Unless you code in the programming language php, you will want to find a pre-designed osCommerce template for your website.

Try going to a site like TemplateMonster and look under the E-commerce Templates and locate the templates designed for osCommerce. Browse until you find one you like and purchase it (unless it's free) and download it to your computer.

Unzip

Upload via FTP

After you unzip your file, there should be a folder containing all your .php files. Those are your osCommerce website files. In this case, the files (and folders) are located in the osc directory. A few of those files should look like the following and have these names:

Upload all the files and folders located in the osc directory to the directory you want your web store to be on your web hosting account. Therefore, if your website itself is the e-commerce site, upload all these files and folders into your root directory. If your web store is only part of your website, you can upload them to a subdirectory, like: jenenichelle.com/catalog.

In order for the installation process to work, you will need to change the permissions of two files so they are writable. If you're not sure what that means, just do the following ;)

Log into your control panel and click on File Manager.

Locate the site where your files are located. In this case we are using jenenichelle.com.

Locate the includes folder and click to open it.

Locate the configure.php file and click the little box to the side to check it. Note sometimes this file may be called config.php.

Scroll back up to the top and locate the "Permissions" box in your folder navigational menu. Click the drop down box and change the permissions to 777.

At this point, go back up one directory and navigate to your admin/includes/ directory and repeat this process to change the permissions for the configure.php file there to 777.

You will need to set up a MySQL database where you can store information such as client passwords, settings, reviews, etc. To set up a database, do the following:

Locate the MySQL Databases icon in your web hosting control panel and click it.

Then give your database a name and create the database.

Jot down the following for later reference:

• Database name
• Username (same as database name for eVentureBiz hosting accounts
• Database password
• Database server (you will see that just below your database name after it's been created)

Now you should have your osCommerce-ready website template uploaded, your file permissions changed, and your database set to go. Now it's time to install osCommerce.

Every eVentureBiz web hosting account comes with easy 1-click installs of osCommerce in the elefante scripts. However, for this tutorial, we will install osCommerce using the install script provided with the template you purchased.

Open your Web Browser and type in the web address to your install.php file. The address should be something like http://www.my-site.com/install or http://www.my-site.com/install/install.php

At this point osCommerce should now install itself on your website. We've included some pictures you can follow to see what the installation process is like. The images may change a little as osCommerce release newer versions of its software over time.

In your Administration area, use the menu on the left to set everything up and edit your template.

This part is very important.

Go back to Step 3 and reset your Permissions from 777 back to 644 for your configure.php files.

Following that, go back to the main directory that houses all your web store files and delete the install folder.