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All of your theme's text string should be enclosed in a Smarty function, like so:
| Code Block |
|---|
{l s='MonMy TexteText'}
|
This will enable anyone to translate the theme into his own language, using the internal translation tool, which you can find in the PrestaShop back-office, under the "Tools" tab and its "Translation" sub-tab. In the "Modify translations" section, use the drop-down menu, choose "Back Office translation", then click on the flag of the language you wish to translate strings into. All the back-office strings will then be displayed, and the strings for your theme are those whose sections are not prefixed with "Admin*".
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The PrestaShop developers have done their best to clearly and intuitively separate the various parts of the software.
Here is how the files are organized:
/admin: contains all the PrestaShop files pertaining to the back-office. When accessing this folder with your folder, you will be ask to provided proper identification, for security reasons. Important: you should make sure to protect that folder with a.htaccessor.htpasswdfile!/cache: contains temporary folders that are generated and re-used in order to alleviate the server's load./classes: contains all the files pertaining to PrestaShop's object model. Each file represents (and contains) a PHP class, and its methods/properties./config: contains all of PrestaShop's configuration files. Unless asked to, you should never edit them, as they are directly handled by PrestaShop's installer and back-office./controllers: contains all the files pertaining to PrestaShop controllers – as in Model-View-Controller (or MVC), the software architecture used by PrestaShop. Each file controls a specific part of PrestaShop./css: contains all CSS files that are not attached to themes – hence, these are mostly used by the PrestaShop back-office./docs: contains some documentation. Note: it should be deleted in a production environment./download: contains your digital products, which can be downloaded: PDFs, MP3s, etc./img: contains all of PrestaShop's default images, icons and picture files – that, those that do not belong to the theme. This is were you can find the pictures for product categories (/csub-folder, those for the products (/psub-folder) and those for the back-office itself (/adminsub-folder}}./install: contains all the files related to PrestaShop's installer. You will be required to deleted after installation, in order to increase security./js: contains all JavaScript files that are not attached to themes. Most of them belong to the back-office. This is also where you will find the jQuery framework./localization: contains all of PrestaShop's localization files – that is, files that contain local information, such as currency, language, tax rules and tax rules groups, states and the various units in use in the chosen country (i.e., volume in liter, weight in kilograms, etc.)./log: contains the log files generated by PrestaShop at various stages, for instance during the installation process./mails: contains all HTML and text files related to e-mails sent by PrestaShop. Each language has its specific folder, where you can manually edit their content if you wish./modules: contains all of PrestaShop's modules, each in its own folder. If you wish to definitely remove a module, first uninstall it from the back-office, then only can you delete its folder./override: this is a special that appeared with PrestaShop 1.4. By using PrestaShop's regular folder/filename convention, it is possible to create files that override PrestaShop's default classes or controllers. This enables you to change PrestaShop core behavior without touching to the original files, keeping them safe for the next update./themes: contains all the currently-installed themes, each in its own folder./tools: contains external tools that were integrated into PrestaShop. For instance, this were you'll find Smarty (template/theme engine), FPDF (PDF file generator), Swift (mail sender), PEAR XML Parser (PHP tool)./translations: contains a sub-folder for each available language. However, if you wish to change the translation, you must do so using the PrestaShop internal tool, and not edit them directly in this folder./upload: contains the files that would be uploaded by clients for customizable products (for instance, a picture that a client wants printed on a mug)./webservice: contains files that enable third-party applications to access PrestaShop through its API.
Best practices
Here is a non-exhaustive list of best practices that you should follow when creating a theme:
- Do not mix XHTML and PHP code.
- Do not mix XHTML and CSS code, put the CSS code in a separate
.cssfile. - Always validate your XHTML and CSS code using the W3C validators: XHTML validator, CSS validator.
- Do not make SQL queries from a PHP controller ({{.php file at the root of PrestaShop); prefer the use of existing methods from the PrestaShop classes, or create new methods for these classes.
- Always check if a method you need does not already exist in the available classes.
- Always make sure to produce a clear and readable code, making it easy to maintain for anyone.
- Do comment your code, in English.
- When editing the theme on a production site, always first put the shop in maintenance mode via the back-office.
- Use modern browsers, such as Firefox, Google Chrome or Opera, and make sure your friends do too.
- If you wish to thank PrestaShop team for its hard work, please consider donating.
Customizing the default theme
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You can also sell theme to PrestaShop users through our Addons website!
Creating your own theme
Integration: where the hooks and modules are
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