Photon UI Toolkit - Deploy & Usage Guide

Prerequisites

Node.js (v4.0.0 or higher) - Required for running the Electron template app and development tools
npm (v2.0.0 or higher) - Node package manager for installing dependencies
Git - For cloning the repository
Jekyll (v2.5.x) - Only required if you plan to run documentation locally
Ruby and Rouge - Required for Jekyll documentation (Windows users should follow the unofficial guide for Jekyll installation)

Installation

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/connors/photon.git
cd photon

Install Node.js dependencies:
```
npm install
```
Verify the structure: The repository contains:
- css/photon.css - Compiled CSS styles
- fonts/ - Entypo icon font files
- template-app/ - Starter Electron application with example files

Configuration

Photon doesn't require any specific configuration for basic usage. The CSS and fonts are ready to use out of the box.

For development:

No environment variables are required
No API keys are needed
The template app uses standard Electron configuration in template-app/package.json

Build & Run

Development

Start the example Electron app:
```
npm start
```
Watch for Sass changes (if modifying source files): Open a second terminal tab and run:
```
npm run build
```
This will rebuild the compiled photon.css whenever source Sass files change.

Production

To use Photon in your own Electron application:

Copy the necessary files from the repository:
- css/photon.css
- fonts/ directory (all font files)

Include in your HTML:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="path/to/photon.css">

Use Photon classes in your HTML markup following the documentation at photonkit.com

Deployment

Photon is a UI toolkit designed for Electron desktop applications, so deployment depends on your Electron app structure:

For Electron Apps

Package your Electron app using standard Electron build tools:
```
npm install --save-dev electron-builder
```

Configure your build in package.json:

"build": {
  "appId": "your.app.id",
  "productName": "Your App Name"
}

Build for distribution:
```
npm run build
npm run dist
```

Platforms

Photon works on all platforms supported by Electron:

macOS (64-bit)
Windows (32-bit and 64-bit)
Linux (32-bit and 64-bit)

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Issue: Fonts not displaying correctly

Solution: Ensure all font files from the fonts/ directory are copied to your application's resources directory and paths are correctly referenced in photon.css

Issue: CSS not applying styles

Solution: Verify that photon.css is properly linked in your HTML and that there are no conflicting CSS rules

Issue: Jekyll documentation not running

Solution: Ensure you have the correct Jekyll version (v2.5.x) and have installed Rouge with gem install rouge

Issue: Build process fails

Solution: Check that all Node.js dependencies are installed with npm install and that you have the required Node.js version

Getting Help

Report bugs: File an issue following the contributor guidelines
Documentation: Visit photonkit.com for component documentation and usage examples
Development: The master branch is unstable; use tagged releases for production applications

Version Management

Photon follows Semantic Versioning. Check the tags for stable releases when deploying to production.

How to Deploy & Use connors/photon