I often get asked, “Where is the homepage in Zen-Cart?” All my client’s want to do is add or change something simple to their homepage but they just can’t find the file. Is it hidden? Well, the answer is technically no but it might as well be.  I hope this article will help newbies to Zen-Cart find their way.

Zen-Cart is a dynamically generated, PHP shopping cart software. This to say that each segment or “module” of the home page is separated into individual files. The Header, Body, and Footer are all separate files that get assembled at the time the page gets called by the browser. And it doesn’t stop there. Just about every element on the homepage is a separate file such as the Shopping Cart, Categories and Manufacturers boxes. Why would they do that? Doesn’t that just totally complicate everything? Yes, this does increase the difficulty factor of editing individual elements in your Zen-Cart template, but does offer many advantages and flexibility for the store manager.

Zen-Cart allows the store manager to not only select what infomation boxes that will appear on the homepage but also choose their sort order. This call be done by changing simple settings in the Admin Control Panel. If the store manager decides he wants to run a special, he can activate the “Specials” box to apper on the homepage. Then, deactivate it when the specail is over. You can even create Custom User Pages with whatever content you want using the “EZ-Page” function. This type of versatility and fluidity would not be possible with traditionally coded HTML pages. So, there is a reason behind the madness. Zen-Cart is fragmented into small pieces intentionally so it can have more freedom to dynamically assemble it’s pages based on  parameters set by the store manager. These settings will alter the carts apperance and content all from completely within the Admin Panel.

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