Reference Guide

ReadyTheme

Customizing a Miva Merchant Store - A Brief History

1. Cautions and Warnings

2. Install a ReadyTheme Module

3. Install a ReadyTheme

4. Remove a ReadyTheme

For many years, an out of the box Miva Merchant store has looked something like this:

There are some store customizations that are very easy to do: adding categories, products, images, etc. But to really customize the look of your Miva Merchant store, you always had to be familiar with:

• JavaScript
• CSS
• Miva template code (see also http://www.mivascript.com/)

All of the above is still true today. The figure above is still what an out of the box store looks like. You can still do almost unlimited customization to your store with JavaScript, CSS, and Miva template code.

When Miva Merchant version 9 was released, we added ReadyThemes. A ReadyTheme is a collection of store pages that have already had their look and feel customized with JavaScript, CSS, and changes to their template code.

Cautions and Warnings

A ReadyTheme is actually a Framework file and it works by overwriting your existing store pages. Most people who use a ReadyTheme are working on a brand new store, with none of their own content or customizations. If you've already modified your store pages in the admin interface, installing a ReadyTheme overwrites your changes, and you will have to make those changes again.

If you have an existing store and you want to experiment with ReadyThemes:

1. Use your development store, or contact Miva Merchant to get a development store.
2. Make a Framework file of your current store so you can go back to your current look and feel.
3. Install the ReadyTheme of your choice.

To Install the ReadyTheme Module

1. Go to > Utilities > Add/Remove Modules tab > Available Modules section.
2. In the ReadyTheme box, click Install.

To Install a ReadyTheme

1. Before you install a ReadyTheme, you might want to create a Framework file to act as a kind of "restore point". This is a way to save your store pages before you install the ReadyTheme. See: To Create a Framework File

2. You can purchase ReadyThemes, and download free ones at:

   http://apps.miva.com/ready-themes.html

   The ReadyTheme will download to your computer as a zip file. Unpack the zip file to a directory on your computer.

3. Go to > User Interface > Frameworks Tab.
4. Go to > User Interface > Frameworks Tab.
5. In the Frameworks tab, click the Upload Framework icon and select Upload - Overwrite.



6. Browse to the folder on your local computer where you unpacked the ReadyTheme zip file and select the .pkg file.



7. The .pkg file that you selected now shows up in the Frameworks tab. Select the file and click Apply Framework.



8. The Apply Framework screen appears.

7.1. Check the Overwrite External Files and Overwrite Style Resources checkboxes.

7.2. Click Apply.



9. A confirmation screen appears. Click Apply to confirm that you want to install the Framework.



10. If you view your on-line store, you'll see the ReadyTheme that you installed.

To Remove a ReadyTheme

A ReadyTheme is a Framework file, and once you install it, it overwrites your store pages. You can't really remove it, but a workaround is to:

1. Before you install a ReadyTheme, create a Framework of your current store. This will act as kind of a restore point. See: To Create a Framework File
2. If you installed a ReadyTheme, and you want to go back to the way your store looked originally, reapply the "restore point" framework file that you created. See: To Apply a Framework File to Your Store