MyTheme

This is an empty Elgg theme plugin in which you can put CSS/JS/HTML customizations for your site.

Why do I need this?

Are you a new Elgg user eager to start customizing your site's look? You may be tempted (or even told) to jump in and modify core files; Don't Do This! Instead, install this plugin and make your modifications in it.

Installation

Without git

1. Download a copy of this repository in your format of choice.
2. Extract the archive into a new folder MyTheme. Aftwards this file should be at MyTheme/README.md.
3. Move the MyTheme directory into /path/to/Elgg/mod.
4. In Elgg's plugin administration page, activate "My Theme". Make sure it stays at the bottom of the plugin list after activating new plugins.

With git/bash

1. $ cd /path/to/Elgg/mod
2. $ git clone https://github.com/mrclay/Elgg1.8-MyTheme.git MyTheme
3. $ rm -rf MyTheme/.git (optional step)
4. In Elgg's plugin administration page, activate "My Theme". Make sure it stays at the bottom of the plugin list after activating new plugins.

Where to put things

CSS

Add CSS to ./views/default/MyTheme/999/css/elgg.php.

JS

Add JavaScript to ./views/default/MyTheme/999/js/elgg.php.

Language strings

You can override English strings in ./languages/en.php.

How to alter views

Overriding (replacing) a view

Place a copy of the view script (and its directory path) into ./views/default/. E.g. when overriding a view named foo/bar, you'll end up with ./views/default/foo/bar.php.

Extending (prepending or appending) a view

Elgg imposes no convention on extension view locations, but it's wise to follow one. This plugin's init function MyTheme_init() offers a simple wrapper to elgg_extend_view() which sets the extension view based on the original view's name and priority:

The extending view name is always prepended with MyTheme/###/, where ### is the extension priority, left-padded with zeroes to 3 digits.

E.g., $theme->extendView('foo/bar', 60) would cause Elgg to use this file for extending the foo/bar view:

./views/default/MyTheme/060/foo/bar.php.

Filtering a view's output

After rending a view, Elgg passes the output through the hook ['view', $view_name]. MyTheme offers a streamlined API for setting up a handler as a filter:

function MyTheme_init() {
    ...
    $theme->filterView('foo/bar', 'MyTheme_filter_foo_bar');
    ...
}

function MyTheme_filter_foo_bar($content, $view_name, $view_params) {
	return trim($content);
}