How to edit the complete site, not just the CSS.

[manHa]

Hi,

How can we edit the HTML of the whole site, like the links in the footer, add some blocks etc.? I've already read your "skinning guide" and all it says is to duplicate the skin folder and then edit the CSS... lol the CSS is the last thing I wanna edit, I want to make my OWN theme with my own style. CSS alone isn't good.

So how can we edit the HTML footer links, header blocks emplacement (currency, search etc.), the shopping cart block etc?

Thanks in advance.

[Stu583]

Hello,

That would be all the .tpl files in the theme you are using. The footer is in the modules "various links" and the cart is in modules "block cart" folder.

Basically if the file you need is not in the "theme directory" then it will be a module.

Good luck with it and hopefully we will get to see the finished product?

[ejectcore]

CMS is coming soon then further work on this project will be carried out to do just that

[leuleuleu]

CMS is coming soon then further work on this project will be carried out to do just that

It's September now.
Eager to use CMS with Prestashop

[tokyoNH]

CMS is coming soon then further work on this project will be carried out to do just that

That will be WONDERFUL! Love the software, this feature would give it an A++!

[Tommie Hansen]

I'm wondering this too. There should be a simpler template system. Please take inspiration from Wordpress since it's a logical and good system to create templates for.

Now one would have to edit *all* the tpl-files and there doesn't seem to be much logic to it at all. One would simply have to HACK everything in order to create something truly custom.

Or at least you should release a slimmed down version that doesn't require any JS-lib or whatever in order to work and that.


Just editing the CSS-files and calling it a "theme" doesn't work.

[Paul C]

There's not a huge difference between the logic of Wordpress and the logic in PrestaShop. To make a theme you copy all the default theme files to a new directory and start editing (in Wordpress "missing" files fall back to the default). The main difference comes from the fact that Wordpress uses php files to modify the layout, and PrestaShop uses smarty .tpl files. The latter is less flexible, but more accessible to folks who can cope with xhtml+css but get nervous near php.

You can slim down anything you like! That's the whole point of having the .tpl files in the first place. If you don't want content to display, then just don't reference it in the .tpl file.

Paul

[Tommie Hansen]

"Problem" is one usually doesn't start a design with editing pre-made stuff. A professional designer do this;
Paper > Photoshop > (x)html > main template (head, blocks, footer, general formatting) > more specific templating (content pages, lists, tables, forms, ie6 workarounds etc)

Creating something new by altering something that already exists isn't the way to go if one want a good markup and all those custom things one is used to when designing websites. Just altering things is only the complete newbies approach that has little to no experience with xhtml/css in the first place.

The PHP-files in Wordpress isn't really "php" in that sense since one hardly need to know any PHP in order to get it since it is mainly based on different hooks and the Wordpress Loop, well.. plus different custom fields and so on if one wants that. I'm not a PHP-dev in any sense (well, a little maybe) and i find WP's hooks and everything extremely easy to grasp due to its logic.

I've checked the TPL-files but they are just too spread and it doesn't feel necessary to have everything that wide spread in the template root really - everything that is a layout within a main layout (header, middle, footer) should be placed in an inc-directory. The important thing here is that a template should work with only those three files and then one should build from there by placing hooks or just simple includes <?php include 'sidebar_right.tpl'; ?>.

There should be some sort of starter guide that just writes about the bare minimum in order to create a PrestaShop template and then lists further common hooks aswell as adding custom hooks. Problem now is that it feels way too much for that final step; custom main xhtml index > template files. I think you would rock your competition completely if you were the WP of E-commerce.

[Paul C]

Not disagreeing with you, but in saying that you don't HAVE to put anything in the files. They just have to exist, so you can start with a blank canvas if you like

I can see where you;re coming from, but then adding another layer of complexity, while it may have benefits for the template designer, does little to improve the cart.

A shopping cart is not a blog though, and in reality much of the "standard" elements are required . Best you can do is alter the presentation, or your customers will be completely lost.

This article is interesting: http://www.ecommerceoptimization.com/articles/ecommerce-shopping-cart-usability-21-best-practices/

A guide is something that I've considered doing myself - or a least a "cheat sheet".

Interesting discussion though

Paul

[Tommie Hansen]

Don't do blog designs though, however it's good to start with something simple and then as you say add the layers of complexity. Simplicity with templates has nothing to do with cart functions. XHTML markup should be a layer and actual functions should be as seperated as possible and implemented via short hooks (check the default template and you'll see that that's not the case) in order to provide a better overview of the actual markup and if one need to edit the functions one can then easily check the hooks WHEN needed (if needed).

Make a guide then. From pure and valid, semantic and crossbrowser capable XHTML/CSS to a template without jQuery and a couple of subpages (like product.tpl) and this without borrowing anything from the default template. It doesn't have to be a cool design really. Just markup and some basic css.