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    Creating a clean theme...

    Ultimately, I’m heading in the direction of creating a new theme, most probably based on the clean CSS theme, but even better would be to start from scratch, being rid of all the button set images, and all the theme images in the theme folder, etc. It would be nice to be able to provide a theme knowing that there are NO unnecessary images, etc. on the site to confuse things.

    I would create my own theme folder, or simply export my own images to a “custom images” from within Actinic, plus replacing or leaving out the button set. But I’m worried about the fact that I don’t yet know where the code comes from when I chose a different theme :/ I’m not entirely sure how I go about creating a new theme – I know I can create custom image sets, even button sets, but there’s no indication as to how these image sets are connected to the code for my theme.

    Obviously there’s a chance that I’ve simply missed the documentation section about it all, so point me in the right direction and be done if need be. But otherwise it seems I’m in a dark a little with regards to how Actinic treats images and code. I think what I want to know, is how the theme (image set?) is related to the code, AND how the code is related to the button set.

    I am not in the business of creating reusable themes, but rather one off company specific designs. I want a clean theme, with no unnecessary bits and bobs lying around the place. I don’t need a button set, because there will never be a need to swap it. How can I make a blank button set? Or not specify a button set? I have noticed that the clean CSS theme uses hard coded CSS invoked images for its “Add to Cart” buttons, but it uses the “Grey” button set for the main menu. Clearly some of the buttons in the set aren’t even used but I assume are copied into the site regardless. Are those images not referenced uploaded to the online store anyway? What if you wanted to include more than the standard buttons in the button set? Is a “button set” a predefined list of image file names that Actinic can conveniently swap out with the click of a button, or is there more to than that? Could one make a custom button set with more button images, then produce 3 or 4 other optional sets with which to swap?

    This did come up slightly on the forum, but the old issue of CSS invoked images still concerns me. If I write code that uses images, either in the HTML or the CSS, will exporting my images to a custom image set automatically copy all the coded images into the new “theme” folder? I assume that after APPLYING a theme (image set), I can alter the code that is mystically associated with it by removing some images, then delete those images from the “site1” folder, and proceed to export the remaining images in the site to a “custom images” folder (theme?) and end up with a new SUBSET of the original theme with a new theme name.

    In Actinic 7 it was a straight forward process to EXPORT a theme, such that I could send my client a 200k archive that could later be decompressed, applied to their v7 Business shop and result in the graphic overhaul of their current shop content. In v8, how exactly is this done?

    Cheers very much for reading

    #2
    I have dug a little deeper and have come to the conclusion that there are two basic questions I need answered, given that the "themes.ini" file shows which base layouts and image sets belong to the given theme:

    1) How is the "button set" linked to the code - it seems the image names are hard coded IN the code, and so I'm wondering if its any more complicated than Actinic simply being able to hot-swap a predefined list of names image files. In which case, I would like to know how to avoid using a button set, thus removing a possible 61 images from the theme completely.

    2) How, once I have written new code, selected/created new layouts, provided new images, etc. do I actually export a finished theme? I see the "Save Site Images as Custom Images" and "Save Site Buttons as Custom Buttons" buttons under "Advanced Themes Configuration..." in "Design"->"Themes", but does this automatically create the entry in "themes.ini" for the new theme? When does the "themes.ini" entry get updated if you create a new button set for that theme (manually editing the ini file?)?

    To recap, only two real issues I think are left: How to opt out of a button set, and how to package up the entire THEME ONLY to send to a client. It's possible the export function is diguised inconveniantly as something else... possibly the "Export Partial Site Design"?

    Comment


      #3
      See this thread re theme deployment

      http://community.actinic.com/showthread.php?t=22968

      for buttons - there is an option on the design menu to use your own custome set of buttons. I am going down the route of producing my own buttons sets whilst still using the default actinic naming convention

      Do you want to remove your duplicate post? to ensure people don't answer the same Q twice

      Comment


        #4
        If you wanted only text links, as I do in this particular case, is it valid to have NO button set? Can you specify no button set in themes.ini?

        If I delete all the 61 button images from the site1 folder, then "Save Buttons as Custom Buttons" will I end up with an empty button set folder like the "Clean Layout" button set?

        I really don't know what to do with button sets - in the context of a one-off specifically designed site.

        Comment


          #5
          Dave

          Don't worry about themes.ini, button sets and all that. Those are just features of the built-in themes that come with Actinic. You just want to create a single custom design and then send that to your customers.

          I have atttempted to address that question here: http://community.actinic.com/showthr...149#post119149

          Let's continue the discussion there and see whether we can help you out.

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