Theme Issues when Updating to Tiki3.0

Fresh installs of Tiki should go without a hitch, but if a site is being updated from an earlier version, there will probably be problems involving themes. First of all, if the site's default theme was an older theme that doesn't use the *lite.css layout method (which means most older themes) its styleheet is no longer compatible with the template files, so columns will be strangely placed. Many page details will also not be styled correctly, as the CSS selector names have changed.

Custom themes

Custom themes at sites will have to be either redone to use the default template files, or will have to have new template files that are 3.0-compatible. If the design is a full-width liquid design (similar to the themes included in 3.0, for example), then probably there is no need for custom template versions. (One thing to note is that columns created with floated divs don't go the full height of the page, so column borders and background colors will only go down as far as the column content goes, not all the way to the screen bottom.)

"Fixed-width" designs

If the design can't be done using the default templates, it's possible to use a theme-specific tiki.tpl, but this file needs to be 3.0-compatible to work properly. If you have a design that has a "fixed-width" layout, like Kubrick or Andreas08 or Eatlon for example, then I suggest using a tiki.tpl from one of those themes as a model (be sure to use the 3.0 version, indicated in the repository by the "_tiki_3" in the package name, or "3.0" in the version indication. This tiki.tpl works smoothy with the other, default templates, but centers the Tiki content in the page against a background. To make sure the CSS selectors are correct, also use the 3.0-compatible theme's stylesheet as a guide (insofar as the layout table classes and divs are concerned).

layout.css

In 3.0, there is now a stylesheet (layout.css) that contains information for basic page layout and default detail styling, which can be imported by theme stylesheets, to greatly reduce the number of selectors that need to be taken care of by a theme. In the Tiki 3.0 package, the Tikinewt uses this method (early adaptor, to test it). The other themes will be switched to this method in a coming Tiki release.

I suggest that new custom themes or revamping older custom themes take advantage of @import "layout/layout.css"; to get a headstart on 3.0 compatibility. Of course any properties in layout.css can be overridden by the theme stylesheet if needed.

Getting help

If there are any problems or questions, please visit the Tiki 3 forum.

Alias

• Theme Issues when Updating to Tiki3