I have a new design for my store and want to skin on cs-cart. I am a bit confused between method of skinning
Copy any existing theme and skin it as per need.
Use my_changes addon for skinning
What I have read on many threads on this forum, if I go with my_changes addon it will help me in smooth upgrade to newer versions.
So as per this I have started to skin theme using my_changes addon, I have “basic skin” and applied many changes using template hooks. But I found that in “basic skin” hooks are created in a fixed format like header, footer, product listing etc… beside these hooks, there are many things that I want to change. for which there is no predefined hook exist.
And second thing my design is complete different from cs-cart html structure. But if I go with my_changes and this hook method I am bound to follow html (page) structure of CS default themes.
So in my_changes addon method I need to add hooks in “basic skin” as per my requirements, but if I do so I am going to change default skins, and as per rules that will make problem while upgrade. So probably solution is
One more confusion about my_changes addon, I have created a new css file in my_changes hook, for my custom design. Now what i see in source code, it is loading two css files, one of basic theme and another one is mine. So there is too much repeatation of css classes.
Probably I am wrong in this, but this is what I have understood till now.
First option of copying a skin and editing it, seems good option, as I can change complete html structure as per my need.But it will not be upgraded in future versions.
Now if I ask myself, for what kind of upgrade I am expecting in future upgrade, Admin panel changes, core files upgrade, performance improvement etc.. all that is related to code of cs not template part. Few changes like product image scroller, add to cart ajax effects such changes will be applied in skins and these skins changes will not be applied on my theme.
But I guess these skin changes can be incorporated later on too?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am quite confused in both, can anyone please suggest which method I should go with.
I am also very interested in this, as the website I’m developing will be using a much different look and functionality for the product detail page. Instead of doing a variation on a theme (which the provided skins are to my knowledge), I wish to know the best way to “completely redesign” the store front, but keep all the niceties of the admin-side.
Thus, I too am worried about future “upgrades”, and what exactly that affects.
If you want an entirely custom layout using all your own css, js/jquery, etc. then use the “new skin” method. If you want to utilize the infrastructure that exists (blocks, etc.) and get updates to that infrastructure then use the ‘hooks’ method.
Add hooks as you need to. Just be sure to comment your changes to make resolving your upgrade conflicts easier in the future.
I wrote a skin revision manager a while back (http://www.ez-ms.com/addonproducts/skin-revision-manager.html). It allows you to “manage” various skins based off of existing skins as well as to allow you to develop and preview changes before making a revision the “active” skin. The “upgrade” aspect of this addon is not very valuable anymore since cs-cart now upgrades all installed skins when an upgrade is performed.
I wrote a skin revision manager a while back (http://www.ez-ms.com/addonproducts/skin-revision-manager.html). It allows you to “manage” various skins based off of existing skins as well as to allow you to develop and preview changes before making a revision the “active” skin. The “upgrade” aspect of this addon is not very valuable anymore since cs-cart now upgrades all installed skins when an upgrade is performed.[/QUOTE]
link to revision manager is broken,.
@tbirnseth, can you please help me something regarding my below query -
[quote]Now if I ask myself, for what kind of upgrade I am expecting in future CS upgrades, Admin panel changes, core files upgrade, performance improvement etc… all that is related to code of cs not template part. Few changes like product image scroller, add to cart ajax effects such changes will be applied in skins and these skins changes will not be applied on my theme.
But I guess these skin changes can be incorporated later on too?[/quote]
Regarding your other needs. Very hard to separate based on functionality… While the architecture is intended to separate UI from business logic, it’s all pretty closely tied together. If your custom skins template structure does NOT match the “base” structure then those files will not be upgraded.