Current Web Template vs. New Zen Cart Friendly Template

Hello Zenners!

Ok... after sitting and messing with the zen cart for a bit and I am debating on what to do to move forward.

First off, please excuse any mis description, wording, etc. I am a very new Goat to all of this stuff and I am trying to muddle my way through.

I really like the look of my current website. It has nice colors, its clean, however its template is not a css template. Right now this website is more of an online brochure and the customer contacts me for pricing, comes to the actual physical store, etc.

Now ideally I want my online store to have the same template/color scheme as what is on my current site but I just don't know where to start or even know if it is worth the attempt. So my question is..

1. Is there anyway to get my existing template into a Zen Cart Friendly template?

2. Do you think a better option is that I just buy a new css template that is Zen Cart ready instead of trying to keep the template I already have.

I would rather keep my template however, I would MUCH MORE rather not bang my goat head on my desk because modifying what I have is just going to be too much work.

Any input you could all provide would be Goatly appreciated (Bahhh bahh)

Thanks!

Michelle :-)

All the answers you were given in your earlier thread still apply.

You should be able to reproduce the look of your current site in Zen Cart.

I reviewed the thread again and I am still lost as to how I go about doing this. I went to the link with the free templates and there is nothing there I like that goes with the flow of my current template.

Is there step by step on using your existing layout as your zen cart layout I could view? I apolgize if my questions are trivial. I am trying to just have a uniform feel.

In order to duplicate your current look, you'd have to place at least 2 of the sideboxes in the center column, a feat beyond my abilities with Zencart, and I'd guess, yours.

I used to listen to a guy on the radio who always said, "Never fall in love with anything that can't love you back". Your current layout is nice, but nothing spectacular. Let it go, and come up with something fresh and exciting on your new Zencart site. Your customers might enjoy seeing something different, too.

Most importantly, form follows function, in more ways than one.

Install Zencart
Create your override folders and copy the 'classic' folder files into them.
Switch to your custom template in Admin - your site will still look exactly like 'classic'.
Enter your categories and products, including images.
Select and configure shipping and payment methods and test thoroughly.

Then, and only then, start to think about how your site will look. I think the biggest mistake newcomers to Zencart make is to obsess over the template before their cart is even working. Too often they get frustrated by the templating system and give up (or worse, spend $155 on a TM template, get frustrated trying to get that to work, then give up), when if they had a little Zencart experience doing the above, they'd be happy, successful Zenners today.

I agree, stevesh. The general look and feel of the current site could be duplicated in Zen Cart without a major effort. The learning curve will be steep, but the results will be worth it.

I can understand wanting the "new" site to match the current one as much as possible. You don't want to throw visitors off.

Ok. so I OFFICIALLY broke off my love affair with my template, now what?

I don't know if I agree or maybe I don't understand. I don't want to set up a fully functional cart, upload all my pics, prices and descriptions and then don't like what I see. I want to make sure that what I see is appealing to the eye and then build around that. I really really REALLY hate the classic look of the store right now and if I put all that work into it and hate the way it looks, doesnt that defeat the purpose?

I wish I had a clue as to where to start.. I am very frustrated. I found the orignal template which was a Photoshop PSD file I made to a "ready for web" html. I got the template from Boxedart.com, I have no ISSUE starting from scratch to make it ZEN Cart Friendly, just don't know how to do that. I put a link to my template below it below:

http://www.boxedart.com/phpshop/info.php/mp_/15954

Help Zenners...

Michelle :-)

I'm going to recommend you download Kuroi's Future Zen template and install it on your site (it's very simple). I believe that's the closest to the look of your current template. We can set about refining the look and turing things on/off as we go along.