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  4. 		<title>Joomlashack Wright Framework Documentation</title>

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  9. 		<h1>Documentation for Wright Framework</h1>

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  10. 		<p>Version: 0.1.0</p>

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  11. 		<p>Release: November 2010</p>

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  12. 		<h4>Table of Contents</h4>

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  13. 		<ol><li><a href="#1">Introduction</a></li>

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  14. 			<ol><li><a href="#1a">What is Wright?</a></li>

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  15. 				<li><a href="#1b">Why did we make it?</a></li>

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  16. 				<li><a href="#1c">How does it work?</a></li>

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  17. 				<li><a href="#1d">What are the requirements?</a></li>

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  18. 			</ol>

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  19. 			<li><a href="#2">Getting Started</a></li>

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  20. 			<ol><li><a href="#2a">Template structure</a></li>

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  21. 				<li><a href="#2b">Comparison with regular templates</a></li>

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  22. 				<li><a href="#2c">Learning Joomla</a></li>

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  23. 				<li><a href="#2d">Learning HTML</a></li>

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  24. 				<li><a href="#2e">Learning CSS</a></li>

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  25. 				<li><a href="#2f">Learning Javascript</a></li>

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  26. 				<li><a href="#2g">Learning PHP</a></li>

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  27. 			</ol>

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  28. 			<li><a href="#3">Making Customizations</a></li>

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  29. 			<ol><li><a href="#3a">Ground rules for customization</a></li>

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  30. 				<li><a href="#3b">Customizing HTML without altering the template</a></li>

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  31. 				<li><a href="#3c">Customizing CSS without altering the template</a></li>

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  32. 				<li><a href="#3d">Wright tags</a></li>

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  33. 				<li><a href="#3e">Adding custom PHP</a></li>

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  34. 			</ol>

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  35. 			<li><a href="#4">FAQs</li>

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  36. 			<ol><li><a href="#4a">How fast is the framework?</a></li>

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  37. 				<li><a href="#4b">Do I have to use these Wright tags?</a></li>

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  38. 			</ol>

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  39. 			<li><a href="#5">Feedback and Suggestions</a></li>

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  40. 		</ol>

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  41. 		<h3><a name="1">1. Introduction</a></h3>

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  42. 		<h5><a name="1a">1a. What is Wright?</a></h5>

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  43. 		<p>The Wright Framework is a major upgrade to our previous methods of creating templates. The name is in honor of the famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, because the framework is like a blueprint. It provides a solid foundation to build from, and helps to keep the entire template together while merging some unique features and tools. This is the end result, which is a great tool integrated with our templates providing many benefits.</p>

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  44. 		<h5><a name="1b">1b. Why did we make it?</a></h5>

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  45. 		<div>We found that we repeated ourselves regularly by writing a lot of the same code. Over time we developed some tools that helped reduce the code that we had to rewrite, which has the major benefit of lowering the number of bugs as well as making our development more efficient. Over time we found our tools needed more work, and more importantly that they needed to work together, in order to provide a better product as well as more features.&nbsp;<br>

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  46. 		</div>

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  47. 		<h5><a name="1c">1c. How does it work?</a></h5>

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  48. 		<div>The framework is part of the template. In its most basic form, it extends the default template capabilities of Joomla with some additional features. A more advanced description is that the framework loads the template before Joomla and applies several filters upon it to allow more advanced customization from the administrator as well as to provide support for things like css combining and caching.</div>

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  49. 		<h5><a name="1d">1d. What are the requirements?</a></h5>

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  50. 		<div>The framework and our templates are designed for PHP5. The framework was designed also to provide cross-platform capability with Joomla 1.5 and 1.6. That means the same template can be installed in either version, and run without the need to modify anything. The framework takes care of the differences between the versions.</div>

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  51. 		<h3><a name="2">2. Getting Started</a></h3>

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  52. 		<h5><a name="2a">2a. Template structure</a></h5>

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  53. 		<div>If you look at the template structure, it is almost the same as a typical template. Inside you will see an additional folder called 'wright' which, of course, houses the framework. You should not attempt to alter anything inside of the wright folder, as this will likely cause problems with the template.</div>

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  54. 		<h5><a name="2b">2b. Comparison with regular templates</a></h5>

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  55. 		<div>The fundamentals of the framework function the same. If you are familiar with how to work with Joomla templates already, then there are only a few things we've done to simplify or add additional functionality to the template. The majority of the html is still managed in the template itself, except for a few cases where it is autogenerated to accommodate variables (such as number of modules to provide horizontal support).</div>

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  56. 		<h5><a name="2c">2c. Learning Joomla</a></h5>

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  57. 		<div>If you are new to Joomla, then it is best to take some time to learn the basics of how to manage your site. The first place to visit is <a href="http://docs.joomla.org" id="ovp1" title="http://docs.joomla.org">http://docs.joomla.org</a>. Here you can follow some of the introductory documentation to get you started. Joomlashack also has an extensive set of courses at the Joomlashack University (<a href="http://www.joomlashack.com/university" id="u0nf" title="http://www.joomlashack.com/university">http://www.joomlashack.com/university</a>). There you can learn using a more structured lesson plan as well as have direct contact with the instructor during your learning subscription. New content is added regularly. Beyond that, there are several books available at major book retailers. Lastly, and often overlooked, are Joomla User Groups (<a href="http://community.joomla.org/user-groups.html">http://community.joomla.org/user-groups.html</a>). They are a great way to meet people and get more connected with Joomla quickly.</div>

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  58. 		<h5><a name="2d">2d. Learning HTML</a></h5>

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  59. 		<div>HTML is the language of the web. It is a fairly basic, yet very powerful language that holds the information in almost all web pages. There are many resources online to learn about HTML, as well as many books or video series. Often these books are tied to CSS learning as well. There is a lot of poor information online about HTML as well, so check the accuracy and up-to-dateness of your information. HTML4 has been the workhorse since the 90's, but a new version called HTML5 is making its appearance. Please note that no browser supports HTML5 completely. You will also notice XHTML, which is similar and builds from HTML4.</div>

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  60. 		<h5><a name="2e">2e. Learning CSS</a></h5>

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  61. 		<div>CSS is the language that gives HTML a facelift. HTML by itself only contains the data; CSS turns that data into pretty layouts. Due to some historical reasons, there are a lot of poor articles, tips, and tricks. Just as with HTML, the history of the web provided a lot of hacks or tips to solve problems over the years. Much of that data is still online, so be sure to check for more recent articles and details. Recommended method of learning CSS is in conjunction with HTML, using a recent book.&nbsp;</div>

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  62. 		<h5><a name="2f">2f. Learning Javascript</a></h5>

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  63. 		<div>Javascript is the language that runs inside of your browser. Not to be confused with Java (a compiled language with little in common with Javascript), it can help you modify HTML, CSS, or do fancy actions on the page. There are dozens of books about Javascript, and an unlimited source of tutorials on the web. Joomla also bundles with MooTools (Joomla 1.5 has version 1.1 (or 1.2 if the plugin is enabled), and Joomla 1.6 has version 1.2). MooTools is a javascript framework that gives you the ability to do more with less code. However, it takes some significant investment in learning, and there are few books about it. Much of the documentation on the Joomla docs wiki related to MooTools is the best information out there.</div>

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  64. 		<h5><a name="2g">2g. Learning PHP</a></h5>

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  65. 		PHP is the programming language that Joomla is built upon. It is a very popular and practical language, which is one of the easiest to learn. That said, it can also be easy to learn the basics and accidentally break more complex code. We recommend avoiding simple 'tweaking' to any PHP code unless you are properly trained in the language. If you want to learn, the best thing to do is to get a book. PHP5 is the current standard, and PHP6 has an uncertain future. So if you choose to get a book, realize PHP6 is not the standard, and publishers got ahead of themselves. However, PHP6 books are likely to sync well with PHP 5.3+, but on the other hand Joomla 1.5 has trouble running on 5.3. So in few words you see its not as simple as reading some basic tutorials online and changing code, so be prepared but don't be overwhelmed. Reading a lot of documentation on the Joomla documentation wiki will also shed light into PHP tips and tricks, especially how they relate to Joomla. Joomla 1.5 is somewhat of a legacy codebase. It works still on PHP4, but PHP4 has not been supported by PHP since end of 2007. Many servers still use PHP4, and that is the reason for the support. However Joomla 1.6 and beyond will require PHP 5.2 or greater.<br>

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  66. 		<h3><a name="3">3. Making Customizations</a></h3>

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  67. 		<h5><a name="3a">3a. Ground rules for customization</a></h5>

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  68. 		<div>Normally when you purchase a template you expect to change anything anywhere in the template. While you still have this right, once you modify the core template and a bug is found you have to install the update without overwriting your changes. This is a big pain, and we don't want you to update and lose changes. So please read the details below to learn easy ways to make changes without touching the template itself. This will enable you to update the template if there is a need without any pain.</div>

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  69. 		<h5><a name="3b">3b. Customizing HTML without altering the template</a></h5>

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  70. 		<div>This is the most common thing people do, and we have designed our templates for you to be able to edit your own template freely. If you look at the template directory, you will see template.php. This is the file that is loaded and handles the HTML output. Rather than making changes directly in this file, you can copy it and rename it to custom.php. If you include custom.php in your template directory, it will be used instead of template.php. This will prevent your changes from getting overridden.</div>

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  71. 		<h5><a name="3c">3c. Customizing CSS without altering the template</a></h5>

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  72. 		Inside of the css folder, you will see a few css files. Any file that starts with style-***.css is one of the template styles. These are automatically loaded based on the theme you select. You may see files that are related to a browser like ie7.css, which are for those specific browsers only. Lastly, you will see css files that start with a number and underscore such as 1_template.css. Any css file with a number and underscore is automatically loaded by the template. The number prefix determines the order it is loaded in, with lower numbers first. Create a new css file and name it custom.css. This will load all css files with 1-3 prefixed first, then your file. Since CSS takes the last defined rule, it is best to make your file load last. Add any changes you need to make to this file, since you can override any CSS settings by declaring them here. All you have to do is save the file to your template's /css directory, and it will get loaded automatically.<br>

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  73. 		<h5><a name="3d">3d. Wright Tags</a></h5>

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  74. 		<div>Inside of our templates you won't see any &lt;jdoc:include ../&gt; tags. We have replaced them with &lt;w:.../&gt; tags. The main reason is we are cutting out a lot of repetitive code, as well as providing a way to make our templates work in multiple versions of Joomla without changing the template itself (only by editing the framework). This is a quick explanation of the tags, and what they do.&nbsp;</div>

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  75. 		<ul><li>&lt;w:content /&gt; - This manages the basic code output for the content area, which includes the abovecontent and belowcontent module positions.</li>

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  76. 			<li>&lt;w:debug /&gt; - This just outputs the basic debugger information if enabled in your installation.</li>

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  77. 			<li>&lt;w:footer /&gt; - This manages the generic footer content we use, and handles rebranding.</li>

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  78. 			<li>&lt;w:head /&gt; - This manages the Joomla header information.</li>

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  79. 			<li>&lt;w:logo /&gt; - This manages the logo display row.</li>

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  80. 			<li>&lt;w:module /&gt; - This manages any module position, but has several output settings.</li>

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  81. 			<li>&lt;w:nav /&gt; - This manages a menu module position.</li></ul>

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  82. 		<div>If at any time you don't like the way that the wright tag handles something, you can replace it with a default Joomla equivalent. We only ask that you avoid removing our branding information unless you have the rights to remove it.</div>

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  83. 		<h5><a name="3e">3e. Adding custom PHP</a></h5>

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  84. 		<div>We think it is bad practice to put a lot of PHP code into your template directly. It makes it hard to read. That is why you can use the functions.php file to write any PHP code you need. It will be loaded before the template, so any variables will be available in the template. For example, if you want to add some code to check what menu item the current page is in order to provide some unique functionality, you can put the PHP logic in the functions.php file and save a boolean variable to use in the template.</div>

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  85. 		<h3><a name="4">4. FAQs</a></h3>

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  86. 		<h5><a name="4a">4a. How fast is the framework?</a></h5>

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  87. 		<div>In our tests, its just about the same as a regular template. It really depends on how much data is in the page itself, rather than on the framework. We are working to find ways to make it even faster than the default Joomla templates.</div>

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  88. 		<h5><a name="4b">4b. Do I have to use these Wright tags?</a></h5>

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  89. 		<div>No, you can replace them with Joomla &lt;jdoc&gt; tags. Just realize the CSS might not work correctly when editing them, so be prepared for that.</div>

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  90. 		<h3><a name="5">5. Feedback and Suggestions</a></h3>

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  91. 		<p>Thank you for using our templates. We want to make sure we are providing a good product, so if you have problems, comments, or ideas, please contact us.</p>

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