AutoTheme Lite .7
Overview
Installation
Template Overview
AutoTheme Design
Additional Functionality
Administration
Bugs and Feedback
Overview
AutoTheme is an HTML Theme System for the eNvolution, MDPro, PHP-Nuke and PostNuke Content Management Systems (CMS). The current theme system usually requires you to be somewhat familiar with PHP and the CMS architecture. If you are not very familiar with PHP and/or CMS, AutoTheme removes this complexity.
AutoTheme's primary benefit is providing users the ability to create CMS themes in HTML using their favorite editor, with no use of PHP. In addition, AutoTheme provides easy customization of every part of your CMS site; including block display, custom templates for the Home Page, User Pages and Admin Pages and individual modules. The addition of AutoBlocks provides 9 additional locations for your blocks. All AutoTheme settings are easily configured from a graphical administration interface that is integrated into the CMS.
CMS Layout
Regardless of how themes are built, a base understanding of CMS is needed. Standard CMS installations make use of four main elements in the layout. Left Blocks, Center Blocks, Right Blocks and Modules. You can create and modify the blocks via CMS's administration menus, but the theme controls when, where and how these four elements are displayed. Two additional elements are used for the news, the Summary Article (displayed on the Main Page) and the Full Article (displayed when the user reads the Full Article usually by clicking Read more...). See an example:
[ Example Site ]
In addition, AutoTheme provides AutoBlocks. Unlimited block positions in addition to Left, Center and Right. You also have full control over when to display Left, Center, Right and AutoBlocks. See an example:
[ Example Site (with AutoBlocks) ]
Installation
Unzip AutoTheme into your CMS directory. This will create a modules/AutoTheme/ directory and several theme directories under the themes/ directory. Depending upon your platform, other files may be installed.
Unzip the AutoTheme compatibility pack for your CMS into your root CMS directory.
After installing the required and any optional files, go to CMS Administration, Modules, and follow the activation procedures for your CMS. AutoTheme is now available from the main CMS Administration area.
File Permissions
*** any theme.cfg in your theme directories must be writeable by the web server!
The easiest way in Unix/Linux is CHMOD 777 autotheme.cfg and CHMOD 777 theme.cfg
Windows should not be an issue unless you have set custom file or directory permissions.
Template Overview
Example Files
AutoTheme is a Theme System, not a theme. The included HTML templates and images may be used as is or modified to fit your needs, but they are only examples. You should use your own creativity to build a custom theme using the AutoTheme functionality. The template files in your AutoTheme can be named anything you wish and can be organized in any directory structure under your theme directory. Your site may require fewer files or more files.
HTML Templates
The only required files for an AutoTheme are listed below. With these created and defined in AutoTheme administration, you will have a basic CMS theme.
- theme.php (from any of the included AutoTheme themes)
- Main Theme Template
- Article Summary (for News)
- Full Article (for News)
- Block Template
Custom Block Templates
Each block position may also have its own template (Left, Center, Right and the AutoBlocks).
Custom Module Templates
Each module or page of your site may have its own template, so that each page that is displayed is fully customizable. Every module has a unique name that is configured in CMS Administration, Modules. You can define custom templates, style sheets, images and colors and head content that are used only for that specific module. In addition, you can control what blocks are displayed on a per module or page basis. In addition to the modules that you have installed on your site, AutoTheme provides the ability to define separate templates for: Home Page (regardless of what module is there), Administration Pages, User Pages (My Account, etc.).
AutoTheme Design
It's very easy to design AutoTheme templates. Just use your favorite HTML editor and design a Main Page template (theme.html), Left Block template (leftblock.html), Center Block template (centerblock.html) and Right Block template (rightblock.html). In addition, the CMS news module uses the theme for the two types of article displays, Summary Article (summary.html) and Full Article (article.html). Main theme templates should be complete HTML files containing , , and their closing tags. Block and Article files should not contain , , or their closing tags. Only the tags necessary to construct your Block or Article.
As you design your Main Page template, keep in mind the basic layout elements of a CMS site. The locations where these are to be placed are specified in your HTML templates using comment commands, standard HTML comments that have an embedded AutoTheme command. AutoTheme commands are enclosed in brackets [ ] and take the following form:
Example:
Commands that are used inside of HTML tags themselves are not placed in a comment and are enclosed in braces { }.
Example: "{command}"Actually, any of the commands can be inside of or { } but try and follow these guidelines as they may change in future releases.
Here is a list and explanation of the included commands:
[ Commands ] and [New Commands]
CMS Specific Tables and Colors
Two theme tables and several colors are used by many core and third-party CMS modules. These internal CMS colors and the border and background color of the tables can be configured in AutoTheme administration. In addition, you can configure templates for the Table 1 and Table 2. These will override the table colors that you specify.
Images and Other Files
The base location of your CMS page is where your CMS index.php resides. Therefore, images and other files such as scripts that are in a sub-directory of your theme directory will need to use a path relative to where the CMS index.php resides. So if you have your images in the images directory an tag and