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Getting StartedHome → Admin Manual → Customizing HelpSpot → Templates: The Basics
5.1. Templates: The Basics
The HelpSpot portal is fully customizable to allow integration with any website or intranet. Please note that if you're on a hosted trial, you'll need to contact support to enable editing of portal templates.
PHP and HTML
HelpSpot templates are HTML with PHP, not an esoteric template language. This means PHP can be used within the templates themselves to call user-defined functions, includes, an other PHP constructs. This can make customizing an installation easier to allow the inclusion of templates from a main site, thereby preventing the duplication of code.
Editing Templates
The easiest way to edit the portal templates is by navigating to Admin > Customize > Portal Templates. Here you can view and edit the templates for your primary portal and any secondary portals. HelpSpot automatically versions your changes and allows you to roll them back if needed.
If you with to edit the files on the server directly, templates are located in the folder: /helpspot/templates. While it's possible to modify the files there directly it is not recommended. Instead it is recommended that the files be copied and placed in: /custom_templates. HelpSpot's template system will automatically check the /custom_templates folder and use the template from there instead of from /helpspot/templates. Using a custom templates folder prevents customizations from being overwritten during future version upgrades.
Common Files to Modify
These files are included on each page of the portal. For a basic level of integration (ie: standardizing 'look and feel), modifying only these files, in most cases, would be enough.
- header.tpl.php
- footer.tpl.php
- navigation.tpl.php
- css.tpl.php
List of All Templates
Each template contains specific documentation inside it, so please see the templates themselves for more details
| Template | Description |
| captcha.tpl.php | HTML elements for the CAPTCHA system |
| css.blue.tpl.php | (Blue) CSS styles used in the portal |
| css.clean.tpl.php | (Clean) CSS styles used in the portal |
| css.grey.tpl.php | (Grey) CSS styles used in the portal |
| css.tpl.php | (Classic) CSS styles used in the portal |
| footer.tpl.php | HTML footer used across all portal pages |
| header.tpl.php | The HTML header is stored in this file as well as the 'container' DIV that holds all other page elements. Often just adding your organizations standard header to this file is enough to provide a consistent feel across the sites. |
| home.tpl.php | The portals homepage |
| ie.css.blue.tpl.php | (Blue) Special IE specific CSS styles used in the portal |
| ie.css.clean.tpl.php | (Clean) Special IE specific CSS styles used in the portal |
| ie.css.grey.tpl.php | (Grey) Special IE specific CSS styles used in the portal |
| ie.css.tpl.php | (Classic) Special IE specific CSS styles used in the portal |
| index.tpl.php | A special page that includes the correct template. All pages pass through the index template. |
| js.tpl.php | Javascript required for the portal |
| kb.book.tpl.php | Books table of contents page |
| kb.chapter.tpl.php | Chapter with list of chapter pages |
| kb.page.tpl.php | Knowledge book page |
| kb.printer.friendly.tpl.php | All a knowledge books pages on one page for easy printing. |
| kb.tpl.php | List of available knowledge books |
| login.create.tpl.php | Customer account creation page |
| login.forgot.tpl.php | Customer forgot password page |
| login.reset.tpl.php | Customer reset password page |
| loginbar.tpl.php | The menu bar at the top of the request check pages when a user is logged in. |
| maintenance.tpl.php | A page which is shown to visitors when the system is in maintenance mode |
| navigation.tpl.php | HTML for side bar navigation used across all portal pages |
| request.check.tpl.php | Page where customers check their requests |
| request.history.tpl.php | List of requests visitors see when logged into the portal |
| request.tpl.php | Submit a request form |
| search.tpl.php | Search results page |
| searchbox.tpl.php | HTML for search box used across all portal pages |
| tag.search.tpl.php | List of pages/topics matching a knowledge tag |
| terms.tpl.php | HTML Elements for agreeing to the terms and privacy policy. |