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Changing your Zen Cart Admin Directory name

Changing the directory name "admin" to something harder to guess is a very important part of maintaining your cart's security. And it's not hard to do. Here are the step by step instructions:

This page creates a "Random" admin name every time you load it. The name consists of a series of 12 upper and lower case numbers and digits, excluding a handful of characters such as zero, upper case Q and upper case O (for legibility).

Your randomly chosen admin name is:
crBXtXvXUtmi


  1. (Note: Modifying the admin/includes/configure.php file is not required in Zen Cart 1.5.0 and higher) If you are still using Zen Cart 1.3.9 (or still using a 1.3.9 style admin/includes/configure.php file), then edit the file admin/includes/configure.php, and make these three changes:
    1. Change
      define('DIR_WS_ADMIN', '/admin/');
      to
      define('DIR_WS_ADMIN', '/crBXtXvXUtmi/');
    2. Change
      define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_ADMIN', '/admin/');
      to
      define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_ADMIN', '/crBXtXvXUtmi/');
    3. Change
      define('DIR_FS_ADMIN', '/home/slothe/public_html/admin/');
      to
      define('DIR_FS_ADMIN', '/home/slothe/public_html/crBXtXvXUtmi/');

  2. Rename your admin directory using your file transfer software to crBXtXvXUtmi

  3. Update all your bookmarks, favorites, etc. to use the new URL to your admin panel, http://your-store.com/crBXtXvXUtmi
If your shop is in a subdirectory, the same steps apply. Suppose the subdirectory is called "store".
  1. Change
    define('DIR_WS_ADMIN', '/store/admin/');
    to
    define('DIR_WS_ADMIN', '/store/crBXtXvXUtmi/');
  2. Change
    define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_ADMIN', '/store/admin/');
    to
    define('DIR_WS_HTTPS_ADMIN', '/store/crBXtXvXUtmi/');
  3. Change
    define('DIR_FS_ADMIN', '/home/slothe/public_html/store/admin/');
    to
    define('DIR_FS_ADMIN', '/home/slothe/public_html/store/crBXtXvXUtmi/');
And one last thing: when choosing an admin username, please don't use admin or Admin. Pick something harder to guess!