View source for How does the JReviews Theme Engine work

JReviews uses a php templating system. This means you can mix html with php code, which provides a lot of flexibility to create conditionals and add snippets of php code.

Location of JReviews themes is in this folder: /components/com_jreviews/views/themes/ and the theme files have the .thtml extension.

In that folder you'll find several themes:
*/components/com_jreviews/views/themes/default/
*/components/com_jreviews/views/themes/default_02/
*/components/com_jreviews/views/themes/default_dark/


You will notice that /default_02 and /default_dark theme folders contain much less files than the /default theme folder.

The /default folder contains all the theme, css and image files, while /default_02 and /default_dark are variations of the default theme and contain only "modified" files and images. Files that don't exist in those folders are used from the /default theme folder.

This is because the /default theme should always be intact to make JReviews upgrades easier. All theme modifications should be done in a separate folder (like default_02 and default_dark).


== Creating your own theme ==
#Read the [[Default theme overview]] to learn the file structure
#Create a new folder for your theme
#Copy the /theme_images folder with all its images from the default theme folder into your theme, because they are always read from the currently theme and not from the default one
#Copy the /theme_css/images folder also
#Copy the files you want to modify into your theme folder (other files leave in the default theme folder)
#After your theme is done, to use it go to JReviews Configuration, tab 'General' and select it from the dropdown
#'''Important:''' For JReviews to recognize new files, you must click on 'Clear File Registry' link in JReviews Administration


Having all modified theme files in a separated folder simplifies JReviews upgrades. When new version of JReviews comes out with updated theme files, you can quickly update only the ones you modified.


With [[JReviews Code Overrides]] feature you can move your theme outside the com_jreviews folder, so you won't have to backup the theme when you upgrade JReviews.


[[Category:JReviews]]
[[Category:Themes]]