As themes grow more powerful, there’s more to remember about how they work. We have loads of detailed documentation under #howto / #themes, but if you just need something to jog your memory, this guide may help.
General Resources
Beginner’s guide
Theme Creator
Theme CLI
Theme Directory
Component Directory
Theme ModifiersFile/Folder Structure read more
about.json
settings.yml
common/, desktop/, mobile/
{common|desktop|mobile}.scss
head_tag.html
header.html
after_header.html
body_tag.html
footer.html
embedded.scss (common only)
locales/
en.yml
...
assets/
(arbitrarily named files, referenced in about.json)
stylesheets/
(arbitrarily named files, can be imported from each other, and common/desktop/mobile.scss)
javascripts/
(arbitrarily named files. Supports .js.es6 .hbs and .raw.hbs)
about.json structure info, available metadata
{
"name": "My Theme",
"component": false,
"license_url": null,
"about_url": null,
"authors": null,
"theme_version": null,
"minimum_discourse_version": null,
"maximum_discourse_version": null,
"assets": {
"variable-name": "assets/my-asset.jpg"
},
"color_schemes": {
"My Colour Scheme": {
"primary": "222222",
}
}
}
SCSS
Available CSS VariablesJavascript read more
<!-- Define in </head> section of theme-->
<script type="text/discourse-plugin" version="0.8">
console.log("I am ", api.getCurrentUser().username);
</script>
Templates read more
<!-- Define in </head> section of theme-->
<!-- Plugin Outlet -->
<script type="text/x-handlebars" data-template-name="/connectors/below-footer/arbitrary-unique-name">
This is displayed below the footer
</script>
<!-- Override Core -->
<script type="text/x-handlebars" data-template-name="list/topic-list-item.raw">
This used to be a topic list item
</script>
Settings read more
settings.yml:
fruit:
default: apples|oranges
type: list
description: # Old method. It's better to define these in the locale files (see below)
en: English Description
fr: Description Française
Access from JavaScript:
console.log(settings.fruit);
Access from templates:
{{theme-setting "fruit"}}
Access from scss:
html {
font-size: #{$global-font-size}px;
background: $site-background;
}
Translations read more
locales/en.yml
en:
my_translation_key: "I love themes"
theme_metadata: # These are used in the admin panel. They are not made available to your js/hbs files
description: This theme lets you do amazing things on your Discourse
settings:
fruit: A description of the whitelisted_fruits setting
Access from JavaScript:
I18n.t(themePrefix("my_translation_key"))
Access from templates:
{{theme-i18n "my_translation_key"}}
{{d-button label=(theme-prefix "my_translation_key")}}
