This book will teach you how to install, configure, and customize your e-commerce shop using popular open-source Zen Cart and how to use its promotion and public-relations tools to attract customers to the shop. It will also teach you to customize the look and feel of your Zen Cart shop by localizing and customizing templates. This book is primarily for professional developers interested in building, enhancing, or extending Zen Cart sites for customers. It is also a useful reference for those who have got Zen Cart running on their own store, and want to improve it. It will also benefit those who want to migrate from osCommerce or other engines to Zen Cart.
Author(s): Suhreed Sarkar
Year: 2008
Language: English
Pages: 324
Preface......Page 0
Table of Contents......Page 8
What is Zen Cart?......Page 21
The Main Features of Zen Cart......Page 22
Customer Management......Page 23
Categories and Products......Page 24
Promotions, Sales, and Discounts......Page 25
Fully Customizable Catalog Templates......Page 26
Third-Party Modules......Page 27
Zen Cart versus osCommerce......Page 28
Security......Page 29
Categories and Products Management......Page 30
User and Developer Community......Page 31
Zen Cart and Other CMS/Shopping Carts......Page 32
AgoraCart......Page 33
Summary......Page 34
Prerequisites......Page 35
Web Server......Page 36
Database......Page 37
Through Fantastico......Page 38
By Uploading Files......Page 42
Preparation for Upgrading......Page 54
Testing and Upgrading......Page 55
Basic Configuration of the Store......Page 56
Using FTP Programs......Page 57
Using cPanel......Page 58
On a Windows Server......Page 59
Changing Configuration File......Page 60
Using the Administration Panel......Page 63
Summary......Page 64
Shop Configuration......Page 65
Store Name and Address......Page 66
Customer Information......Page 67
Product Listing......Page 68
Email Options......Page 69
Logging......Page 70
Images......Page 71
Shipping/Packaging......Page 72
Attribute Settings......Page 73
Zones, Currencies, and Taxes......Page 74
Product Types......Page 75
Manufacturers......Page 76
Managing Categories......Page 77
Managing Products......Page 79
Option Name Manager......Page 80
Option Value Manager......Page 82
Attributes Controller......Page 83
Attribute Images......Page 84
Copying Attributes to Other Products or Categories......Page 85
Downloads Manager......Page 86
Bulk Import/Export of Products......Page 87
Modules......Page 88
Authorize.net......Page 89
Cash on Delivery......Page 91
LinkPoint/YourPay API......Page 92
PayPal......Page 93
Other Payment Modules......Page 97
Free shipping......Page 104
Per Item and Per Unit......Page 105
United Parcel Service......Page 106
United States Postal Service......Page 107
Order Total Modules......Page 108
Registration/Authentication of Customers......Page 110
Communicating with Customers......Page 111
Managing Inventory......Page 112
Order Status......Page 113
Summary......Page 114
Configuring Look and Feel......Page 115
Applying a Template......Page 117
Layout Settings......Page 118
Showing/Hiding Sideboxes......Page 120
Understanding Zen Cart Templates......Page 123
Template Files Structure......Page 124
CSS in Zen Cart Template......Page 125
Understanding Overrides......Page 127
Overriding Language Files......Page 128
Overriding Module Files......Page 129
Using Extra Data Files......Page 130
Customizing Zen Cart Templates......Page 131
Changing Default Texts......Page 133
Changing the Header Image......Page 135
Adding a New Logo......Page 136
Changing Colors and Fonts......Page 137
Changing Buttons and Icons......Page 141
Changing Layout of a Template......Page 143
Modifying a Page Template......Page 144
Using EZ pages......Page 145
Creating A File System......Page 147
Sideboxes......Page 149
Creating and Modifying Email Templates......Page 151
HTML Email Templates......Page 152
HTML with variables......Page 153
Summary......Page 155
The Need for Localization......Page 157
Countries......Page 158
Adding a New Country......Page 159
Deleting a Country......Page 160
Zones......Page 161
Zone Definitions......Page 162
Assigning Tax Classes......Page 164
Creating a Tax Rate......Page 166
Adding a New Currency......Page 167
Currency Conversion......Page 168
Editing a Currency......Page 169
Hiding the Currencies box......Page 170
Creating a New Language......Page 171
Deleting a Language......Page 173
Translating Language Files......Page 174
Order Status......Page 175
Adding a New Order Status......Page 176
Editing an Existing Status......Page 177
Summary......Page 178
Promotions......Page 179
Types of Banners......Page 180
Displaying Banner Groups......Page 181
Designing Banners......Page 182
Adding/Editing a Banner......Page 183
Promotional Discounts......Page 185
Cross-Selling and Up-Selling......Page 186
Cross-Selling......Page 187
Up-Selling......Page 190
Better-together......Page 192
SaleMaker......Page 196
Special, Featured, and New Products......Page 197
Special Products......Page 199
Featured Products......Page 200
Gift Certificates & Discount Coupons......Page 201
Sending a Gift Certificate......Page 202
Creating Gift Certificate Products......Page 203
Selling and Using Gift Certificates......Page 205
Coupon Administration......Page 206
Product Notification Subscription......Page 209
Creating Newsletters/Product Notifications......Page 210
Sending Newsletters......Page 211
Product Reviews......Page 212
Meta-tags for Categories......Page 214
Using Search Engine Friendly URLs......Page 215
Summary......Page 218
The Need for Migrating to Zen Cart......Page 219
Points to Consider Before Migration......Page 220
Product Catalogue......Page 221
Uninterrupted Service......Page 222
osCommerce versus Zen Cart Database Structure......Page 223
Tables for Categories......Page 224
Tables for Products and Attributes......Page 225
Step 2: Export osCommerce Data......Page 226
Step 3: Import osCommerce Data to Zen Cart......Page 227
Migrating to a Zen Cart Shop that does Not have Products......Page 228
Migrating to a Zen Cart Shop that has Products......Page 230
Adjusting the Look and Feel......Page 233
Converting osCommerce Modules......Page 235
Summary......Page 237
Why should you Integrate Zen Cart with CMS?......Page 239
Increase the Scope of Your Shop......Page 240
How to Integrate with CMS?......Page 241
Joomla!/Mambo......Page 242
Drupal......Page 243
Gallery 2......Page 249
WordPress and Zen Cart Installed in Separate Directories......Page 253
XOOPS......Page 257
e107......Page 258
phpBB......Page 262
Summary......Page 263
Website Maintenance Settings......Page 265
Taking the Shop Down for Maintenance......Page 266
Excluding the Admin from being Blocked......Page 267
Showing Downtime......Page 268
Backing Up Database......Page 269
Backing up Files......Page 272
Restoring Database and Files......Page 274
Use SSL whenever Possible......Page 278
Delete/Rename Sensitive Folders......Page 279
Set Appropriate Permissions to Files and Directories......Page 280
Securing Access to the Administration Panel......Page 281
Register Globals Setting......Page 283
Session Referer Setting......Page 284
PHP Related Problems......Page 285
Session Handling in Admin Area......Page 290
Security Error during Login as Customer......Page 291
Forgotten Admin Password......Page 293
Template Related Problems......Page 294
Image Distortion......Page 295
Emails are not Arriving......Page 296
Email Transport Methods......Page 297
Bounce Handling......Page 298
Database Related Errors......Page 299
Summary......Page 300
Setting WAMP server......Page 301
Zen Cart Directory Structure......Page 304
Zen Cart Community......Page 306
Zen Cart Support......Page 307
Zen Cart Downloads......Page 308
Some Essential Downloads......Page 309
Drupal......Page 311
e107 Plugins for Zen Cart Integration......Page 312
Consulting......Page 313
Index......Page 315
