Choose a Tool
Review the following topics to choose the right tool for the tasks that you want to complete, find the supporting information you need to get started, and also find supporting reference information to tie it all together:
Tools Overview
Developers working with SuiteCommerce and SuiteCommerce Advanced (SCA) should use the theme and extension developer tools to easily version, distribute, and activate customizations across different sites and different versions of sites. Remember that what you develop depends on the type of customization you want to make:
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Extensions — Add new functionality to a Commerce website
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Themes — Control how a site looks and feels
You should use the SCA developer tools only if you are customizing an older version of SCA, or if your SCA implementation requires access to objects not available using the Extensibility API.
Before choosing a tool and starting with development, make sure you understand the essential information in the preceding topics, including:
Choose a Tool to Suit Your Task
The tool you use and whether you develop a theme or extension depends on what you want to customize.
Customization Option |
Method |
Tool |
Available With |
Get Started |
---|---|---|---|---|
Website design and appearance |
Develop themes |
Theme developer tools |
SuiteCommerce, SCA, SCMA |
|
Website functionality |
Develop extensions |
Extension developer tools |
SuiteCommerce, SCA, SCMA, SuiteCommerce InStore (SCIS) |
|
Website functionality by customizing objects not available using the Extensibility API |
Extend or override SCA source code |
SCA developer tools
Note:
The SCA developer tools are the only tools available if you are customizing a site that implements the Kilimanjaro release of SCA or earlier. |
SCA |
To find detailed reference information for each tool, see More Information for Each Tool.
Always use the theme and extension developer tools if you can, regardless of whether you are working with SuiteCommerce or SCA. Use the SCA developer tools only when absolutely necessary for SCA implementations. Using the theme and extension developer tools makes development and management of your customizations easier and helps ensure compatibility with future releases of SuiteCommerce and SCA.
Next Steps for Theme Developer Tools
To start developing themes, complete the following tasks:
Step/Task |
For detailed instructions, see |
---|---|
Set up the developer environment by installing Node.js and Gulp.js |
|
Download and install theme developer tools |
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Download files to use as the basis for your own custom theme |
|
Understand best practices for theme development |
|
Develop your theme |
|
Edit the theme manifest (only necessary if you need to introduce new HTML, Sass, or other assets) |
Theme Manifest |
Test your theme locally |
|
Deploy your theme to NetSuite |
|
Activate your theme |
|
If you want to do more with themes |
Next Steps for Extension Developer Tools
To start developing extensions with the extension developer tools, complete the following tasks:
Step/Task |
For detailed instructions, see |
---|---|
Set up the developer environment by installing Node.js and Gulp.js |
|
Download and install extension developer tools |
|
Create or download files to use as the basis for your extension |
|
Add modules to your extension |
Create Additional Modules for an Extension (recommended if you’re new to Commerce website development and learning best practices) |
Develop your extension using available APIs |
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Edit the extension manifest (only necessary if you need to add new Sass or other assets) |
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If you haven’t already done so, fetch the active theme (theme files are required to test locally and to deploy) |
|
Test your extension locally |
|
Deploy your extension to NetSuite |
|
Activate your extension |
|
If you want to do more with extensions |
|
Next Steps for SuiteCommerce Advanced Developer Tools
To start developing with the SuiteCommerce Advanced (SCA) developer tools, complete the following tasks.
Use the SCA developer tools only if you are customizing a site that implements the Kilimanjaro release of SCA or earlier or if you need to access objects not available using the Extensibility API.
Step/Task |
For detailed instructions, see |
---|---|
Set up the developer environment by installing Node.js and Gulp.js |
|
Download and install SCA developer tools |
|
Understand best practices for customizing SCA |
|
Customize by extending or overriding SCA source files |
|
Understand how SCA source files are organized and compiled |
|
Test your SCA customization locally |
|
Deploy local source files to an SSP application in NetSuite and then deploy the SSP application to your site |
More Information for Each Tool
The following topics provide important information for each tool.
Topic |
Description |
---|---|
Theme Developer Tools |
|
Describes all gulp commands you can use with the theme developer tools. |
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Describes the files and folders in a top-level theme directory and the purpose of each. |
|
Theme Manifest |
Describes the mainfiest.json file, which includes all the information required to compile resources for each theme. |
Extension Developer Tools |
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Describes all gulp commands you can use with the extension developer tools. |
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Describes the files and folders in a top-level extensions directory and the purpose of each. |
|
Describes the mainfiest.json file, which includes all the information required to compile resources for each extension. |
|
SCA Developer Tools |
|
Describes all gulp commands you can use with the SCA developer tools. |