hacking/modding coppermine = upgrade impossible?

[atmorell]

Hello,

I have done quite a few changes to coppermines php files (mostly layout) and my site is soon ready to go online. However I fear that I will never upgrade to a new version because all my changes will be lost. Is there a better way than modifying the source?

Best regards.
Asbjørn Morell.

[Sami]

No , but you can keep track of your hacks by adding comment to each of them

[atmorell]

Hello Sami.

I always comment my hacks by a few lines. Okay thank you for comment.

Best regards.
Asbjørn Morell.

[Joachim Müller]

Is there a better way than modifying the source?

Hard to say without seeing your changes, but generally speaking you can accomplish most layout changes by creating a theme of your own and modifying it accordingly. Please read up the recommendations given in http://coppermine-gallery.net/demo/cpg14x/docs/index.htm#theme_create
When doing as suggested and coming up with a theme of your own, the most important benefit is that you won't have issues when upgrading and won't lose your changes.
For details, post your changes (preferably zip your changed files and attach it to this thread).
If you can't accomplish your changes in a theme and need to modify the core code, you might find it helpfull to use a diff viewer like Winmerge to see the changes/differences between two files and come up with a delta.

[skidpics]

It would be awesome to be able to change Coppermine, without having to edit each additional theme.  With so many wonderful themes available, customizing each theme can be tedious and I am sure at times, one forgets what to add where.   What other option would there be other than adding mods to the default source code as a base function to allow mods to work without editing each theme?

[Sami]

Now you are talking about plugin 

[skidpics]

Coming to think about it, very true.  that would solve most of the tweaking problems across the galleries, to figure out how to convert the mods into plugins..  What a task in itself..