Starter Template for Dolphin 7.2.0

This is an update to a 'Starter Template' topic I made for Dolphin 7.1. Here, I've updated it for Dolphin 7.2.0

Often, someone will want to change something about the look of the standard Dolphin Pro installation that uses the provided UNI, ALT or EVO templates.  Typically those people are advised to NOT make any changes to files in the /templates/base folder, as those files may be overwritten whenever the site is upgraded from one version to the next, and any customization may be lost.

Those same people are often advised to "Make a copy of the UNI template and make changes to it",  The trouble is, that is a little more complicated than it seems.  The UNI temple has NO files in its css folder, and there are NO html template files in the tmpl_uni folder.  The UNI template uses ALL of the css files from the /templates/base/css folder and ALL of the html template files from the /templates/base folder.  For a beginner, dealing with creating a template that imports css from the /templates/base/css folder, then overrides portions of the base css with new css, is probably not a good path to success.

If you want to create a new template, here's something that's a bit more straightforward.  Attached is a zip file containing what is basically a completely self contained EVO template.  Just unzip, and upload the tmpl_custom folder to your sites /templates folder and switch to the template in admin or by adding ?skin=custom to your sites url.  This template merges the css from the /templates/base/css folder with the css from the /templates/tmpl_evo/css folder.   All css unique to the EVO template has been appended to the appropriate file in this templates css folder.  Since no css files are imported from the templates/base/css folder, this template is a little easier to work with and to understand.  I have changed just a few colors, and removed the evo background image. Keep in mind that I've made no attempt to design an entirely new template here.... this is intended only as a starting point for you to create something new on your own.

This template is better for development purposes because the tmpl_custom/css folder contains every css file that is used.  Make any desired changes directly to the css files in this folder.  The tmpl_custom folder also contains all the *.html files.  These files control the layout of various blocks on your Dolphin site, and you shouldn't alter them unles you're confident you know what you're doing.  One mistake in any of these files can wreck the entire layout of your site.... the same can be said of the css files.  A single syntax error in any of the css files, or html files can disrupt the layout of the entire site.

During development, I usually turn of ALL caching and clear the cache folders.... you'll drive yourself crazy if you don't.

If you want to call this template something else, simply rename the folder from tmpl_custom to tmpl_somethingelse

Once you do that, you'll need to edit the /tmpl_somethingelse/scripts/BxTemplName.php file and change the text highlighted in red below:

<?php

    $sTemplName = 'Custom';
    $sTemplVer = $GLOBALS['site']['ver'] . '.' . $GLOBALS['site']['build'];
    $sTemplVendor = 'Me';
    $sTemplPreview = 'preview.png';
    $sTemplDesc = _t('_adm_txt_templ_custom_desc');

_adm_txt_templ_custom_desc  or _adm_txt_templ_somethingelse_desc  is a language key you must then add in admin.  It is the description text that appears in the template section of your admin console.

The template's preview image that you see in your sites admin, is located in the templates /images folder and in this template it is named preview.png  When you are finished designing your template, you can take a screen shot of it, and use it instead of the one included in this template. Scale down your screen shot, and crop out a 200px by 200px portion of it. It can be any name or image type, just change the above image name appropriately.

 tmpl_custom  contains the most recent version of Font Awesome icons, version 4.4..... Dolphin 7.2.0 was released with version 4.3, and V4.4 contains 66 new icons.  This templates icons.css has been updated accordingly  For a complete reference, see this page: http://fortawesome.github.io/Font-Awesome/icons/

tmpl_custom contains an additional folder, jquery-ui-themes-1.11.4     This is just a convenience I added to make it easier to change the color scheme of jQuery UI elements such as calendar popups, sliders, etc. You will find an example of how to use a different theme in _header.html

<link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="<bx_url_root />templates/tmpl_custom/jquery-ui-themes-1.11.4/themes/dark-hive/jquery-ui.css" />
<link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="<bx_url_root />templates/tmpl_custom/jquery-ui-themes-1.11.4/themes/dark-hive/jquery.iu.theme.css" />
</head>

The text highlighted in red above, is the name of the sub folder where the theme resides.  To use a different theme, edit the folder name in red appropriately.  You can view all the themes here: http://jqueryui.com/themeroller/   Click on the Gallery tab in the ThemeRolller box, then any thumbnail to see what all the UI elements will look like on your site using the selected theme.

Thanks HL, your work is appreciated and I can link others with template questions to this forum topic.

Download has been removed, and this entire topic is being moved to the 'Rubbish' forum,  There have been too many changes in  the core template files between 7.2.0 and 7.2.1, and using this starter template is no longer viable.  I may do something like this again after the core template code stabilizes. but right now there's just too many changes to deal with.

Thank you for sharing, it is actually very utlile!

Really wonderful. Thanks very much for making this available.

One question:

Is Site Customizer available with this template? Site Customizer wand icon doesn't appear in the member menu for this template as it does for other templates.

Thanks again.

 Can you post a screen shot of a template that shows this 'wand'.  I've never even installed this module, and have no idea how it's even supposed to work. 

This template is nothing more than the evo template with a few minimal css changes, so I presently have no clue as to the source of your problem.

I don't even know why something called 'Site Customizer' would be on the member menu in the first place.  Maybe someone can enlighten me on these customizer modules that I have never paid attention to.

 http://www.boonex.com/forums/topic/Site-Customizer-a-new-BoonEx-module.htm

I already was that thread.  It doesn't say much about what happens after you install these customizer modules.  Other that a settings page in admin that makes no fucking sense at all, I see nothing on the user side.

So.... what the fuck do these module do and how do you use them?

To answer the question; the site Site Customizer module only works with the UNI/ALT templates.

 That's good enough for me.  There ya go hippsio.... the site customizer only works with the uni an alt templates.

I can't imagine why anyone would want something called a 'Profile Customizer' on their site. I assume it's purpose is to allow members to dick around with background images and colors.  I can't help but think of MySpace a decade ago where aesthetically challenged people had 10 megabyte repeating background images of pink kittens and bright red glitter icons, with purple text.  Their profile page would take 30 minute to load, provided it didn't crash the browser first.

If I find a way to make those customizer modules work with this template, be assured that hell will freeze over before I do it. 

 I think the big question here is why would HL wait for a pink-kittens profile to load in the first place?

Probably for the same reason I had that creepy Tom guy as my automatic first friend for more than 30 minutes.

See attached image.

Completely agree. Saw this module listed but couldn't figure out how to use it until Nathan Paton enlightened me.

Not true. Site Customizer works with EVO template as well, though after creating a new version of this template myself by copying, renaming, and changing /scripts/BxTemplName.php, Site Customizer still didn't appear.

To this point, it seems accessible only on Boonex created themes.

So, Site Customizer only works with EVO, Uni and ALT.  I am using BIZ2. I am trying to change the header color and I've changed div.sys_main_logo on the general.css in BIZ2, cleared cache and nothing happens... Can someone point me to the right script to change?