X-Cart:FAQs

Installation and configuration

Where do I download X-Cart?

Click here to download the latest release of X-Cart Gold/X-Cart Pro. More files are available in File area section of your Qualiteam account. Files are supplied in .tgz or .zip archives.

How can I unpack X-Cart distribution archive in Windows?

If you run Microsoft Windows, you can use WinZip (or WinRAR) tool to extract the files.

1. If you don't have WinZIP archiver, download it from http://www.winzip.com
2. Launch WinZIP and open X-Cart distributive package
3. Click on the Extract button and specify your web server root directory.

See X-Cart:Installation page for help on installation.

How do I know which version of X-Cart I use?

You can find out the version of your x-cart installation using one of the following links:

http://[your_site_URL]/[xcart_dir]/VERSION
http://[your_site_URL]/[xcart_dir]/include/version.php

or on the 'Summary' page in the X-Cart backend.

What is Installation error report?

The report indicates that X-Cart installation may not be completed because the web-server is not configured to run X-Cart software. In most cases, you should contact the hosting support to request to change the server settings.

The report has two sections: REPORT - contains information on the errors that may or may not hinder in the installation procedure, PHP INFO - information on the PHP configuration.

You should pay attention to the first paragraph. Note what errors are reported there, critical (CRITICAL ERRORS) or noncritical (NONCRITICAL ERRORS:).

An example of the installation error report:

REPORT:
----------------------------------------------------------
X-Cart version: Version 4.1.10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Report time: Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:56:23 -0400
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HTTP_REFERER: https://[store_URL]/[xcart_web_dir]/install.php
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CRITICAL ERRORS:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- MySQL database support is disabled. MySQL PHP extension must be enabled for correct operation of X-Cart application. [CHECK RESULT: Disabled]

There are CRITICAL ERRORS: MySQL application is not installed on the web-server
For now it is not possible to complete the installation until the problem is rectified.
You should contact the hosting support to request help with MySQL setup.

NONCRITICAL ERRORS do not stop the installation and you can complete it.
However, it is recommended to fix the errors too in order to avoid any possible problems in your future store.

Feel free to contact our support team for an advise.

How to change x-cart web-directory after installation is done?

1. Rename the current x-cart directory. Or if you want your cart to be shown in the root, i.e. www.example.com/home.php, you should move the x-cart files to the root folder on the server.

2. Update /config.php file (it is located in the root x-cart folder). You should alter this variable

$xcart_web_dir ="/[dir]";

where [dir] is the current x-cart folder. If you just changed the name of the folder, you should insert the new name in [dir].

If you moved the files to the root, change the string thus

$xcart_web_dir ="";

NOTE: For versions 4.0.x and lower. If the x-cart images are stored in the file system, you should move them to the database before changing the directory.

Images storage location is defined in the admin back end, "Images Location" page.

How do I move my images to the file system?

First, you should export images to /files directory of X-Cart. X-Cart requires three images' folders: for icons, for thumbnails and for detailed images. You should create individual directories inside /files for each type of images and indicate corresponding paths on the 'Images location' page in the admin zone. During import of images to file system, X-Cart will overwrite images files names to appropriate ones. For ex., "home/public_html/xcart/files/thumbnails" will be a path to thumbnails images.

Thus, to import images to the file system you should follow the following steps:

1. Create three folders inside /files dir: for ex., "icons", "thumbnails" and "detailed_images"

2. Set 777 permissions on these folders (chmod 777 [folder_name])

3. Go to 'Images location' page in the admin back end and type in the paths to the images such as

/home/public_html/xcart/files/icons
/home/public_html/xcart/files/thumbnails
/home/public_html/xcart/files/detailed_images

4. Choose to store images in 'file system' and click 'submit'.

What is Auth code and where can I find it?

For security reasons, we added Auth code into install.php script. When the installation script detects that X-cart is already installed on your host it will not allow you to proceed without entering the Auth code.

To protect your work, we recommend either deleting script install.php, or changing default Auth code. But it is better to keep install.php since you may need to install different skin sets (X-cart comes with several skin sets).

You will find the Auth code in [xcart_dir]/include/install.php file:

# Put access code here
# A person who do not know the auth code can not access the installations script
#
$installation_auth_code =

You may change the auth_code at any moment. Also the code is displayed in the admin back-end, on the 'Summary' page.

How to change storefront skin after the installation is done ?

1. Run the installation script, i.e. open http://[your_store]/[xcart_dir]/install.php in your browser; 2. enter the Auth code, you will find it in the include/install.php file and also in the X-Cart admin zone -> on the "Summary" page; 3. choose 're-install skin' and click 'next'. You will be offered to select a desired color scheme, layout and dingbats set. Choose a skin you like. 4. Complete the re-installation and check how your store looks now.

How to replace logo shown on storefront?

Logo can be changed by altering the following IMG tag located in the 'skin1/head.tpl' template (if using default skin):

<IMG src="{$ImagesDir}/xlogo.gif" width="244" height="67" border="0">

Remember to change width and height values with the appropriate ones.

Logo shown on invoices can be changed by altering the following IMG tag located in the '/skin1/mail/html/order_invoice.tpl' template:

IMG src="{$ImagesDir}/companyname_small.gif" border="0"

You should upload the appropriate image to /skin1/images' directory.

How to replace logo shown on invoices?

you should replace the logo image in file '/skin1/images/companyname_small.gif'. Note: the new image file must have the same name so that x-cart is able to refer to it in templates

As an alternative, you can edit a path to the X-Cart Invoice logo file in template '/skin1/mail/html/order_invoice.tpl'.

Find this code:

<img src="{$ImagesDir}/companyname_small.gif" border="0" >

and replace it with this:

<img src="{$ImagesDir}/new_companyname_small.gif" border="0">

where new_companyname_small.gif is the name of the new logo file. You should upload it before to '/skin1/images' directory.

After that you can edit the image tag in the way you need (change file name, image width, image height etc).

How to set company name?

Your company name can be set in 'lbl_site_title' language variable.

1. Log in to the admin area 2. Go to the "Languages" section 3. Select a language in the "Edit language" selectbox. 4. Select a topic: Label. ("text" for :txt_, "Errors" for err_) 5. Find the 'lbl_site_title' variable and edit its value in the memo. Alternatively you can just leave the field void. In this case the company name will be the same as it is in the copyright notice. 6. Click the "Apply changes" button.

NOTE: the company name which appears in Copyright field, in the invoices, etc. does not correspond with the company name on the main page of your store and in the navigation bar above. Actually what you're setting via lbl_site_title' variable is your site's title, which can differ from your company name. You can have any text here. That is why setting of your real company name and this site title are carried out separately. Moreover it helps to make a multilingual company name.

Concerning the company name in the e-mail invoices, it is set via your Admin zone->Administration tab->General settings->Company options->Company name field.

How can I customize the look of X-Cart storefront?

Refer to X-Cart:Customizing storefront page.

My store says "This is a demo store powered by the X-Cart". Does this mean I am using demo version?

This is a standard welcome message which can be easily modified. If you open the '<xcart_dir>/skin1/customer/main/welcome.tpl' template, you will see following statement there:

{$lng.txt_welcome}

When a customer visits your site, the {$lng.txt_welcome} statement is substituted with content of the 'txt_welcome' language variable, i.e. "This is a demo store...".

How to modify the 'txt_welcome' language variable:

1. Log in to the admin area
2. Go to the "Languages" section
3. Select a language in the "Edit language" selectbox.
4. Select a topic: Text. (‘text’ for :txt_, ‘Errors’ for err_)
5. Enter 'txt_welcome' in the 'Apply Filter' field to find the variable and edit its value in the memo field.
6. Click the "Update all" button.

Also, if you start the "Webmaster mode", you will be able to edit language variables in easier way: all you will need is to click the text and edit it. Refer to the manual to learn more about the ‘Webmaster mode’ feature.

How to alter default name titles "Mr.","Mrs.","Ms."?

In X-Cart v4.1.x and later this can be done using 'Administration'-> 'Titles' section in admin back-end.

In previous X-Cart versions, you have to edit '/config.php' file altering the following string:

$name_titles = array("Mr.","Mrs.","Ms.");

How to remove "Powered by X-Cart: shopping cart software" text?

Edit skin1/main/prnotice.tpl template.

How can I obtain a USPS account?

Visit the site http://www.uspswebtools.com and register for USPS Web Tools (click on the ‘Sign up for USPS Web Toos’ link and fill in the registration form). You will receive an e-mail with Username and Password. Follow the instructions provided there. Get in touch with Internet Customer Care Center and ask to switch on your profile to allow you to access the Production Server and to provide you with the production URL (Only the URL without ShippingAPI.dll file, i.e. "production.shippingapis.com").

Enter this URL, username and password into the appropriate fields in the USPS account details subsection of the ‘Shipping options’ page (accessible via ‘General settings’ in the admin area).

How to setup UK shipping and taxes

When you are installing X-Cart by running the installation wizard script, you should select option "United Kingdom" in dropdown "Configuration settings". After the installation is completed, UK-specific configuration will be imported into your store database.

To setup UK shipping and tax on a working X-Cart, you can apply an SQL patch from xcart_web_dir/sql folder - xcart_conf_UK.sql file. Download this file to your machine and install it via the X-Cart admin zone, "Patch/Upgrade" section, "Apply SQL patch" form.

The SQL configuration patches were added in v4.0.x. If you are using one of the earlier versions of this branch and do not find the patch, you can extract it from the fresh distributive of v4.0.x.

Note: the patch does not work on v3.x.x

If you need add specific UK shipping methods you can create them manually. Go to the admin backend, "Management" menu, 'Shipping methods' page and add new methods in the "Defined shipping methods" section.

Licensing

What is the one-license-one-store rule ?

This means that you are permitted to use one instance (a single installation) of the X-Cart software on one web server and one website only; in the event You intend to use the Software or any part thereof on more than one website, the license for each such multiple use must be obtained.

Examples explaining the one-license-one-store rule:

1. If your store is accessible from multiple domains but the content is the same for each link, this is OK and does not require multiple licenses.
2. If your store is accessible from multiple domains but each domain shows a different storefront skin style, this is OK and does not require multiple licenses.
3. If your multiple stores are located at sub-domains or in sub-directories of the same domain, the license for each store is required.
4. If your store is accessible from multiple domains and your store is customized to show/hide/alter certain part of content based on the domain, the license for each domain is required. In this situation the stores appear to have separate content thereby making them separate stores in the eyes of the license agreement. The content needs to be the same for each domain in order to qualify as a single store.

How to transfer the license to another party?

X-Cart License agreement allows you to transfer your license to another party. Read how to submit a request to transfer your license.

How to obtain an additional license?

You can purchase an additional license in your Help Desk account, "Buy products/services" section:

- click on a necessary product link (X-Cart Gold/X-Cart Pro/LiteCommerce 2.1) - choose add-ons/services, that may be ordered in addition; - click "Continue" button and follow the ordering dialogue.

My store was moved to another domain. Is there anything that I must do pertaining to licensing?

You should change the license URL in your X-Cart Account.

• go to 'My licenses' section;
• click 'Change URL' link located next to the license;
• you will be redirected to the "Change license URL" tab: enter the new license URL in the corresponding field there and tick "I understand that I have to remove the software from old_url within 48 hours after the license is reissued" checkbox;
• hit 'Change URL' button.

When the records are updated you will be notified by a message (in one business day maximum).

Upgrading

Common instructions on the upgrading process can be found at X-Cart:Upgrading page.

How to install patches manually?

Diff file (or a patch) is a file 'describing' changes which needs to be applied to the file. In UNIX world diff files are a standard way to apply changes/fixes to a program source code. There is a special program called 'patch' which reads diff files and applies the changes to the source code. In everyday use diff files are frequently called 'patches' which may sometimes cause confusion.

An example of diff file:

Code:

Index: admin/category_modify.php
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@
db_query("update $sql_tbl[categories] set category='$category_name', description='$description',
meta_tags='$meta_tags', avail='$avail', order_by='$order_by', membership='$cat_membership' where
categoryid='$cat'");
db_query("UPDATE $sql_tbl[categories] SET membership='$cat_membership' WHERE category LIKE
'$category_name/%'");

-       db_query("UPDATE $sql_tbl[categories] SET
category=CONCAT_WS('','$category_name',SUBSTRING(category,".strlen($old_category_name).")) WHERE category LIKE
'Books/%'");
+       db_query("UPDATE $sql_tbl[categories] SET
category=CONCAT_WS('','$category_name',SUBSTRING(category,".(strlen($old_category_name)+1).")) WHERE category
LIKE '$old_category_name/%'");
}

#

We suggest three methods for patch installation.

1. Automatic installation via X-Cart admin. - Save the text of the patch as a file. - Log in to the admin area and go to the 'Patch/Upgrade' section. - in section 'Apply patch', select your file by clicking on 'Browse' button. Click 'Apply'.

2. Runing 'patch' command. - Save the text of the patch as a file (e.g. patch.diff). - Copy this file (patch.diff) to the directory where your X-Cart is installed. - check the patch adaptability: if you are on Linux OS, run command 'patch --dry-run < patch.diff'; if you are on FreeBSD, run command 'patch -C < patch.diff'. - If there are no errors, apply the patch by issuing command 'patch < patch.diff'.

Learn more about 'patch' command in the manual (man patch, info patch). If the patch fails in the first two cases, it might be caused by redundant spaces or conversion problems.

3. Incorporate the changes right in the source code. Open the diff file in a text editor. Diff files are divided into parts ("hunks"). Each "hunk" starts with a line like this:

@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@

where:

160 - indicates the first line of the code that needs to be changed 7 - indicates the number of the lines in the hunk before patch applying 7 - indicates the number of the lines in the hunk that will be after the patch is applied

Under 'Index:' you will find the name of the file that you should patch. In our example, it is "admin/category_modify.php" Then follows the file code marked with "+" and "-" signs: Lines marked with "+" are the lines that you need to add in the file Lines marked with "-" are the lines that you need to remove from the file

If you still fail to apply the patch, it might mean that the files to patch are modified or from another X-Cart version thus cannot be patched by this patch. Feel free to contact our support team for help.

There are upgrade patches in my file area, what are they for and how can I use them?

Starting with v3.2.0 a special upgrade engine, allowing upgrading to a newer version, was implemented in X-Cart. Detailed instructions on how to perform upgrades come in the upgrade packages in UPGRADE.readme files.

Upgrade patches are a set of files which describe differences in code between old and new versions. All the changes are represented in standard diff format (UNIX unified diff format). Diff files contains structured data indicating what pieces of code are to be added/replaced/deleted: a sample of old code and a new code to insert instead. You will find more information about diff file at http://www.gnu.org/manual/diffutils-2.8/html_chapter/diff_toc.html

The main advantage of this approach is that diff patch technique allows upgrading even customized versions of X-Cart: X-Cart upgrade engine follows the list of files from the file file.lst and tries to patch them. Then database upgrade is fulfilled. If the code is not changed the upgrade will be successfully completed. However, since X-cart is highly customizable product most of X-cart users are certain to modify its code and templates to meet their needs. Here might come difficulties. If a piece of the code to be patched was customized (altered), the patch engine won't patch it and the upgrade script may fail. You will be notified about it by the system. So if you have ever changed X-Cart code you should be prepared to resolve the conflicts manually.

X-cart patch engine creates a log file that reflects a progress of the patching process - templates_c/upgrade/patch.log. The failed hunks are stored in reject files filename.ext.rej. Using this information you can figure out what parts of code haven't been patched in order to patch them manually afterwards.

For more information on the upgrade procedure and the instructions, refer to the manual included into the upgrade archive.

Why I'm getting checksum errors during upgrade?

When uploading files using 'Text' mode in FTP client it may alter your files. It replaces the linebreak symbols that are different for Unix and Windows systems whereas all the other text is left the same. These changes are not visible, but X-Cart checks files checksum and the values appear differerent from the expected ones.

In order to solve the problem you should put your FTP client into 'Binary' mode and reupload the upgrade package files on the server.

Basic usage

How to edit multiple products at once?

You may want to use 'Search-and-modify' feature: - open 'modify product' page; - check 'Select-and-modify' check-box and make a search for products; - in the 'product details' section, tick boxes near necessary settings, change the values and save.

As a result the change will be applied to all the found products at once.

How to turn off display of featured products list?

You should modify the '/customer/main/welcome.tpl' file. Comment out this part of the code:

{include file="customer/main/featured.tpl" f_products=$f_products}

i.e. change it to

{* include file="customer/main/featured.tpl" f_products=$f_products *}

This will hide the 'Featured products' section.

How to work with 'webmaster mode'?

Webmaster mode allows you to edit templates within the admin interface. You may edit language variables (denoted as "$lng.XXX" in templates) by changing those values in WYSIWYG mode.

1) Before entering webmaster mode, close any template windows & label windows. Enter your admin zone, go to the 'Administration' menu, 'Webmaster mode' page. Click on 'Start webmaster mode' button.

2) The additional "templates" window will appear. It displays the list of templates composing a current page. You can call the template editor from this window by clicking a template.

3) Go to the page you want to change. To define the right template, look at the browser status line (at the page bottom). When the mouse is pointing at some text, this status line indicates the corresponding template and label.

4) To change a label, click on it. If the label is under a hyperlink, move the mouse over it and press "e" (Edit) on the keyboard. The label dialog will appear.

5) After you set a new label content you can (a)preview the site with the changed label, (b)save the text in the database, and (c)copy the label name into the clipboard (IE only).

6) The webmaster mode is based on sessions: it applies only to the computer it has been set up on. I.e., when the 'Webmaster mode' is launched, it isn't displayed at the customer's end and doesn't affect the store performance. The changes will show up only after the admin clicks on 'save' button.

7) To quit the webmaster mode, go to admin zone, to the 'Administration' menu, 'Webmaster mode' page. Click on "Quit webmaster mode" button.

NOTE: Webmaster mode will not work with compiled templates.

Where now?

I want to share my X-Cart experience with other people. How can I do that?

We welcome any kind of feedback (positive or negative) about our product as valuable information that can help us to improve it.

We welcome you to share your X-Cart experience with other people on the following web-sites:

• HotScripts
• Toptenreviews
• Shopping cart reviews

Please answer the following questions in your review of X-Cart:

• What was your 1st impression of X-Cart?
• What was your impression of X-Cart after you passed the learning curve?
• Is it making your life/profession easier or harder somehow?
• What do you value most about X-Cart?
• What do you dislike most about X-Cart?
• If your web-site is live now can you say that X-Cart helps you to increase your sales?

I'm experiencing problems. Where can I find a solution?

• Try to search this website for the solution.
• Try to find out more about the problem, see How to debug X-Cart or see the section below for information on how to contact Qualiteam engineers and other knowledgeable users.

I've found a bug or have a feature request. Where do I post it?

Bugs should be posted on:

• "Communication center"->"Report a bug" tab under your Qualiteam account
• http://bugtracker.qtmsoft.com (used during beta-testing stage)

Feature requests should be posted on http://ideas.x-cart.com

If possible please search the database prior to posting, to avoid creating duplicate entries.

I have a question not answered here. Where do I ask for help?

• Post a message at http://forum.x-cart.com (you must have a Qualiteam account to do that)
• Submit a ticket to the Helpdesk under your X-Cart Account