opencart Newbie

Hello!

I'm new to opencart, but am gradually finding my way around.

I've been asked to make some changes to an existing website.

I would like to make some major template changes, and want to test the new template before putting it into production.

My questions are:

1) how do I make a copy of an existing template as a starting point for the new template?
2) how do I test the new template so that no one else has visibility to it?
3) once tested, how do I make the new template the operational template?

Thank you for your patience!

Hi,

See if this link helps you out.

http://forum.opencart.com/viewtopic.php?f=139&t=36665

This link provides info that is too detailed in my learning about opencart at this time.

I am a php programmer, and naturally I want to hard code the instructions.

So, as an example, I want to add a link to an existing page. What I currently have is:

<a style="color:white;position:relative;right: -450px;font-size:32px;text-decoration:none;" href="index.php?route=common/reviews">Read / Write Reviews</a>

I have placed my reviews.tpl file in: catalog/view/theme/mytheme/template/common.

So, when I click the Read / Write Reviews link, I receive the message "The page you requested cannot be found!".

When I click the Read / Write Reviews link, the resulting URL is:
http://www.riverbottomgifts.com/index.p ... on/reviews

I have a feeling that I don't have my href coded properly and/or I haven't set up files correctly to support this new linkk to reviews.tpl.

When I click the Home link (which works properly), the resulting URL is:
http://www.riverbottomgifts.com/index.p ... ommon/home

What am I missing?

Thank you in advance?