1 Creating a New Skin: the Bare Minimum
2 =====================================
3 When you adopt the TPAC as your catalog, you must create a new skin. This
4 involves a combination of overriding template files and setting Apache
5 directives to control the look and feel of your customized TPAC.
9 There are a few Apache directives and environment variables of note for
10 customizing TPAC behavior. These directives should generally live within a
11 `<vhost>` section of your Apache configuration.
13 * `OILSWebDefaultLocale` specifies which locale to display when a user lands
14 on a page in the TPAC and has not chosen a different locale from the TPAC
15 locale picker. The following example shows the `fr_ca` locale being added
16 to the locale picker and being set as the default locale:
18 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19 PerlAddVar OILSWebLocale "fr_ca"
20 PerlAddVar OILSWebLocale "/openils/var/data/locale/fr-CA.po"
21 PerlAddVar OILSWebDefaultLocale "fr-CA"
22 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
24 * `physical_loc` is an Apache environment variable that sets the default
25 physical location, used for setting search scopes and determining the order
26 in which copies should be sorted. The following example demonstrates the
27 default physical location being set to library ID 104:
29 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
30 SetEnv physical_loc 104
31 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
35 When you install Evergreen, the TPAC templates include many placeholder images,
36 text, and links. You should override most of these to provide your users with a
37 custom experience that matches your library. Following is a list of templates
38 that include placeholder images, text, or links that you should override.
40 NOTE: All paths are relative to `/openils/var/templates/opac`
42 * `parts/config.tt2`: contains many configuration settings that affect the
43 behavior of the TPAC, including:
44 ** hiding the *Place Hold* button for available items
45 ** enabling RefWorks support for citation management
46 ** adding OpenURL resolution for electronic resources
47 ** enabling Google Analytics tracking for your TPAC
48 ** displaying the "Forgot your password?" prompt
49 ** controlling the size of cover art on the record details page
50 ** defining which facets to display, and in which order
51 ** controlling basic and advanced search options
52 * `parts/footer.tt2` and `parts/topnav_links.tt2`: contains customizable
53 links. Defaults like 'Link 1' will not mean much to your users!
54 * `parts/homesearch.tt2`: holds the large Evergreen logo on the home page
55 of the TPAC. Substitute your library's logo, or if you are adventurous,
56 create a "most recently added items" carousel... and then share your
57 customization with the Evergreen community.
58 * `parts/topnav_logo.tt2`: holds the small Evergreen logo that appears on the
59 top left of every page in the TPAC. You will also want to remove or change
60 the target of the link that wraps the logo and leads to the
61 http://evergreen-ils.org[Evergreen site].
62 * `parts/login/form.tt2`: contains some assumptions about terminology and
63 examples that you might prefer to change to be more consistent with your own
64 site's existing practices. For example, you may not use 'PIN' at your library
65 because you want to encourage users to use a password that is more secure than
67 * `parts/login/help.tt2`: contains links that point to http://example.com,
68 images with text on them (which is not an acceptable practice for
69 accessibility reasons), and promises of answers to frequently asked questions
70 that might not exist at your site.
71 * `parts/login/password_hint.tt2`: contains a hint about your users' password
72 on first login that is misleading if your library does not set the initial
73 password for an account to the last four digits of the phone number associated
75 * `parts/myopac/main_refund_policy.tt2`: describes the policy for refunds for
77 * `parts/myopac/prefs_hints.tt2`: suggests that users should have a valid email
78 on file so they can receive courtesy and overdue notices. If your library
79 does not send out email notices, you should edit this to avoid misleading your
81 * `parts/css/fonts.tt2`: defines the font sizes for the TPAC in terms of one
82 base font size, and all other sizes derived from that in percentages. The
83 default is 12 pixels, but http://goo.gl/WfNkE[some design sites] strongly
84 suggest a base font size of 16 pixels. Perhaps you want to try '1em' as a
85 base to respect your users' preferences. You only need to change one number
86 in this file if you want to experiment with different options for your users.
87 * `parts/css/colors.tt2`: chances are your library's official colors do not
88 match Evergreen's wall of dark green. This file defines the colors in use in
89 the standard Evergreen template. In theory you should be able to change just
90 a few colors and everything will work, but in practice you will need to
91 experiment to avoid light-gray-on-white low-contrast combinations.