You can have an e-commerce site after a few clicks with OpenCart. Although it is very easy for people who know how to install OpenCart, it can be complicated for people who have not dealt with this kind of work before. That's why I will try to explain all the steps from the beginning in a way that everyone can understand.
What You Need Before Beginning Installation
- First you need a domain name and hosting (or server) service.
- A database to be able to store your data. Create it from the database section in your hosting control panel.
- Download the latest version or version you want to install from OpenCart download list.
Now that we've completed our initial requirements, we can slowly move on to the setup.
If you have an old version of OpenCart installation, you can update it by following the steps in the How to OpenCart Upgrade? article.
Uploading Files to FTP Server
1. We extract the OpenCart zip file of the version we downloaded to a folder. When you extract the zip file, it will look like below.
2. We connect to FTP server using FTP program. In this article, the explanation will be made through the WinSCP program. It can be used in FileZilla or other programs.
3. Since we will do a zero installation, the files we need are in the "upload" folder. We open this folder and upload all the files in it to our FTP server. The main directory name is public_html for cPanel users and httpdocs for Plesk panel users. If you are using a different panel, it may be under a different name.
4. After the installation process is completed, your write "yoursiteaddress/install" in the address bar of your web browser and press Enter to start the installation. The installation screen will appear. Let's go to step 2 by clicking the "Continue" button. If the installation screen does not appear, you have installed the files in the wrong directory.
5. This step contains the system requirements for installation and information about your system. You must meet all the requirements here in order to continue with the installation.
Switch to FTP program and delete -dist suffix from config-dist.php and admin/config-dist.php files. The final version of the filenames should be as follows; config.php and admin/config.php
Switch to your browser and refresh the page. If you have completed all the requirements, click the "Continue" button to proceed to step 3.
If you encounter an Unwritable warning against any directory in the Directories section. In the FTP program, right-click on the directory you are warning about and select File Permissions. In the window that opens, set the numeric value to 755 and check again. If it is not writable, set this value to 777 and click the OK button.
6. In this step, you will be asked to enter the database information you created before and the OpenCart administration panel user information. Enter the requested information and click the "Continue" button to complete the installation.
7. When the installation is complete, the following screen will appear. Open the FTP program and delete the install folder. To access the OpenCart administration panel, you can access the address bar by typing "yoursiteaddress/admin" and login with the administrator information you specified in step 3.
Congratulations!
Now you have an e-commerce site with OpenCart infrastructure.
If you're using OpenCart for the first time, go through all the menus, tinker with, change settings, add or delete products/categories and don't be afraid to do these before you start serving your customers! Thus, before moving to a live website, you can have information about the panel and prepare yourself for future problems. If you encounter an irreversible problem, you can follow the above steps and make a new installation again and again.
If you want paid installation support, you can purchase the OpenCart Installation option from here.
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