[OPEN-ILS-DEV] Best practices for modifying OPAC CSS

[Jane Sandberg]

Hi all,

When modifying the OPAC CSS, there are multiple ways to do everything,
and I'd like to clarify what the best practices are.  In particular,
I'd like your advice on which files make the most sense for which
types of changes.

Here are my observations:

* Developers make a lot of changes to opac/css/style.css.tt2, so the
fewer local changes you make to it, the easier it is to maintain your
changes

* Most of the messing with color should be in
opac/parts/css/colors.tt2, so that you can consistently change the
color of a whole bunch of elements.

* Perhaps messing with other pieces should be in
Open-ILS/web/css/skin/default/opac/ (installed in
/openils/var/web/css/skin/default/opac/) -- but it looks like a fair
number of changes get made to semiauto.css as well?

* If you want to take advantage of the colors defined in colors.tt2,
that is a case where you would want to make your changes to
opac/css/style.css.tt2, since the semiauto.css doesn't have access to
those.

* If you want to maintain a git repository of your OPAC
customizations, it's helpful to make your css changes to
opac/css/style.css.tt2, so you can just have that opac directory be
its own repository (like Sitka's here:
http://git.sitka.bclibraries.ca/gitweb/?p=sitka/custom-templates.git;a=tree)

Are those accurate?  What advice would you give somebody trying to
make CSS changes to their OPAC?

BTW, the answers I get will be used to further develop the official
documentation (e.g.
http://docs.evergreen-ils.org/reorg/3.1/command_line_admin/_tpac_css_and_media_files.html),
and to help me out with a local project. :-)

Appreciatively,

  -Jane

-- 
Jane Sandberg
Electronic Resources Librarian
Linn-Benton Community College
sandbej at linnbenton.edu / 541-917-4655
Pronouns: she/her/hers