Universal Shop Template

Step 1: Install Magento

Complete an installation of Magento on your site and create a Website, Store, and Store View.

Step 2: Upload Your Theme

After installing Magento on your site, upload your theme files to the appropriate folders, following the folder structure in which the theme is provided.

Step 3: Activate Your Theme

1. Locate and open the file located at /app/etc/local.xml

2. Directly above the tag </global> add the following code:

   <page>
   	<layouts>
   		<universal_homepage module="page" translate="label">
   			<label>Universal Shop Homepage</label>
   			<template>page/universal-homepage.phtml</template>
   			<layout_handle>universal_homepage</layout_handle>
   		</universal_homepage>	
   	</layouts>
   </page>

3. Access the Admin Panel and navigate to System > Configuration.

4. Select your Store View from the Current Configuration Scope drop-down menu in the upper left corner.

5. Click on "Design" under the "General" section of the left side navigation.

6. Under the "Themes" section, uncheck all of the check boxes titled "Use website."

7. In each text field, enter the name of the folders containing the theme you wish to use.

   In this case, enter "universalshop" (without quotes).

Step 4: Set Up Your Homepage

1. From the top navigation, navigate to CMS > Pages.

2. Click on the "+ Add New Page" button.

3. Enter your desired page title.

4. For the home page, be sure to set your URL Key as "home" and select your store view.

5. Select "Design" from the left side navigation and set Layout to "Universal Shop Homepage"

   *Note: If the custom homepage layout is not available, refresh Magento's cache via System > Cache Management, then log out of the admin panel, log back in, and try again.

6. Under Layout Update XML, enter the following code:

   <reference name="left">
   <block type="catalog/navigation" before="-" name="catalog.sidebar" template="catalog/navigation/sidebar.phtml"/>
   </reference>

7. Select "Content" from the left side navigation and enter the content for your home page in the text area.

   To make your homepage appear as the example on our site, click the "Show/Hide Editor" button and enter the following code:

   <!-- New Products -->
   {{block type="catalog/product_new" name="home.catalog.product.new" alias="product_homepage" template="catalog/product/new.phtml"}}
   
   <!-- Bottom Callout -->
   <div class="clear"></div>
   <a href="electronics.html"><img src="{{skin url=""}}images/d8-callout-3.png" /></a>

8. Set the Status to "Enabled" and click on the "Save Page" button in the upper right corner to save and activate your homepage.

That's it! Congratulations

Just set up your categories and products, and you now have a beautiful, fully functioning ecommerce website!