What are the tools needed to run osCommerce?

[multimixer]

The look of a store can be changed to a very high grade by modifying just following files:

 

- includes/template_top.php

- includes/template_bottom.php

- includes/header.php

- includes/footer.php

- stylesheet.css

[burt]

For future readers and those looking for templates;

 

The fewer files that modify core oscommerce, the easier the install. Imagine you are looking for a new theme and you had already installed a bunch of addons. Would you rather re-install oscommerce to gain a new look, and then make your changes again, or just amend 5 or 10 files...

 

I can understadn why `template` sellers provide a full oscommerce install - usually because they have no clue about how oscommerce hangs together. So the question to ask any template seller, before buying any template is this;

 

"how many core oscommerce files will I have to modify to make it work on my existing site".

 

If they say "you need to re-install" - AVOID

If they say between 5 and 10 - EXCELLENT

If they say between 10 and 20 - GOOD

If they say over 30 - THINK ABOUT IT BEFORE BUYING

 

Note that this is modified files, and any new files are simple to upload, so you can forget these - you only need to know how much work YOU have to do to existing files to get the look you are purchasing.

 

Note that a bare minimum amount of files to change would be 5 - see Multimixer's previous post. So if a `template` seller says less than 5 files, you might just end up with something from themeroller (which is not a `template` by any stretch of the imagination).

 

In addition, you should also ask "how do I get future support".

 

If they say "you need to go to the osCommerce forum" - AVOID

If they say "we will support the theme you purchased but we will not support general oscommerce questions" - EXCELLENT