FoodSourceDirect:
Hi Chad. hahaha
It was weird. I believe that it may have been a combination of things. I clicked on Install.txt thinking that it was providing install instructions. Then I opened a GitHUb account. Downloaded your EP 4.0 master zip and copied those files to my admin etc.... Then stuff happened.
Anyway that's behind us.
I have re-formatted my categories to make them compatible with ZC. I opted to include the zen cart demo categories and data during the zen cart installation.
What is the next step? Do I upload my categories using the Category-EPxxxx template? Or can I upload Full-EP xxxx formatted file with categories and all the other fields since I already have demo categories from the ZC installation?
Once I learn how to upload my data error free, then I will need to create 23 custom product fields. and update ZC with complete product information for each product. We are a natural health food store. (herbs, spices, supplements, teas, personal care, etc.) What I need to do is provide the customer with 'Read Only' product information for each product. I noticed that the Numinix module includes some of the custom fields that I need but not all. However, I am not clear on the sequence of steps on how to install Numinix.
These are the fields that I will have to add to the product table.
Ingredients
Safety Information
Suggested Uses
Product Information
Kosher (yes or no)
Organic (yes or no)
Case Size
Brand
Wholesale Price
Reference Number (Item Number)
UPC
EAN13
Condition (New or Used)
Warehouse
Origin
Botanical name
Label Directions
Unit of Measure (UOM)
Unit of measure per Each (UOMPEREA)
Brand
Unit Price
Discount Percentage
Long Description
Do I add custom fields in the ZC product database table using phpMyAdmin?
Thanking in in advance for your guidance
Whoa nelly,
Got a lot going on there. Okay, so Zen Cart, some of the basics both with the program and the forum.
Forum first, while all of us here have some knowledge of something or other, not everything belongs in every thread. Further, people tend to follow a thread (or jump into one) based on the title or subject of the thread. So there are a number of things interlaced in your question. I consider only a small portion applicable to this thread. Others apply to either a new thread or one of the existing ones. (For example, questions about numinix' software would be much easier to answer by those following threads about numinix' programs.) I have recently had to provide some instruction about how to incorporate his workings into a store, and my best advice to make future building easier is to wait until you really need his software/have finished installing other code before installing his mods. Background to that (which Ep4 is not subject to) is that some installations expect certain tables to be unmodified and therefore take no action to ensure a successful install regarding the number of columns in the destination table. So either await installation of other mods, or learn how to get around their shortcomings. (And remember that basically everything here is "given" out of the hardwork and "free" time that contributors have.) That said, anyone is permitted to upload a change to a plugin, there are some guidelines and like most things in the zen cart forum they are covered either in their own thread, a faq, or the wiki. Do understand that there is the random possibility that you will be considered accountable for the future of the plugin, but that is not always an issue. :)
So, I think I've covered the forum enough, and realize not all will present in this way. Some will advise to get out of the thread. :) but, hey gotta start somewhere. :)
So the items specific to EP4. Currently, ep4 does not go and create everything that doesn't exist when doing something like a full import. As you may have seen (but not necessarily paid attention to) in the forum I have at least a couple of times explained the general procedure and workings of EP4.
The first suggestion, and surprisingly or not the program was put together somewhat this way, is to actually try to create a product in ZC from the admin. Become familiar with the sequence, how does a product come to exist fully developed for display to a customer? If you understand that process, then putting the store together through EP4 is very similar, but with lots of options at once rather than the several clicks that may be involved along the way. Say to add ten option values each to 5 option names, for example.... That's potentially 50 entries if you don't take advantage of some of the quick actions available in ZC, or could be copying a row downwards five rows after having added the ten items once before, etc...
Another way to think about it, if it's not in the database, it needs to get there somehow and if it's not in the database at all, go back to the basics (basic import/export) then get detailed about it. So if wanting to know if a category exists, ask the daatabase possibly with a basic category export. If it's there, then it's probably not associated with anything, so have to possibly take a look at a detailed category list. Then well, it needs to relate to a product, but the product isn't there either, so back to basics with the product, get it's initial data in there, then move on until all things that feed the information on the detailed sheet are available/present.
Okay, so moving on a little from there and to bridge the gap. Once you get all of your new fields, you'll need to tell EP4 about them in some wya, whether that is to modify the sql datadump or to add the fields onto the modifiable list in the admin panel. Only enter the field name as it appears in the database, do not add v_ at the beginning of the field.
So, hopefully that helped in one or more ways.
