Theme

A theme is a collection of resource files that gives a site its visual identity through the use of colors and typography. A theme consists of cascading style sheets (CSS), JavaScript files and an imaging configuration that tells the Imaging module what to do with images for a particular page or component.

What is a theme?

A theme is a module or part of a module composed of CSS, JS and images.

When to use a theme

The Site module provides theme functionality. You can only create a theme if you use this module and have configured a site definition.

Themes and modules

Theme resources can be stored in light (YAML) or Maven modules. Themes can reside in a dedicated theme module or form part of another module. A special module version handler is not necessary.

Resource loading

All Magnolia resources, including theme resources, are loaded under the /.resources path.

  • In a Maven module, the resources are located in /src/main/resources/<moduleName> and any subfolder.

  • In a light module, resources can be located in any subfolder of your module (for example, /<moduleName>/webresources/).

Theme resources can also be loaded from an external source by specifying the full URL. This is very useful if you use a CDN to store, cache and deliver your static resources.

See Resources and Module structure for more.

Benefits of using a theme

Themes offer a number of benefits:

  • Theme resources are applied to the entire site.

  • Resources are all in one place.

  • Themes are an easy way to work with resources without having to modify the head section of your HTML.

  • You can define more than one theme and switch between them or apply a different theme to a variation of your site. For example, you could use a different theme for pages targeted at U.S. users and European users or a seasonal theme for different times of the year.

  • You can still use different or additional overriding resources on a page-template level.

Configuring a theme

Where to configure a theme

Themes can be configured in:

  • Any module.

  • YAML on the file system or in the JCR.

Proper location

The configuration must reside in the themes folder of the module in /<module-name>/themes/<theme-name>. This can be done in YAML or JCR.

Old location

The old and deprecated location for themes is site/config/<theme-name>. Themes in this location could only be configured in the JCR. Themes configured in the old location should be moved to the new location.

Example

travel-demo-theme in travel-demo/themes/travel-demo-theme.yaml

travel-demo/themes/travel-demo-theme.yaml
cssFiles:
  #CSS file configuration
jsFiles:
  #JavaScript file configuration
imaging:
  #Image variation configuration

Three configuration nodes define the individual elements of a theme:

Property Description

cssFiles

FreeMarker development only

Optional

References CSS files.

jsFiles

FreeMarker development only

Optional

References JavaScript files.

imaging

Optional

Defines Image variations (renditions).

CSS files

Links to CSS resources are configured in the cssFiles node of the theme.

CSS defines the presentation semantics of an HTML document and creates the look and feel of the site.

Example: cssFiles configuration in travel-demo-theme in travel-demo/themes/travel-demo-theme.yaml.

travel-demo/themes/travel-demo-theme.yaml
cssFiles:
  bootstrap:
    addFingerPrint: true
    link: /.resources/travel-demo-theme/libs/twitterbootstrap/css/bootstrap.min.css
    media: all
  roboto-condensed:
    addFingerPrint: true
    link: https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Roboto-Condensed:400,300,700
    media: all
  slick:
    addFingerPrint: true
    link: /.resources/travel-demo-theme/libs/slick-carousel/css/slick.css
    media: all
  slick-theme:
    addFingerPrint: true
    link: /.resources/travel-demo-theme/libs/slick-carousel/css/slick-theme.css
    media: all
  travels-magnolia:
    addFingerPrint: true
    link: /.resources/travel-demo-theme/css/travels-magnolia.css
    media: all
  video:
    addFingerPrint: true
    link: /.resources/mtk2/css/video.css
    media: all
jsFiles:
  #JavaScript file configuration
imaging:
  #Image variation configuration
Property Description

cssFiles

optional

CSS node of the theme.

     <name>

required

Arbitrary node name. Add a node for each sheet.

         addFingerPrint

optional

Embeds a file content fingerprint in the resource URL. The fingerprint consists of a timestamp in the yyyy-MM-dd-HH-mm-ss-SSS format and the word "cache", both preceded by the standard selector (~). For example, the travels-magnolia link above becomes /.resources/travel-demo-theme/css/travels-magnolia~2015-08-16-09-49-00-000~cache.css. Google recommends fingerprinting as a best practice.

         link

required

Path to the CSS file that is added to the HTML. See Adding style to HTML for more. See also Web resources and Origins and loading order for different options for storing and loading resources.

         media

optional

Media associated with the linked CSS file. If you use a responsive web design framework like Bootstrap or Foundation, set this property to all. See Media descriptors for a list of available media.

         conditionalComment

optional

Defines a conditional comment for the linked CSS file. Conditional comments are used to overcome the limitations of legacy browsers such as Internet Explorer 9 and earlier. For example, the conditional comment "lte IE9" would be translated to:

<!--[if lte IE9]>
    //inclusion of the stylesheet or javascript resource
<![endif]-->

This simple theme example uses only the default Bootstrap-minimized CSS with no customizations.

Theme example

JavaScript files

Links to JavaScripts are configured in the jsFiles node of the theme.

JavaScript is responsible for client-side functionality such as carousel paging, AJAX, menu animations, trees, embedded video player, mouse wheel support, Google Analytics and much more.

Example: jsFiles configuration in travel-demo-theme in travel-demo/themes/travel-demo-theme.yaml.

travel-demo/themes/travel-demo-theme.yaml
cssFiles:
  #CSS file configuration
jsFiles:
  respimage:
    addFingerPrint: true
    link: /.resources/travel-demo-theme/libs/lazysizes/respimage.min.js
  lazysizes:
    addFingerPrint: true
    link: /.resources/travel-demo-theme/libs/lazysizes/lazysizes.min.js
  modernizr:
    addFingerPrint: true
    link: /.resources/travel-demo-theme/js/modernizr-2.6.2.min.js
  jquery:
    addFingerPrint: true
    link: /.resources/travel-demo-theme/js/jquery-1.10.2.min.js
  js.cookies:
    addFingerPrint: true
    link: /.resources/travel-demo-theme/js/js.cookies-2.1.2.js
  jquery.object-fit-cover-simple:
    addFingerPrint: true
    link: /.resources/travel-demo-theme/js/jquery.object-fit-cover-simple.js
  slick:
    addFingerPrint: true
    link: /.resources/travel-demo-theme/libs/slick-carousel/js/slick.min.js
  addtoany:
    link: https://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js
imaging:
  #Image variation configuration
Property Description

jsFiles

optional

JavaScript node of the theme.

     <name>

required

Arbitrary node name. Add a node for each JavaScript file.

         addFingerPrint

optional

Embeds a file content fingerprint in the resource URL. The fingerprint consists of a timestamp in the yyyy-MM-dd-HH-mm-ss-SSS format, and the word "cache", both preceded by the standard selector (~). For example, the modernizr link above becomes /.resources/travel-demo-theme/js/modernizr-2.6.2.min~2015-08-16-09-49-00-000~cache.css. Google recommends fingerprinting as a best practice.

         link

required

Path to the JavaScript file. See Web resources and Origins and loading order for different options for storing and loading resources.

Here is an example JavaScript alert box using JQuery and the default Bootstrap-minimized CSS.

JavaScript alert box

Image variations

Themes can make use of the Imaging module to preconfigure image variations. A variation is a specific configuration that defines features of a target image. Variations can range from complex operations, such as applying filters and overlays, to simple resizing of the target image.

Variations are an effective alternative to resizing images with CSS:

  • Image size is reduced and less data transferred.

  • Editors can upload images of any size, which will automatically be resized to fit the template.

  • Image sizes are uniform throughout the site.

Variations are configured in the imaging node of the theme.

Example: imaging configuration in travel-demo-theme in travel-demo/themes/travel-demo-theme.yaml.

travel-demo/themes/travel-demo-theme.yaml
cssFiles:
  #CSS file configuration
jsFiles:
  #JavaScript file configuration
imaging:
  class: info.magnolia.templating.imaging.VariationAwareImagingSupport
  variations:
    "1600":
      class: info.magnolia.templating.imaging.variation.SimpleResizeVariation
      width: 1600
    "1366":
      class: info.magnolia.templating.imaging.variation.SimpleResizeVariation
      width: 1366
    #......
    "240":
      class: info.magnolia.templating.imaging.variation.SimpleResizeVariation
      width: 240
    "1600x1200":
      class: info.magnolia.templating.imaging.variation.SimpleResizeVariation
      height: 1200
      width: 1600
    "1366x1024":
      class: info.magnolia.templating.imaging.variation.SimpleResizeVariation
      height: 1024
      width: 1366
    #.....
    "240x180":
      class: info.magnolia.templating.imaging.variation.SimpleResizeVariation
      height: 180
      width: 240
    #.....
    "max-1000x1000":
      class: info.magnolia.templating.imaging.variation.ImageOperationProvidingVariation
      imageOperation:
        class: info.magnolia.imaging.operations.ImageOperationChain
        outputFormat:
          quality: 100
        operations:
          load:
            class: info.magnolia.imaging.operations.load.FromBinaryNode
          resize:
            class: info.magnolia.imaging.operations.cropresize.BoundedResize
            maxWidth: 1000
            maxHeight: 1000
Property Description

imaging

optional

Imaging node of the theme.

     class

required

info.magnolia.templating.imaging.VariationAwareImagingSupport provides support for image variations.

     variations

required

Map of image variations.

         <variation name>

required

Name of the variation (rendition). Choose a name that describes the variation. The name is used in template scripts to reference the variation. Add one node for every variation.

             class

required

You can use one of the available classes or create a custom one. The available properties depend on the class used for the variation. Any custom class must implement info.magnolia.imaging.variation.Variation.

The MTE module provides:

  • info.magnolia.templating.imaging.variation.SimpleResizeVariation to resize images to a defined size in pixels (see below for available properties).

  • info.magnolia.templating.imaging.variation.ImageOperationProvidingVariation to create your own image operation chain using the mte image generator.

             <properties>

Add properties that are supported by the class used.

     enabled

optional

Enables and disables support for image variations.

Configuring a simple resize

The info.magnolia.templating.imaging.variation.SimpleResizeVariation class is suitable for most resize variations.

Properties of SimpleResizeVariation:

Property Description

<variation name>

     class

required

Class used to resize images to a defined size in pixels. Must implement info.magnolia.templating.imaging.variation.SimpleResizeVariation.

     crop

optional, default is true

Defines whether the image can be cropped to fit the desired aspect ratio.

Example: A source image in the DAM is 800x800 px (square). For a variation, you define the desired target size as 200x100 (rectangle). The image is first resized to 200x200 and then cropped equally from the top and bottom to reach 200x100 so that it is not distorted. If you set crop to false, the image will be distorted to achieve the desired target size.

     expand

optional, default is false

Defines whether the image can be expanded when it is not cropped.

     height

optional

Integer to define the height in pixels. You must define either height or width.

     width

optional

Integer to define the width in pixels. You must define either height or width.

  • If you do not define either height or width, the renderer will internally throw ImagingException and the image will appear in its original uploaded size.

  • If you define both height and width, the image will be sized down to the lower of the two and the rest will be cropped if necessary. Cropping starts from the middle, so the image is cropped either on the top and bottom or the left and right.

  • If you define only height or width, the other property will be calculated using the aspect ratio of the original image.
See damfn and How to work with images using damfn for how to use variations in your scripts.

Assigning a theme to a site

Themes are assigned to a site in the theme node of the site definition in the Site app.

Example: Travel Demo Site Definition (CE)

Travel Demo Site Definition

Property Description

theme

required

Theme node.

     name

required

The value of this property must match the name of the theme configured in /modules/site/config/theme.

Using theme resources in template scripts

FreeMarker development only

Theme resources are typically added to the <head> element of a page template.

  • Retrieve the configured theme configured over the sitefn function class:

    [#assign site =
sitefn.site()!]

[#assign theme =
sitefn.theme(site)!]

  • Iterate over the theme configuration and include the configured resources:

    [#list theme.cssFiles as cssFile]
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="${cssFile.link}" media="${cssFile.media}" />
[/#list]

[#list theme.jsFiles as jsFile]
    <script src="${jsFile.link}"></script>
[/#list]

Viewing and editing themes

Theme definitions from all sources and origins are available in the Definitions app. Select themes in Type to find all theme definitions. You can hotfix themes in the Resource Files app. Select the theme definition and click Show in Resources app in the Definitions app to access the file.

Example: travel-demo-theme in the Definitions app and Resource Files app.

travel-demo-theme in the Definitions app travel-demo-theme in the Resource Files app.

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