Tags successor code. Super fast template design for hikashop

-- HikaShop version -- : 4.3
-- Joomla version -- : 3.9.21
-- PHP version -- : 7.3

Tags replace codes. Ultra-fast template design for hikashop

Hello.
Previously, hikashop templates were discussed in this forum. I want to talk about an interesting and new idea that dramatically speeds up template design for hikashop and makes it easier to edit. Reduces errors and allows amateur users to easily design their own template.
Today, new templates are moving further away from the code, and frameworks in Joomla are building templates. Some of them, like Helix Ultimate, are very fast and in version 2, dramatic changes are on the way.
But plugins are still a challenge for amateur users, and adding the style they want is a difficult process.


Before we get into the idea, let's look at the benefits of deleting as much code as possible for a plugin.
Site template plays a very important part in the sales of a store. That's why improving the user experience is so important in the world right now.

Elimination of traditional and time-consuming methods is important from two points of view.
First, it simplifies and simplifies site design, significantly reduces store design costs, and enables plugin template compatibility with various Joomla template frameworks. So we do not need to see which framework the template designer will use. We choose which framework to set up the store on.
Second, it allows amateur users to create their own template and improve it whenever they want.
3- The simplicity and customizability of the template will attract a wide range of users, and this is a great advantage for gaining another part of the market that is available to competitors.

Now how do we create this simplicity and speed?
Plugin files in Joomla! Are a combination of PHP and HTML code. PHP codes are responsible for retrieving information that will eventually be displayed to the user in the form of HTML content at the front of the site.

what is the problem?
PHP code is a big problem for amateur users. Understanding these codes is not easy for this group of users. Learning Html, css and even java is much easier than understanding PHP. Moving or changing even one character is enough to ruin the whole result and get a 503 error.

what's the solution?
Remove php code. Removing these codes from the template Html files will make the code shorter, cleaner and more understandable.

How do we do this?
With tags. This method has been common in blog templates for many years. Blog users do not use php code to design their template. They put only certain tags in the html code, and each tag invokes a portion of the content.
hikashop has a display section for editing html code of the plugin template. It is enough to consider a tag for each element that can be displayed in the front end, which is translated by a plugin and updated in the template folder. This method is now common in Joomla! Content plugins such as shortcode plugins.
All the tags are on the side of the page and the user drags it to the middle of the html page.
If that element is active in the plugin settings, it will be displayed where it was dragged, otherwise it will be turned off.

What to do with divs?
An element such as product tags may be turned off in the settings. Showing an empty div on the product page does not look interesting. The solution is to consider open and closed tags for divs. If the element inside the div is active, then the div is displayed with it, otherwise the div will be hidden.

If the translator plugin can convert tags to the desired php code well and without errors, hikashop has gained a great advantage over its competitors.

Fields will be more useful:
By tagging, you can use the desired fields in batches or individually anywhere on the page. You can even predict open and closed tags to display modules. In this way, the modules can be used freely on product pages or purchase steps.

The arrangement of the elements is easily changed:
Where is the product price best displayed? Above the title? Under the title or in the form of a box attached to the bottom of the page? Tags allow the user to change the price display with a quick and understandable move. Well let me see. Maybe we should create some custom fields to be displayed under the title and a few more at the end of the description. A group of fields are also displayed under a separate tab as product specifications.
We want to put a video instead of a gallery. It is a convenient job. We just put a few tags in the desired places.

Additional elements:
Well, now that the work is easy, maybe it is better to add other elements to the display so that the user can use them wherever he wants. What are these elements like:
- Modules
- video
- Buttons with custom expressions and specific function. For example, the purchase button with direct guidance to pay or the purchase button only to add to cart.
- Tabs. Maybe we want to put gallery, description - video - article and fields each in one tab
- Call the article
- Component calling. How amazing. Maybe we have installed a poll component and we want to call it on the thank you and return payment page and the user can comment by shaking the knobs. How good it is to be able to call the desired components in the desired place.

OK! what is your opinion. This idea is published here. I hope you use it before competitors.

Sorry I used a machine translator for lack of time.

Hello. Thank you.
You will definitely have a difficult task ahead of you, but this idea became important to me when I was updating my blog template at the same time as updating my hikashop template. Unlike Joomla, which has everything, I only had a few tags in my blog admin panel at bayan.ir, which I left between the html code between the divs.
When I saw the speed of work, I said to myself how good. Why not run the same method in Joomla!
Look at this template code snippet:

<box:links>
                    <div class="mod_both">
                        <check:if blog_links>
                   </div>
</box:links>

Hi!
I did not know that all the ideas I had about designing a hikashop template had already been realized in WordPress, but today I came across something that I will link to for you.

elementor.com/features/woocommerce-builder/

You may have seen it before, but maybe not!
Anyway, it's very similar to what went through my mind. It is very exciting to design all the sections with elements that can be placed anywhere.
This will be more interesting when we can design a dedicated page for each product in addition to the default template.

OK! I am currently designing a new version of my site with WordPress. I hope hikashop can reach it soon.

nicolas wrote: Hi,

That's indeed a really nice tool.