X-Cart forums

[RickDavisFL]

I'm working with a graphic designer for our site but he has never worked with X-Cart and needs to know some specs in order to provide the graphics.

I don't exactly know how to phrase my question but I need to figure out what information to give him so that he can work on the background and other style graphics.

I know X-Cart runs off several "frames" or independent areas but can I just give him the sizes of those sections or would something need to be adjusted in a skins file?

What skins files relate to the background graphics for the various parts of the site as well as the text color, "product" areas on the left side and other similar areas?

Would these files be able to be loaded in Dreamweaver so that they could be edited or would whatever graphics that I have made need to be linked into the skins through code?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Thedae2k]

Lots of questions there but first of all, you have no limitations on layout with X-cart. Depending on what format 2-column or 3-column you can change the width of any column through CSS or manually changing table info in the code. The best bet IMHO is to not restrict your graphics guy with the store's default layout. Make it look great and then the code is easy to morph into your final product. Most people barely change their skin and you can always tell when you get to an X-Cart site.

[ARW VISIONS]

Maybe you should hire a designer familar with x-cart, or at least pay a pro to consult.

If you could give us the section s you would like to change then that would be very helpful.

There are a ton of sections and graphics. Need more info.

[RickDavisFL]

Thanks the responding. I know my questions were very vague but I'm still trying to become familiar with X-cart. Our graphics person will not change, he is quite good, the problem is with me in that I am not enough of a web designer/developer to keep this running smoothly.

Okay, here is an example of what I'm working on changing. When the site first loads the basic menu bar appears at the top, then there is a bar with the"search" field. On the left side has "products" and "manufacturers", the right side has "shopping cart" and other areas and the center is where you view products and click through the menus.

Right now, the "boxes" on the left and right side have a solid color background while the rest of the site has a white background. The first thing I'd like to do is have one continuous background image across all three sections. The next thing would be to change the text color and properties (size, font, bold, etc.)

My problem is that (1) I need to tell the graphics guy the background needs to be <insert size and other specs here> and (2) I need to know how to incorporate that into the site.

I had thought of getting someone to consult but I can't see needing someone for the entire development cycle. I just to figure out what to tell my graphics guy and then code it in.

As I said, my problem is that I don't even know the right question to ask.

If any of this is a little more helpful I would appreciate hearing any advice.

Thanks.

[balinor]

It isn't quite that simple. A lot of times you need to slice a graphic into different pieces to span across different elements. You never want to use graphics that are too large (for example one huge background) - always better to split them up. Instead of limiting your design by the x-cart layout, change the x-cart layout to fit your design. If the header you designed in Photoshop is 900x100, change the head.tpl to accommodate that image. Much easier when you think on those terms instead of trying to shoehorn in a design to the default X-Cart template.

[RickDavisFL]

Okay, that makes sense. Thanks balinor.

[RickDavisFL]

I hit reply a bit too quick there.

I do like that plan but I still have the problem where I don't know what elements the layout is built off of.

For example, you said "header" which I assume is the top portion. Should I also assume there is a "left", "right" and "center"? Would you be able to tell me which files load those sections so that I could see what the default settings are and try to familiarize myself with the code that is there?

Thanks.

[balinor]

Read this:

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

[RickDavisFL]

Thanks.