X3Photo Gallery Forums

Hi. Thanks for the questions, but I imagine X3 might be slightly off the mark for you if you want to do a lot of Javascript and CSS customization. X3 was not created with this in mind, and it's not using the latest Foundation.

nampara17 wrote:Have you used the full libraries including the JS?

No. It uses some CSS and some JS from foundation. Some features are highlighted in the samples page. Because X3 JS and CSS is compiled and minified, you can't easily modify Javascripts. You could override some CSS, and you can also use HTML features of Foundations like grids and labels. One of the reason it's called "foundation" is because it's a foundation where the website using it can extract and build upon base features.

nampara17 wrote:Can we access everything in Foundation in the same way as the Foundation documentation or have you extended these?

Some features like grids and labels, but mostly no.

nampara17 wrote:Is there any documentation on how to extend X3 with JS, etc.?

Sorry no. Only the sample page which shows some implementation examples.

Ok, so I am just trying to be fully transparent here as a developer. I see you mentioned Files Gallery ... Although I developed both, they are two completely different creations ... Files Gallery was more a "simple" reaction to the more "complex" X3. Also, X3 is older than Files Gallery, from back before CSS vars existed, and it was never implemented for any 3rd party to easily customize the actual Javascript or CSS (except overriding). This is very difficult for any premade website.

If this puts your off in any way, that is unfortunate (for all), but I can always provide a refund if necessary. I am just saying things as they are.

nampara17 wrote:Don't "want" to do a lot or perhaps any customisation - but would be nice to know the structures so that we could integrate but still allow for core upgrades to happen...

X3 isn't a "framework" though. It's a premade website built on top of a framework so that people with little-to-none CSS/Javascript experience can create a beautiful photo-website with little-to-none HTML experience. We only use very few parts of Foundation that we strictly needed to get it working ... Some features (like modal) were customized so that you can operate it from HTML. There is no "structure" I can document. At this point, it's a bit unclear what (for example) you had plans to do.

Plugins (a few of them spinoffs from Foundation) are documented with html code examples from the samples page:
https://demo.photo.gallery/examples/features/sample/

There is no public external Javascript, as they trigger automatically from HTML. The CSS is pre-rendered and minified, and will inherit X3's themes as that is how it was created. With CSS experience, you can override some styles, but this isn't the idea as the CSS is pre-designed and rendered to suit the themes.

nampara17 wrote:Can you provide the uncompressed libs, or have a switch in the setup that either includes compresses or uncompressed...?

If you want to take that path, I can provide this but I can't personally see how this is useful. X3 is not a framework and you won't find the original SCSS or javascript files easy to customize. I built the code to compile into what X3 is, an app where everything is premade.

nampara17 wrote:Could you be more specific? "some" implies a variable amount from a little bit to a lot. Is there any documentation on this?

More like very little. What documentation are you looking for? We use GRID and BLOCK-GRID, already documented in the sample page (see link above), and also in Foundation grid docs. Could you give a concrete example of what you want to achieve?

nampara17 wrote:I will have a look at the sample page and try to reverse engineer. Not the usual paid for approach though to trying to document something (e.g. look at a page and reverse engineer it....)

What are you going to reverse engineer? In the sample page, there is already HTML code examples for modal, tabs, alert, labels and toggle. How exactly is it you want to use these modules if not from HTML, and if so, what is the point in that?

nampara17 wrote:Initially I was over the moon with this solution having looked at your files.gallery github repo. The sample looks really good and a wonderful solution for anyone who has a portfolio of work to show. I have even bought the 10 license. Digging deeper, the lack of any formal documentation (reverse engineering, sorry, is not documentation on classes and customisation!), I am beginning to wonder if this initial purchase was the right thing to do.

I'm not sure if there has been a misunderstanding, but X3 is not the same as Files Gallery.

nampara17 wrote:No I do not want to make x3 look and feel completely different to its core. Do I want to be able to potentially add some functionality or understand more deeply the structure of the CSS classes and layout techniques? YES and Yes again. Do I want to be able to perhaps integrate further with a payment gateway? YES and Yes again - perhaps Paypal or Stripe or ... BUT there is not interface or API docs so anything I would do could jeopardise future upgrades to the core package - right? 

As noted, you may have misinterpreted X3 slightly. It's not a framework to develop websites. It's a pre-designed photo gallery website with a simple CMS interface to manage settings, pages and galleries.

To conclude what I attempted to emphasize previously. If you want to setup pre-designed a photo/showcase website from a simple CMS with minimal-to-no coding, then X3 may be for you. If you are a web designer/developer that wants to customize beyond existing styles and capabilities, or integrate custom solutions, then X3 might not be for you. Sorry to disappoint!

nampara17 wrote:My only issue is expanding the system. For example in the area of integration with Stripe or Paypal, etc. Although there is a sort of shopping cart - check out it relies on a third party that has very expensive commissions on sales. This is probably the biggest area. To email, yes, is a way... but puts people off as they wait for a phone call or something. Perhaps a simple integration with the Paypal "pay now" button system. I guess that could be easily integrated at a push from our end.

Assume you are referring to cart.photo.gallery, where "payment" integrations was specifically excluded because of how complicated it is. Of course, as soon as you want to add payment options, then you need to assign prices also, and this will surely need to be per-product ... And in this case, it's normal to have different prices depending on various options (it's unusual for a single item/photo to just have a static price). So of course, this requires a full per-item pricing configuration, that can be assigned from the panel, with frontend interface options per item available for the user. Am I right?

Then of course, there API implementation from a specific payment provider, to check payments, send emails and automatically follow up. If the buyer pays immediately but has to wait for human follow up, I don't see how that is much better than waiting for human follow up before paying. I personally wouldn't pay up front for something unless I knew the owner or trusted the website.

This is why very few websites have such e-commerce implemented successfully, except several paid services like Shopify for example. Unless you want something very simplistic, I don't see how you would integrate a complete e-commerce solution into X3.

nampara17 wrote:I do like the product and have obviously paid. I hope you are open to "constructive feedback" or at least feedback that is not gushing but practical from an every day point of view.

Of course ... Some features are simply beyond the scope of current X3.

nampara17 wrote:Keep up the good work. I hope to see a new release sometime.

There will be a maintenance release shortly. Most likely, new features will come in X4, but that will be a good while still. Even X4 will have several limitations, and it's core focus will be a beautiful photo gallery/website.