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Commercial bootstrap based admin templates

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    Commercial bootstrap based admin templates

    Referring f.ex. to this commercially available bootstrap based admin template:
    http://keenthemes.com/preview/metronic/

    ... What are the challenges/limitations that must be foreseen if one wanna use the latest version of Alpha Anywhere to build a mobile and browser based application, and with the UI -design, -structure and -functionality from one of the very nice and yet very cheap bootstrap based templates that exists out there...?

    In order to provide all the UI functionality, incl. all the "responsiveness"-functionality, most of these bootstrap templates relies alot on CSS and on Javascript running client side. Perhaps they also reference JQuery libraries...?

    I am still in the phase of deciding whether to use Alpha Anywhere and which approach/plan to follow, and hence new to everything... I do know that the Alpha Anywhere platform also uses alot of Javascript running client side, to handle the integrated communication between client and server and to make the Alpha components automate the "client side" to "server side" communication.

    Will both the JavaScript from the UI template and the Javascript from the Alpha platform be able to function and run in a robust manner side by side?

    How about incompatibilities between the CSS that comes with the template and the CSS used for the Alpha components ? What are the challenges here ?

    Some of the things that should work are:
    • User authentication controlled by Alpha: This would involve a login/register link as part of the UI. And following after login, the UI should integrate the username/picture and a logout-link the upper corner. Hence doing all the "Alpha stuff" in iFrames wont be good enough. Alpha must control everything around the application, and present it based on integrated UI functionality from the template.
    • Lists/Tables/grids: Of course it would be nice to use native Alpha components for this. The template comes with designs for lists, tables and grids. Can the Alpha components be tailored to have the same look that comes from the template design ? Is this just a matter of using template CSS on the Alpha CSS ? Or can/should it be done the other way round - ie. Alpha functionality merged into the lists, tables and grids that comes with the template?
    • Offline functionality: Being also one of the Alpha platforms strengths, when dealing with data handling and manipulation, the offline functionality should be maintained even when the template design is used. Does this entail a specifik approach to merging template design with ALpha component functionality ?


    Looking forward to hear about insights and experiences, and to an interesting discussion going forward. And then of course to get much deeper into using Alpha Anywhere.

    Thanks in advance...
    Last edited by jakobankerhansen; 04-22-2017, 01:46 PM.

    #2
    Re: Commercial bootstrap based admin templates

    The trick is picking and choosing what you want to keep in the theme and what you can throw away. Then, carefully deleting what you don't want. And then, following the .a5w page example, placing your Alpha components inside the theme.

    You'll need to "convert" the jQuery code used in the theme with the Alpha jQueryMakeSafe utility. This basically changes the "$" used in the jQuery libs to "jQuery" so that it doesn't interfere with Alpha.

    CSS should behave itself... not run into issues there. But if you want Alpha components to look like your theme, then you'll need to pick a style in Alpha and make changes to it to match your theme.

    You'll want to use Alpha components... that's where the power is. If you don't use Alpha components... then I'd have to ask why bother with Alpha at all.

    Once you're working with an Alpha component, then it's functionality it outside of your theme. The component will do whatever it's meant to do... no interference from the theme.

    It's all a bit of work, but can produce outstanding looking results.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Commercial bootstrap based admin templates

      Here is a template bought from wrapbootstrap.

      I think it was $4 for 300 templates like this.

      Layout_47.a5wcmp

      Now although some of the templates require bootstrap this one does not.

      I think it is #47 in this package. http://wrapbootstrap.com/preview/WB0DDL006

      I am fairly sure it is available in this template too. http://wrapbootstrap.com/preview/WB0L06586

      Michael

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Commercial bootstrap based admin templates

        ... Thank you David, this was exactly the kind of answer I was hoping for. Bootstrap based templates together with Alpha Anywhere looks like a winning combination then. I will continue my activities along this path - and look forward to it :-)

        Most of the templates recommends to load the JavaScript references, necessary for the templates to work, at the bottom of the page, to not delay the "fast page load impression". From earlier threads on this forum, I have seen people explain, that it was necessary to move the JavaScript references to the top of the page, because they would otherwise not work. Is this still the case, and what is the experience you have about speed consequences to "page load impression"?

        Michael: The template you point at look good. It is always good with a nice toolbox with components that can come in handy. Thanks!

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Commercial bootstrap based admin templates

          It depends, at bit, on the template, what else you're loading... generally what's going on. Sometimes I've had to move some references. I usually leave them where the originally are, and if I get loading errors I'll start moving just those references to the top.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Commercial bootstrap based admin templates

            Glad that it is not always necessary to move JavaScript references to the top... But do you know the reason behind why this can sometimes be necessary ? Is it because of syntax-errors in the code that prevents continued loading later in the page...? Or is it because of duplicate names...? If the template components then start to work, will this then prevent the Alpha framework to not work...?

            This kind of thing makes me worried and makes me remember past experiences with weak technologies.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Commercial bootstrap based admin templates

              I think it's just a simple matter of code needing a library that's not yet loaded. If code runs in a page that requires a library... and that library isn't loaded until the end of a page... then you've got problems... so move that library to the top.

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Commercial bootstrap based admin templates

                This makes sense. Thanks a lot again.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Commercial bootstrap based admin templates

                  I use Bootstrap and similar to gain responsive pages and navigation. Can you point to a Bootstrap template you like.
                  Steve Wood
                  See my profile on IADN

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Commercial bootstrap based admin templates

                    I think the template I link to at the top, looks especially nice.

                    Originally posted by Steve Wood View Post
                    I use Bootstrap and similar to gain responsive pages and navigation. Can you point to a Bootstrap template you like.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Commercial bootstrap based admin templates

                      So back on this. I devised a reasonably simple method to apply any Bootstrap css template to Alpha apps, without modifying the Alpha style sheet.

                      But I have a question. You do know that 99.9% of the Bootstrap css does not apply to Grid or UX, but are general UI that you would manually apply to an A5W page. In those cases you would be doing the same work that any developer using PHP or would do, except you would use an A5W page and use xbasic to grab data from the database. The parts that apply to our data components are the relatively few controls like TextBox, TextArea, DropDownBox, CheckBox, etc.

                      Looking specifically at the metronic Admin templates (first post, see here), as one example, the nifty sidebar navigation - there is nothing in Alpha that would automatically build that navigation using static data or a database. So you would have to again manually add xbasic to where you wanted that navigation to appear, or create a user defined function that did so.

                      I could build out any of the Metronic templates in Alpha (except maybe the fancy graphs) because most of the template is going to come right out of the box, and I know how to use the Grid System and I could build the navigation based on something I have already built*.

                      Besides the UI, the next biggest feature of Bootstrap is the Grid System, which allows you to design a 'responsive' web application. You can apply that grid system to your A5W pages pretty easily, and you can apply it to the Alpha Grid with a bit of work using Freeform Layout. The Alpha UX has a feature called Responsive Layout Settings which you can use to make the UX responsive.

                      To use any of these Bootstrap templates will require a good knowledge of css, grid system, and html and so study how Bootstrap uses container classes, etc.

                      *If you want to see a responsive navigation in an Alpha application, that is also tied to a database, see here. Look at the main navigation it in a normal browser, and then in a mobile device. The navigation minimizes on a mobile device, upper right. The navigation nodes all come from a database, and it is applied using a user defined function. So on the A5W page it is just a function call like this: wt_menu([menu name"]). I never use the Alpha "Navigation Component" because it is impossible to use on a smaller device.

                      While at this site, notice that when you go from a normal browser to a smaller device, some images and whole sections disappear. This is also based on css using "media queries"; another thing you would need to understand if you were to build a website that works well on a larger and smaller screen.
                      Steve Wood
                      See my profile on IADN

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Commercial bootstrap based admin templates

                        To add to Steve's excellent answer.

                        I think the way go with Alpha is to split the CSS.

                        CSS.png


                        The input controls that are "joined" to the database do not style in the same way as Tables and input controls in "raw" Html. To gain the sort of flexibility that is shown in Bootstrap templates you will need multiple grid styles. Independent of that you also need multiple Tabbed UI's and then yet again multiple input controls that do not support sub themes. Having achieved all of this you will probably require multiple sub themes.

                        I enclose a picture of a semi-responsive layout.

                        Ashobiz template..png

                        Ashobiz smaller.png

                        These pictures show 4 simple templates displayed on an Alpha page. The templates were purchased from Wrapbootstrap but these 4 do not rely on Bootstrap CSS.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Commercial bootstrap based admin templates

                          For those of you who are interested in the raw CSS and Html here, it is. Please go to Wrapbootstrap and buy a license if you want to use this guy's work. There are 200 components for $9

                          Selwyn.a5wcmp

                          https://wrapbootstrap.com/theme/asho...ents-WB0DDL006

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Commercial bootstrap based admin templates

                            Michael....I downloaded the components from Wrapbootstrap and they are easy to implement. But, do you know how to incorporate these in other controls.....such as a button.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Commercial bootstrap based admin templates

                              Sorry I have not completely understood.

                              Comment

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