[christian]

Hi,

I have version 3 and can only see the basic skin. Are there no more extra free skins like version 2 had??

Christian.

[orangegirl]

Hello, Christian!

Yes, in CS-Cart version 3.0.1 only one Basic skin is available. We plan to add more skins in future versions.

[kogi]

http://www.bugtreat....liars-nore.html

[Entangled]

V2.x came with several skins, but, V3.0.1 only comes with one. What with that?

When do you expect to have ALL the V2 skins available for V3?

Also, why isn't there any documentation about converting a V2 skin to V3?

[Triplets]

After building my first v3 store, to be honest additional skins are a waste in v3. You control the layout, content, look and colors through the very powerful Block Manager and CSS. No need to ever buy a skin again. Complete control is at your finger tips without modifying any code.

[kellenw]

You can do a lot of things with the block manager when it comes to changing information to be presented, but templates go a long way in really changing a site's look.

Personally, I would like to see themes with the ability to change colors, background images, etc. right from the admin. A lot of Joomla and drupal themes have this functionality built into them now, and it's fantastic.

[StellarBytes]

Agree with kellenw, but unfortunately it appears a lot of CS-Cart theme developers abuse/take advantage of lazyness, and offer themes with no more than a couple of images/CSS colour changes and brand them as individual themes - check out some of the premium WordPress themes available - now THAT is what we want.

[Entangled]

Personally, I don't care about Joomla, Drupal or Wordpress themes or how those CMSs handle colors, background image etc. I care about getting the themes / skins available for V2 working with V3.

It seems to me that if a developer or whomever would put together documentation on what changes need to be done to a theme / skin in order for it to work with V3, the "Community" would be able to convert the existing themes / skins to work with V3.

Also, I have a couple purchased V2 themes / skins and would like to continue to use them in V3.

Both V2 and V3 are using Smarty so it shouldn't be that difficult to convert, if only we knew what to convert without having to "reinvent the wheel" by dissecting code to figure out the required changes ourselves ... someone has already done it.

[Triplets]

I think you guys are missing the whole point of the new Block Manager in v3. In v2 and before one had to modify the smarty templates to create a skin. In v3 one can control the complete layout using the Block Manager. Skins, as they exist in v2, are irrelevant in v3. Cs-cart did a very good job of adding this functionality to the Block Manager. At first I was leery of the new Block Manager, but after creating my first v3 site I found it extremely powerful. My client would ask me to move an item, like the My Account section, to another location and 1 minute later I had it done. In the old way (v2) I would have to find the smarty template file that controlled that feature and modify the code.

All the graphics and color is controlled through CSS. If you are not familiar with CSS it might be difficult to change the look. But if one is familiar with CSS it is very easy to change the look and color scheme of everything in the cart. Maybe instead of skins people should be selling v3 CSS sheets.

I looked at some v3 templates some people are selling for $150 and was appalled. All they did was change a few lines of CSS and sell it for $150! I guess there is always a market for people who are looking for the quick answer (purchase a template), but with a little knowledge the sky is the limit in v3 without modifying any smarty templates.

My advice, save some money, spend some time learning and using the Block Manager before you purchase a template.

[Entangled]

Hey Triplets.

Twice you have posted your comments about the Block Manager in V3. What is the URL of your first V3 site?

Thanks.

[Triplets]

I am working on several currently. The only one that is Live is www.lewiestanning.com

I was a huge pessimist when I first started to use v3, mainly because I am a coder at heart, but the block manager actually delivers quite well.

[tbirnseth]

Have they fixed the issue where you could not drag a grid? I.e. if you add a grid it always goes at the bottom. No way to move it.

[Triplets]

No, and I do find that annoying. If I drastically changed a layout I had to delete all block and grids and start over. If I could have moved a grid it would have saved me some time.

Actually what I found myself doing is creating temp grids at the bottom to move blocks into while I recreated the new grid layout I wanted.

[solesurvivor]

Yeah I dislike that bug as well. Its a hassle to start all over.

[Entangled]

Triplets, V2 came with several skins. One could quickly change the look of his/her site simply by selecting another skin. No need to screw around with anything.

Did you ALL the changes for www.lewiestanning.com within Block Manager?

Would like to see your other V3 shops ... live or not.

[Triplets]

100% block manager and CSS.

[Entangled]

There you go, you had to edit the CSS too.

V2 comes with several skins where the Block and CSS editting were already done. V3 comes with one, Basic which is the point of this topic.

I am fairly new to CS-Cart and to this layman, Block Manager in both versions seems fairly similiar.

I would like to know what needs to be changed in a V2 skin in order for it to work in V3. Someone knows what to do, we just need to find that someone.

[Triplets]

Entangled, on 11 July 2012 - 12:24 AM, said:

I am fairly new to CS-Cart and to this layman, Block Manager in both versions seems fairly similiar.

Have you looked at the v3 Block Manager, it does not look, function or behave anything like v2.

The CSS is quite easy to modify, it is well commented by cs-cart and uses a very good naming sequence. All modern browsers have a means to identify the css controlling an item.

[brandonvd]

Even though Triplets is anti-hooks, you can set up your own style sheet using the My Changes addon and then add in your own styles. This makes things really nice and a lot easier to manage.

I do agree that the blocks make doing skins really nice. Once you get the hang of them, they are very cool to use. Triplets is definitely correct, you can definitely do a skin just with the blocks and styles.

As with anything though, they do have their limitations. I've done a couple of skins in 3.0 so far. Sure, most of the work can be done with the blocks, but not all. I've had to make a few files to make things work exactly how I wanted.

I also do think it would be nice for CS-Cart to do a few skins and make them available. Even though the blocks are super cool, there are plenty of people that just want to be able to just "flip a switch" and have a totally different design. I'd imagine that there will be more skins just around the corner.

Anyways, just my 2 cents.

Thanks,

Brandon

[Entangled]

Yes, I have looked and played with V3 Block Manager and as mentioned, it seems fairly similiar to V2. Yes, it looks different ... yes, it behaves differently, but, concept is the same.

http://demo.themedem...id=29800&cart=c ... going to take a lot of Block moving and CSS editing to the Basic skin to get the look of this $79.95 V2 skin.

http://demo2.cscarts...x.php?demo_skin[C]=SilverBlack ... going to take quite a bit of Block moving and CSS editing to the Basic skin to get the look of this $60 V2 skin.

How long did it take you to do www.lewiestanning.com?

I don't know about you, but, my time is better spent purchasing the basic design I want and doing some changes to it instead of starting with the Basic skin and moving Block / editting CSSs.

Again, read the topic ... "Version 3 has no more free templates?" ... I believe orangegirl pretty much answered the that question with "We plan to add more skins in future versions."

If you happen to know what needs to be changed in a V2 skin to get it working in V3, we all (or at least me) would like to know.