X-Cart forums

[cmodesign]

I am trying to create 5 new pages that would be linked from my speedbar menu: HOME, ABOUT, WHOLESALE, HELP, CONTACT. There would be one other menu item called STORE which works fine now and is linked to the current home.php that shows the storefront. Basically I am trying to find a way to create dynamic pages with the middle area stripped out so that I can insert my own static HTML content (pictures, headings, text, etc).

HOME would be a dynamic page with all the functionality of the site (cart, sidebar with categories, search, etc.) but stripped of the Deals, Bestsellers, Need Help sections. I want to be able to create HTML content in the blank white column in the middle. This would be the same request for the sections ABOUT and WHOLESALE. HELP would link to the existing Help Zone section with FAQ, Contact Us, Recover Password, etc. CONTACT US would default to the existing Contact page but would not be directly connected to the Help Zone section.

Breadcrumbs examples:
ABOUT US = Home > About Us
HELP = Home > Help
FAQ = Home > Help > FAQ
CONTACT US = Home > Contact Us

It sounds like a lot but basically all I am trying to do is figure out how to add static content inside stripped down dynamic PHP files. Then I am trying to adjust the hierarchy of the menu bar (which seems a bit backwards by default to me)!

Any help would be much appreciated and I imagine that I can't be the only one with this request.

[JWait]

I'm not sure exactly what you are trying to accomplish but you can create "pages" from within x-cart. In you admin section, look for the menu item that says "static pages". In that section you can add as many pages as you want, either by using the WYSIWYG editor or by pasting html code in the box. The pages are generally listed in the "help menu box, but can be accessed using the speedbar as well if you like.

[cmodesign]

I have already created static pages in HTML using the admin section as placeholders and linked them using the speedbar, but my question was how to place this static HTML inside the dynamic PHP pages. The simplest solution I can think of is to copy and paste the existing PHP pages (home.php, help.php) as templates and adjust from there. The problem is that I am not sure how or where to strip the interior parts in the middle white area. Is there an easier method of doing this?

[JWait]

You can call your static pages from inside x-cart using pages.php. Look at one of the pages you have created in the "static pages" for the url.

Pages created in the "embedded level" will show up "inside" x-cart in the central column. Pages created in the "root level" will show up "outside" of x-cart as a normal html page.

[cmodesign]

Thx JWait, that is exactly what I was looking for. I was worried about how the file paths would appear in the browser, but with the SEO "Clean URL's" option, everything looks fine.

Now for the other part of my question. I also want to create a unique "Homepage". This would be different from the regular home for the store. I want to just show static content like company info, pictures, and news. I know I could do this using the same method I used for the other pages, and I can create the link in the speedbar menu. The problem is that I also want that to be the default page when users first arrive at the site (www.mysite.com). Currently the default page is home.php.

[JWait]

Piece of cake... x-cart has a default index.html. You might have seen it, its the one that says "enter store and has the x-cart logo. Anyway, create a index.html however you want (remember to put a link to home.php somewhere on it so people can find your store) and save it in the root directory (www.yoursite.com/index.html

Then you will notice in your x-cart files a file named .htaccess. open it in a text editor (something other than notepad or Word) and you will see the top line reads something like...

DirectoryIndex home.php index.php index.htm index.html

change it to

DirectoryIndex index.html index.htm home.php index.php

(leave the rest of the file alone)
and upload it to your site, making sure it is just .htaccess and not .htaccess.txt or anything like that.

What this file does is give directions to your site visitors telling the browser what page to look for first, second, third, etc. until it finds one. So we just changed it from home.php being first to index.html being first. Simple.
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