Understanding where to make changes

[jfnewell1965]

Very newbie type question here:  Where do I go to make changes to the html code?

I came from an OpenCart attempt (that failed).  In OpenCart there were things like header.php, or footer.php.  There was lots of cryptic stuff/references in these files , but there was a lot of code to be manipulated as well.  In Thirty Bees, I see header.tpl and footer.tpl, but they seem all filled with cryptic stuff/references.  

I am 100% sure a lot of this lack of understanding is due to my inexperience, but in my head what I see (as an extremely simplified example) is:

OpenCart:
<header>
Basic Page Structure
    More Page Structure
        Even More Page Structure
            {Some cryptic reference}
        Close Structure
    Close Structure
Close Structure
</header>

 Thirty Bees:
<header>
    {Some cryptic reference}
    {Some cryptic reference}
    {Some cryptic reference}
</header>

I know I don't understand, but I can't even figure out where to start in my attempt at understanding.

Does anyone have any tips, hints, etc. on how things are laid out in Thirty Bees from an "Alter the look of store" standpoint?

I know about the style sheets, and changed a lot from there, but I want to make other changes as well.

Attached is an example of what I am looking to do.  I am not looking for anyone to solve my problems,  Just a gentle nudge or swift whack in the right direction.

Thanks,

Jim

 

[tommat]

Those are modules. Look into yourdomain\themes\community-theme-default\modules for modules html and

yourdomain\themes\community-theme-default\css\modules for modules css

Also in backoffice look for Modules/Positions to see where modules are hooked

[wakabayashi]

Yeah it needs some experience to understand how everything works. In general you should look around for tpl and css files. 

When I started I often did search for ids in all files. For example you want to find the files for homeslider, you check in your browser inspection tool the id. It is "homepage-slider". Then you search for this and find the files. But keep in mind that you should always make changes in the theme folder and not direct in the modules folder. @tommat gave you the right paths for this...

[jfnewell1965]

Thank you both.

Yes, the first steps for me were to 1) make a copy of the default theme and 2) work only within this copy of the theme.

[devjunckie]

On 3/20/2019 at 10:02 PM, jfnewell1965 said:

Thank you both.

Yes, the first steps for me were to 1) make a copy of the default theme and 2) work only within this copy of the theme.

you don't have to touch the core code for the theme header.php and footer.php unless you want to change the theme/module hooks or add elements to html.. anyway, you can practically work on changing/implementing theme/design through css.. and the work on the modules positioning in your backoffice.. like @tommat said, those you see on the right side at the top are modules.. you can disable those from your backoffice/modules or unhook them from modules/positions..

you are wise to make a copy of the default theme and work on the copy.. way to go:)