2008-09 Joomla! Community Magazine

Joomla! Community Magazine - Learning

Migrating rhuk SolarFlare II into Joomla! 1.5

To Infinity and Beyond!

The templateDetails.xml File

The templateDetails.xml file holds a variety of meta-data used by the Template Manager during installation and ongoing maintenance.  Joomla! 1.5 introduced substantial changes in the content and format of the templateDetails.xml file, so the recommeded approach here is to delete the entire 1.0.x version:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1" ?>
<mosinstall type="template" version="4.5.2">
<name>rhuk_solarflare_ii</name>
<creationDate>11/02/04</creationDate>
<author>rhuk</author>
<copyright>
GNU/GPL</copyright>
<authorUrl>http://www.mambodev.com</authorUrl>
<authorEmail>rhuk@rhuk.net</authorEmail>
<version>2.01</version>
<description>SolarFlare II is a simple and stylish template. The clean design of this template makes it very lightweight and fast. This is a significant upgrade for the original SolarFlare template in that is has a completely revised layout that uses an alternate box model hack that makes it easier to modify. Also a table has been introduced in the main content area that better constricts layout causing less problems with 'problematic' components. New headers and menu elements give this template a 'fresher' look.</description>
<files>
<filename>index.php</filename>
<filename>template_thumbnail.png</filename>
</files>
<images>
<filename>images/advertisement.png</filename>
<filename>images/arrow.png</filename>
<filename>images/button_bg.png</filename>
<filename>images/contenthead.png</filename>
<filename>images/indent1.png</filename>
<filename>images/indent2.png</filename>
<filename>images/indent3.png</filename>
<filename>images/indent4.png</filename>
<filename>images/header_short.jpg</filename>
<filename>images/menu_bg.png</filename>
<filename>images/powered_by.png</filename>
<filename>images/spacer.png</filename>
<filename>images/subhead_bg.png</filename>
<filename>images/title_back.png</filename>
</images>
<css>
<filename>css/template_css.css</filename>
</css>
</mosinstall>

and replace it with the following:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<!DOCTYPE install PUBLIC "-//Joomla! 1.5/DTD template 1.0/EN"
"http://dev.joomla.org/xml/1.5/template-install.dtd">
<install version="1.5" type="template" client="site">
<name>
rhuk_solarflare_ii</name>
<creationDate>2008-01-16</creationDate>
<author>rhuk - Joomla! 1.5! modifications by HarryB</author>
<authorUrl>http://www.rockettheme.com</authorUrl>
<authorEmail>author@some-email.com</authorEmail>
<version>1.5 Native</version>
<copyright>GNU/GPL</copyright>
<description>SolarFlare II is a simple and stylish template. The clean design of this template makes it very lightweight and fast. This is a significant upgrade for the original SolarFlare template in that is has a completely revised layout that uses an alternate box model hack that makes it easier to modify. Also a table has been introduced in the main content area that better constricts layout causing less problems with 'problematic' components. New headers and menu elements give this template a 'fresher' look. NOTE: updated for use with Joomal! 1.5 by HarryB on 16 January 2008.</description>
<files>
<filename>index.php</filename>
<filename>template_thumbnail.png</filename>
<filename>images/advertisement.png</filename>
<filename>images/arrow.png</filename>
<filename>images/button_bg.png</filename>
<filename>images/contenthead.png</filename>
<filename>images/indent1.png</filename>
<filename>images/indent2.png</filename>
<filename>images/indent3.png</filename>
<filename>images/indent4.png</filename>
<filename>images/header_short.jpg</filename>
<filename>images/menu_bg.png</filename>
<filename>images/powered_by.png</filename>
<filename>images/spacer.png</filename>
<filename>images/subhead_bg.png</filename>
<filename>images/title_back.png</filename>
<filename>css/template_css.css</filename>
</files>
<positions>
<position>left<position>
<position>right<position>
<position>top<position>
<position>bottom<position>
<position>banner<position>
<position>advert1<position>
<position>footer<position>
<position>user1<position>
<position>user2<position>
<position>user3<position>
<position>user4<position>
<position>user5<position>
<position>user6<position>
<position>user7<position>
<position>user8<position>
<position>user9<position>
<position>user10<position>
<position>debug<position>
<position>syndicate<position>
<position>breadcrumb<position>
</positions>
</install>

The templateDetails.xml file delineates the files and module positions contained in the template. There is also another construct called <parameter> that may be included in templateDetails.xml. This is used to define template confiuguration parameters (if any).

Note: although Solarflare II uses only the user1 through user4 module positions, user6 through user10 are included for those who wish to modify the basic template and require additional module positions.