Before You Begin

Before uploading/installing the files on the server, you should definitely read the "Uploading Your Shopping Cart" section. Many of the files contained within the unzipped folder are not needed to actually use cf_ezcart and should not be placed on the web server. We will go over which files should be placed on the web server.

Setup of cf_ezcart requires some editing of the ColdFusion (.cfm) files. For ColdFusion developers, editing the .cfm files will come naturally. For others, here are some editing tips. We are assuming you are familiar with FTP (file transfer protocol). If you are not, feel free to contact us, because you will need this to move your files and images to and from the web server.

There are instances throughout this documentation where we will have you edit various variables in cfset statements, such as...

<cfset somevariable = "somevalue">

Be certain that if we tell you to remove the value or enter an empty value, that you leave the quotes intact, with no spaces between the quotes. So the example above will look like...

<cfset somevariable = "">.

PC Users

• The first time you double click on a .cfm file, you will likely get a dialogue box saying that the extension is not associated with a program, and asking you which program you would like to use to open it. You may choose your favorite text editor, or simply choose Notepad or Wordpad. There will be a checkbox to "Always use this program". You may check it if you wish, and afterward, .cfm files will always open with that application. You may also wait, and try several editors, then check the box when you are sure that you've found the editor you'd most rather use.

Mac Users

• We highly recommend that you use BBEdit for editing the .cfm files. BBEdit is the most powerful text editor available on any platform. You may download BBEdit Lite for free from Bare Bones Software.
• When editing the .cfm files, look at the top of the window for the little icon menus. One looks like a page, and has 3 options in it: Macintosh, Unix and DOS. These are the line breaks. Always choose DOS.
• When uploading/downloading the files to/from a Windows web server, choose Binary or Raw Data. If you upload/download as text, the line breaks will be transformed to Mac line breaks and can create problems on a Windows server. Uploading as Text should be fine on a Linux or Sun server. Don't upload anything as MacBinary.