Member Avatar for PsychicTide

Hey guys, Just trying to get my ducks in a row for an ecommerce website. I'm setting up a zencart-based website and am rounding the final lap on completion. I couldn't find an all inclusive post on this. I want to be able to recieve payments via paypal and credit cards.

What I think you need (basics):
payment gateway
merchant account (plan to use paypal which apparently has both gateway and merchant account capabilities)
SSL certificate

My question is, what all is needed to complete a fully working zen cart website (i.e.: services that I need to purchase, how to setup shipping rates, or anything else similarly tedious)

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Member #949455

Dani AI

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A few practical, bite‑sized steps to finish a Zen Cart store. You already have the essentials in place (host, Zen Cart code, PayPal sandbox). Running in sandbox was the right call, . Most hosts will install or provide TLS for you (as pointed out), but confirm the certificate serves from the same document root that Zen Cart uses — otherwise pages and redirects break. Free automated certs (Let’s Encrypt) are a common option if your host doesn’t manage this for you. (docs.zen-cart.com)

Decide whether card data is captured on your server or handled by a hosted checkout. If you redirect customers to PayPal/hosted checkout you keep cardholder data off your servers (smaller PCI burden). If you accept cards directly you need a gateway/merchant account and to follow PCI rules. Continue using the PayPal sandbox to test webhooks/IPN flows, then switch to live credentials and re-test. (developer.paypal.com)

Zen Cart‑specific final steps: install and verify HTTPS, then update your configure.php defines so the store and admin use the HTTPS URL. Example (edit your actual domain):

define('HTTP_SERVER', 'https://www.example.com');
define('HTTPS_SERVER', 'https://www.example.com');

Clear caches and browser cookies before testing. Verify PayPal callbacks (IPN/webhooks) reach your site and that Zen Cart is creating orders correctly in live mode. Follow the Zen Cart SSL enable guide and PayPal go‑live checklist when flipping from sandbox. (docs.zen-cart.com)

Shipping, tax and launch checklist: use Zen Cart shipping modules (flat, table, zones) or add carrier plugins for real‑time rates; set product weights/dimensions and create tax zones. Before public launch, apply Zen Cart security recommendations (patches, strong admin password, backups), enable HSTS and automated cert renewal, and monitor checkout logs for failures. If you’re considering OpenCart as suggested, it’s a valid alternative — but if the site is built in Zen Cart, finishing and securing this installation is usually faster. (docs.zen-cart.com)

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Member Avatar for Member #949455

Hey guys, Just trying to get my ducks in a row for an ecommerce website. I'm setting up a zencart-based website and am rounding the final lap on completion. I couldn't find an all inclusive post on this. I want to be able to recieve payments via paypal and credit cards.

Are you familiar with any programming?

It's not hard to set-up an e-comm website. It's like learning a CMS.

Member Avatar for PsychicTide

Indeed, very familiar. I'm a computer science major not far from graduation and have been a freelance web dev for about 7 years. I just want to make sure I have everything in order as I'm not 100% certain of the parts of an active e-commerce website (I just took care of logic/algos, in the past someone else took care of the services which needed to be purchased to complete everything else).

Anything for the framework has great doumentation, but the services/frameworks I'm assuming I need are as follows (very basic):
SSL
Custom Code / Framework (Zen Cart)
Merchant Account + Payment Gateway (PayPal + PayPal Express checkout)

Edited by PsychicTide
Member Avatar for Member #949455

SSL

That is from your host server.

Custom Code / Framework (Zen Cart)

Since you are developer, then it wouldn't be any issue at all creating & writing the code.

There is a default template you can used.

Merchant Account + Payment Gateway (PayPal + PayPal Express checkout)

You need to know how to implement that. That is separate from the website.

Member Avatar for ozstylo

why dont you go for opencart that is very easy in use and fast you can also make multistore easily on them...

Member Avatar for PsychicTide

Alright, I've setup my website using a paypal sandbox account (testing purposes), guess all that needs to be done is purchase the SSL and set it up (I hope). thanks for the help guys.

Edited by PsychicTide
Member Avatar for Member #949455

Alright, I've setup my website using a paypal sandbox account (testing purposes), guess all that needs to be done is purchase the SSL and set it up (I hope). thanks for the help guys.

You are close to be be done! Congrats. I thought you might take some time of doing this but you done it quick.

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