Is changing markup when making a theme easy or even recommended?

I'm making a theme that I want to be HTML5/CSS3 with a responsive layout. I'd quite like to change a lot of the default markup and even some class names.

I understand that I can put files inside my /views/ folder in the theme to override the default files.

Will I be able to change all literally the markup this way and is it recommended to do so?

Also I see there are template smarty tags available but the current list in the documentation doesn't seem to cover them all. Is there a full list anywhere or a way to find them out myself?

Lincoln

I expect you'll be able to change 95% of the markup that way. Some other bits (like forms) may require using hooks if you want to go that far.

No, I don't recommend changing EVERYTHING about the views, because then you'll miss out on new features / fixes added to the markup going forward unless you carefully watch for changes and incorporate them. You can certainly do so, however.

You'll probably be on your own with the Smarty list, sorry. Our docs still need a good deal of work (we'd welcome the help).