Document schemas

doc/Home.md

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ Red Matrix Documentation and Resources
 * [Install](help/Install)
 * [Comanche Page Descriptions](help/Comanche)
 * [Plugins](help/Plugins)
+* [Schemas](help/Schema-development)
 * [Developers](help/Developers)
 * [Intro for Developers](help/Intro-for-Developers)
 * [API functions](help/api_functions)

doc/Schema-development.md

@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+Red development - a guide to the schema system
+==============================================
+
+
+A schema, in a nutshell, is a collection of settings for a bunch of variables to define
+certain elements of a theme.  A schema is loaded as though it were part of config.php
+and has access to all the same information.  Importantly, this means it is identity aware,
+and can be used to do some interesting things.  One could, for example, restrict options
+by service class, or present different options to different users.
+
+By default, we filter only by whether or not expert mode is enabled.  If expert mode is
+enabled, all options are presented to the user.  If it is not, only scheme, background
+image, font face, and iconset are available as choices.
+
+A schema is loaded *after* the user settings.  Therefore, to allow a user to overwrite a
+particular aspect of a schmea you would use the following syntax:
+
+        if (! $foo)
+            $foo = 'bar';
+
+However, there are circumstances - particularly with positional elements - where it
+may be desirable (or necessary) to override a users settings.  In this case, the syntax
+is even simpler:
+
+            $foo = 'bar';
+
+Users will not thank you for this, however, so only use it when it is required.
+
+If no user options are set, and no schema is selected, we will first try to load a schema
+with the file name "default.php".  This file should never be included with a theme.  If it
+is, merge conflicts will occur as people update their code.  Rather, this should be defined
+by administrators on a site by site basis.
+
+The canonical default schema is darkness.php.  Any bugs should be tested with this schema
+first, in order to determine whether we're dealing with a theme bug or a schema bug.
+
+You schema does not need to - and should not - contain all of these values.  Only the values
+that differ from the defaults should be listed.  This gives you some very powerful options
+with very few lines of code.
+
+Note the options available differ with each theme.  The options available with the Redbasic 
+theme are as follows:
+
+* nav_colour
+	The colour of the navigation bar.  Options are red, black and silver.  Alternatively, 
+	one can set $nav_bg_1, $nav_bg_2, $nav_bg_3 and $nav_bg_4 to provide gradient and
+	hover effects.
+* banner_colour
+	The font colour of the banner element.  Accepts an RGB or Hex value.
+* bgcolour
+	Set the body background colour.  Accepts an RGB or Hex value.
+* background_image
+	Sets a background image.  Accepts a URL or path.
+* item_colour
+	Set the background colour of items.  Accepts an RGB or Hex value.
+* item_opacity
+	Set the opacity of items.  Accepts a value from 0.01 to 1
+* toolicon_colour
+	Set the colour of tool icons.  Accepts an RGB or Hex value.
+* toolicon_activecolour
+	Set the colour of active or hovered icon tools.
+* font_size
+	Set the size of fonts in items and posts.  Accepts px or em.
+* body_font_size
+	Sets the size of fonts at the body level.  Accepts px or em.
+* font_colour
+	Sets the font colour.  Accepts an RGB or Hex value.
+* radius
+	Set the radius of corners.  Accepts a numeral, and is always in px.
+* shadow
+	Set the size of shadows shown with inline images.  Accepts a numerical 
+	value.  Note shadows are not applied to smileys.
+* converse_width
+	Set the maximum width of conversations.  Accepts px, or %.
+* nav_min_opacity
+* top_photo
+* reply_photo
+* sloppy_photos
+	Determins whether photos are "sloppy" or aligned.  Set or unset (1 or '')