1 Creating a New Skin: the Bare Minimum
2 =====================================
4 When you adopt the TPAC as your catalog, you must create a new skin. This
5 involves a combination of overriding template files and setting Apache
6 directives to control the look and feel of your customized TPAC.
10 There are a few Apache directives and environment variables of note for
11 customizing TPAC behavior. These directives should generally live within a
12 `<vhost>` section of your Apache configuration.
14 * `OILSWebDefaultLocale` specifies which locale to display when a user lands
15 on a page in the TPAC and has not chosen a different locale from the TPAC
16 locale picker. The following example shows the `fr_ca` locale being added
17 to the locale picker and being set as the default locale:
19 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20 PerlAddVar OILSWebLocale "fr_ca"
21 PerlAddVar OILSWebLocale "/openils/var/data/locale/fr-CA.po"
22 PerlAddVar OILSWebDefaultLocale "fr-CA"
23 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25 * `physical_loc` is an Apache environment variable that sets the default
26 physical location, used for setting search scopes and determining the order
27 in which copies should be sorted. The following example demonstrates the
28 default physical location being set to library ID 104:
30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
31 SetEnv physical_loc 104
32 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
36 When you install Evergreen, the TPAC templates include many placeholder images,
37 text, and links. You should override most of these to provide your users with a
38 custom experience that matches your library. Following is a list of templates
39 that include placeholder images, text, or links that you should override.
41 NOTE: All paths are relative to `/openils/var/templates/opac`
43 * `parts/config.tt2`: contains many configuration settings that affect the
44 behavior of the TPAC, including:
45 ** hiding the *Place Hold* button for available items
46 ** enabling RefWorks support for citation management
47 ** adding OpenURL resolution for electronic resources
48 ** enabling Google Analytics tracking for your TPAC
49 ** displaying the "Forgot your password?" prompt
50 ** controlling the size of cover art on the record details page
51 ** defining which facets to display, and in which order
52 ** controlling basic and advanced search options
53 * `parts/footer.tt2` and `parts/topnav_links.tt2`: contains customizable
54 links. Defaults like 'Link 1' will not mean much to your users!
55 * `parts/homesearch.tt2`: holds the large Evergreen logo on the home page
56 of the TPAC. Substitute your library's logo, or if you are adventurous,
57 create a "most recently added items" carousel... and then share your
58 customization with the Evergreen community.
59 * `parts/topnav_logo.tt2`: holds the small Evergreen logo that appears on the
60 top left of every page in the TPAC. You will also want to remove or change
61 the target of the link that wraps the logo and leads to the
62 http://evergreen-ils.org[Evergreen site].
63 * `parts/login/form.tt2`: contains some assumptions about terminology and
64 examples that you might prefer to change to be more consistent with your own
65 site's existing practices. For example, you may not use 'PIN' at your library
66 because you want to encourage users to use a password that is more secure than
68 * `parts/login/help.tt2`: contains links that point to http://example.com,
69 images with text on them (which is not an acceptable practice for
70 accessibility reasons), and promises of answers to frequently asked questions
71 that might not exist at your site.
72 * `parts/login/password_hint.tt2`: contains a hint about your users' password
73 on first login that is misleading if your library does not set the initial
74 password for an account to the last four digits of the phone number associated
76 * `parts/myopac/main_refund_policy.tt2`: describes the policy for refunds for
78 * `parts/myopac/prefs_hints.tt2`: suggests that users should have a valid email
79 on file so they can receive courtesy and overdue notices. If your library
80 does not send out email notices, you should edit this to avoid misleading your
82 * `parts/css/fonts.tt2`: defines the font sizes for the TPAC in terms of one
83 base font size, and all other sizes derived from that in percentages. The
84 default is 12 pixels, but http://goo.gl/WfNkE[some design sites] strongly
85 suggest a base font size of 16 pixels. Perhaps you want to try '1em' as a
86 base to respect your users' preferences. You only need to change one number
87 in this file if you want to experiment with different options for your users.
88 * `parts/css/colors.tt2`: chances are your library's official colors do not
89 match Evergreen's wall of dark green. This file defines the colors in use in
90 the standard Evergreen template. In theory you should be able to change just
91 a few colors and everything will work, but in practice you will need to
92 experiment to avoid light-gray-on-white low-contrast combinations.