Template Overrides System

Before you read this, please review basic terms, template default and default files and overrides for new users.

Introduction

Overrides were created to simplify upgrading and templating.

What Can I Override?

Any file which exists in a folder which has a classic subfolder can be overridden.

As of Zen Cart 1.5.6, this list is:

includes/languages/
includes/languages/english/extra_definitions/
includes/languages/english/
includes/languages/english/html_includes/
includes/languages/english/modules/payment/
includes/languages/english/modules/shipping/
includes/languages/english/modules/order_total/
includes/modules/
includes/modules/sideboxes/

In addition, you can override:

includes/index_filters/ 

You can also override any folder in your template folder. Again as of 1.5.6, this list is:

YOUR_TEMPLATE/buttons/
YOUR_TEMPLATE/common/
YOUR_TEMPLATE/css/
YOUR_TEMPLATE/images/
YOUR_TEMPLATE/info_shopping_cart/
YOUR_TEMPLATE/jscript/
YOUR_TEMPLATE/popup_attributes_qty_prices/
YOUR_TEMPLATE/popup_coupon_help/
YOUR_TEMPLATE/popup_cvv_help/
YOUR_TEMPLATE/popup_image/
YOUR_TEMPLATE/popup_image_additional/
YOUR_TEMPLATE/popup_search_help/
YOUR_TEMPLATE/popup_shipping_estimator/
YOUR_TEMPLATE/sideboxes/
YOUR_TEMPLATE/templates/

You can also place overrides in these folders:

./includes/auto_loaders/overrides/
./includes/init_includes/overrides/
./admin/includes/auto_loaders/overrides/
./admin/includes/init_includes/overrides/

What Can I NOT Override?

At the moment, these elements of your cart do not support overrides:

• Admin
• includes/modules/pages
• The shipping, payment and order total folders under includes/modules

Other Mechanisms for Changing Cart Appearance

Some behaviors are controlled by the show flags in the admin.

Starting in 1.5.8, there are site specific overrides, which allow you to change the behavior of Zen Cart without touching core files.

There are also other mechanisms to allow you modify the behavior of the system without touching core files. These are more advanced topics, intended for developers.

• Notifiers/Observers
• Init System
• Extra folders

See also plugin tips for more suggestions.

Using your Overrides

You’ve created some overrides and now you want to use your new template!

Just create the template_info.php file and activate your template. See the template_info FAQ.

Next Steps

• See how to create a new template.

• See how to customize your new template.

• Learn to use the Developers Tool Kit. It will help you track down the files that you need to change to get the results you want.