If you operate an e-commerce enabled website you may have already researched your options for a shopping cart solution.
There are many great commercial and free solutions, from ProStores on the paid side to Zen Cart on the free side. In addition to these two there are literally dozens of other options.
In this review we look at Zen cart to help you determine if it is right for you.
Benefits of Open Source Software
There are many reasons people chose open source over other options. The first and most obvious is cost. As with other open source software, Zen Cart is free to download and use.
But sometimes free software doesn’t totally come without cost. For example, as with any open source software this is some configuration required. That means either doing it yourself (which costs your time) or hiring someone to do it for you (which can cost money).
And then there is the upkeep required. With web based models like ProStores, the vendor manages software upgrades, server upgrades and so on. But with Zen cart you have your own maintenance to contend with.
However if you are comfortable with open source and don’t mind a little configuration yourself, and you are looking for a shopping cart solution, then Zen cart may be for you.
Installation is fairly simple as all you need to do is download the files, unzip and install them to a location on your web server. Then it is a matter of making the configuration changes you require.
Once configuration is complete and you login you are presented with a screen that gives you a snapshot of your stores activity:
One of the first things you will want to do is configure your store. Select the “Configuration” menu at the top left to make changes to your store settings (store name, location, tax options etc.), logging options, email attributes and more.
You may at first find the “configuration” menu a little overwhelming. It is quite large, and you may have to scroll your browser window to see it all, but once you begin using the system you will find it quite easy to navigate.
Configuration of these options is fairly easy. If you are new to Zen cart I’d suggest going through the menus one at a time to see what options are available.
Generally making changes to options required clicking on the option and changing the value in the box located to the right of the screen.
For example, if I wanted to verify emails before I send them by performing a DNS lookup on the domain I’d select “Configuration > E-Mail Options” and then select “Verify E-Mail Addresses Through DNS.” Upon selecting this option the right side edit box changes to:
Continue going through the menus until you have the administration section of your site set up. You will then want to set up your inventory (including product categories), followed by the look of your site.
Zen cart uses templates to output the pages. Template pages work like any other dynamic website – they use HTML and PHP generated templates with various dynamic attributes to redisplay products, categories, pictures and pricing within them.
You can either edit the existing templates, or create your own. You will need to have PHP knowledge to do this.
Another option is to simply search for someone who designs templates for Zen cart and then acquire one that appeals to you. You can then upload it into your site’s “templates” folder and select it as your store template in the administration section.
If you wish to create your own template, or modify the system template, I recommend first copying it into a new directory and modifying it there. That way if you break something your site will still continue to function.
Modules in Zen Cart
A nice thing with Zen cart is that it uses “modules” to enhance your site. Modules are downloadable sections you can add to the cart to make it more functional.
For example, I recently set up a shopping cart that used a different credit card processing company than Zen supplies. I was able to find a module specific to the processing gateway which I uploaded. The new module then appeared in the “payment modules” section where I then enabled it and disabled the Zen cart supplied credit card processing modules.
Other modules are also available for shipping (IE you want to be able to ship via UPS) and order total (for example, if you have special coupons or discounts your store allows). Simply add the corresponding module and enable it.
As you can sees Zen cart is a full featured shopping cart system. While it is considered “free” software don’t let that fact fool you. If you don’t mind tinkering a bit, or have a developer who can handle it, it might be worthwhile to set up your own locally hosted shopping cart and have true flexibility.
