iwould use zencart with it. butalso worried about security with Joomla. I Have looked at Drupal and would work , and all the other CMS's . so right now I'm doing a complete zencart site. also what I have on my site right now is only a little bit of what will be on the site. It will have a fuull gallery ,shop,video training and reading,so many more pages than now so. Yes I Again thank Everybody for your help!Just a healthy conversation my friend thats all!:smile: I hope you are able to work it all out and make your site fabulous..:smile: