Template Packages provide a flexible way to edit the design and layout of your storefront pages. Use the Template Package Sandbox to preview, clone, download or delete Template Packages.
Below is an example of the options available in the sandbox. Not all options are available all the time. The options that are displayed will change, depending on whether or not you're working with your store's live Template Package.
Here's an overview of each of the options listed above:
"Select a Template Package" section
Use this option to load a Template Package into the Sandbox. The dropdown menu contains options for either working with an existing Template Package or uploading a new one to work with.
Selecting the Load a Template Package into sandbox option will display a menu on the right listing all of the Template Packages installed in your store. See the example image below.
Select "Load a Template Package into sandbox" to work with a
Template Package that has already been installed in your shopping cart.
Selecting the Upload a Template Package option will display a field on the right that allows you to browse your computer for a Template Package and upload it.
Select "Upload a Template Package" to upload a Template Package from
your computer and install it in your online shopping cart.
Click the Browse button to search your computer for the zip file you have created. Once you have located it, click the Upload button to import it. The shopping cart software will automatically upload and unzip the zip file, copy all of the Template Package’s files to the appropriate locations on the server, and then delete the copy of the zip file on the server. (Your original copy of the zip file on your computer will remain.) After the Template Package has been uploaded and installed, it will be added to the list of Template Packages that can be loaded into the Sandbox.
related article
Refer to the Creating Template Packages series of articles for a tutorial on creating your own Template Packages that you can upload and install in your store.
"Sandbox" section
Preview
Before going live with a Template Package, you can preview it in your storefront. This option will apply the HTML templates in the Template Package to the storefront on just your computer. To the rest of the world, your storefront will continue to display the actual live Template Package. Using the Preview option is a good way to debug your templates before publishing them live to your publicly viewable storefront.
Reset
When you've finished previewing a Template Package, you can reset your web browser back to my actual live Template Package by clicking the Template Package Sandbox's Reset button. (Note: you can also reset your web browser back to using your store's live Template Package by closing the web browser completely, and then reopening it.)
Go Live
Select this option to set the Template Package that is currently loaded into the Sandbox to be the Live Template Package that is applied to your storefront. The Live Template Package is the one that all of your customers will see when they visit your storefront. The Live Template Package can also be set in the System Settings.
Clone
The clone option will save a copy of the Template Package that is currently loaded into the Sandbox, giving the copy the name specified in the text field. A copy of the entire Template Package will be created on the server: the template files, subdirectories, CSS files, JavaScript files, images, etc., will all be copied. Nothing will be downloaded.
tip
Since the Template Package's files and directories are going to be used on the internet, it’s a good idea to stick with standard web-friendly naming conventions, which means no spaces or punctuation in the name that you give the cloned Template Package. For example,
Good: sample_store
Bad: Sample Store
Horrid: Sample's Store!
Download a Copy
This option can be used to download a copy of the selected Template Package to your computer. When this option is used, the server will create a zip file containing the Template Package, and the zip file is what will be downloaded.
This section has two secondary options:
Change custom QuickCode Tags to their content in the downloaded copy of the Template Package.
This option will replace any instances of {CUSTOM-X} QuickCode Tags that have been created with the Custom QuickCode Tag Editor that are present in the templates with the custom QuickCode Tag's actual source code.
controlling template source code
Selecting this option will cause the Custom QuickCode Tags to be replaced with their source code only in the files that are downloaded. The Template Package's files on the server will not be altered.
However, if that version of the Template Package is then uploaded back up to the server, then the files that are uploaded will overwrite the versions on the server.
Use the store's "Universal Content" to create any templates missing from this Template Package.
A Template Package will contain roughly 35 different templates, one for each section of the storefront. However, new to MMv4 is the option to make an entire Template Package that consists of just one single template!
All MMv4 Template Packages must contain, at a minimum, a template titled universal.template.php. This universal template will be used in the place of any other template excluded from the Template Package.
example
The Store Home page uses a template named storefront.template.php. It is the template that is used by the home page of the store's public shopping area.
If a Template Package does not include the storefront.template.php template, then, when a customer view's the store's home page, the contents of the universal.template.php template will automatically be used to render the store's home page instead.
If the Template Package excludes one or more templates, select this option to have the system automatically add all missing templates to the version of the Template Package that is downloaded. The format of the universal template will be used to generate the missing templates.
controlling a package's templates
Selecting this option will generate new template files only in the version of the Template Package that is downloaded. No files will be added to the copy of the Template Package on the server.
However, if that version of the Template Package is then uploaded back up to the server, then the templates that are uploaded will be added to the version of the Template Package that is on the server.
Delete
This will delete that Template Package's directory (and all files and subdirectories that it contains) off of the server. The store's Live Template Package cannot be deleted.
"Manage the Components of the Template Package" section
Edit Templates
Select this option to load the selected Template Package in the Template Editor, where each of the individual template files in the package can be edited in a WYSIWYG environment.
Edit CSS/JavaScript
Select this option to load the selected Template Package in the tool that can edit the source code of the CSS/JavaScript files can be viewed and/or edited.
Edit Images
This option loads the editor for the Template Images. Here, the Template Package's images can be viewed, edited, added to or deleted.
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