[balinor]

You can't simply make a site and apply the links, no. You need to edit each template individually until the site comes together. You will need to know html/css/smarty to do it correctly, so if you aren't familar with those languages, get yourself a book or take a class, as you really can't do it without at least a core knowledge of those. It isn't a grand secret, but it is a pretty steep learning curve if you want to highly customize an X-Cart site.

Good design is not something you can learn from a book however. Many of us went to design school of some sort, or have a creative background.

My suggestion is to buy yourself a pre-made template from X-Cart or a third party vendor like 7dana.com to start. That will at least give you a decent looking site until you are ready to take it to the next level.

And don't use Flash...it has no place in an E-commerce site.