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To be able to appreciate a newly purchased ZenCart, affiliates and the source site itself has an online guide to the shopping cart’s installation. Installation instructions for all Zen Cart versions are basic and easy to follow. But before you even install your purchased ZenCart here are some things you’d have to comply with:

1. What domain will you use? 

For some companies, upgrading their online store into a shopping cart could mean using their existing domain. While most online stores start up with a shopping cart purchase like the ZenCart. Keep in mind though not all domain hosting sites can help you register your cart. Check out the Certified Hosting Sites to see what sites comply with ZenCart’s software requirements.

2. Get reliable FTP software.

The FTP software is a program you need for transferring files between your computer and webserver. Most customers who have had a smooth installation process relied on FileZilla (free), because of positive feedback this program suits as your FTP. Some FTP software to ignore are the SmartFTP and CuteFTP, we’ve had a lot of customers experience problems with both programs. Before you answer yes, please be sure the FTP software you had in mind is not the one that is included with your web hosting services. The FTP service provided by your host is not meant for large file transfer, so errors can occur. 

3. Have a good text editor

The text editor is where you would be able to edit some files in your ZenCart. For starters and non-professional programmer use simple text editing programs are easily available. Editing files with the use of your cPanel or MS Word is not recommended since this is used for more complex changes to files. Here are several Text Editing programs you could choose from: UltraEdit, Notepad++, Crimson Editor for MS. You can use BBedit for Mac while for Linux you can use Kedit.

4. Can you create a MySQL database and user account through your webhosting control panel?

Choosing the right domain web host is needed since this is one of the requirements needed to install the ZenCart. To check you MySQL user account be sure you are able to have these permissions: SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE, ALTER, INDEX, DROP. Some hosting like the hSphere calls it the dba access.

Reading through this list of items is like gong through a flight plan before taking off. With all these on our desktop or laptop, you can start installing your ZenCart download. Consider this the groundbreaking of your online shopping cart store. The next step would take you even further into exploring your virtual shopping cart.

Goodluck and think Zen.

One of the e-commerce software available in the market is the CRE Loaded, like most there are 3 versions of this that can be used for any virtual store fronts. The Free version is the regular kind easy to install and better to get the hang of for simple purchase-sale transactions. The PRO CRE Loaded includes product attribute support with credit card encryption thrown in. The 3rd version is the B2B wich allows the store-front to have separate pricing level support which makes tracking down sales more organized. 

The CRE Loaded is similar to osCommerce yet with some additional features. The latest we have on this virtual store is its option Affiliate Manager. A store is organized with its bonuses like vouchers and gift checks, yet in lean times it can count on site income from sales affiliates and Google Adsense coding. For shopping convenience, the CRE Loaded has several modules that make browse-shopping a breeze: NewsDesk, FAQdesk and the Wishlist. You get up to date information about the latest sales, easy to retrieve information on site policy and a recorded wish list for those who have registered at the site while browse-shopping.

Is this suitable for your existing image and text web store?  The answer is yes. The CRE Loaded a templating systems installed for easier integration to an existing template. 

For what its worth the CRE Loaded is one of the most stable osCommerce type of software since there are osCommerce already installed. This can be a disadvantage too though when a new osCommerce is to be installed, this can prove tricky. Their latest development is the tidying up of the Admin Interface with more protection for Admin log-in.

The Zen Cart on the other hand is also an osCommerce based software, unlike the CRE Loaded there are no contributions installed nor will there be any you can install directly from the osCommerce site. To do this you have to convert the osCommerce software into ZenCart to be able to upload it. Some see this as an disadvantage, yet it is only logical to have everything in Zen to rather than insatallation glitches. The odds of having an osCommerce software installed in better, no if’s or but’s.

The whole Zen Cart flows smoothly with features that co-exist with each other: product attributes manager , template system and html for regular web page contents make uploading faster. Shoppers are given the option and protection for their credit card payments. Another feature that gives the Zen Cart the in-store feeling is the coupon code system.

The down side of the Zen Cart is its ability to import products from Excel sheets, although it is available, it takes awhile to figure out. Getting a Zen Cart means no licensing fees at all, so unless you are dependent on importing Excel product sheets this can be the cart for you.

If one was to pick on what shopping-cart to use for a virtual store front, one would have to consider what shopping cart allows a store to gain more leads and have an alternative income too. The Cre Loaded wins hands down since its functions favour both the client and the e-store owner.