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. Table of Contents......Page 3 What is Zen Cart?......Page 11 The Main Features of Zen Cart......Page 12 Customer Management......Page 13 Categories and Products......Page 14 Promotions, Sales, and Discounts......Page 15 Fully Customizable Catalog Templates......Page 16 Third-Party Modules......Page 17 Zen Cart versus osCommerce......Page 18 Security......Page 19 Categories and Products Management......Page 20 User and Developer Community......Page 21 Zen Cart and Other CMS/Shopping Carts......Page 22 AgoraCart......Page 23 Summary......Page 24 Prerequisites......Page 25 Web Server......Page 26 Database......Page 27 Through Fantastico......Page 28 By Uploading Files......Page 32 Preparation for Upgrading......Page 44 Testing and Upgrading......Page 45 Basic Configuration of the Store......Page 46 Using FTP Programs......Page 47 Using cPanel......Page 48 On a Windows Server......Page 49 Changing Configuration File......Page 50 Using the Administration Panel......Page 53 Summary......Page 54 Shop Configuration......Page 55 Store Name and Address......Page 56 Customer Information......Page 57 Product Listing......Page 58 Email Options......Page 59 Logging......Page 60 Images......Page 61 Shipping/Packaging......Page 62 Attribute Settings......Page 63 Zones, Currencies, and Taxes......Page 64 Product Types......Page 65 Manufacturers......Page 66 Managing Categories......Page 67 Managing Products......Page 69 Option Name Manager......Page 70 Option Value Manager......Page 72 Attributes Controller......Page 73 Attribute Images......Page 74 Copying Attributes to Other Products or Categories......Page 75 Downloads Manager......Page 76 Bulk Import/Export of Products......Page 77 Modules......Page 78 Authorize.net......Page 79 Cash on Delivery......Page 81 LinkPoint/YourPay API......Page 82 PayPal......Page 83 Other Payment Modules......Page 87 Free shipping......Page 94 Per Item and Per Unit......Page 95 United Parcel Service......Page 96 United States Postal Service......Page 97 Order Total Modules......Page 98 Registration/Authentication of Customers......Page 100 Communicating with Customers......Page 101 Managing Inventory......Page 102 Order Status......Page 103 Summary......Page 104 Configuring Look and Feel......Page 105 Applying a Template......Page 107 Layout Settings......Page 108 Showing/Hiding Sideboxes......Page 110 Understanding Zen Cart Templates......Page 113 Template Files Structure......Page 114 CSS in Zen Cart Template......Page 115 Understanding Overrides......Page 117 Overriding Language Files......Page 118 Overriding Module Files......Page 119 Using Extra Data Files......Page 120 Customizing Zen Cart Templates......Page 121 Changing Default Texts......Page 123 Changing the Header Image......Page 125 Adding a New Logo......Page 126 Changing Colors and Fonts......Page 127 Changing Buttons and Icons......Page 131 Changing Layout of a Template......Page 133 Modifying a Page Template......Page 134 Using EZ pages......Page 135 Creating A File System......Page 137 Sideboxes......Page 139 Creating and Modifying Email Templates......Page 141 HTML Email Templates......Page 142 HTML with variables......Page 143 Summary......Page 145 The Need for Localization......Page 146 Countries......Page 147 Adding a New Country......Page 148 Deleting a Country......Page 149 Zones......Page 150 Zone Definitions......Page 151 Assigning Tax Classes......Page 153 Creating a Tax Rate......Page 155 Adding a New Currency......Page 156 Currency Conversion......Page 157 Editing a Currency......Page 158 Hiding the Currencies box......Page 159 Creating a New Language......Page 160 Deleting a Language......Page 162 Translating Language Files......Page 163 Order Status......Page 164 Adding a New Order Status......Page 165 Editing an Existing Status......Page 166 Summary......Page 167 Promotions......Page 168 Types of Banners......Page 169 Displaying Banner Groups......Page 170 Designing Banners......Page 171 Adding/Editing a Banner......Page 172 Promotional Discounts......Page 174 Cross-Selling and Up-Selling......Page 175 Cross-Selling......Page 176 Up-Selling......Page 179 Better-together......Page 181 SaleMaker......Page 185 Special, Featured, and New Products......Page 186 Special Products......Page 188 Featured Products......Page 189 Gift Certificates & Discount Coupons......Page 190 Sending a Gift Certificate......Page 191 Creating Gift Certificate Products......Page 192 Selling and Using Gift Certificates......Page 194 Coupon Administration......Page 195 Product Notification Subscription......Page 198 Creating Newsletters/Product Notifications......Page 199 Sending Newsletters......Page 200 Product Reviews......Page 201 Meta-tags for Categories......Page 203 Using Search Engine Friendly URLs......Page 204 Summary......Page 207 The Need for Migrating to Zen Cart......Page 208 Points to Consider Before Migration......Page 209 Product Catalogue......Page 210 Uninterrupted Service......Page 211 osCommerce versus Zen Cart Database Structure......Page 212 Tables for Categories......Page 213 Tables for Products and Attributes......Page 214 Step 2: Export osCommerce Data......Page 215 Step 3: Import osCommerce Data to Zen Cart......Page 216 Migrating to a Zen Cart Shop that does Not have Products......Page 217 Migrating to a Zen Cart Shop that has Products......Page 219 Adjusting the Look and Feel......Page 222 Converting osCommerce Modules......Page 224 Summary......Page 226 Why should you Integrate Zen Cart with CMS?......Page 227 Increase the Scope of Your Shop......Page 228 How to Integrate with CMS?......Page 229 Joomla!/Mambo......Page 230 Drupal......Page 231 Gallery 2......Page 237 WordPress and Zen Cart Installed in Separate Directories......Page 241 XOOPS......Page 245 e107......Page 246 phpBB......Page 250 Summary......Page 251 Website Maintenance Settings......Page 252 Taking the Shop Down for Maintenance......Page 253 Excluding the Admin from being Blocked......Page 254 Showing Downtime......Page 255 Backing Up Database......Page 256 Backing up Files......Page 259 Restoring Database and Files......Page 261 Use SSL whenever Possible......Page 265 Delete/Rename Sensitive Folders......Page 266 Set Appropriate Permissions to Files and Directories......Page 267 Securing Access to the Administration Panel......Page 268 Register Globals Setting......Page 270 Session Referer Setting......Page 271 PHP Related Problems......Page 272 Session Handling in Admin Area......Page 277 Security Error during Login as Customer......Page 278 Forgotten Admin Password......Page 280 Template Related Problems......Page 281 Image Distortion......Page 282 Emails are not Arriving......Page 283 Email Transport Methods......Page 284 Bounce Handling......Page 285 Database Related Errors......Page 286 Summary......Page 287 Setting WAMP server......Page 288 Zen Cart Directory Structure......Page 291 Zen Cart Community......Page 293 Zen Cart Support......Page 294 Zen Cart Downloads......Page 295 Some Essential Downloads......Page 296 Drupal......Page 298 e107 Plugins for Zen Cart Integration......Page 299 Consulting......Page 300 Index......Page 302

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!'