Best way to override Open Cart core files

Hello,

I am fairly new to Open Cart, but I am trying to create a custom theme by using the default theme. Creating a new theme folder and just copying the default theme files that you want to override is a great feature, but why is this way of override not possible for the Open Cart Core files? That would make the whole Open Cart system very powerful.

The thing I am trying to create (and already have created) is adding a new module position for the homepage slider. I already created this but (for now) by editing the Core files and surely I don't want to do that.

I read about VQmod (had some experience with this is the past) and Override Engine, but there isn't really good examples or documentation for not very experienced people like me. Can anyone tell me what would be the best approach for Open Cart 2.0 and does anyone have any examples or documentation on what's the best way to override or add new files to the Open Cart core files? For example I want to edit catalog/model/design/layout.php and want to add a new file to catalog/controller/common/ folder (top_banner.php for exapmle).

Hope someone can help me out.

Best regards.

A Theme can be 'created' out of a lot of different 'things', depending on how 'deep' an individual 'Theme' is designed to interact with Processes, such as registration, down to the last Checkout-Confirmation Page. Every single Module 'can' have it's own Source, located in the THEME Folder, where the Program always looks first, before, if not existing, kind of 'fall back' to the same Source-File, this one always existant and located in the DEFAULT Theme Folder.

Usually, Header and Footer sections are THEME-specific, and socalled 'Middle-Sections' may be, but MUST not. As well as Latest, Bestseller, Random, Registration, and many other Subsection involved. All that can be modified, enhanced, and or matched to specific Tastes, individually, and relatively heavy dependend on the Stylesheet-CSS Setup, wich 'influences' the 'visual' Layout in a very fundamental Form.

It would not make much sense, to overwrite/override an existing Layout, it could massivly slow down Pageload, and it would be a well done 100 hour Job to do something like this by Use of VqMod/OCMod, but still not produce very much, as planned as in the first place.

The Stylesheet enables you to 'influence' the visual Layout very much, you just need a few Images, Backgrounds, Tops, Bottoms, Buttons, that's most it takes. To 'rearrange' Source-fixed Sections or Functions on Pages, you could eventually use a Mod to 'move' Things around a bit. But still, 'interacting' with other Mod's used could easy get to be a Problem, if 'default anchor' - like used Source Code is moved, from it's 'pregiven' default place, by such 'actions'.

So, a lot of surprises could be waiting for you, to find out.
Just don't under-estimate the time, involved, to create something impressive. It's not easy, to get rich quick!!

Good Luck
Ernie
bigmax.ch/shop/

Hello Ernie,

Thank you for your comprehensive reply. I understand what you are saying, but can you give me a little push on how to approach the thing I want to achieve? Because I am new to Open Cart I started with the default theme, but I guess my question goes for all theme development. Out of the box the default theme is giving you 4 module positions: Top, Bottom, Left and Right.

I want the homepage slider to be between the logo and the main navigation, so in the theme I could replace the $top_content to the header and move the featured productes to the $bottom_content module position, but that feels weird to me because I think the $top_content should be below the main navigation.

So I want to create a new module position. How would I (or better said 'you') approach this?

Best regards.

Search here to possibly find a Solution:
http://www.opencart.com/index.php?route ... 20Position

If you don't, I would change/move the placements within the /your_theme/template/common/header.tpl

Ernie
bigmax.ch/shop/