New to osCommerce and I need help!!!!

[Tyrone80]

Hello everyone,

 

I've been trying to read up on osCommerce and have a few questions hopefully someone can answer for me.

 

I have NEVER used anything to do with PHP or MySQL and know nothing about them. Does this mean I'm completely out of luck?

 

I currently have an account with www.dreamhost.com and have a small website on there which was just a free template I got off the internet (made the changes in the Text file) and uploaded to the host via WS_FTP Pro.

 

I've also messed around with Micromedia Dreamweaver 7.0 before but only know the EVERY basics.

 

With all this being said, how hard is it to setup a website with osCommerce?

 

I'm currently running Windows 98 (I know, sooooooooo OLD!) but also have a G4 Mac with OS X on it if this would be a better computer to work with. (It's my wife's Mac so I'd rather use the PC since I know a lot more about operating it).

 

What programs do I need on my computer?

Is there a way to setup, view, make changes, etc. to the osCommerce file without first uploading it to my host server? If so, what do I do?

 

Any and all help would be VERY much appreicated!

 

Thanks!

[Gil_e_n]

I didn't know php or mysql when I started, and am still not exactly good at either. It's just a matter of doing whatever you can to figure things out logically, and then and only then coming here to ask for help if you're still stuck.

 

How difficult it is depends on how much you need to modify it to suit your purposes. An almost-default OSC store's not difficult to set up. One that needs every contribution on the planet + extensive customizing not already done in any contribution is a different matter.

 

The programs I personally use to work on OSC:

 

Filezilla (free open source ftp program)

Notepad++ (Open source source code editor)

Baregrep (search program that I use to basically run searches on my backup catalog to see what other pages use the code I'm working on, and where stuff is defined and stuff like that. Or to see which pages have a bit of code that I want to remove from the site or whatever.)

Winmerge (Comparison program I use to install contributions that don't come with extensive installation instructions and I can't just copy over and also occasionally used to help me diagnose problems by comparing my file to the default to see if I can find where I screwed up)

 

Ultimately, all you absolutely need are an ftp program and a program to edit code in. The others are convenient, but not absolutely necessary.

 

As for whether you can install it on your computer and work on it there, I've vaguely heard about a couple things that might let you do that, but I'm not sure.

[Guest]

Win 98 is fine .. just XP without the bells and whistles.

 

I knew nothing about php 6 weeks ago .. but now I'm doing ok. Html .. yeah that was ok .. been into it for years.

 

Install the stock version of Os commerce .. read the forums and the contribution section .. install the contributions .. backup EVERYTHING .. read everything carefully .. take it slow and if you are reasonably intelligent .. everything will be ok.

 

As for seeing what you are doing on your local machine .. you will need to install a local web server .. plus php 4.00 .. you can get a complete install package called "Fox Server" .. can't remember the web address .. but Google it .. you will find it.

 

It's a bit of a hassle though .. I reckon .. Easier to just upload to your site .. have a look .. make changes .. upload again .. etc etc.

 

If you need any help .. feel free to pm me. I've gone through it all over the past few weeks already.

 

:rolleyes:

[Tyrone80]

Can I run this program off of a Mac (OS X)?