It's not possible to apply own design without touching PHP code

[j-georg]

I've spent some time with osCommerce and it's starts to become clear that it isn't possible to redesign the whole look without starting to mess around with the PHP code. That just doesn't feel right -- think about upgrades for example.

 

I just can't believe how much HTML and attributes are hardcoded... And it just drives me crazy that the same CSS classes are being used in many different places -- you just can't change the color of one box without spoiling all others.

 

I installed osCommerce using Fantastico and now there's new version available. I'm just afraid to click that 'upgrade' button cause I already have made some modifications and I better keep the old version running. And start looking for better software...

[midwestkel]

You can use Simple Template System found here

 

http://www.oscommerce.com/community/contributions,1524/

[j-georg]

STS Plus looks even more interesting...

 

http://www.oscommerce.com/community/contributions,3893

[superjadex12]

That is what css is for. that is what makes it great. A single change cascades all pages. Usually it pays to have uniformity. But I do understand the need for specific changes. Thats why you can always

put css inside any specific tags which will always overide global attributes.

 

I have no idea how experienced you are with code of any kind.

But I feel I should lend my 2cents because I had little to no experience starting out as well. Having persistence is key. I STILL don't know how PHP works. I couldn't write a code of php is my life depended on it.

 

BUT i have learned to hack the heck out of my layout.

For the most part you dont really need to EDIT the PHP. What you are talking about is layout. So all you need to do is move the codes around.

And if you dont want whatever that code does, then take it out.

 

I think it will hurt more trying to search for the miracle cart. I switched from a Perl based cart to oscommerce 2 days ago because people have told me php is easier and offers more flexibility in the long run. Whether this is true or not I can't say but i DO LIKE OSCOMMERCE.

 

There are so many available functions to this cart and they are all FREE!

My other perl cart was also free but getting customer login upgrade was 200 dollars. And here it is on oscommerce for not one cent.

 

Study study study the layout pages. There are only a couple main ones.

The index.php, product_info.php, and shopping_cart.php

 

These all call the header.html, footer.html, left_column.html, right_column.html

 

Editing these pages will thus edit your layout. Study the php. I have no clue what it is actually doing/executing. but if a line says

<? blah blah header.html ;?> then wrap it around some div tags, assign a red border to the div and reload your page.

Whatever that php code does, thats what it outputs. So now you can move it around, comment it out, change color etc etc.

 

So to answer your question: NO I honestly do not think changing the layout of any store requires editing PHP.

I assume anyone would have basic knowledge of HTML/CSS. So for layout purposes, treat it like html. Look for all the html you can find. if you find a table and have no idea what it contains then put a red border around it.

 

Thats how I know what I know. I am in no way an expert in any programming field. But I am satisfied with what I have been able to accomplish with oscommerce.

 

So give it a try, good luck, have Persistance! and feel free to ask me or post any questions you might have.

[Guest]

Editing these pages will thus edit your layout. Study the php. I have no clue what it is actually doing/executing. but if a line says

<? blah blah header.html ;?> then wrap it around some div tags, assign a red border to the div and reload your page.

Whatever that php code does, thats what it outputs. So now you can move it around, comment it out, change color etc etc.

 

OMG.... I totally agree with you and have been coding the same way for many years, but OMG.... DUH... I never thought about adding the red border so you can see exactly what area you are editing!

 

That is an awesome tip for peeps like us.

 

Thank you sooooo much.

 

Shell

[j-georg]

Expecting users to edit PHP code isn't just right. As I mentioned in my first post -- think about upgrades? If user has modified their setup they just don't upgrade any more because they don't want to erase their modifications.

 

I've been testing STS PLUS now for a while and still are a bit annoyed about osCommerce -- I can't use it's language box, I can't use it's currency box and who knows what else outputs old-fashioned ugly TABLE-based HTML. I guess for the currency box I have to write some JavaScript workaround to keep track of active currency...