How do I change the text on main page of my store?

[greta]

Which file should I go to in order to change the text in the center of the home page of my store? The introduction and welcome text where it says to register and not to try and order products.

 

Also, I have been reading here that I should not do this in my File Manager, but should instead download it to my computer and edit it, then FTP it back to my website. So how do I download it to my computer in order to do this? I have NO idea!

 

Thanks in advance for all help.

 

Greta

[♥peterpil19]

Hello Greta!

 

ALL text is contained in the language folders. The file languages/english.php is like an overview language file which has text for stuff like info boxes, heading titles etc.

 

Each page then has its own language file by the same name. E.g. the main page, index.php has a language file called "index.php" in Langages/English (or whatever language). You will find in English/index.php that there is a line saying something like define('TEXT_MAIN', ' ................................') This is the main text of the main page. You may edit it how you will. Personally, I'd recommend editing your content in a html editor like dreamweaver then pasting the code into the define statement and then pasting it between the two apposrophes in the define statement.

 

i.e. define('TEXT_MAIN', ' YOUR CONTENT GOES IN HERE').

 

Hope this Helps!

 

--Peter

 

P.S. you are the second Greta I have ever met! (1st that I have met on a Forum).

[greta]

Hello Greta!

 

ALL text is contained in the language folders. The file languages/english.php is like an overview language file which has text for stuff like info boxes, heading titles etc.

 

Each page then has its own language file by the same name. E.g. the main page, index.php has a language file called "index.php" in Langages/English (or whatever language). You will find in English/index.php that there is a line saying something like define('TEXT_MAIN', ' ................................') This is the main text of the main page. You may edit it how you will. Personally, I'd recommend editing your content in a html editor like dreamweaver then pasting the code into the define statement and then pasting it between the two apposrophes in the define statement.

 

i.e. define('TEXT_MAIN', ' YOUR CONTENT GOES IN HERE').

 

Hope this Helps!

 

--Peter

 

P.S. you are the second Greta I have ever met! (1st that I have met on a Forum).

 

LOL. I have a 3rd or 4th cousin named Greta. She is the only other one I've ever known. And Greta Garbo of course.

 

My middle name is Ann, and I would have sworn there was no one else on this earth named Greta Ann. So I wanted to make my ID on eBay gretaann. I coud not because it kept saying someone else had that ID. I thought there was a glitch of some sort and fussed at eBay about it. But I found out there really are several other Greta Anns!

 

Also went to the doctor a few days ago and the doctor's assistant said that one of her relatives had just had a baby girl and named her Greta.

 

Greta

[e_a_g_l_e_p_i]

LOL. I have a 3rd or 4th cousin named Greta. She is the only other one I've ever known. And Greta Garbo of course.

 

My middle name is Ann, and I would have sworn there was no one else on this earth named Greta Ann. So I wanted to make my ID on eBay gretaann. I coud not because it kept saying someone else had that ID. I thought there was a glitch of some sort and fussed at eBay about it. But I found out there really are several other Greta Anns!

 

Also went to the doctor a few days ago and the doctor's assistant said that one of her relatives had just had a baby girl and named her Greta.

 

Greta

Don't forget Greta Van Susteren of FOX NEWS

 

[greta]

Don't forget Greta Van Susteren of FOX NEWS

 

 

Now how could I forget her?

:o

 

I can find no index.php in Languages/English. I have looked until I am just about in tears!

 

Greta

[♥peterpil19]

Now how could I forget her?

:o

 

I can find no index.php in Languages/English. I have looked until I am just about in tears!

 

Greta

 

 

 

Hi again Greta!!

 

There has to be an index.php file in the includes/languages/english directory. i.e. /includes/languages/english/index.php. Otherwise, you'd be missing a lot of text on your main page!

 

If you still can't find the index.php file, perhaps you are using an older version of oscommerce, in which case the file may be called "default.php" (I think anyway, by memory, please don't hold me to that!).

 

Let us know if you still can't find it!

 

Kind Regards,

 

Peter

[greta]

Hi again Greta!!

 

There has to be an index.php file in the includes/languages/english directory. i.e. /includes/languages/english/index.php. Otherwise, you'd be missing a lot of text on your main page!

 

If you still can't find the index.php file, perhaps you are using an older version of oscommerce, in which case the file may be called "default.php" (I think anyway, by memory, please don't hold me to that!).

 

Let us know if you still can't find it!

 

Kind Regards,

 

Peter

 

You are exactly right! It is default.php!

 

Thanks a million!

 

Now that that is out of the way, I need help with the following:

 

1. Most people say not to use the file manager in Admin to edit. But what about using the File Manager that is with my website? I had the store added to my website and have a file manager there with the files. Will using that File Manager to edit my main page cause any problems? That would be so much easier for me if it would not damage my files.

 

2. If I do have to download to do the editing, do I download the actual webpage that people see or should I download the HTML file? (Dumb question of the year I know!)

 

3. And how do I go about downloading whatever I download?

 

Thanks again,

 

Greta

[♥peterpil19]

Hi again Greta!

 

Firstly, it is fine to use the file manager that comes with your hosting package, but NOT the file manager that is in the admin/tools section of oscommerce admin.

 

Only problem I have experienced with it, is that if I am copying and pasting, there might be a few blank lines added at the bottom of the file. Normally this is fine, but for some php files, it causes errors. So after editing a file, I make sure that there are no blank lines at the bottom.

 

Instead of copying and editing on your computer, you can do what I do which is to create a folder on you server called e.g. "backup". When you want to edit a file, make sure to copy it into that "backup" folder first. That way if anything goes wrong, you can simply replace the edited file with the original.

 

A good idea is also to download frequent backups. This means that you can replace individiual files with the ones from, say the day before, if anything is causing you difficulty.

 

To download files, you need an FTP progrramm like FTP Commander (free program). This allows you to download and upload files onto your server. Don't download what is viewable on your computer (i.e. don't in internet explorer, go to file save as). You have to download the exact file as it appears on your server.

 

One more tip, when editing text such as the text-main, you can use a html editor such as Dreamweaver, or a freeware html editor, design exactly how you would like the text to appear on the webpage (easily done using the design view), then copy the code and insert it into the php file. E.g. for text-main, you would copy all the code from your computer, open up languages/english/default.php and insert it into define ('TEXT-MAIN", 'COPY YOUR CODE HERE').

 

Hope this helps!

 

--Peter

[greta]

Hi again Greta!

 

Firstly, it is fine to use the file manager that comes with your hosting package, but NOT the file manager that is in the admin/tools section of oscommerce admin.

 

Only problem I have experienced with it, is that if I am copying and pasting, there might be a few blank lines added at the bottom of the file. Normally this is fine, but for some php files, it causes errors. So after editing a file, I make sure that there are no blank lines at the bottom.

 

Instead of copying and editing on your computer, you can do what I do which is to create a folder on you server called e.g. "backup". When you want to edit a file, make sure to copy it into that "backup" folder first. That way if anything goes wrong, you can simply replace the edited file with the original.

 

A good idea is also to download frequent backups. This means that you can replace individiual files with the ones from, say the day before, if anything is causing you difficulty.

 

To download files, you need an FTP progrramm like FTP Commander (free program). This allows you to download and upload files onto your server. Don't download what is viewable on your computer (i.e. don't in internet explorer, go to file save as). You have to download the exact file as it appears on your server.

 

One more tip, when editing text such as the text-main, you can use a html editor such as Dreamweaver, or a freeware html editor, design exactly how you would like the text to appear on the webpage (easily done using the design view), then copy the code and insert it into the php file. E.g. for text-main, you would copy all the code from your computer, open up languages/english/default.php and insert it into define ('TEXT-MAIN", 'COPY YOUR CODE HERE').

 

Hope this helps!

 

--Peter

 

 

Thanks, Peter! I haven't had time to try this yet. Also, am very apprehensive about it.... Haven't totally made up my mind yet whether to try it in my website's File Manager or try the FTP program. I tried many FTP programs many years ago when I first started building websites and never could make any of them work. Maybe now, though, that I have more experience it will be a bit easier. Will hopefully have time this weekend to work on it.

 

Thanks again,

 

greta