Customizing the Web Store appearance Step by Step

The default store we created in Creating a new Web Store Step by Step is functional but it looks a little generic and a few options may not make direct sense for your application.

The Web Store can be customized in a number of ways:

  • Via configuration Settings
    We've already seen how we can configure a number of options about how the store operates and how things are displayed via the Configuration Settings page. These are meant as basic configuration options to get you up and running quickly. This step was covered in the walk through with Step 2 - Web Store Configuration.

  • Customization of the Cascading Style Sheet
    Most of the visual design aspects such as colors and fonts are controlled through the wwWebStore.css style sheet. The style sheet sets a default color scheme for the store through standard HTML tag configurations and custom style tags that are used for common operations.

  • Modification of the ASP.Net HTML templates and controls
    The store's user interface is controlled through the HTML templates and a few user controls that are reused on most pages. Customizing these controls allows changing the general look and feel of the application.

  • Source Code customization
    For developers there is the option of customizing the C# source code for the business objects and the ASP.Net front end code. There are a handful of operations that most applications will want to modify such as shipping behavior and possibly tax calculations that are required for your state.

© West Wind Technologies, 1996-2018 • Updated: 09/17/03
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