Professional Templates... where?

Can some one post a opencart templaet on template monster. I think it would really help increasing traffic if we can get a few templates on there. OpenCart tempaltes are so easy to make it would take about 1 hour to transfer a osc template to an opencart one.

My first post. I was quite amazed at the default theme for Opencart (compared to Cubecart, OSC, etc). Very simple; good layout and nice homogenous feel. It's a great starter theme!
Could use it immediately (if I was going live). I'd take a "css hack" anyday from someone who really knows how to use colour, placement and consistency. Spent $50 for a very nice Cubecart theme only to hash it with my additions! Sigh.

Would anyone know where i can find what files to change the defult template

Thanks
Doug

Daniel wrote:Can some one post a opencart templaet on template monster. I think it would really help increasing traffic if we can get a few templates on there. OpenCart tempaltes are so easy to make it would take about 1 hour to transfer a osc template to an opencart one.

Hi, how to transfer?

mikejshaw wrote:My first post. I was quite amazed at the default theme for Opencart (compared to Cubecart, OSC, etc). Very simple; good layout and nice homogenous feel. It's a great starter theme!
Could use it immediately (if I was going live). I'd take a "css hack" anyday from someone who really knows how to use colour, placement and consistency. Spent $50 for a very nice Cubecart theme only to hash it with my additions! Sigh.

Can Cubecart theme use in Opencart?

I just think many people end up with very similar looking templates to the default because it is not easy to move things around. e.g. move the shopping cart box to the header, move the currency to header, move categories to be dropdown from nav bar etc. I have tried ...may be I don't know well..but it is not so simple.

It would be great if someone could write a post on moving things around in the template..I don't mean one box from the left to right..that can be done in admin. I mean box to header or footer etc.

However I have created a nice template that I will be contributing soon..

Dear Daniel,
I think for template conversion, OScommerce templates (we talk about OSC 2.2.RC2a) are not the best solution to do so. In OScommerce there is no strict separation of code and design. I use a modified Template Monster template. And it is necessary, if you install a contribution, to change a lot of things in the source code of the contribution files to get it to work with the template. I would not even call it, in the case of Oscommerce, a template, it is a completely modified shop they deliver. OScommerce is mostly table based layout, so for every peace of code there is <td><tr>...</tr><td> a.s.o.. I think the big adavantage of Opencart is the strict separation between code and layout.
I am not a webdesigner, so my comment maybe a little bit unqualified.
We take a look at two template files: home.tpl and confirm.tpl (OpenCart 1.3.3). On the top of the code we see:
<?php echo $header; ?><?php echo $column_left; ?><?php echo $column_right; ?> Let us say on the home page we do not need column_right. So we simply delete that by changing it to:
<?php echo $header; ?><?php echo $column_left; ?>
And if we don't like column left in the checkout page it goes in the checkout.tpl:
<?php echo $header; ?><?php echo $column_right; ?>
Now column left or column right disappear. To make it look a little bit more nice we have to change the width of the main content. So in the css there is an entry for column_left or column right which says: width: 180 px. So if we take a look in the css there is an id-entry for #content with a width of 580. We duplicate that Id-entry and call it #contenthome (because it just goes for the home.tpl). We add to the width of 580px those 180px. So we get a width of 760px.
So in the css we have defined a new id for the content, which looks like:
#contenthome {
float: left;
width: 760px;
margin-bottom: 10px;
}
Now we change the home.tpl, where we already did delete the <?php echo $column-right; ?> from
<div id="content">

to
<div id="contenthome">
#contenthome

Result: We have a two column layout for the home page. The other pages remain 3 column.

Just a little example how it is possible to change the layout of some pages without changing all the other pages. And there is no problem with languages files or controller or model files. We just did change the files in the view folder (css and home.tpl).
Those <? php echo $...; ?> are just placeholders in the template file for content, which comes from model or controller.

As already told, I am absolutely no web designer, but my example may show that the MVC model of OpenCart is not limited. It is just a question of creativity for webdesigners to create nice layouts instead of modifiying Daniels css with a few other colors and ask for donations.

to imaginetech
My critical comments were not directed to you or against you. So sorry if you did misunderstand me. In contrary. As far as I can see you did for example in the Fusion Opencart Template a lot more than modifiying the css. But what you did say about the language compatibility, that is not true.

Fair enough, my reference was about the difficulty in using images on menu's or nav's due to having to make sure it won't break language compatability. Effectively, without some major mucking around nav's must remain text based and use scalable images. This is somewhat limiting.

Hi imaginetech,

thank you for accepting my excuse. Maybe it is because my native language is german, so that I do not understand exactly what you mean. This is the case with your language compatibility. If I understand it right you mean the php echo part .... Yes, that is a limit but it is a limit in the other php shopping carts too. But in some special cases, we need to make an exception. In my german translation for example I did add something hard coded, i.e. 'incl. VAT + Shipping' for the price to not break the law.
I totally agree otherwise. That should be an exception and not a rule to develop templates. But would you agree with me that it is not necessary to put the navigation bar where it actually is or to place the search box somewhere else or put the price of the displayed latest products over the product pictures and do that with a transparent background under that price and over that picture. I think a lot of those things beyond of css modifications are possible without breaking the MVC rules?
Ok, we get difficulties with Internet Explorer 6, but therefore it would be better to display something like:
Your browser sucks!

What I mean is that if you don't want to break support for multiple languages then you have to keep the templates navs and menus text based.

If I was building a site that was going to be solely targeted to english speaking audiences then I might use css sprite menus, rollover images, enhanced typography embedded in images, the list is endless.

There is also the case for needing more data than is supplied by default by the controller. I'm not adverse to embedding extra code into the tpl file but at some point it just becomes cleaner to modify the controller. Hence we start breaking the mvc framework. Do users want templates that require changes to the controller files or templates that include classes and functions most likely tied to an opencart version?

These start to become personal decisions of the developer. All of my templates and modules are plug and play. Not one requires editing any files. I've chosen this path because I've seen the absolute mess that can come about when editing core files becomes commonplace. Upgrading these systems is problematic to say the least.

As I said earlier (and probably sounded a little offensive, sorry) you pay for what you get. And at this stage the kind of designs I think some ppl are after are custom jobs with a custom price tag.

Anyway enough said, good luck.

imaginetech wrote:What I mean is that if you don't want to break support for multiple languages then you have to keep the templates navs and menus text based.

If I was building a site that was going to be solely targeted to english speaking audiences then I might use css sprite menus, rollover images, enhanced typography embedded in images, the list is endless.

ZenCart uses image based buttons and I started to look into that for CrC but then realized what a severe pain in the ass it is and wasted space having to make button packs for each language.

Before evaluating OpenCart I did translate or better did try to translate Prestashop. They use those fixed size buttons and my language for example says for cart Einkaufskorb. So there are some letters more which do not fit into the button. Think in the case of buttons it is possible to change the color but we should leave the functionality as it is.

But, could someone help me with that:
http://forum.opencart.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=7111

Did just publish a conversion script from oscommerce to OpenCart under Contributions. Has anybody here an idea how to tell OpenCart to validate osc customer passwords too, so the customers don't need to ask for a new password?

I only came across Opencart on wednesday when I was referred by a friend, Since then Ive created a website and plan on developing a vast range of templates available for sale, If anybody has any requests/clones they would like to see for Opencart, be it templates or modules let me know and I'll look at building it!

In the mean time visit OCThemes.com, My first template is on there for only 6.99 until monday!

Hope your all well!

I like the main blue one that your site is based on better than the forsale one

I don't know what the whole template issue is about... there are professional templates being created and sold - just because YOU didn't request one and get one made for YOU, then it doesn't mean they don't exist.

For the Do It Yourselfers, code hacks, code junkies or whatever...
If you have a professional HTML layout, (from Templatemonster or a theme... anything!) then go grab my bare template and wrap it with your design. That's a professional starting point, and that's what I created the bare template for. It got rid of the inline CSS that was holding back template production time.

If you don't code, then stop waiting for designers to "come up" with some design you like, and just request it instead! Why would I want to create 50 professional templates, if you might not even want to pay $25 for one of them. Stop bagging out the designs you don't like, and just get one that you do like.
Get a list of professional templates and get a designer to mock it up in photoshop, then get a coder to slice it to html and then convert it to opencart...

The only other thing you need to think about is that some template stuff cannot simply be achieved by making changes to the views only. In some cases, you might need to tinker in the controller to output something differently in the view.

Hi all,

I read through this 4 pages. (some long post skipped) hoping to find if there is a link to guide new users how to make template for open card.

can anyone direct me how to edit the default template to my liking. Something like Templating guide.

Thanks

Franz-Peter wrote:...it is even possible to take a Prestashop theme and adapt that...

I am sure the PrestaShop people are flattered by that suggestion!

LiamG wrote:I only came across Opencart on wednesday when I was referred by a friend, Since then Ive created a website and plan on developing a vast range of templates available for sale, If anybody has any requests/clones they would like to see for Opencart, be it templates or modules let me know and I'll look at building it!

In the mean time visit OCThemes.com, My first template is on there for only 6.99 until monday!

Hope your all well!

I think the bigger picture needs to be bigger. I can hardly see except for the color, can't see any details or even what the little icons are? Just saying.

Yakiv wrote:

Franz-Peter wrote:...it is even possible to take a Prestashop theme and adapt that...

I am sure the PrestaShop people are flattered by that suggestion!

I am not impressed by most (if not all) of the PrestaShop free or commercial templates.
Most of them are just the default template with some image and color alterisation.