Zen Cart is a popular open-source PHP/MySQL-based e-commerce solution available under GPL that is designed to put the merchants' and shoppers' requirements first. Not only does Zen Cart offer a very long list of features, but the system is designed with both store owners and web developers in mind. There's no sacrifice of usability or power.

This easy-to-follow book will teach you how to install, configure, and customize a Zen Cart shop and use its promotion and public-relations tools to attract customers to the shop. It will also teach you to customize the look and feel of the Zen Cart shop by localizing and customizing templates. With this excellent tutorial, you will be able to extend and tweak the Zen Cart store.

What you will learn from this book?

* Install and configure your Zen Cart shop
* Manage, import, and export products in bulk
* Configure zones, currencies, payment processors, and shipping modules
* Use discounts, salemaker, cross-sell and up-sell to promote products
* Use gift certificates, discount coupons, and newsletters to attract customers
* Localize your shop by translating and adding new language and locales
* Create or customize templates for your shop
* Migrate products and customers from osCommerce to Zen Cart
* Integrate Zen Cart shop with other CMSs like e107, xoops, gallery2, WordPress, phpBB, etc.

Approach

This is a highly practical book that can act as a reference material to which you will want to return again and again. The discussion in the book is right up-to-the point and it is filled with ample practical examples.

Who this book is written for?

This book is primarily for professional developers interested in building, enhancing, or extending Zen Cart sites for customers. It is also a useful reference for those who have got Zen Cart running on their own store, and want to improve it. It will also benefit those who want to migrate from osCommerce or other engines to Zen Cart