The Theme Configuration File

The theme.yaml File

Parent Themes, Child Themes, and Order Form Templates should include a theme.yaml file. This file defines the theme or Order Form Template, including its name and author, description, its parent, its dependencies, and the assets it can provide for any children to which it is the parent.

We made this method available for Order Form Templates in WHMCS 6.1 and improved it to include themes in WHMCS 8.1.

For example, this theme.yaml file sets the theme as a child of the Twenty-One Parent Theme, as well as specifying other theme information:

name: "Example"
description: "My Company's Branding"
author: "Hosting Company, L.L.C."
config:
  parent: twenty-one
dependencies:
  bootstrap: 4.5.2
provides:
  jquery: 1.12
  fontawesome: 5

This file must be a valid YAML file and must use the indentation style illustrated above.

Parameters

You can specify these items in a theme.yaml file:

name

The System Theme or Order Form Template name. * For System Themes, this displays in the System Theme menu at Configuration > System Settings > General Settings in the General tab. * For Order Form Templates, this displays in Configuration > System Settings > General Settings in the Ordering tab and for individual product groups at Configuration > System Settings > Products/Services.

description

A description of the theme or Order Form Template.

author

Generally, this should be your name. It could also be your company’s name.

config: parent

The name of the directory that contains the Parent Theme or Order Form Template. (Do not use the display name.)

dependencies

It is unlikely for a theme to list anything under dependencies.

A list of assets that a child needs its parent to provide in order to function. If you don’t specify anything under dependencies, WHMCS assumes compatibility. (This behavior is necessary in order to ensure continued compatibility with older custom themes.)

provides

A list of assets that the theme or Order Form Template can provide to any children.

Compatibility

WHMCS checks for compatibility between themes and Order Form Templates each time that you select a theme from the System Theme menu at Configuration > System Settings > General Settings in the General tab. This checks the provides list, dependencies list, and config details in order to make this assessment.

If you receive an error, start troubleshooting by checking the theme.yaml files for both the theme (and its parents) and the Order Form Template (and its parents). This will allow you to identify which dependencies aren’t being met.

When checking provides and dependencies lists, WHMCS assumes compatibility for any missing segments of the version number. For example, if you set an Order Form Template to have Bootstrap 4 as a dependency in the dependencies list, WHMCS will consider Bootstrap 4.5.2 (or any other version number beginning in 4.) as fulfilling it in the provides list for the Parent Theme.

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