How to install an osCommerce template

Once you have downloaded a ZIP file, you should unpack the archive and save the unpacked files to any folder on your computer.

Your archive manager will create an "osc" folder inside your unpacked root directory. You should upload the contents (every single file and folder) of this folder to the root folder of your server.

This is if you want your shop to be opened by typing your domain name in the address bar of a browser like http://www.your_site.com
If you want to place your shop into some folder of your server called say "shop" just create this folder on your server and upload the contents of the "/osc" folder to the /shop folder. In this case your online shop will be available at this address "http://www.your_site.com/shop/".

Click "Install" to get the next step.

For the correct installation check in both matchboxes ("Import Catalogue Database" and "Automatic Configuration") and press Continue.
Because osCommerce uses a database to store data, you should fill in all the fields to provide the information on your database server. osCommerce installing script will import values from the file "web_root/shop/install/oscommerce.sql" to the database that you point to ("web_root" is the path to your web server's root catalogue).

Database Server – your database server address
Username – the name of the user who has rights to create and change databases and tables
Password – password of the user
Database Name – the name of your osCommerce database
Session Storage – special storage to keep sessions’ values (we recommend you to choose "database" here)

Press "Continue" for the next step. osCommerce will process the test connection to the database server now. You will be informed about the results. If osCommerce fails to process the connection, then you should get in touch with your administrator to check your server settings.

Press "Continue now". osCommerce will add the values to the database now. This process may take several minutes.

Check the osCommerce configuration settings. It's recommended to keep these settings unless you have to change them. After checking the settings press "Continue".

We recommend that you save the settings with the form but create a new account (user) for OsCommerce.

To finish the installation press "Continue". You will be shown a notification about the successful installation.

To have a look at your on-line shop, press "Catalog".
You will have 2 or 3 notifications at the top of your browser. To hide them you should:

To make any changes to your online shop, you should type "http://your_site/shop/admin/" with your browser.
We recommend that you rename your admin folder with any other secret name (secret_name) and enter the admin section using this name "http://your_site/shop/secret_name/".

See also:

Uploading files and changing permissions demo movie
Installing and encountering an error demo movie
How to create a database demo movie
Final steps of installation demo movie