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#25 2008-07-06 01:12:16

driz
Member
From: Huddersfield, UK
Registered: 2008-03-18
Posts: 441
Website

Re: Txp Admin

maverick wrote:

re: admin makeovers/skins/mods – whatever you want to call them. Some of them deal with structure also.

re: skinning and branding – Crockery (the next major rewrite) has already introduced the beginnings of admin theme support.

Hmm, I don’t think the admin should have themes, rather have a nice semantic structure that can be tweaked using CSS, themes annoy the hell out of me. x


~ Cameron

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#26 2008-07-06 05:23:39

Gocom
Developer Emeritus
From: Helsinki, Finland
Registered: 2006-07-14
Posts: 4,533
Website

Re: Txp Admin

driz wrote:

how does one go about getting this worked into the next version of Txp? like say v5.0

Next version is 4.0.7 and the next future major version is 4.1 – Crockery. To make it clear 4.x-series is actually the first realease (4.0.6 really is 1.0.6) ;)

Btw, eh, some of those “themes” aren’t mods that deal only the design. Mine didn’t.

Last edited by Gocom (2008-07-06 05:26:07)

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#27 2008-07-06 05:24:24

Mary
Sock Enthusiast
Registered: 2004-06-27
Posts: 6,236

Re: Txp Admin

…rather have a nice semantic structure that can be tweaked using CSS

That’s what you could choose to do if you wanted.

Last edited by Mary (2008-07-06 05:33:56)

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#28 2008-07-06 08:18:42

jakob
Admin
From: Germany
Registered: 2005-01-20
Posts: 4,726
Website

Re: Txp Admin

Those are all mods, I’m talking about an actual redesign of the structure. Not just the styling.

Gocom’s version (linked to by Els) is, as far as I remember, an entirely recoded version of the back-end pane (never released, though). I couldn’t achieve the changes I wanted with CSS alone so I also changed the source – both of those are structural. Aeron uses jquery to change the source and add CSS once loaded. That’s a further approach that takes the existing code as its starting point and is also structural.

Why not try implementing your design, then test it in serious use? Mock-ups can only go so far. Work with lots of articles, work with lots of different types of articles, imagine how noobs find their way through it. Such uses cases have led to plugins such as sed_section_fields or ied_hide_in_admin to name just two popular that directly address the admin area.

Through recent years there have been many attempts to redesign the interface, but they’ve all fallen short to provide a convincingly better alternative to what we have currently.

One of the problems is that an admin area needs to be something different to all people, whether different classes of admin users (admin/dev or normal author) or simply different txp users who use txp for different purposes and would prefer this that or the other. Ideally, the admin area should be adaptable – certain core areas will always be present, others will need to be adaptable. To a certain degree, this reflects a basic premise of txp – a core set of functions extendable via plugins in different directions.

…rather have a nice semantic structure that can be tweaked using CSS… themes annoy the hell out of me.

not sure where the difference is here. Is not styling an essential part of a theme?


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#29 2008-07-06 11:12:21

thebombsite
Archived Plugin Author
From: Exmouth, England
Registered: 2004-08-24
Posts: 3,251
Website

Re: Txp Admin

Ha haaa! Yes join the queue Driz. I actually think the way to go with this is to move the textpattern CSS into the “Style” tab which would then mean everyone could style the admin the way THEY want it quite easily though limited by the current mark-up. It’s the way I went with my own style allowing users to make changes easily. I know there are areas where the mark-up could be improved as well but I’m not holding my breath for that. I don’t think it will happen in the near future as it poses some problems for certain admin plug-ins and the like as I understand it. Never-the-less moving the CSS would be a very simple adjustment which the devs could consider immediately without any detrimental effect as far as I am aware, making the textpattern CSS non-deletable as well. It would give everyone a bit more flexibility.


Stuart

In a Time of Universal Deceit
Telling the Truth is Revolutionary.

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#30 2008-07-06 20:17:10

fpradignac
Plugin Author
From: France near Cognac
Registered: 2005-01-29
Posts: 359
Website

Re: Txp Admin

thebombsite a écrit:

Never-the-less moving the CSS would be a very simple adjustment which the devs could consider immediately without any detrimental effect as far as I am aware, making the textpattern CSS non-deletable as well. It would give everyone a bit more flexibility.

I’m using an «old» plugin that let you alter the TXP CSS : hpw_admincss


françois

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#31 2008-07-06 20:57:09

renobird
Member
From: Gainesville, Florida
Registered: 2005-03-02
Posts: 786
Website

Re: Txp Admin

Jakob wrote

One of the problems is that an admin area needs to be something different to all people, whether different classes of admin users (admin/dev or normal author) or simply different txp users who use txp for different purposes and would prefer this that or the other. Ideally, the admin area should be adaptable – certain core areas will always be present, others will need to be adaptable.

This is really the only way I can see the back-end moving forward. Currently there are a bunch of discussions, with no solutions coming from any of them. Sure, there are a lot of great ideas and interesting takes on how to “improve” the admin – but so far they have all been dead-ends. I’ve been wrong before – so please correct me if there’s real work being done on this – other than crockery.

I think rather than asking “how can I get my particular design implemented” – I think the real question is “is there a solution for getting the admin updated in a way that allows it to be customized like so many of us want/need?”.

I don’t suggest to know how to make it happen. I’m just playing “captain obvious” and pointing out that is the conversation that should be happening – instead of this one.

- What happened? I blacked out.

Last edited by renobird (2008-07-07 02:39:15)

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#32 2008-07-06 21:25:10

masa
Member
From: Asturias, Spain
Registered: 2005-11-25
Posts: 1,091

Re: Txp Admin

renobird wrote:

I think rather than asking “how can I get my particular design implemented” – I think the real question is “is there a solution for getting the admin updated in a way that allows it to be customized like so many of us want/need?”.

I totally agree.
Ideally this would go far beyond purely visual tweaks (tabs vs drop-down etc.) and allow us to specify what users with different privileges have control over. ied_hide_in_admin and tame_privs are a great help, but somehow I feel something similar should be integrated into the core.

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#33 2008-07-06 22:22:08

driz
Member
From: Huddersfield, UK
Registered: 2008-03-18
Posts: 441
Website

Re: Txp Admin

Here is an updated look at the sidebar, the plan is make it so you click the box and it expands with the functions.

“http://www.simplecandy.com/txp1.png”

Also if anyone wants to play with this mockup to get a feel of it, I uploaded a demo here: http://simplecandy.com/txp/write.html

Last edited by driz (2008-07-06 22:32:15)


~ Cameron

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