How-to for Theme Development

vaprak

Joined: 2006-03-13
Posts: 2

Posted: Mon, 2006-03-13 11:52

Is there a document floating around that details how to create a Gallery theme? None of the existing themes match the site I am putting together.

I've initially looked at an existing theme to see if I could twaek it, but that was even more confusing as nothing is commented or in any logical order.

Anyone have any advice on the matter? I'd love to use Gallery (awesome implementation) for my pictures, but it does little good to me if I can't match it to my site.

Thanks.

-vap

ckdake

Joined: 2004-02-18
Posts: 2254

Posted: Wed, 2006-03-15 02:16

http://codex.gallery2.org/index.php/Gallery2:Themes and
http://codex.gallery2.org/index.php/Gallery2:Tpl_Reference are all we have to offer at the moment. We are aware that the documentation is a bit lacking and improving it is high on our priorities list.

--
http://ckdake.com/

If you found my help useful, please consider donating to Gallery.

vaprak

Joined: 2006-03-13
Posts: 2

Posted: Wed, 2006-03-15 02:36

Thank you for the reply, ckdake. Unfortunately for a person with minor PHP and CSS skills the accompanying links don't provide much help in customizing a theme.

Hopefully a better tutorial makes it way to masses soon!

Thanks again.

ckdake

Joined: 2004-02-18
Posts: 2254

Posted: Wed, 2006-03-15 05:48

No PHP is required, but familiarizing yourself with some smarty is useful. Just dig around in Matrix for the basics and you should be able to get away with just about any basic design only copying and pasting things from there.

--
http://ckdake.com/

If you found my help useful, please consider donating to Gallery.

jinite

Joined: 2006-03-19
Posts: 8

Posted: Sun, 2006-03-19 14:54

hi, i've read the README.html and found it confusing. I've looked at the view/source of the main.php and noticed standard html tags.. but can't seem to find it anywhere.. ie. .tpl, .css .inc etc. where can i find it so i can customise the look and feel.. the only additional thing to this look and feel is... heading / header (including links based on dreamweaver template).. and bottom/ part of the page.. plu

ckdake

Joined: 2004-02-18
Posts: 2254

Posted: Sun, 2006-03-19 20:50

The tpl files generate the code for what gets sent to the browser, so basic HTML things won't be in the tpl files. Try adding in a <p>Hello World</p> in the tpl file and see where it shows up on your page. theme.tpl is the file you want to be working in for changes that effect the whole site. Make sure to go to site admin and clear your tpl cache each time you make a change just to make sure that they go through.

--
http://ckdake.com/

If you found my help useful, please consider donating to Gallery.

jinite

Joined: 2006-03-19
Posts: 8

Posted: Sun, 2006-03-19 22:54

thanks.. it's somewhat working but not extactly...i've ended up copying what's inside the header tag and body tag of theme.tpl and placed them accordingly to my html file and resaved it as theme.tpl.. it kinda works. now i just have to work on the formatting of the original matrix theme.tpl lol..

thanks for the advise dude.

ckdake

Joined: 2004-02-18
Posts: 2254

Posted: Mon, 2006-03-20 03:33

Ask any specific questions you like but trial and error is your best friend! It's a lot easier for us to answer questions like "Here is the code I tried, I don't understand why it doesn't work but it's really close" we can often resolve without having to bust out our text editors and try it ourselves

--
http://ckdake.com/

If you found my help useful, please consider donating to Gallery.

vaprak Joined: 2006-03-13 Posts: 2	Posted: Mon, 2006-03-13 11:52
	Is there a document floating around that details how to create a Gallery theme? None of the existing themes match the site I am putting together. I've initially looked at an existing theme to see if I could twaek it, but that was even more confusing as nothing is commented or in any logical order. Anyone have any advice on the matter? I'd love to use Gallery (awesome implementation) for my pictures, but it does little good to me if I can't match it to my site. Thanks. -vap
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ckdake Joined: 2004-02-18 Posts: 2254	Posted: Wed, 2006-03-15 02:16
	http://codex.gallery2.org/index.php/Gallery2:Themes and http://codex.gallery2.org/index.php/Gallery2:Tpl_Reference are all we have to offer at the moment. We are aware that the documentation is a bit lacking and improving it is high on our priorities list. -- http://ckdake.com/ If you found my help useful, please consider donating to Gallery.

vaprak Joined: 2006-03-13 Posts: 2	Posted: Wed, 2006-03-15 02:36
	Thank you for the reply, ckdake. Unfortunately for a person with minor PHP and CSS skills the accompanying links don't provide much help in customizing a theme. Hopefully a better tutorial makes it way to masses soon! Thanks again.

ckdake Joined: 2004-02-18 Posts: 2254	Posted: Wed, 2006-03-15 05:48
	No PHP is required, but familiarizing yourself with some smarty is useful. Just dig around in Matrix for the basics and you should be able to get away with just about any basic design only copying and pasting things from there. -- http://ckdake.com/ If you found my help useful, please consider donating to Gallery.

jinite Joined: 2006-03-19 Posts: 8	Posted: Sun, 2006-03-19 14:54
	hi, i've read the README.html and found it confusing. I've looked at the view/source of the main.php and noticed standard html tags.. but can't seem to find it anywhere.. ie. .tpl, .css .inc etc. where can i find it so i can customise the look and feel.. the only additional thing to this look and feel is... heading / header (including links based on dreamweaver template).. and bottom/ part of the page.. plu

ckdake Joined: 2004-02-18 Posts: 2254	Posted: Sun, 2006-03-19 20:50
	The tpl files generate the code for what gets sent to the browser, so basic HTML things won't be in the tpl files. Try adding in a <p>Hello World</p> in the tpl file and see where it shows up on your page. theme.tpl is the file you want to be working in for changes that effect the whole site. Make sure to go to site admin and clear your tpl cache each time you make a change just to make sure that they go through. -- http://ckdake.com/ If you found my help useful, please consider donating to Gallery.

jinite Joined: 2006-03-19 Posts: 8	Posted: Sun, 2006-03-19 22:54
	thanks.. it's somewhat working but not extactly...i've ended up copying what's inside the header tag and body tag of theme.tpl and placed them accordingly to my html file and resaved it as theme.tpl.. it kinda works. now i just have to work on the formatting of the original matrix theme.tpl lol.. thanks for the advise dude.

ckdake Joined: 2004-02-18 Posts: 2254	Posted: Mon, 2006-03-20 03:33
	Ask any specific questions you like but trial and error is your best friend! It's a lot easier for us to answer questions like "Here is the code I tried, I don't understand why it doesn't work but it's really close" we can often resolve without having to bust out our text editors and try it ourselves -- http://ckdake.com/ If you found my help useful, please consider donating to Gallery.

How-to for Theme Development

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