X-Cart forums

[cflsystems]

I've been following this thread to see how far it will go and how easy it is to do something like this with XCN but your reply here brings the question (which I have even for XC4 though):

P.S. although you can replace template files this way, we recommend you to keep as much "default" templates as possible - some of the templates which you replace may be modified in future versions, and the changes won't get into your custom versions of the files during upgrade.

How XCN works for soemthing like this? To compare with XC4 - I always advice clients to modify existing skin and not create new skin directory - for that same reason - XC upgrade doesn't care about anything non-XC. So custom skin in non-XC directory does not get upgraded. So if there are bugs in the XC skin (not to talk about new features) simply by copying that skin to a new one will copy the bugs and they will not get fixed with an upgrade.

From your answer here I get it it is the same with XCN. To me is sounds way better to just modify existing XC skin instead of trying to create new one

[Cpt.Crashtastic]

XPlorer's methos was a lot easier and the one I did not try before doing it programatically.

This is an interesting debate.

Which method would make it easier to identify where the problem was if this or any other template was altered during the upgrade process?

Replacing a skin completely may make it easier to identify quicker.

I need to do some testing on what would happen if you have multiple skins themes installed. If this is the case, altering the CDev css is not an option, in my opinion, as you would have nothing working to go back to.

What happens if we have multiple modules altering a CDev modules CSS? It could get proper messy

If you are gong to sell skins you need some element of control.

If there was a notification process for developers that gave them say a weeks notice for an impending upgrade it would make life easier.

I've just got an x-cart next test site up and running with Drupal if you are interested. It took a suprisingly long time to get there.

http://www.thesuitstore.co.uk

[xplorer]

In XCN there are many improvements which allow you to modify the design without duplicating-modifying-replacing template files:

1. First of all, you can add your html snippets into existing templates by adding @ListChild directive. This is what Cpt.Crashtastic named "russian dolls": http://forum.x-cart.com/showpost.php?p=345355&postcount=5

2. Most of the design tweaks can be done from CSS without hacking into the html templates.

3. The template engine prohibits the use of a complex logic in template files. All complex presentation logic is isolated in widget classes which you can extend/"decorate" from custom modules without copying the files (and duplicating the bugs, if any).


You may replace a couple of templates in your skin module - just be more careful when installing upgrades. If something goes wrong you always can temporarily disable the skin module and check how a new feature/change looks like in the "default" version (and then adapt your modified templates to reflect the change).

But you should never edit core files (including templates) - the next upgrade will drop them and replace with unmodified versions from the new version.

[xplorer]

Originally Posted by Cpt.Crashtastic

If there was a notification process for developers that gave them say a weeks notice for an impending upgrade it would make life easier.

This is what we are going to do: we will release RC versions a couple of weeks prior to the final release so that all developers could test their modules/modifications and adapt them to the upcoming changes.

[Cpt.Crashtastic]

Dare I ask when the release version of XCN is coming?

[xplorer]

Originally Posted by Cpt.Crashtastic

Dare I ask when the release version of XCN is coming?

In a couple of months. The second beta will be released in about a month (we are certifying our integration with PayPal).

[cflsystems]

Originally Posted by xplorer

But you should never edit core files (including templates) - the next upgrade will drop them and replace with unmodified versions from the new version.

This answers my question about XCN and upgrades, thanks