Template Files - What are they and how are they used?

What does a template do?

The template files used in Zen Cart provide the structure and layout of the various pages of your cart. They make use of the definitions from your language files.

These files are located in includes/templates/template_default. Template files are of three types; common, specific pages and sideboxes. The files can be identified by a tpl prefix (e.g. tpl_shopping_cart_default.php) These files contain all the information necessary to construct the pages used by your shop.

Common Template Files are located in includes/templates/template_default/common. These files are “common” to every page used throughout Zen Cart. These files consist of the Main Page, the Header, the Footer and the Box files used for the sideboxes.

Page Specific Template Files are located in includes/templates/template_default/templates. These files represent the pages of your cart and include the Index page, the Log in page and the Product Display pages.

You can change the layout of each page in your shop by editing these page-specific template files.

Sidebox Template Files are located in includes/templates/template_default/sideboxes.

These files contain the instructions for placing content into the sideboxes you are using.




Still have questions? Use the Search box in the upper right, or try the full list of FAQs. If you can't find it there, head over to the Zen Cart support forum and ask there in the appropriate subforum. In your post, please include your Zen Cart and PHP versions, and a link to your site.

Is there an error or omission on this page? Please post to General Questions on the support forum. Or, if you'd like to open a pull request, just review the guidelines and get started. You can even PR right here.
Last modified September 20, 2020 by Scott C Wilson (f3bd368b).