I am still enthralled by Magento, but have slowed down considerably since first downloading it. As I said before, it’s a much steeper learning curve than WordPress, or just about any other opensource application that I’ve tinkered around with!

That’s why I’m happy that the Digital Surgeons at ExploreMagento.com have started a blog that will hopefully address many of my questions about this awesome software!

I also very much like the way they are displaying comment numbers, with the little callout background - an idea I’m going to appropriate for my next theme release!

I just LOVE the Net!

When I first started writing HTML, I made a lot of design mistakes. In fact, I cringe when I think about some of them (and when I see some of them - damn you Archives.org!). I got better with time, but my best attempts still looked amateurish, and I was laughed out of many a web design forum!

Things started to change when I bought a book called The Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams.

The book is now in its third edition, and was well worth the price. This will probably be the only book I recommend, as it’s the only design book that ever did me much good.

You can find anything you want to know online about XHTML, CSS or PHP. Photoshop tutorials abound. But after reading this book, and learning about 4 principles of design - proximity, alignment, repetition, and contrast - I started looking at web pages with new eyes. I applied these principles to my own site with a new design, and presented it to my critics - much to my delight, they heaped praise on it, and laughter turned to respect for what I had learned.

The Non-Designer’s Design Book earns 5 flowers and deserves every one!

It’s been a few weeks, and I’ve been under the hood trying to master the skinning process behind Magento. It’s a lot more complicated than WordPress, that’s for sure!

However, I’ve made progress, and managed a three-column liquid layout for the front page. However, it’s still ALOT to learn, and I’ve got a long way to go. So we’re going to install the Modern Template for Magento, and finish up entering the products and such, then open the site and I’ll keep working on the skin. I hate feeling rushed when there are so many details to absorb, and this will give me the time to learn other aspects of the back end that I’ll need to know before we launch.

Yes, it’s hard to skin. Yes, it’s a lot more complicated than ZenCart. But if it’s twice as complicated as Zen, yet 100 times better, then I think the strain on the brain is worth it!

I wanted to share what I believe is the best solution for an eCommerce site, bar none, and it’s FREE!

Magento is an opensource shopping cart application from Varien, and it beats all other solutions that I’ve tried, to hell and back!

One thing, though, the skinning is a pretty steep learning curve. If you don’t know html and css well, and at least know your way around a php file, then you’ll probably want to hire a designer - not me though, I’m still learning!

Check it out - I think you’ll agree that it’s worth the struggle! I finally got a little more comfortable with the files and have succeeded in replacing a logo and adjusting some widths.

Out of the box, it validates to XHTML 1.0 Strict - another plus for an obsessive-compulsive like me!

I give Magento 5 flowers, but it deserves 10!

I like it, I do! But I won’t be using it and here’s why:

While it’s very convenient, I would have to go back into the admin control panel anyway - to enter tags, and most importantly - to use All-In-One-SEO for custom titles, meta description, etc.

Those who manage many blogs might find this software indispensable - I’ll stick with the admin panel, thank you!