Zen Cart : e-commerce application development : a step-by-step developer's guide

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. 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

In Detail

Zen Cart is a popular open-source PHP/MySQL-based e-commerce solution available under GPL that is designed to put the merchants' and shoppers' requirements first. Not only does Zen Cart offer a very long list of features, but the system is designed with both store owners and web developers in mind. There's no sacrifice of usability or power.

This easy-to-follow book will teach you how to install, configure, and customize a Zen Cart shop and 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 the Zen Cart shop by localizing and customizing templates. With this excellent tutorial, you will be able to extend and tweak the Zen Cart store.

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.

Approach

This is a highly practical book that can act as a reference material to which you will want to return again and again. The discussion in the book is right up-to-the point and it is filled with ample practical examples.

Who this book is for

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.

In Detail Zen Cart is a popular open-source PHP/MySQL-based e-commerce solution available under GPL that is designed to put the merchants' and shoppers' requirements first. Not only does Zen Cart offer a very long list of features, but the system is designed with both store owners and web developers in mind. There's no sacrifice of usability or power. This easy-to-follow book will teach you how to install, configure, and customize a Zen Cart shop and 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 the Zen Cart shop by localizing and customizing templates. With this excellent tutorial, you will be able to extend and tweak the Zen Cart store. 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.Approach This is a highly practical book that can act as a reference material to which you will want to return again and again. The discussion in the book is right up-to-the point and it is filled with ample practical examples.Who this book is for 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 'This is a practical hands-on book with clear instructions and lot of code examples. It takes a simple approach, guiding you through different architectural topics using realistic sample projects. A single project is implemented using different architectural styles to make the reader understand the details of each style. There are also many small independent code samples to explain design patterns, WCF, and localization. This book is for people familiar with the ASP.NET framework using either C# or VB.NET. You don't need to be an ASP.NET guru – the book is ideal for novice and intermediate developers. If reading about application architecture usually confuses you or sends you to sleep, then this book will be perfect for you! In short, any ASP.NET programmer who is confused or disoriented reading different books or materials on architectures wondering how and what to implement in their application, will definitely benefit from this book!'