Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
457 lines (353 loc) · 19.7 KB

Readme.md

File metadata and controls

457 lines (353 loc) · 19.7 KB
Raw

System Styles

The templates folder of ILIAS contains the ILIAS System Styles. System Styles are defined by the set of icons, fonts, html templates and CSS/Less files that define the visual appearance of ILIAS. They differ from Content Styles, which enable to manipulate the classes defining the appearance of user generated content.

Custom Styles

System Styles may be customized by creating custom System Styles. Custom styles have to be placed in the ./Customizing/global/skin directory to be active. One may have multiple substyles which may be active for different branches of the repository.

Tools

To generate a customized System Style, first install the necessary tools to your server . These tools include nodejs and the node packet manager. After that you can install the less compiler using:

npm install -g less

or

apt-get install node-less

If you want to create system styles throught frontend, make sure, that your webserver has the permission to read and execute your newly installed less compiler.

How-To 1 (Through Frontend)

Step 1: Activate "Manage System Styles"

  1. Open the ilias.ini.php file in your ILIAS Administration.
  2. Make sure that in the Section [tools] the setting enable_system_styles_management is activated.
  3. Make sure, that a lessc is set to your lessc installation:
enable_system_styles_management = "1"
lessc = "/usr/local/bin/lessc"

Step 2: Create new System Style

  1. Navigate to "Administration -> Layout and Styles" of you ILIAS Installation.
  2. Add a new System Style and activate it.
  3. Optional: Add a new Sub Style for the created System Style through the frontend
  4. Optional: Change the less variables for the new System Style through the frontend
  5. Optional: Change the Icon colors of the new System Style through the frontend
  6. Optional: Manually add template files for the new System Style (see "Change Layout" below)

How-To 2 (Manually)

Step 1: Create skin directory

To create a new skin, first add a new subdirectory to directory Customizing/global/skin, e.g. Customizing/global/skin/myskin.

Step 2: Create template.xml File

One file that must exist in every skin is the file template.xml. E.g. Customizing/global/skin/myskin/template.xml:

<?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>
<template xmlns = "http://www.w3.org" version = "1" name = "MySkin">
        <style name = "MyStyle" id = "mystyle" image_directory = "images"/>
</template>

Every skin can contain multiple styles. This example defines one style called MyStyle. This skin/style combination will be listed as MySkin/MyStyle in the ILIAS Style and Layout administration. The ILIAS administration is the place where you can activate/deactivate styles, and where you can assign users from one skin to another.

Step 2: Create main CSS File

The id attribute of the style tag defines the name of the corresponding style sheet (CSS) file. This CSS file must also be added to the skin directory (here: Customizing/global/skin/myskin/mystyle.css). You should start with a copy of the default CSS file located at templates/default/delos.css. The best way to see which styles are used on a given ILIAS screen is to open the HTML source of the screen.

If your CSS file contains references to (background) images, these images must be present at their defined locations. If you copied the default CSS file, the image paths will not be correct anymore. You can either copy them to your skin directory, change the CSS definitions or provide your own image files.

Step 2: Alternative

To have a working directory for your skin, you can also copy the complete folder templates/default of your ilias installation to a new folder below Customizing/global/skin within that directory, edit the file template.xml to have an unique Style Name and id. This is needed to identify the new skin in ILIAS' administration. Then copy the standard delos.css file to "your-id.css". Take care: the main CSS-File must reflect the id in its name (see above).

Step 3: Less (Optional)

Note: It is usually a good idea to use less and less variables to create Custom Styles. A good default is given by generating a first style through the frontend and then add the changes manually.

If you copied delos.less compiling the standard delos.less file would fail due to path problems. In the file delos.less at about line 20 the base for some imports is set. Since the files were moved to the new location, this path must be fixed to make the imports work. prepending ../../ to the path works. At this point, compiling should run without errors, but some icons (like the search button) can not be displayed. To fix this, edit less/variables.less.

To test the settings, compile the less-file:

lessc delos.less mystyle.css

or

lessc --clean-css delos.less mystyle.css

for a minified CSS version.

Step 4: Add Icons (Optional)

If you want to replace the default icons coming with ILIAS, you can add new representations of them to your skin. They must be stored in a subdirectory named like the image_directory attribute of the style tag in the template.xml file.

E.g. if you want to replace the default icon for categories templates/default/images/icon_cat.sfg, and your template file defines image_directory = "images" as in the example above, the new version must be stored as Customizing/global/skin/myskin/images/icon_cat.svg.

Step 5: Change Layout (Optional)

The layout is specified in HTML template files. Some standard default template files can be found in directory templates/default. Other template files are stored within subdirectories of the Modules or Services directories. Most ILIAS screens use more than one template file. Some template files are reused in many ILIAS screens (e.g. the template file that defines the layout of the main menu).

To replace a template file for your skin, you have to create a new one in your skin directory. Please note, that your skin should only contain template files that are modified. You do not need to copy all default template files to your new skin.

Since ILIAS 5.3 we move aim to move most of the UI towards the UI Components. They are located in src/UI. To overwrite those you need to add the respective tpl files in your skins folder.

Examples:

  • Module/Service related template files must be stored in a similar subdirectory structure (omit the templates subdirectory). E.g. to replace the template file Services/XYZ/templates/tpl.xyz.html create a new version at Customizing/global/skin/myskin/Services/XYZ/tpl.xyz.html. A template of a UI Component located in src/UI/templates/default/XYZ/tpl.xyz.html can be customized by creating a Customizing/global/skin/myskin/UI/XYZ/tpl.xyz.html file.

The following list contains some standard template files, that are often changed in skins:

  • Standard Layout, template file: src/UI/templates/default/Layout/tpl.standardpage.html, the frame of the DOM for the complete ILIAS page. Also checkout the according less variable under section Layout (UI Layout Page).
  • Meta Bar template file: src/UI/templates/default/MainControls/tpl.metabar.html, the Bar on the top holding Notification, Search User Avatar, etc. Also checkout the according metabar less variables.
  • Main Bar template directory: src/UI/templates/default/MainControls/tpl.mainbar.html, the Bar on the left holding triggers for opening the slates for accessing Repository, Dasbhoard etc. Content. Also checkout the according mainbar less variables.
  • Slate template directory: src/UI/templates/default/MainControls/Slate/tpl.slate.html, the Slates triggered by opening items of the Main Bar. Also checkout the according slate less variables.
  • Breadcrumbs template directory: src/UI/templates/default/Breadcrumbs/tpl.breadcrumbs.html, Breadcrumbs working as locator on the top of the page. Also checkout the breadcrumb less variables.
  • Startup Screens (Login, Registration, ...): Services/Init/templates/default/tpl .startup_screen.html

Step 6: Change the ILIAS Icon

The main ILIAS icon is stored in the images Directory as HeaderIcon.svg. You can replace this easyly by your own Icon in svg format. As long as your Icon is close to a square, this may be all that is needed. Probably you want to change the file favicon .ico in ILIAS' root directory too. For non-square Icons you may refer to:

Installation and Maintenance » Change the ILIAS icon

Optional: Configuring lessc on OSX with MAMP

This exlpains how to adjust your MAMP installation to work with System Styles in Ilias on OSX.

First you have to Install Xcode Command Line Tools. Then execute:

xcode-select --install
Install Node.js 
cd /Applications/MAMP/
git clone https://github.com/nodejs/node.git
cd node
./configure
make
sudo make install
Install Less + lessc
sudo npm install -g less

Edit the File Applications/MAMP/Library/bin/envars. Add the line export PATH="/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin" to the envars file. Make sure that all the other lines are commented (an # is added in front of the line).

Edit the file Applications/MAMP/Library/bin/envars_std Make sure that every line is commented. (an # is added in front of the line).

Change the rights on the files. Open a Terminal and execute:

chmod -R 777 /Application/MAMP/Library/bin

Note that this is only a good option for a local test environment in some protected enironment. Give more sensitive Permission rights if there is possible access from the outsite.

Activate System Styles in Ilias In a Browser go to localhost:8888/setup/setup.php and Login using the Master-Password. Under “Basic Settings” activate “Manage System Styles”. Set the lessc Path to /usr/local/bin/lessc

Migration

There might be changes you need to consider if updating to a new ILIAS version.

Note that this changelog was introduced for ILIAS 5.3. If migrating to a lower version you might find helpful information by consulting:

Installation and Maintenance » Prepare for a new skin

ILIAS 6

Major parts of the UI of ILIAS 6 have changed. It is therefore recommended, to create a new skin for ILIAS think an manually move changes that are still needed from oder versions to the new skin.

Also, most importantly the following components have been introduced:

  • Standard Layout, template directory: src/UI/templates/default/Layout, the frame of the DOM for the complete ILIAS page. Also checkout the according less variable under section Layout (UI Layout Page).
  • Meta Bar template directory: src/UI/templates/default/MainControls, the Bar on the top holding Notification, Search User Avatar, etc. Also checkout the according metabar less variables.
  • Main Bar template directory: src/UI/templates/default/MainControls, the Bar on the left holding triggers for opening the slates for accessing Repository, Dasbhoard etc. Content. Also checkout the according mainbar less variables.
  • Slate template directory: src/UI/templates/default/MainControls/Slate, the Slates triggered by opening items of the Main Bar. Also checkout the according slate less variables.
  • Breadcrumbs template directory: src/UI/templates/default/Breadcrumbs, Breadcrumbs working as locator on the top of the page. Also checkout the breadcrumb less variables.

See above section on information on how to customize those components.

ILIAS 5.3

The icon-font-path for glyphs has changed due to a move from the bootstrap library to the new location for external libraries. The new location is: "../../../../libs/bower/bower_components/bootstrap/fonts/". If a 5.2 style is imported, the variable icon-font-path must be adapted accordingly.

ILIAS 7

The icon-font-path for glyphs has been renamend to il-icon-font-path and the location has changed due to a move from the bootstrap library to the new location for external libraries. The new location is: "../../../../node_modules/bootstrap/fonts/". If a 5.2 style is imported, the variable icon-font-path must be adapted accordingly.

In March 2022, we moved the general Test & Assessment CSS (ta.css and ta_split.css) to less/Modules/Test/delos.less (like other CSS for modules) to start refactoring this module's style code. As part of this change, the override mechanism that fetches a custom style for just the T&A has been removed. Please use the standard skin setup described in this document to style the Test & Assessment like the rest of your custom skin.

Less Guideline

Less is a CSS pre-processor, meaning that it extends the CSS language, adding features that allow variables, mixins, functions and many other techniques that allow you to make CSS that is more maintainable, themable and expendable (see: less.org).

Since ILIAS 5.0 Bootstrap 3 is used. With the Design Revision 5.1 the JF decided that Bootstrap Concepts SHOULD be used where possible. One important element of Bootstrap 3 is the usage of less.

General

  • All new CSS-Styles of Modules or Services in ILIAS MUST be written in less.
  • You SHOULD consult less.org to make use of the advantages of less.
  • Delos.less MUST only contain imports and no other less logic at all.
  • You MUST NOT use style attributes in HTML templates (style, align, border, cellpadding, cellspacing font, nowrap, valign, width, height).
  • HTML templates are only responsible for a well structured HTML document, which displays the bare content of the website and nothing else.
  • Less/CSS is responsible for the beauty of the website. All Colors, but also font sizes, spaces, offsets and gaps must be defined by Less/CSS. Also, the proportions of the basic layout.
  • You MUST NOT use &nbsp; to create space.

Variables

Naming

  • All less variables MUST be stored in the variables.less file.
  • Less variables MUST be named il-component-they-are-primarely-used-in-descriptive-functionality-name. Example: il-modal-body-bg-color. Note the il-prefix, distinguishing this variable from a bootstrap standard variable.
  • In the variables.less file, the variables MUST be structured into categories.
  • Variables and Sections MUST use the following template as structure:
//== Name of Category (e.g. Colors)
//
//## Description of Category

//** Variable 1 Description
@variable-1-name:   variable-1-value;
//** Breadcrumb background color
@variable-2-name:   variable-2-value;

Colors

  • All colors MUST be defined by using variables. In any less file other than variables .less there are therefore only color assignments by directly using a variables allowed . E.g. color: darken(@other-variable, 10%), or color: #564 is not allowed outside variables less.
  • In the variables.less file, all new color values MUST be defined in the "Colors" section. Later those values can be reassigned to other variables, but the values MUST NOT be changed anymore. E.g. @il-modal-bg can be defined outside the colors section, but should be assigned directly to a variable from the colors section. E.g. il-modal-bg: @il-primary-container-bg, and not il-modal-bg: darken(@il-primary-container-bg, 15%) or similar.
  • Shortforms MUST be used in less and CSS. E.g. #efe, instead of #eeffee.
  • Only use lowercase for color codes in less and CSS. E.g. #efe, instead of #EFE.
  • You SHOULD use the extended color variants (see variables.less) to generate colors for components displaying areas or labels that need to be differentiated by colors such as charts.
  • You MAY use the given less variables to generate own classes or you MAY use the classes given in colors.less. If generating own classes you MAY use colors.less as an example on how to use mixins in less to reduce the amount of code needed to generate such classes in less.

Customize

  • Note that custom variables in a custom variables.less file have to be included after the delos.less file.
  • Also note that in delos, the ilias custom variables are included after all the bootstrap includes. This has to do with the way less assigns values from variables to less content by compiling the less to CSS. See lessc.

Classes

  • You SHOULD use Bootstrap classes if possible (see getbootstrap.com for a documentation of all bootstrap components, classes can be found in the code snippets).
  • If new less classes are needed they MUST be named according the following pattern: il-component-descriptive-name. Example: il-modal-title Note the il- prefix distinguishing this class from a standard bootstrap class.

Attributes

  • You SHOULD aim to write as little less as possible. Use existing bootstrap logic if possible.
  • If you need to add custom styling, you SHOULD use the following ordering for your attributes (see Concentric CSS): Concentric CSS/Less Overview.
#Concentric-CSS-Overview {
        display: ;    /* Directions about where and how the box is placed */
        position: ;
        float: ;
        clear: ;

        visibility: ; /* Next: can the box be seen? */
        opacity: ;
        z-index: ;

        margin: ;     /* Layers of the box model, from outside to inside */
        outline: ;
        border: ;
        background: ; /* (padding and content BOTH get the background color) */
        padding: ;

        width: ;      /* Content dimensions and scrollbars */
        height: ;
        overflow: ;

        color: ;      /* Textual content */
        text: ;
        font: ;
}

Structure

  • The less variables file is placed in templates/default/less/variables.less
  • Less files for centralized UI-Components MUST be placed in src/UI/templates/ComponentName/ComponentName.less
  • Less files for existing UI for Modules or Services are stored in templates/default/less/Modules/... (or templates/default/less/Services/...).

Media

  • Media queries SHOULD directly be added into the less structure. Delos_sm files are deprecated and MUST NOT be created anymore.
  • We currently follow a desktop first approach on the less level. This means, that we handle all mobile cases as special cases and the desktop as the default.
  • You should use: max-width: @grid-float-breakpoint-max instead of min-width: @grid-float-breakpoint (or min-width: @screen-sm-min). With max-width, the mobile version is declared as the special case version (desktop first).

CSS Guideline

CSS is optained by using a lessc compiler on delos.less, e.g. like so:

lessc templates/default/delos.less templates/default/delos.css

Note that the output heavily depends on the used lessc version. If you observe that there are changed appearing in your css output other than the ones to be expected, please first make sure, that you are using the latest lessc version. If so, please inform the current CSS maintainer amstutz and only push the changes caused by your changes in less.