This is a perfect book for someone who has some experience with a PHP-based CMS, like WordPress, and wants to build an ecommerce site quickly. The author does a great job showing how to install Zen Cart, connect to a payment gateway, like PayPal, and modify the template.
It does as advertised. It will show a novice/beginner web developer how to quickly set up a basic store.
However, as other reviews have pointed out, this book doesn't really get into customizing Zen Cart and advanced topics like how to optimize Zen Cart for SEO. The problem is most Zen Cart books out today are not much help for experienced Zen Cart develoopers.
Still, this book gets five stars because it does a great job explaining how to configure Zen Cart. It doesn't claim to be a book for advanced users. I have looked at other Zen Cart books and this is the only one that I would recommend to others.
If you want to learn Zen Cart basics, this is a great start.
Author(s): Suhreed Sarkar
Publisher: Packt Publishing
Year: 2008
Language: English
Pages: 322
Preface......Page 0
Table of Contents......Page 7
What is Zen Cart?......Page 20
The Main Features of Zen Cart......Page 21
Customer Management......Page 22
Categories and Products......Page 23
Promotions, Sales, and Discounts......Page 24
Fully Customizable Catalog Templates......Page 25
Third-Party Modules......Page 26
Zen Cart versus osCommerce......Page 27
Security......Page 28
Categories and Products Management......Page 29
User and Developer Community......Page 30
Zen Cart and Other CMS/Shopping Carts......Page 31
AgoraCart......Page 32
Summary......Page 33
Prerequisites......Page 34
Web Server......Page 35
Database......Page 36
Through Fantastico......Page 37
By Uploading Files......Page 41
Preparation for Upgrading......Page 53
Testing and Upgrading......Page 54
Basic Configuration of the Store......Page 55
Using FTP Programs......Page 56
Using cPanel......Page 57
On a Windows Server......Page 58
Changing Configuration File......Page 59
Using the Administration Panel......Page 62
Summary......Page 63
Shop Configuration......Page 64
Store Name and Address......Page 65
Customer Information......Page 66
Product Listing......Page 67
Email Options......Page 68
Logging......Page 69
Images......Page 70
Shipping/Packaging......Page 71
Attribute Settings......Page 72
Zones, Currencies, and Taxes......Page 73
Product Types......Page 74
Manufacturers......Page 75
Managing Categories......Page 76
Managing Products......Page 78
Option Name Manager......Page 79
Option Value Manager......Page 81
Attributes Controller......Page 82
Attribute Images......Page 83
Copying Attributes to Other Products or Categories......Page 84
Downloads Manager......Page 85
Bulk Import/Export of Products......Page 86
Modules......Page 87
Authorize.net......Page 88
Cash on Delivery......Page 90
LinkPoint/YourPay API......Page 91
PayPal......Page 92
Other Payment Modules......Page 96
Free shipping......Page 103
Per Item and Per Unit......Page 104
United Parcel Service......Page 105
United States Postal Service......Page 106
Order Total Modules......Page 107
Registration/Authentication of Customers......Page 109
Communicating with Customers......Page 110
Managing Inventory......Page 111
Order Status......Page 112
Summary......Page 113
Configuring Look and Feel......Page 114
Applying a Template......Page 116
Layout Settings......Page 117
Showing/Hiding Sideboxes......Page 119
Understanding Zen Cart Templates......Page 122
Template Files Structure......Page 123
CSS in Zen Cart Template......Page 124
Understanding Overrides......Page 126
Overriding Language Files......Page 127
Overriding Module Files......Page 128
Using Extra Data Files......Page 129
Customizing Zen Cart Templates......Page 130
Changing Default Texts......Page 132
Changing the Header Image......Page 134
Adding a New Logo......Page 135
Changing Colors and Fonts......Page 136
Changing Buttons and Icons......Page 140
Changing Layout of a Template......Page 142
Modifying a Page Template......Page 143
Using EZ pages......Page 144
Creating A File System......Page 146
Sideboxes......Page 148
Creating and Modifying Email Templates......Page 150
HTML Email Templates......Page 151
HTML with variables......Page 152
Summary......Page 154
The Need for Localization......Page 156
Countries......Page 157
Adding a New Country......Page 158
Deleting a Country......Page 159
Zones......Page 160
Zone Definitions......Page 161
Assigning Tax Classes......Page 163
Creating a Tax Rate......Page 165
Adding a New Currency......Page 166
Currency Conversion......Page 167
Editing a Currency......Page 168
Hiding the Currencies box......Page 169
Creating a New Language......Page 170
Deleting a Language......Page 172
Translating Language Files......Page 173
Order Status......Page 174
Adding a New Order Status......Page 175
Editing an Existing Status......Page 176
Summary......Page 177
Promotions......Page 178
Types of Banners......Page 179
Displaying Banner Groups......Page 180
Designing Banners......Page 181
Adding/Editing a Banner......Page 182
Promotional Discounts......Page 184
Cross-Selling and Up-Selling......Page 185
Cross-Selling......Page 186
Up-Selling......Page 189
Better-together......Page 191
SaleMaker......Page 195
Special, Featured, and New Products......Page 196
Special Products......Page 198
Featured Products......Page 199
Gift Certificates & Discount Coupons......Page 200
Sending a Gift Certificate......Page 201
Creating Gift Certificate Products......Page 202
Selling and Using Gift Certificates......Page 204
Coupon Administration......Page 205
Product Notification Subscription......Page 208
Creating Newsletters/Product Notifications......Page 209
Sending Newsletters......Page 210
Product Reviews......Page 211
Meta-tags for Categories......Page 213
Using Search Engine Friendly URLs......Page 214
Summary......Page 217
The Need for Migrating to Zen Cart......Page 218
Points to Consider Before Migration......Page 219
Product Catalogue......Page 220
Uninterrupted Service......Page 221
osCommerce versus Zen Cart Database Structure......Page 222
Tables for Categories......Page 223
Tables for Products and Attributes......Page 224
Step 2: Export osCommerce Data......Page 225
Step 3: Import osCommerce Data to Zen Cart......Page 226
Migrating to a Zen Cart Shop that does Not have Products......Page 227
Migrating to a Zen Cart Shop that has Products......Page 229
Adjusting the Look and Feel......Page 232
Converting osCommerce Modules......Page 234
Summary......Page 236
Why should you Integrate Zen Cart with CMS?......Page 238
Increase the Scope of Your Shop......Page 239
How to Integrate with CMS?......Page 240
Joomla!/Mambo......Page 241
Drupal......Page 242
Gallery 2......Page 248
WordPress and Zen Cart Installed in Separate Directories......Page 252
XOOPS......Page 256
e107......Page 257
phpBB......Page 261
Summary......Page 262
Website Maintenance Settings......Page 264
Taking the Shop Down for Maintenance......Page 265
Excluding the Admin from being Blocked......Page 266
Showing Downtime......Page 267
Backing Up Database......Page 268
Backing up Files......Page 271
Restoring Database and Files......Page 273
Use SSL whenever Possible......Page 277
Delete/Rename Sensitive Folders......Page 278
Set Appropriate Permissions to Files and Directories......Page 279
Securing Access to the Administration Panel......Page 280
Register Globals Setting......Page 282
Session Referer Setting......Page 283
PHP Related Problems......Page 284
Session Handling in Admin Area......Page 289
Security Error during Login as Customer......Page 290
Forgotten Admin Password......Page 292
Template Related Problems......Page 293
Image Distortion......Page 294
Emails are not Arriving......Page 295
Email Transport Methods......Page 296
Bounce Handling......Page 297
Database Related Errors......Page 298
Summary......Page 299
Setting WAMP server......Page 300
Zen Cart Directory Structure......Page 303
Zen Cart Community......Page 305
Zen Cart Support......Page 306
Zen Cart Downloads......Page 307
Some Essential Downloads......Page 308
Drupal......Page 310
e107 Plugins for Zen Cart Integration......Page 311
Consulting......Page 312
Index......Page 314
