Goal : Understanding how to override a default module using a custom module. For demonstration/testing purposes I tried to implement an example custom module that will override the 'web' module in order to modify the login screen & remove/replace the 'manage databases' link.

Odoo Version: odoo V8 saas-5 (on an ubutnu server)

Here is how I tried to implement an example custom module (without any success):
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1. I created a directory /opt/odoo/custom/addons for my custom modules
2. There I created a subdirectory named e.g. my_module containing these files:
   __init__.py
   __openerp__.py
   views/webclient_templates.xml
3. In my /etc/odoo-server.conf I added (I really had doubts about this, please comment on this)
   addons_path=/opt/odoo/odoo-server/addons,/opt/odoo/odoo-server/openerp/addons,/opt/odoo/custom/addons

Here is the content of the above files

__init__.py I left this empty since when I tried 'import base' or 'import web' the server did not work at all and I found in the log file the message 'ImportError: No module named base' or 'ImportError: No module named web'

__openerp__.py
{
        'name': 'rmvmngdbs',
        'version': '0.1',
        'summary': 'Testing...',
        'author': 'George',
        'depends': ["base"],
        'qweb' : [ "views/webclient_templates.xml", ],
        'installable': True,
        'auto_install': True,
        'active': True,
}
# vim:expandtab:smartindent:tabstop=4:softtabstop=4:shiftwidth=4:

static/src/xml/base.xml
<templates>
    <!-- Templates modified at the web start, before loading of a database. -->

    <!-- Remove the Manage database link, but keep the Powered by OpenERP-->
    <t t-extend="Login">
        <t t-jquery="a.oe_login_manage_db" t-operation="replace">
            <div>&nbsp;</div>
        </t>
    </t>
</templates>

The module is loaded and installed without any problem but it doesn't work.

The final question(s)

How can I make the above module work as expected ? Can you understand where is the problem? What is the right way to override the web module (or any other module) with a custom module?

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For Openerp 7 here is what I did (and it worked):
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1. I created a directory /opt/openerp/custom_modules for my custom modules
2. There I created a subdirectory named e.g. my_module containing these files:
   __init__.py
   __openerp__.py
   static/src/xml/base.xml
3. In my /etc/openerp-server.conf I added
   addons_path = /opt/openerp/server/openerp/addons, /opt/openerp/custom_modules

Here is the content of the above files

__init__.py
import base

__openerp__.py
{
        'name': 'rmvmngdbs',
        'version': '0.1',
        'summary': 'Testing...',
        'author': 'George',
        'depends': ["base"],
        'qweb' : [ "static/src/xml/base.xml", ],
        'installable': True,
        'auto_install': True,
        'active': True,
}
# vim:expandtab:smartindent:tabstop=4:softtabstop=4:shiftwidth=4:

static/src/xml/base.xml
<templates>
    <!-- Templates modified at the web start, before loading of a database. -->

    <!-- Remove the Manage database link, but keep the Powered by OpenERP-->
    <t t-extend="Login">
        <t t-jquery="div.oe_login_footer" t-operation="replace">
            <div class="oe_login_footer">
                <a href="http://www.openerp.com" target="_blank">Powered by <span>OpenERP</span></a>
            </div>
        </t>
    </t>
</templates>
 

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Related Links and info

I found that the file that controls the login screen view in odoo v8 is inside the web module in
addons/web/views/webclient_templates.xml ( for openerp 7 it is addons/web/static/src/xml/base.xml )
so if I modify this file and then 'upgrade' the web module, it works but these changes will be lost with the next update.

http://superuser.com/questions/770232/how-do-i-remove-links-that-appear-on-the-login-page-of-openerpodoo
https://www.odoo.com/forum/Help-1/question/How-to-override-the-web-module-by-custom-module-21146
https://www.odoo.com/forum/Help-1/question/How-to-remove-Manage-Databases-2615
https://www.odoo.com/forum/Help-1/question/Creating-a-module-53357

About: I'm studying how Odoo works hoping that some day I'll be able to contribute to the project.

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