Magento theme development base vs default

Question

I'm using Magento 1.6. I've created my own theme (mytheme) under base.

So my file structure is app/design/frontend/base/mytheme

I could also develop my theme under app/design/frontend/default/mytheme

Which is best practice? And what are the implications of using base/mytheme rather than default/mytheme?

Cheers, Eddie

Answer 1

I do disagree with the solution of Mr Storm.

ref: http://www.magentocommerce.com/knowledge-base/entry/magentos-theme-hierarchy

Those documents recommend You avoid to use the package default (as the base package too)

You have to creating Your own package 'mytheme' and to define a theme 'default'

ref: http://info.magento.com/rs/magentocommerce/images/MagentoDesignGuide.pdf

"Please ignore legacy Magento instructions and tutorials that instruct you to create your custom theme inside of the default design package, or to edit files in the default/default directory directly.

Rather, the method that affords the best upgrade path for your theme and the most protection from accidental changes is to create a new designpackage and to create your custom theme inside of there."

So the correct answer is

app/design/frontend/your-package/default

Do NOT use:

app/design/frondend/default/your-theme

Answer 2

You don't want to put your theme in the base folder. The base folder is meant to contain the "core" theme that ships with Magento. It's the ultimate fall back, and the last place a file is looked for. It was specifically introduced to provide a place where core Magento developers could blow the entire directory away and replace everything (if need be)

To create a theme for Magento, you'll want to create a theme folder in your design package

app/design/frontend/default/mytheme

Then, in the admin go to

System -> Configuration -> Design

and enter mytheme in the Default field. Your theme will now the the "default" place Magento looks for files. If it doesn't find one, it will fall back on what it finds in the base folder.