re-design. new to x-cart. Help!!!

ziggy · #1 06-05-2007, 08:51 AM

Hey guys!
I'm new to x-cart, and had a lot of headache finding how to incorporate the new design of the web site. Maybe, these are trivial problems for u, but I just cannot start it going...

The situation is like this: there is an old design, which is on Smarty template. Now my task is to build a new design, and it is done with XTHML on CSS-based layout. So the design is ready, but how do I insert into the x-cart system so it will work as the previous site, but with a new look?

Where to get started? Where do I define what images of the layout go where? Please help!
Thanks for your time!

balinor · #2 06-05-2007, 10:17 AM

You have a lot of work in front of you

My suggestion would be to create a copy of the store and work on the design there. Then, when it is ready to go, you can simply copy the skin1 directory to the existing store and voila, new skin is installed

ziggy · #3 06-05-2007, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by balinor

You have a lot of work in front of you

My suggestion would be to create a copy of the store and work on the design there. Then, when it is ready to go, you can simply copy the skin1 directory to the existing store and voila, new skin is installed

But how to start removing the old design, and replace by the new one? I looked in header.tpl, i looked in home.tpl, and couldn't find anything that would describe the header look of the page and stuff like that!@

pls guys help!!!

balinor · #4 06-05-2007, 10:49 AM

Really can't say as it will depend on how the previous designer coded it. Is it a stock template or a custom design?

ziggy · #5 06-05-2007, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by balinor

Really can't say as it will depend on how the previous designer coded it. Is it a stock template or a custom design?

The old design it's a custom one, the new wich i did, is also custom made.... I just can't find where are the declaration for the layout design...

balinor · #6 06-05-2007, 11:24 AM

There isn't a 'declaration', you need to slice up your design and implement it into the appropriate templates. Good place to start might be here:

http://forum.x-cart.com/showthread.php?t=21529

ziggy · #7 06-05-2007, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by balinor

There isn't a 'declaration', you need to slice up your design and implement it into the appropriate templates. Good place to start might be here:

http://forum.x-cart.com/showthread.php?t=21529

I read it, nice stuff there! thx!
i found in style1.css where the images for the layout are declared. And now, in order to switch from the old design to the new one, I just have to change a lot of stuff, right? from color, background images, and so on???

is there any way where I can build from the beginning, without altering the product database?

balinor · #8 06-05-2007, 11:48 AM

Well the CSS file only contains classes...most X-Cart sites are table based, and many developers put a lot of stying into the templates themselves. Again, it will depend on how your current site is coded.

The database doesn't contain any information on the design (other than some 'number of x per row' settings), so changing the templates and css file won't alter the database. I suggest making a backup of everything first, as I guarantee you will mess at least one template up before you are done

ziggy · #9 06-05-2007, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by balinor

Well the CSS file only contains classes...most X-Cart sites are table based, and many developers put a lot of stying into the templates themselves. Again, it will depend on how your current site is coded.

The database doesn't contain any information on the design (other than some 'number of x per row' settings), so changing the templates and css file won't alter the database. I suggest making a backup of everything first, as I guarantee you will mess at least one template up before you are done

Thank u man! hope it will go fine