Installing Zen Cart(tm)



Welcome to Zen Cart™ ...

The Zen Cart™ software is made available to you for use, additions, changes, modifications, etc. without charge, under the GNU General Public License.


While we do not charge for this software, donations are greatly appreciated each time you download a new version, to help cover the expenses of maintenance, upgrades, updates, the free support forum and the continued development of this software for your online e-commerce store.


Donations can be made at:
The Zen Cart™ Team Page


We appreciate your support.
The Zen Cart™ Team




Zen Cart™ is derived from: Copyright 2003 osCommerce
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY;
without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
and is redistributable under the GNU General Public License








This software is OSI Certified Open Source Software.
OSI Certified is a certification mark of the Open Source Initiative.







Admin Directory Security


What is this article about?
It is recommended for additional security that you rename your
admin directory after installation. This way, it will be significantly harder for hackers to find your admin area or attempt any attack on breaking into it.


How to Rename the Admin Directory
Before making any changes, make sure to have a current backup of your files and your database.
1- Open your admin configuration file: admin/includes/configure.php
In this file, change all instances of /admin/ to your chosen name:
Change this section:
// NOTE: be sure to leave the trailing '/' at the end of these lines if you make changes!
// * DIR_WS_* = Webserver directories (virtual/URL)
// these paths are relative to top of your webspace ... (ie: under the public_html or httpdocs folder)
define('DIR_WS_ADMIN', '/admin/');
define('DIR_WS_CATALOG', '/');
define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_ADMIN', '/admin/');
define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG', '/');
Change this section:
// * DIR_FS_* = Filesystem directories (local/physical)
//the following path is a COMPLETE path to your Zen Cart files. eg: /var/www/vhost/accountname/public_html/store/
define('DIR_FS_ADMIN', '/home/mystore.com/www/public/admin/');
define('DIR_FS_CATALOG', '/home/mystore.com/www/public/');

2- Rename your admin directory
Using your FTP software, find your Zen Cart™ /admin/ directory. Rename the directory to match the new name used in step 1 above when you edited your admin/includes/configure.php




Additional Information
For more information on site-security, see important_site_security_recommendations.html
For additional help and support issues, visit our FAQ's and our Support Forums on the web.
Zen Cart™ Website



Good Luck with the software and Enjoy the Zen Cart™ Experience!






Zen Cart™ Copyright 2005