- What is karlomikus/theme used for in Laravel?
- karlomikus/theme is a Laravel package for adding multi-theme support to an application. It manages theme views, assets, translations, and configuration with fallback handling. You can switch themes via middleware or helpers, making it useful for white-label or customizable interfaces. It is designed as a thin layer over Laravel's view finder and asset publishing.
- Does karlomikus/theme support Laravel 8, 9, 10, or 11?
- No. The package targets Laravel 5.* and last shipped in April 2019, with Laravel 5.8 as its effective ceiling. Modern Laravel versions require forking the package, updating illuminate dependencies, and revalidating view path and asset behavior. Treat it as a reference implementation or port candidate rather than a drop-in dependency for newer Laravel apps.
- How do I install karlomikus/theme in a Laravel project?
- On a compatible Laravel 5.x project, install it via Composer, publish the configuration, register the theme middleware, and define your themes in config. The package then registers theme view paths and publishes theme assets to public. For modern Laravel versions, installation is not supported without a fork.
- How do I switch themes at runtime with karlomikus/theme?
- Theme switching is typically handled by middleware or helper functions that set the active theme for the request. The active theme is resolved from configuration or request context, then used to register the correct view and asset paths. Because resolution depends on request lifecycle context, you should set the theme explicitly in non-HTTP contexts such as jobs and commands.
- Why is the wrong theme used in queue workers or artisan commands?
- Queue workers and artisan commands have no HTTP request, so the package's active-theme resolver falls back to defaults. This commonly causes theme mismatches between web requests and background jobs. Set the desired theme explicitly at the start of jobs or commands, and avoid relying on request-based theme resolution outside HTTP.
- Can karlomikus/theme work with Vite or Laravel Mix asset hashing?
- The package publishes static copies of theme assets, so Vite or Mix hashing, cache busting, and CDN invalidation are outside its scope. Theme asset staleness becomes an operational concern rather than a code failure. If your build pipeline must own asset hashing, you will need to extend or replace the asset publishing behavior.
- What Laravel and PHP versions does karlomikus/theme require?
- The package is built for Laravel 5.* and pins older illuminate/support and illuminate/contracts constraints. Composer will block coexistence with modern Laravel or PHP 8+ unless you fork and relax those constraints. Confirm the exact PHP floor and Laravel target before planning any integration.
- Is karlomikus/theme still maintained?
- There have been no releases since April 2019, and the project has a single maintainer with a small star count. There is no active security-response path, so assume zero upstream support. If you adopt it, plan to own the code, including any future Laravel upgrade work.
- Should I use karlomikus/theme or build an internal ThemeManager?
- The package's functional surface is small: view path registration, asset publishing, and active-theme resolution. A focused internal ThemeManager implementation of roughly 150 to 300 lines may be cheaper and safer than owning abandoned vendor code. Porting the package's design pattern to modern Laravel often gives the same white-label capability with less long-term risk.
- How do I fork and port karlomikus/theme to modern Laravel?
- Fork the package under an internal namespace and relax the illuminate and PHP constraints to match your target Laravel version. Re-verify middleware registration, config publishing, view-path precedence, and asset publishing against your current build pipeline. Wrap the fork behind an internal ThemeManager interface so you can replace it later, and budget test coverage for theme switching and fallback behavior.