Windward Software Wiki

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====== How it all works ======

The e-commerce system basically functions by embedding proprietary tags in the html which make up the web pages. The Windward WebStorePOS looks for these tags and replaces them with the html content it was set up to represent. In this way, a single html template can be used to give the site a consistent appearance while still presenting dynamic content. Proprietary Windward Software tags are easily identified since they always have the form <ww:something>, wherein something is a word or several words separated by underscores that best describes the html code that will be generated after the e-commerce system has replaced it with the content it represents. The e-commerce system is written in PHP language and uses MySQL as the database back end. 

Help on this can be found here: http://mywindward.wws5.com/selfhelp/helpfile/wecs/ 

As for what files can be edited anything in the Content Directory can be changed, used, and or deleted, you can also edit all of the appearance segments in the eCart as well (please see help above for more on this) 

A good guide line to use is to build/design your site out side of our eCart, once it is finished cut and paste the HTML code into our eCart. 

index.html would turn into default.html with (at least) 2 <ww:codes> included in it (normally <ww:category_tree> and <ww:content>) 

<ww:category_tree> - would be replaced with the HTML segments from the Category Appearance section of the eCart based on the action sent \\
<ww:content> – will be replaced with the HTML segments from a number of different Appearance sections (again the segment(s) used would be based on the action sent)

====== Short FAQ ======

  * In order to design the site, it seems I need to create a default.html file and upload it somewhere?

Correct and then upload into the “/content” directory 

  * There's an existing default.html file located in the /content folder (I'm using an FTP client to get my bearings). This file will be the master template that controls the look of the whole site, correct?

Correct it will act as the “frame work” to display the HTML segments found in the Admin Panel of the website. The eCart works on a find and replace principle based on the action sent. So is we send a “action=cart_view” the cart will find <ww:content> and replace it with the HTML segments used to create the cart.

  * It seems I can upload images and style sheets and hopefully script files into this /content folder in order to update the site's layout, and I can call these files and change the design by replacing the default.html file presently in this folder with my own copy. Am I right?

Yep you are correct.

  * If I upload files into /content, am I overwriting the current theme?

Yes and No, you will be over writing the “framework” you still need to edit the HTML segments (if needed) to complete the “makeover” of the site. 

  * I'd like to take a look at the code for one of your existing themes and possibly use it as a starting point for my design.

There are 3 themes included with the cart, you will need access to the admin panel to “install” them but they should give you a good idea of how the cart will work. 
  * It seems the three available themes are stored in /wecs/themes and are numbered and zipped, is that correct?

Correct 

  * Am I able to make a local copy of one of these and use it as a starting point for my design by simply downloading it and editing the files?

No

  * If I manage to use an existing theme as a sample upon which to build the Ren Music layout, how would I go about installing the new theme in order to view my changes? If I zip it and upload it to /wecs/themes will it appear in the list of available themes or do I need to upload the files in another manner?

No you will need to upload the changed “default.html” file to the content directory and then upload all of you CSS/Scrpting/Images to the site as well (please note it is wecs.php that is serving the pages so make sure all of your paths are from that point) and if needed you would change the HTML Segments as well. 

  * When I try to run the theme export operation via your admin interface, I get the message “Backup operation complete” but there's no visible method of downloading the backup to my local hard drive (I'm using Firefox - should I be expecting a download dialog that just isn't appearing?); does the backup get deposited someplace where I can retrieve it via FTP?

Its in the TEMP directory but it is just a backup