Developers

Revision as of 20:52, 6 December 2011

Information for Developers

For the overall site layout you can use any of the following methods:

1. Use one of our templates. You are still able to override CSS by inserting it into the HEAD of your pages. You can override CSS by placing your own css in your admin panel under General Settings -> HTML Inserts -> Section 4. Tables are used to "hold" the layout together. As of 2011 there is still no way to implement a 3 column, 3 row, full/equal height liquid layout using DIVs.
2. Use Design 5 (CSS Template for Advanced Users). Using this the site is esentially rendered with container DIVs. You can then create your own CSS and graphics. User's who use this option also typically use the option to use their own home page HTML. See section 2.c. Tables are only used for some of the product detail layouts. The tables that are used have classes or IDs and can be modified quite a bit. The tables restrict the order and general position of items within them more than DIVs would and this is intentional to give us more predictable results when we make changes in the future. We also automatically include jQuery which can be used to override almost any page element.

For home page customization you can use any of the following methods:

1. Use one of our templates. You are still able to override CSS by inserting it into the HEAD of your pages. You can override CSS by placing your own css in your admin panel under General Settings -> HTML Inserts -> Section 4. - you can also specify your own CSS file to use in General Settings -> Advanced -> Misc Settings -> Advanced Settings -> "You can change the file your CSS links to here (note: advanced users only):"
2. Use the Home Page Builder. The Home Page Builder was created for web designers so they could use the eFC program to create a custom home page (still within certain specifications, but much more flexible then the standard eFC platform). Knowledge of HTML and CSS is required as is the ability to create graphic images to specific sizes to fit properly within the structure of the template. To access this click Manage Home page > Click the link for "Try our home page builder (beta} > click Submit on the top right to use the selected design > select eCommerce layout > click submit.
3. Use your own HTML. If you want total control over the home page code you can paste in the entire HTML of your home page. This will break any integration with the rest of the site. To access this go to "General Settings" -> "Advanced" -> (scroll all the way down) "Design 5 (CSS Only) Settings": Check " I am using my own HTML for my home page" and enter the HTML in the "Custom Home Page HTML" box.

Customizing eFashionCentral's Templates

If you'll be customizing our templates with our own CSS there are two ways this can be accomplished:

1. (recommended) You can override CSS by inserting it into the HEAD of your pages. You can override CSS by placing your own css in your admin panel under General Settings -> HTML Inserts -> Section 4. This is the recommended method because any future classes we need to add for new features will also be added to your web site for better compatibility.
2. You can also specify your own CSS file to use in General Settings -> Advanced -> Misc Settings -> Advanced Settings -> "You can change the file your CSS links to here (note: advanced users only):". If you use this method your website won't be updated with new CSS classes used for new features. You would need to add these manually.

Title Element Composition

The title bar is composed of the following: [Category or Collection Name][Style Number][Product Short Description][Global Title Bar text which is set in General Settings -> HTML Inserts -> 1 ], in that order. Instead I have added a field in "Edit Collection/Category Details" called "Title of this Collection/Category for HTML "TITLE" element if different from above". This will override the collection name if given, otherwise the collection name is used. This will also be used as the automatic add-in for the meta tags.