Introduction

Quick Start

Basic Concepts

Understanding Routing

Intercepting Requests

Module Fundamentals

Database Operations

Templates

Helpers

Form Handling

Form Validation

Working With Files

Image Manipulation

Working With Dates & Times

Language Control

Security

Tips And Best Practices

Changing Color Schemes

The built-in admin template ships with multiple color schemes (default, blue, red, green) and switching between them is ridiculously simple.

At a Glance

There are two ways to set the admin theme:

Per-controller - Set the $admin_theme property on your admin controller (recommended for the built-in admin panel).
Per-method - Pass $data['theme'] directly to $this->templates->admin() (useful for custom controllers or dynamic themes).

Per-Controller (Recommended)

The Trongate_administrators controller (and any controller that extends it) supports the $admin_theme property. Set it once at the top of your controller and it will apply to every admin view automatically:

PHP

class Trongate_administrators extends Trongate {

    private string $admin_theme = 'blue'; // or 'red', 'green'
    // …remaining controller code…
}

That's it. Every admin page - manage, create, show, delete_conf, update_password, not_found - will receive the theme automatically. An empty string (the default) produces the default dark charcoal theme.

Per-Method (For Custom Controllers)

If you are building your own controller (not extending the admin panel), just add a theme key to your $data array:

PHP

public function manage(): void {
    $data['page_title'] = 'Manage Products';
    $data['theme'] = 'blue'; // or 'red', 'green', or any custom theme you create
    $this->templates->admin($data);
}

What Happens Behind the Scenes

In modules/templates/Templates.php the admin() method does this:

PHP

public function admin(array $data): void {
    $data['theme'] = (isset($data['theme'])) ? $data['theme'] : 'default';
    // …additional includes processing…
    $this->display('admin', $data);
}

Then inside modules/templates/views/admin.php you will find:

HTML

<body class="theme-<?= $theme ?? 'default' ?>">

The result: the <body> tag gets class="theme-blue", class="theme-red", etc.

The Built-In Themes

The default admin.css already contains these ready-to-use themes:

default – dark charcoal (the original look)
blue
red
green

Creating Your Own Theme

Want purple, orange, or a high-contrast mode? Just add a new CSS block to modules/templates/css/admin.css:

CSS

body.theme-purple {
    --header-bg: #581c87;
    --footer-bg: #581c87;
    --sidebar: #6b21a8;
    --submenu-bg: #581c87;
    --submenu-hover-bg: #6b21a8;
    --primary: #6b21a8;
    --primary-dark: #581c87;
    --primary-darker: #3b0764;
    /* copy and adjust as many variables as you like */
}

Then use it exactly the same way:

PHP

$data['theme'] = 'purple';
$this->templates->admin($data);

No registration. No config files. No recompiling.

Per-User Themes (Real-World Example)

PHP

public function dashboard(): void {
    $user_theme = $_SESSION['preferred_theme'] ?? 'default';
    $data['theme'] = $user_theme;
    $this->templates->admin($data);
}

Why This Rules

One line of PHP + one CSS block = instant theme switch.

That's the Trongate way!

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