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Definition of Gantry

gan·try (gan′trē) noun

1. (RocketTheme) A framework used for assembling, building and maintaining a RocketTheme template

Overview of Gantry

Gantry is a sophisticated Joomla template framework with the sole intention of being the best platform to build a solid template with. Gantry takes all the lessons learned during the development of many RocketTheme templates and distills that knowledge into a single super-flexible framework that is easy to configure, simple to extend, and powerful enough to handle anything we want to throw at it.

Key Features

The Gantry framework is packed with many great features that enable the rapid development of feature-rich designs with a minimum amount of effort. We've also gone to great lengths to enhance the standard Joomla administration user interface to make configuring a Gantry-powered template easier than ever before. Check out a sampling of the features Gantry brings to the table:

• 960 Grid System (http://960.gs) for simple consistent layout
• Cleaner more understandable index.php. All the complicated bits are handled for you in the Gantry core.
• Flexibility to configure up to 6 modules in row position.
• 65 base module positions in the Gantry core. These can be easily extended to add more
• 36 possible combinations for the layout of the mainbody/sidebars alone!
• Flexibility to configure different grid-size layouts based on number of published modules. You are not forced to use the same grid layout for every page
• 12 built-in Gantry Features like Logo, Font-Sizer, To-Top Smooth Slider. Easily create your own to add more functionality with little coding required.
• Ability to force module display and 'blank' module positions for advanced module placement ability.
• Stunning new Admin interface providing better usability and control.
• Unique Layout controls allow you to configure your layout without having to do math or ever create a 'broken' layout.
• Layout controls provide visual representation of your front-end layout for simple and intuitive customization.
• Gantry is XML driven, adding another row of completely flexible module positions is as simple as editing one XML file.
• New flexible parameter system allows loading preset theme attributes and modifying for a custom design. Also support session and cookie level overriding for development.
• All new table-less HTML overrides based on the excellent GNU/GPLv2 overrides from YOOtheme
• New standard typography and Joomla core elements styling
• New advanced caching system makes using Gantry really fast!
• All configuration state is stored in params.ini and cached for speed.
• Optimized codebase with speed, size, and reuse core tenants of the framework design
• RTL Support
• Custom preset support
• Set parameters on a per menu item basis
• GZipper compression

Overview of the Administrator Interface

The administrative interface for Gantry is one of, if not the, most extensive and intuitive Joomla administrators in the community as a whole today. Gantry takes the template parameter ability of Joomla and takes it to the next level with a robust, diverse, functional and overall, substantial array of options to control, essentially, all aspects of the template.

Below are screenshots of the various aspects of Gantry in effect inside the template manager:

Module Variations allow for the individual styling of each module within a position, without it being global. Code wise, this is achieved by adding a class into the module code which loads from the Module Class Suffix field in the Module Manager. The theme CSS adjusts accordingly.

Enter any available suffixes at Extensions → Module Manager → Module → Module Class Suffix

There are 4 types of suffix: box1-8, ribbon1-8, footer and flush.

The Ribbon style modifies the module header with an under-wrapping ribbon graphic. Therefore, this style is best placed in the sidebar or the left most module in a row so overlap can occur. The Box style adds a colored block element around the module. Both can be placed inside any white areas: Feature, MainTop/Bottom, Content-Top/Bottom, Sidebar, Bottom & Footer. These will work in the Header, Showcase & Top positions but some may not blend as well visually.

Footer adds a single, solid, grey bar behind the module header to allow for a continuous bar across an entire module row - also confined to the white module areas. Flush will disable all padding and margin to the module for a tighter fit.

Kinetic has 8 preset styles / style variations with each having 3 different detail levels: High, Medium & Low. You can edit the combinations in your template as outlined on the Style Control page.

Gantry Framework : Learn more

Below is a preview / screenshot of each style variation, in sequential order, Preset 1 - Preset 8. Please click on on the image to load a live example of each style variation.

Showcase Color Options

Each style variation has 4 color modes for the Showcase area as well as a transparent option. They are displayed below, click an image to load that particular showcase color style.

There are over 60 collapsible module positions. If no module is published to a position, it will not appear, collapsing the entire area.

Non-Standard Elements

There are non-standard elements that are injected into the template grid structure when enabled via the template parameter.

For example: The logo element is injected into the header-a position. It is inserted in a stacked fashion, meaning, if there are modules published to the header-a position, they will appear in the same column as the logo, just one place below.

You can change the positions of these elements at Extensions → Template Manager → rt_kinetic_j15

Gantry Framework : Learn more

The below diagram is of the Module Variations page.