Image Handler issues

[pure-wicked]

Hi all, sorry i haven't posted in a while ... i do keep coming and checking up on the forum but by the time i get here most of the questions have been answered.

I've got a few issues with my Zencart site and wondering if anyone can help me.

First issue is Image handler.

I've got ih2 installed and it worked fine but now when i add any extra images they don't show up on the live site. Is anyone else having these issues and if so has anyone found a fix ?.

I haven't done the update yet as i've not heard enough about it and how it affects the mods i'm running so could this be an issue ?

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer.

Dave

[pure-wicked]

Hi,

Sorry to try to bump this thread but i've also got another problem.

I'm trying to add new items but when i fill out all of the boxes then click preview it comes up with nothing ..... all of the boxes are empty.

I've tried loads of times but still can't get even one listing on.

Please help ..... not done any updates or added any mods in ages so not sure what has changed since i last added products.

Thanks in advance for any help Dave

[Rainee Bows]

ih2 is one of those mods we stopped installing well over a year ago now it isnt the best image handler , it's clunky and unnecessary ... I would advise to remove it and replace with a much better add on (sure seamus could recommend) , as for the blank pages ... without looking at it myself hard to pin down a cause for that , as for the upgrade , its a good one to 1.5.0  , it's a few hours work for one of us to complete as a fair few of the most common of the mods have not been updated for the new version easy populate being one of those .. , it has some cool security improvements though so its a highly recommended upgrade.

Rainee x

[seamus]

probably best upgrading the site.

The easiest way to upgrade is by taking a copy of your template from your site, make a note of the mods you've got installed on it and find the new versions (the mods will need to be updated to the 1.5.0 versions, old mods wont work properly)

Once you've got a copy of your template and have the upgraded mods you need, go into Cpanel and into phpmyadmin and export a copy of your database (you shouldnt need to use this, its just so you have a copy, just incase really)
Then delete the whole zen cart from your site, upload the new version and run the install.
(dont delete the images directory, keep that one, that contains all your product images)

When going through the install, enter in the details of your old zen carts database (username, database name and password) and then click
upgrade database
do not click install as this will wipe the database (hence taking a copy just incase) make sure you click upgrade database and the install will upgrade the database for you and leave the contents (customer details, orders, store settings etc) the way they were.

Then its just a matter of uploading the template and installing the new versions of the mods, job done

There are a good few changes in the new version so to be honest, stripping it out and re-doing the lot (as I described) is the easiest way to do it.

Light box mod, I have a jquery lightbox that I've wedged onto a mod for zen cart, its on the free templates I've submited to zen cart, I am intending in packaging that up and offering it as a free download, so if you want a copy of that Dave, thats no problem I'll be submitting it to zen cart as a free addon anyway

<edit to add>

if you dont know what your database name, username and password are, before you delete the old zen cart, go into includes/configure.php and take a note of your database details from that file

[pure-wicked]

Hi

Thanks for the reply Rainee.

Having thought about it ... my host has recently upgraded the server to MySQL v5.1. Could this be the reason that i can't add any products to my website ??


Thanks to Seamus for the details and i will have a dig around and look at your lightbox mod.

About the upgrade of Zen do you know if there is a thread on here or the zen forum that tells people which upgrades have been tried and tested on the update so we know which ones work or which have been adjusted or re-written for the upgrade. I have a list of the mods i have installed including templates so comparing those will be easy however the chances are that some if not most of my mods will not be suitable.

Dave

[seamus]

I dont think there is a full list in this thread, but it does ask developers to post what mods of theirs have been tested and work on version 1.5.0

http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=183643

[pure-wicked]

Thanks Seamus ...

I had a look and found that list but i don't think any of my mods are there yet 

I've installed the new version on a spare domain i have so i can have a look around but i've got a few queries.

First is how do i keep the products that i have already put onto my old 1.3.9 website. I manually type all of my products into my websites so realistically i need to download the full details from the old website through a mod i'm presuming then install the same mod but one that works on 1.5 to the new website and upload the file ? Can i use Easy Pop to do this as i see there is a tested version for 1.5 for this mod.
Am i right in my thinking ?

2nd question is i've found a theme that was written by Rainbow Studios called Black Zen, The problem is there is no way to see a demo of what the site looks like.
One of my websites used Watermelon as a theme and i liked the black theme as it worked.... The 2nd problem with this theme is it uses the j-query slider for the main page but it says you have to disable lightbox etc as you can only run 1 j-query .....
Honestly i want to ask what the heck is j-query but that makes me sound really stupid but i can't seem to think of a way to re-word that.

I'm still pretty fresh in the Zen world, i'm ok with reading instructions but when i hit words that i've never even heard of then hear they can conflict i get scared.

Hope this makes sense.

Dave

[seamus]

you can import your old database and upload your old images directory, that will give you all your products and store settings from your old zen cart, but some of the table names are different (new tables etc) so you'd need to run the install again to upgrade the database. you dont need to do a full install.

make a copy of the database of your main site and make a copy of the images directory on your main site aswell,
if its version 1.5.0 thats already installed  on the test site, upload the zc_install directory back into the root
(if you've ran an auto install system then you'll need to download a copy of zen cart from zen-cart.com to get the files you need)

to get a copy of the database of your main site,
 go into your Cpanel > phpmyadmin and select the database for the main store,
on the header menu, click export and save a xopy of the database as an .sql file, pretty easy, click export, click go and then save the file to somewhere you'll find it on your computer.

you'll need to upload this file and the copy of the images directory from your main site into your test site,
via FTP just upload the copy of the images file into the route of your test site, over write any image files it asks you about, these are just the images for the demo store feature.

to upload the database, go into Cpanel for your test site, phpmyadmin and select the database for your test site (on the left hand side in phpmyadmin) then select all the tables in that databse (check boxes, down the bottom of the page, select all) and drop all the contents of that database (drop down menu, choose "drop")

then in that database, select import (header menu) and click browse, find the .sql file you copied from your main site and click upload (or go, cant remember what the button says) that will import all the contents of your main sites database into your test site, but you'll need to run the install again to add in any extra database tables that the new v1.5.0 has.

you can pick out the sql statements from the zc_insall directory and just run them as a patch, but there is an easier way,
go to yourdomainhere.co.uk/zc_install/index.php (assuming you've uploaded the zc_install directory backinto the zen cart)
start to go through the set up procedure and it should flag an error that your configure.php files are not writeable (they shouldnt be, the zen cart has already been installed) and it should give you an option at the bottom of the page to upgrade database instead of the install option, just click upgrade database, let it run, it should promt you that some tables were altered, when it does, click "done with upgrade"
then delete the zc_install directory and you should have a v1.5.0 zen cart with all the products and settings from yourr 1.3.9 main site  

thats one of my templates, it has its own built in image handler mod, so some lighbox mods will conflict with it.

jquery is a javascript framework, its what the image slider on the main page and the image handler mods use to work basiically.

The only problem would be if you install other mods on your site (sidebox mods and the like) that run using jquery aswell, it the jquery file is being called twice (once by my template and again, the same file for a sidebox mod etc) it tends to break things, the slider and image handler mods will start doing odd things because theres files being loaded twice

its just a call to watch out for odd behaviour with the template, and if there is, it'll be caused with other mods that use jquery too

thats what the black zen template llooks like there (below) its just a black version of this template here
http://www.rainbow-designs.co.uk/zencart/

[pure-wicked]

Have now done a back up of my sql databases through php my admin and copied my images folder to a safe place.

If i now log into my admin in Zen if i click the update now button in the top right hand corner what will happen ? isn't that supposed to sort it all out for me lol.

As i said before i've got 1.5 installed on a test domain and that is letting me add products so looks like once i do the update i'll solve this issue however i was thinking of uploading the mysql database and images folder to this domain to see if it imports it all but i can't work out how to do the database upload and tell it which domain i want that database to be for if that makes sense.

Is that possible .... i'm sure i've backed up everything you've told me to back up and i can't thank you enough for that but i'm still a little bit fuzzy as to my next steps.

Thanks again in advance Dave

[seamus]

no, if you click the update button, it'll just send you download the latest version of zen cart.

To import the database into your test site, go into phpmyadmin and find the database for the test site.
Just to make sure you have the right database, go intoyour test site via FTP and into
includes/configure.php
open that file and look at the database details at around line 47

you should see somthing similar to this here

define('DB_DATABASE', 'usernamehere_zc1');

the bit that says usernamehere_zc1 in my example above is the name of your database, so taking that example there (your will say somthing slightly different probably) if you go into phpmyadmin and on the left hand side. click on the database you want, in this case its called _zc1
so click on _zc1 (or the equivelant name in your configure.php) and that will open the database for the test site.

If you do the same for your main site, go into includes/configure.php and check the database name, then make sure you have a copy of that same database, if you dont (which you mentioned that you do, but I'll explain it again anyway)
checking your configure file to make sure you've got the right database, go into phpmyadmin, find the right database name (matching the configure,php) click on that database name (on the left hand menu in phpmyadmin) then click export and save the file to your computer, this is the file we will be uploading again into your test sites database.


Then backinto phpmyadmin and find the database for your test site
(in your test site, includes/configure.php to check the database name, so you know which database you need to be in)

then once you're in your database (in phpmyadmin, left hand menu clikc on the database name)
then select every table in that database and at the bottom of the page, in the drop downmenu select "drop"
this should delete the full contents of the test site database.

We're going to replace that database though,

so still in phpmyadmin and in the (now empty) database for the test site, on the header menu click Import
then click browse and find the sql file you exported from your main sites database, and click go

This should upload the main sites database straight into the test sites database (after you click import,you should be able to browse the database and see tables for addresses, customers, products etc

Now you need to upload your images folder from your main site and put it into your test site, overwrite any files it prompt you to, these are just images for the demo store.

Now you'll need to upload the zc_install directory again. If you dont have on then download a full copy of zen-cart 1.5.0 from here
http://www.zen-cart.com

unzip that file and upload the zc_install directory into the root of your test site.

Now check that your two configure.php files are not writeble. Its not a full install your doing so you dont want those two files writable at all.

check includes/confugure.php that should have permissions of 444 (not writable)
and check admin/includes/configure.php that should have permissions of 444 (not writable)
(you've probably renamed your admin directory,  so substitute admin for the name of your admin directory)

now you're ready to run part of the install to upgrade the database for the new version

after making sure your configure.php files are set to 444 (not writable)
go to yourdomainhere.co.uk/zc_install/index.php

start the install process and it should flag an error that your configure files are not writable (which is right)
at the bottom of the page, it will give you the option to upgrade the database,
click upgrade database and it should tell you that 62 statements processed and 4 ignored, thats all good,
It should ask you for your admin logins at some point in the upgrade,
these are your main sites admin details, seeing as we uploaded the full database from your main site, now your test sites admin username and password are the same as your main sites admin username and password.

Once you've done that and it has alerted you to the  62 statements processed and 4 ignored
click done with upgrade and delete the zc_install directory out of your zen cart.

Now you'll need to log back into your test sites admin and select your template again, as the site will now be trying to load the template thats on your main site (the tst site now has the database for the main site, store settings and all)

once you re-select your template, and check your site, you should have all ylur products, store setting and info from your main site, all inside a new upgraded version of zen cart

The most important thing here is the permissions on your configure.php files, aslong as they are set to 444 (not writable) the install wont overwrite your database

[pure-wicked]

Ok well i tried what you said, did it one step at a time and it didn't work.

I'm pulling my hair out with Zen atm as there's no theme's i like for my sites either yet if i don't update them to v1.5 i can't add products.

The sites i have aren't hugely populated however i really didn't want to add all of the products again from scratch ....

Can i just say a massive thank you to Seamus for the in depth info on updating my site. It was very well written and perfect for someone of my caliber of knowledge so a massive thank you there from me.

I think i'm gonna start from scratch on one of my sites as i have a found a theme in v1.5 that i like and it only has 100 or so products on so hopefully won't take too long to populate again. In the meantime i'll keep reading and trying to figure out how to get my other sites upto v1.5 without a full re-build job. Maybe in a few weeks i'll have another go before i take v1.3.9h off. I have got full backups of the database and images files already so if i do find out how to update them then i have the info available.

Thanks again Dave

[pure-wicked]

I've just thought ..... will this update affect my seo work ? all the pages i currently have on v1.3.9 will be different on v1.5 won't they therefore will my search engine queries still hit my website or will they go to dead pages.

This is a pain in the butt lol

Regards Dave

[seamus]

No, it shouldn't affect your SEO at all, all your meta tags should stay the same and any old links should still take people to the right product aslong as you don't upload all your products again manually, if you can keep the original database, all old links should still work fine

If its a fresh install, that might affect your SEO but even then, its quite easy to get your site ranking again properly,

[pure-wicked]

Have just done it again and literally done your description step by step.

All was ok until i got to the upgrade part and thats where i'm stuck now.

At the bottom of the page the only option i have is to click re-check but not upgrade database.

I've left it alone now for a while so its still there if you can make head or tails of the rest of the info it is telling you but i'm at a loss. My domain is www.icbabyclothes.co.uk .

Do the people at Zencart not realise that doing as big an update as this is a nightmare for all users unless your a guru ?

Thanks again Dave

[seamus]

Is that the test site or the main site?

If your configure.php files have the right database details and are set to 444 (not writable) it should give you the option to upgrade the database,

have a look in includes/configure.php
and in admin/includes/configure.php
it should have the database name, usename and password written into those files already.
If its your test site, it already will have the right file paths and database details written into the file, if that's your main site and you've deleted the old 1.3.9 version out and uploaded the new version then you've overwritten your config files.

If that is your main site and your configure.php files don't have the database details written into them (password and username bits will be empty quote marks ' ' ) then its easier just run the install as a fresh install, that'll give you an empty standard Zen cart, then import the old database, make sure your two configure files are set to permissions 444 (make sure you're in the right configure files, there are more than those two) after you've uploaded the database, run the install again and it should let you upgrade the database.

If you don't know what your database usename and password are, you can make a new database user in Cpanel > SQL databases

Create the new user, add it to the database for your zencart (same database name as in phpmyadmin) give it all permissions and use those database details when your running the install, that's if you do need to do the install from scratch