How to facelift the backend applications

[Marius Schmidt <ma...@denktmit.de>]

Hi OfBiz Mailing list,

I am currently in the process of evaluating OfBiz as core system to 
manage our newly founded IT cooperative. I might ask a couple of 
questions over the next days :). Unfortunately some of the reactions I 
got in presenting the backend were exclamations like "Really, but that 
UI looks older than me!", "that will not be fun to work with" or "do we 
have to fill all the fields?"

So after reading half of the partially outdated two OfBiz books on 
Packt, the AsciiDocs I found so far and the quite fragmented Confluence 
parts I am still not sure about this:

What would I need to do, to facelift the backend applications to e.g. 
use Bootstrap as base and hide fields we are not going to need while at 
the same time retain upgrade ability to future releases?

Best regards

Marius

Re: How to facelift the backend applications

[Jonatan Soto <se...@gmail.com>]

Marius,

You can also take a look at our themes at Scipio ERP. We've recently moved
to CE our *Ignite* themes which are based on the famous Core UI framework
(bootstrap). With a bit of effort they could be ported to OFBiz if you want.

https://www.scipioerp.com/community/end-user/addons/ignite-admin-theme-bootstrap-v4/
https://www.scipioerp.com/community/end-user/addons/ignite-shop-theme-bootstrap-v4/

Here's a demo of how they look:
shop: https://ce.scipioerp.com/majorleague/
backend: https://ce.scipioerp.com/admin/control/main

Let us know in case you have any doubt.

Best regards,


On Sun, Oct 17, 2021 at 3:59 PM Michael Brohl <mi...@ecomify.de>
wrote:

> Hi Marius,
>
> welcome to the project!
>
> The OFBiz backend's philosophy is to "show it all" in regards to the
> comprehensive datamodel and the business processes it contains ootb.
> Therefore nearly every project needs some adjustments to the UI, often
> simplifying the processes and amount of UI elements. OFBiz itself is
> designed to be changed and used as a business process framework.
>
> The newer backend themes are based on Bootstrap already. While it
> strongly depends on how far the modifications should go, you have
> several options:
>
> - use the forms capabilities to hide and reorder fields or change for
> actions
>
> - use the freemarker template engine to design your own templates with
> the power to change the UI in every bit
>
> The UI and the underlying service/database layer are decoupled so if you
> change the UI you don't necessarily have to change the services as long
> as you provide all non-optional data.
>
> To retain upgrade compatibility, you should either write your own
> backend modules or, if you only make minor modifications, mark them as
> mods to easily merge while upgrading.
>
> Happy OFBiz journey,
>
> Michael Brohl
>
> ecomify GmbH - www.ecomify.de
>
>
> Am 17.10.21 um 09:41 schrieb Marius Schmidt:
> > Hi OfBiz Mailing list,
> >
> > I am currently in the process of evaluating OfBiz as core system to
> > manage our newly founded IT cooperative. I might ask a couple of
> > questions over the next days :). Unfortunately some of the reactions I
> > got in presenting the backend were exclamations like "Really, but that
> > UI looks older than me!", "that will not be fun to work with" or "do
> > we have to fill all the fields?"
> >
> > So after reading half of the partially outdated two OfBiz books on
> > Packt, the AsciiDocs I found so far and the quite fragmented
> > Confluence parts I am still not sure about this:
> >
> > What would I need to do, to facelift the backend applications to e.g.
> > use Bootstrap as base and hide fields we are not going to need while
> > at the same time retain upgrade ability to future releases?
> >
> > Best regards
> >
> > Marius
> >
>


-- 
-----

Jonatan Soto

Re: How to facelift the backend applications

[Michael Brohl <mi...@ecomify.de>]

Hi Marius,

welcome to the project!

The OFBiz backend's philosophy is to "show it all" in regards to the 
comprehensive datamodel and the business processes it contains ootb. 
Therefore nearly every project needs some adjustments to the UI, often 
simplifying the processes and amount of UI elements. OFBiz itself is 
designed to be changed and used as a business process framework.

The newer backend themes are based on Bootstrap already. While it 
strongly depends on how far the modifications should go, you have 
several options:

- use the forms capabilities to hide and reorder fields or change for 
actions

- use the freemarker template engine to design your own templates with 
the power to change the UI in every bit

The UI and the underlying service/database layer are decoupled so if you 
change the UI you don't necessarily have to change the services as long 
as you provide all non-optional data.

To retain upgrade compatibility, you should either write your own 
backend modules or, if you only make minor modifications, mark them as 
mods to easily merge while upgrading.

Happy OFBiz journey,

Michael Brohl

ecomify GmbH - www.ecomify.de


Am 17.10.21 um 09:41 schrieb Marius Schmidt:
> Hi OfBiz Mailing list,
>
> I am currently in the process of evaluating OfBiz as core system to 
> manage our newly founded IT cooperative. I might ask a couple of 
> questions over the next days :). Unfortunately some of the reactions I 
> got in presenting the backend were exclamations like "Really, but that 
> UI looks older than me!", "that will not be fun to work with" or "do 
> we have to fill all the fields?"
>
> So after reading half of the partially outdated two OfBiz books on 
> Packt, the AsciiDocs I found so far and the quite fragmented 
> Confluence parts I am still not sure about this:
>
> What would I need to do, to facelift the backend applications to e.g. 
> use Bootstrap as base and hide fields we are not going to need while 
> at the same time retain upgrade ability to future releases?
>
> Best regards
>
> Marius
>