stylesheet modifications

[shaheen]

hi,
i am new to zen cart and know just little bit about CSS. i am trying to modify look of my home page. i am using firebug, my question is how to make changes to just one element as multiple ids r sharing same config and will affect many elements. whats the best approach to modify stylesheet.

[stevesh]

Depends on exactly what you're asking about, but in the case of, say, this:

#navColumnOneWrapper, #navColumnTwoWrapper, #mainWrapper {
margin: auto;
}

If you wanted to change the margin of just #mainWrapper, you would remove it from that rule and create a new rule just for that element:

#mainWrapper {margin: 2em 0 1em 0;}

[shaheen]

thats what i was doing, but i though it will complicate it more. i guess thats the only way.

[gjh42]

You could add another rule that would override the multiple-selector one for the desired element, but that is messier and bad practice.
I think the best practice is to have a single rule for a given selector, so all properties that affect it are gathered in one place. I wouldn't change the stylesheet just to do that, especially if there are only a couple of instances, but if you are separating out a selector, put the individual property declaration into an existing rule for the selector (if there is one).

[shaheen]

i want to change the look of my site, seems like its going to be very tough. and there r no good looking templates that i can use , why.

[torvista]

I would have fared better in the beginning if someone had given me this advice or rather opinion:

Don't try and change/improve the "classic" template, it only has two functions:
1) it shows all the possible content elements you could have on the various pages so you can decide what content you would like to use on your pages.
2) its a debugging tool: to revert to when your own customisations/overrides are breaking the shop and you need to prove its in your template.

Design your shop visually in a graphics program, copy things you like from other shops, decide what content you want, where you want it etc. forget the coding until you have something you like the look of.

Then create your own template and hack it to match your design ... or get someone else to do it!

The classic template is fugly, and why not, its for display purposes only.

[afo]

There's nothing in http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?ma...ex&cPath=40_53 you can use as a guideline? Unfortunately, the site that used to let you see what the templates looks like is down at the moment.

[shaheen]

so if i understand correctly , the way to go is , install an already customized template and modify that instead of creating my own custom template. please correct me if i am wrong, i want to build my site and want to do it right from start to save problems later.

[afo]

No, you can build your own template if you are so inclined. The free ones can sometimes jump start someone's customization. Just remember to follow the override system and you should be ok.