Random Questions Answered

Q: Is there a list of the colours used in XenForo?

A: The majority of our colours are listed here:

Q: May XenForo be used in domain/site names?

A: XenForo is a limited company, registered in the UK. The company has a website and a distinctive logo. The company also now has a history, which is currently short, but is growing. Therefore the company can demonstrate the right of trademark.

With this in mind, the company wants to protect that trademark, understandably. Therefore, we are not giving permission for XenForo to be used, as part of a site name or domain name (or any name).

Clearly this has potential to become (or has already become) an emotional matter and really, it is quite simple. The point is simply about protecting XenForo trademark. We would be negligent if we did not protect our trademark; for the benefit of our customers future. No one wants to become involved in wrangling over trademark issues, for obvious reasons and we ask that we are not put in a position to have to consider whether to take action.

Q: How do I use my favourite HTML / CSS editor to edit XenForo templates?

A: XenForo exposes a WebDAV interface to the templates system.

Q: WebD... er, what?

A: WebDAV is a protocol that sits on top of HTTP and allows items on a web server to be treated as files.
Wikipedia definition

Q: How do I use it?

A: To use WebDAV with XenForo, you must connect a WebDAV client to the admindav.php file on your webserver and provide your XenForo administrator login details.

These are example setup screens from Adobe Dreamweaver:


And this is the equivalent configuration screen in CyberDuck:


XenForo must be running in debug mode for the WebDAV connection to be active, and we would recommend that you restrict access to admindav.php through your web server (allowing only your own IP access) and also limit debug mode to your IP address alone, by including code like this in your config.php file:

PHP:

if ($_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] == '127.0.0.1')
{
$config['debug'] = true;
}

(replacing 127.0.0.1 with your own IP address).

While both Windows and Mac provide their own WebDAV clients, neither is particularly good for this job, and we would recommend that you use a third party tool. The following tools have been extensively tested and shown to work very well:

• Macromedia Dreamweaver (Windows and Mac)
• CyberDuck (Windows and Mac)
• Panic Coda (Mac)

Update June 16 2011 - Cyberduck status updated to reflect the availability of a Windows version.

Q: Why doesn't XenForo have phrase groups? Doesn't this create a large memory overhead?

A: No, XenForo can load exactly the phrases it requires to render a page without surplus:

http://xenforo.com/community/thread...e-and-acp-back-end-language.6179/#post-130399

Q: How do I get Dreamweaver to highlight XenForo template syntax?

A: Download and apply the Dreamweaver configuration files using the instructions provided here:

Syntax highlighting for XenForo templates in Dreamweaver:
http://xenforo.com/community/thread...plate-syntax-highlighting-configuration.9800/

Q: Is there an equivalent of vBulletin's THIS_SCRIPT that I can use within my templates?

A: Yes. You can access $controllerName, $controllerAction and $viewName from within templates: http://xenforo.com/community/thread...condition-this_script-index.6664/#post-155299

Q: Can I have something appear in a template only if multiple conditions are met?

A: Yes, you can either use the OR operator in your condition, or you may find that <xen:if hascontent /> fits the bill:

http://xenforo.com/community/threads/multiple-conditions-in-xenforo-template-syntax.13177/

Q: Is there a definitive list of tags and functions that can make up the XenForo template syntax?

A: There is no comprehensive list published at this point, but you don't need to be an expert to read the following and work out what is available for the public (non-AdminCP) side of XenForo:

library/XenForo/Template/Compiler/Function/
Classes within this directory are represented in the template syntax as {xen:functionName}

library/XenForo/Template/Compiler/Tag/
Classes within this directory are represented in the template syntax as <xen:tagName />

Then there are the entries in library/XenForo/Template/Helper/Core.php $helperCallbacks,
which define {xen:helper functionName, $arg1, $arg2...}

and the entries in library/XenForo/Template/Helper/Core.php $stringCallbacks,
which define {xen:string functionName, $arg1, $arg2...}

There are a few others, but armed with those you should have a good vocabulary of XenForo template syntax.

Q: What is {xen:link ...} all about? Is there a basic guide somewhere?

A: {xen:link ...} is a function within the XenForo template syntax to call the XenForo link builder. All links to XenForo systems within templates should use it.

There is a basic guide here:
http://xenforo.com/community/threads/xen-link-guide.15615/

Q: Is there a way to easily load content with AJAX and insert it into the current page?

A: Yes, you should investigate XenForo.Loader() in js/xenforo/xenforo.js.

A basic description of how to use it is here:

http://xenforo.com/community/threads/possible-for-pages-to-have-load-more-like-fb-twitter.16145/

Q: What is the basic organisation of XenForo's MVC architecture? What goes where?

A: A high-level overview is here:

http://xenforo.com/community/threads/how-to-learn-from-someone-whos-learning.16404/#post-216293