NetMAXFAQ: How do I perform basic customizations/personalizations of my Interchange store?

E-Commerce Suite - Store Front Software :
How do I perform basic customizations/personalizations of my Interchange store?

How To Perform Personalization and Customization of the NetMAX Interchange Store

Purpose:

This document explains how to perform basic personalizations on an online store created with the NetMAX Interchange package.

PreRequisites:

This document assumes the following:

The reader is executing the procedure herein on a supported platform, as defined here.
The person performing this procedure can log into the target NetMAX system as the administrative user.
The person performing this procedure is familiar with the basics of operating a NetMAX server, as outlined in the NetMAX Server Manual.
The person performing this procedure has an Interchange store already running, and can log into the adminstrative interface of the online store.

Overview

There are several ways in which the Interchange store's appearance can be customized. Among them are custom programming to redefine things like layout and functionality, graphics modifications, and theme modifications. This document serves as a reference point for accomplishing graphics and color-scheme modifications, and does not go into any depth about custom programming.

First, let us address the issue of “theme” or color-scheme modifications. Such modifications are for the most part accomplished by editing a couple of files and changing the relevant values.

The first part of this document will introduce you to these files, and will point out those values which should be changed to accomplish the most dramatic changes in the look of your online store.

STORE COLORS

Log into the Interchange administrative interface.
Click the Content link.
Click the .. icon.
Click the templates icon.
Click the foundation icon.
Click the icon with the word theme.cfg to the right of it.
Save the file to your computer.

The file you have downloaded is located in the NetMAX filesystem at /var/lib/interchange/foundation/templates/foundation/theme.cfg.
This file allows the editor to set properties for commonly recurring portions of HTML in the customer store. This file consists of a number of lines of text which define variables for the operation or appearance of aspects of the store. For example the following lines:

Variable BACKGROUND #FFFFFF Variable LINK #2233FF Variable LINKHOVER #EE3300 Variable LINKDECO underline Variable LINKHOVERDECO underline Variable MAINCONTENT_TEXT #000000 Variable MAINCONTENT_BG #FFFFFF Variable MAINCONTENT_FONT Helvetica Variable MAINCONTENT_FONTSIZE 12px Variable MAINCONTENT_WEIGHT normal Variable CONTENTBAR1 #DDDDDD Variable CONTENTBAR2 #BBBBBB Variable CATEGORYBAR_TEXT #FFFFFF Variable CATEGORYBAR_BG #006699 Variable CATEGORYBAR_FONT Helvetica Variable CATEGORYBAR_FONTSIZE 11px Variable CATEGORYBAR_WEIGHT normal

The preceding lines define how to display the respective elements of the store. For example, try changing the value for CATEGORY_BAR_BG from #006699 to #E6E6E6 . When you have made the changes, upload the file back into Interchange:

Log into the Interchange administrative interface.
Click the Content link.
Click the .. icon.
Click the templates icon.
Click the foundation icon.
Click the icon with the word theme.cfg to the right of it to begin the upload process.
Click the Browse... button and locate the file you edited. (theme.cfg)
Specify ASCII for Upload Mode.
Click the Upload button.

Now apply your changes so that you can see the difference:

Click the Administration link.
Click the Apply Changes link.

Access your customer interface. Note how the left-hand side of the page now has a grey background. Try changing different variables and note which portions of the store these changes affect.

ADMIN COLORS

You may also make changes to the look of the administrative interface of NetMAX Interchange. Such changes, however have to be executed at the filesystem level - either at the command-prompt, or via the NetMAX Files Manager interface.

/usr/lib/interchange/catalog_before.cfg
This file allows the editor to set properties for commonly recurring portions of HTML in the administrative interface. This file consists of a number of lines of text which define variables for the operation or appearance of aspects of the admin interface. For example the following lines:

Variable UI_C_ALINK #FF3333 Variable UI_C_BG #FFFFFF Variable UI_C_HEADERTXT #663333 Variable UI_C_INTBLOCK #EEEEEE Variable UI_C_INTBLOCKBAR #666666 Variable UI_C_LINK #2233FF Variable UI_C_TITLEBARBG #999999 Variable UI_C_TITLEBARCONT #000000 Variable UI_C_TITLEBARTXT #FFFFFF Variable UI_C_TOPBLOCKBAR #CCCCCC Variable UI_C_TXT #000000 Variable UI_C_MENUTEXT #663333 Variable UI_C_MENUBG #FFFFFF Variable UI_C_MENUTITLE #CC3333 Variable UI_C_MENUBARBG #CC3333 Variable UI_C_MENUBARTXT #FFAAAA Variable UI_C_VLINK #CC3333 Variable UI_C_CONTRAST #FF3333

These lines define the colors that will be used in specific areas of the admin interface's displayed HTML. For instance, UI_C_LINK defines the color used for hyperlinks, currently with a value of #2233FF, or bright-blue. Try changing this value to something like #FFCC22 and restart your interchange server. ( service interchange restart) Then log into your admin interface to see how this impacts the color of hyperlinks. Repeat this procedure with each of the “UI_C_” lines to discover which values change which portions of the screen.

IMAGES

Listed below are the most relevant images to change when personalizing the customer portion of the NetMAX Interchange store. Each image is displayed in the left column, and the filesystem path for accessing the image is displayed to the right.

When making changes, the easiest way to access and change these images is using the interchange web GUI interface. All of the images below reside in the same location, which can be accessed as follows:

Log into the Interchange administrative interface.
Click the Content link.
Click the .. icon.
Click the images icon.
Click the foundation icon.

From this location, each image can be downloaded for editing. Also any changed or new files can be uploaded as described above, under the STORE COLORS procedure.Note, however, that when uploading images, you must specify Binary for Upload mode.

Customer images:

Looks like	Filename
	/var/lib/interchange/foundation/images/foundation/about.gif
	/var/lib/interchange/foundation/images/foundation/buynow.gif
	/var/lib/interchange/foundation/images/foundation/cart.gif
	/var/lib/interchange/foundation/images/foundation/checkout.gif
	/var/lib/interchange/foundation/images/foundation/checkout_button.gif
	/var/lib/interchange/foundation/images/foundation/go.gif
	/var/lib/interchange/foundation/images/foundation/home.gif
	/var/lib/interchange/foundation/images/foundation/littlebar.gif
	/var/lib/interchange/foundation/images/foundation/login.gif
	/var/lib/interchange/foundation/images/foundation/logo.gif
	/var/lib/interchange/foundation/images/foundation/logo2.gif
	/var/lib/interchange/foundation/images/foundation/logout.gif
	/var/lib/interchange/foundation/images/foundation/placeorder.gif
	/var/lib/interchange/foundation/images/foundation/poweredby.gif
	/var/lib/interchange/foundation/images/foundation/recalculate_button.gif
	/var/lib/interchange/foundation/images/foundation/savecart.gif
	/var/lib/interchange/foundation/images/foundation/saverecur.gif
	/var/lib/interchange/foundation/images/foundation/sep.gif
	/var/lib/interchange/foundation/images/foundation/service.gif

ADMIN IMAGES

Similar to adjusting admin colors, the administrative images must also be replaced via the filesystem (Files Manager or command-line.)

Looks like	Filename
	/usr/lib/interchange/share/interchange/en_US/A1.gif
	/usr/lib/interchange/share/interchange/en_US/A1_b.gif
	/usr/lib/interchange/share/interchange/en_US/A2.gif
	/usr/lib/interchange/share/interchange/en_US/A3.gif
	/usr/lib/interchange/share/interchange/en_US/A3_b.gif
	/usr/lib/interchange/share/interchange/en_US/poweredby.gif
	/usr/lib/interchange/share/interchange/en_US/redhat_logo.gif

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