# zen cart



## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

*Re: What Cart can do this?*

do you have to use zen carts pre made templates cause i have a page made and i want something that can do what zen cart can do but i want to just integrate the cart into my page


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## R1Lover (Jun 7, 2008)

*Re: What Cart can do this?*



campfire said:


> ZEN CART does that and it's free.


I agree Zen-Cart is actually one of the better carts out there and it is free!


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## R1Lover (Jun 7, 2008)

*Re: What Cart can do this?*



xbrandon408x said:


> do you have to use zen carts pre made templates cause i have a page made and i want something that can do what zen cart can do but i want to just integrate the cart into my page


You will have to use Zen Cart and create a custom page or customize your template to suit your needs.


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

*Re: What Cart can do this?*

really thats the thing i spent a long time making my website i need a cart that can be integrated into my website
but the only problem is the only cart i know that can do that is the free one i have now which is very very very basic


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## R1Lover (Jun 7, 2008)

*Re: What Cart can do this?*

Any good cart system is going to be a stand alone system. You can though create custom pages in zen cart. How many pages do you have designed? 

If there just static pages then you can work this into zen, if your wanting to just use buy now type buttons then your out of luck. It has to be tied into the database in order for it to work.. the only way to do that is to use the it's own system.


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

*Re: What Cart can do this?*

well you can look at my page now
its just i don't know how i would be able to get it to look like that in any other page
cause its pretty unique
how to websites like urbanoutfitters get their cart cause it doesn't look like a template.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

*Re: What Cart can do this?*



xbrandon408x said:


> well you can look at my page now
> its just i don't know how i would be able to get it to look like that in any other page
> cause its pretty unique
> how to websites like urbanoutfitters get their cart cause it doesn't look like a template.


It's just a matter of design.

You don't have to use any shopping cart's templates. You just customize the shopping cart to look exactly the way you want. 

For example, neighborhoodies.com uses oscommerce for their shopping cart, but it doesn't look at all like the default oscommerce type templates.

Everything is customizable.

I think cubecart is the easiest to customize because it fully separates the HTML code design stuff from the programming stuff.


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

*Re: What Cart can do this?*

ok awesome thats what i want i think ill use cubcart because it looks like its easier to customize if it separates the html from the programming cause i know html not so much programming


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

is setting up a cart suppose to be this complicated should i just go with cube-cart cause i wan't to be able to fully customize my cart and website and zen cart is really really hard to set up


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## the funk (Aug 8, 2007)

what do you mean by setup?


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

xbrandon408x said:


> is setting up a cart suppose to be this complicated should i just go with cube-cart cause i wan't to be able to fully customize my cart and website and zen cart is really really hard to set up


Many webhosts have 1 click installs of the popular free shopping carts (zencart, cubecart, oscommerce). I think lunarpages does.

That will make the initial installation easier. 

Just remember that it may not all be "point and click". There may be some detailed instructions to follow for any shopping cart that you have to install yourself.

But when you take the time to install it and learn the process, you are saving yourself $1000's of dollars in monthly expenses or developer fees. The more you learn to do yourself, the less you have to pay others to do.

Any time you have a problem with a step in the process of setting up a cart, that's when you stop, find a forum (either the shopping cart vendors forum or this one), and ask about that specific step. that way someone can help you through it.


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## PressForProfit (Jun 11, 2008)

xbrandon408x said:


> is setting up a cart suppose to be this complicated should i just go with cube-cart cause i wan't to be able to fully customize my cart and website and zen cart is really really hard to set up


I have used  SiteGround.com. Their inexpensive webhosting includes zencart and oscommerce. If you send them a support request they will install it for you.

Don't feel bad, I also had a hard time getting it installed on my own, even with the automated installation scripts. In the end, I had them do it. After that, it was easy to get it running.


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## Chani (Jun 18, 2007)

Zen-Cart, even after it's installed, is very complex and difficult to set up for people unfamiliar with it, and it's very difficult to customize fully without having some PHP experience.

That said, it's a VERY powerful shopping cart, and I've used it for the last couple of years.

CubeCart is easier to set up and customize, and I'm sure I'll get a ton of flack for this, but it's just not as powerful as Zen-Cart is, at least not for my needs. But for most it's just fine. 

Also, most mods for Zen-Cart are free. Most mods for CubeCart are pay mods.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> CubeCart is easier to set up and customize, and I'm sure I'll get a ton of flack for this, but it's just not as powerful as Zen-Cart is, at least not for my needs. But for most it's just fine


No flack at all, but I definitely disagree  I think cubecart has all the features that most t-shirt stores need. 

I actually would recommend going with the paid cubecart version 4 over the free version 3 since version 4 is well worth the $130 for all the features it has included and its ease of customization.

I do agree that many of the cubecart add-ons are paid, but I don't mind paying since there is support behind it that comes in handy sometimes when you don't have time to mess around with stuff.


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

can you upgrade to the paid version of cubecart later on also yea i might try cubecart to later on right now im testing out zen-cart but if i don't get it soon ill try out cube also im trying this other cart that seems pretty good E-Junkie


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

oh yea in cubecart what is the copyright removal key do


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## R1Lover (Jun 7, 2008)

Zen Cart kicks butt... it's one of the best, if you need some help let me know.


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

okay doke i will thanks


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

i have a question when i go to install zen cart i get this problem

"CURL requires SSL support. Please notify webmaster or hosting company. 28 => connect() timed out!"

what is that it tells me that i need that if i want to use live transactions for paypal or something like that


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## R1Lover (Jun 7, 2008)

Yes curl will need to be installed with curl support. How are you installing this? Is it a one click install through cpanel fantasitico or did you download the files yourself and create a database?

Where is your hosting? Maybe a pm would be better for these details...


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

yea  how do you modify the store the way i want it to look once i download it


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## R1Lover (Jun 7, 2008)

There are a few ways to do this, you can find a free template out on the web that you like or like enough... then you replace your logo's with yours. From there you can customize the colors/images through the css files. If you are familiar with editing css then it's easy, if not then you will need to learn a little about web design or just stick with a ready made template.


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

yea i know css and html pretty well how would i do that so i can use my own template


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## R1Lover (Jun 7, 2008)

xbrandon408x said:


> yea i know css and html pretty well how would i do that so i can use my own template


You would first create a backup copy of the default template and then start modifying the existing one. If you have dreamweaver or another similar editing tool, open up the css file in there and it's a little easier to see what you are doing for colors. Change a few things and take a look, change it again until you like what you see. Everything is editable and you have unlimited options. I do sugges though if you don't like the latout of the default template that you find one you do like rather then editing php code to move things around.


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

ok thanks a lot for all the help you helped a lot with this


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## R1Lover (Jun 7, 2008)

Your very welcome  glad to help


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## whale343 (Dec 15, 2007)

*Re: What Cart can do this?*



xbrandon408x said:


> really thats the thing i spent a long time making my website i need a cart that can be integrated into my website
> but the only problem is the only cart i know that can do that is the free one i have now which is very very very basic


 
Definitely check out FoxyCart and Avactis. Foxy integrates for sure.


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## xbrandon408x (Jan 24, 2008)

*Re: What Cart can do this?*

yea for sure ill check those out im gonna keep trying cubecart and if i can't get it to work then ill try those other carts


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