Before we get started it is important to understand that creating web pages and or changing them is not something that a casual user should really be attempting. We highly recommend hiring a web designer or Sophio's web designers to manage this process for you. If you simply need to change some text that is on your website you surely may be able to do that without hiring anyone. If you are trying to change logo's, graphics, and major things regarding how your site looks, again we recommend spending a few bucks and having a professional do that. It will ultimately save you tons of time and frustration.
The Sophio webstore application is designed to make your life EASY and not hard. You technically only need to manage the look and feel of a single page for your entire website. This page is the 'master template' page. You can alternatively have a custom 'HOME' page as well. Below is a detailed discussion of how this all works.
The File Manager is a link on your control panel in the Administration section (the first link). This link opens up what looks like the Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer). The purpose of the file manager is to allow you to edit files that control your webstore. This is a very powerful tool that will let you upload files, download files, and edit files in real time. You can also do lots of damage if you are not careful. We recommend downloading whatever file to your hard drive first before editing it. The new file manager should eliminate the need for using an FTP program to upload and download files. However, with that said your store still can be accessed via ftp for those that prefer it.
Your webstore uses Sophio Software to generate web pages. There are several hundred templates used in our software of which most can be cusotmized by you. However, the good news is that you really only have to worry about two pages to get started.A
Those files are:
index.wws - home page (stored in your templates root folder)
and
default.wc - template page used on all other non secure pages and also stored in the templates folder
The default.wc page is an html file with special tags in it that communicates with the Sophio Software. The main tag is: <%=pclist%>. Normally this tag is placed in the center of your page since that is where the Sophio content will want to be. Sophio content includes catalog pages, shopping cart, returns, privacy, etc... This is a 'place holder' tag for the dynamic content that is generated by Sophio and is rendered with each click.A If you remove it, you will not see your catalog, your shopping cart, or other
pages that have .epc or .wws as the extension.
In addition to the tag <%=pclist%> being required inside your default.wc you will need a few other lines of html in the head section of the file. These include two css tags and one js tag.A Do not remove these in either the index.wws or default.wc template files.
These files control colors, and various functions that control how the pages work. If you do not include them it will be obvious because buttons will not be clickable, fonts will be unappealing, etc...
You are free to use any html or javascript in these pages as well.
Questions?A Send an email to support@sophio.com or try live chat.
