Remove the empty 'About' section

philwareham · 2012-11-23 13:56:09

Should we get rid of the empty ‘About’ section that is generated when you first install Textpattern? Since it’s got no articles in at all, it may look like a bug to new users.

els · 2012-11-23 15:19:21

I agree that it doesn’t make much sense to have an empty section in the default installation, but another option is to add an article to it. I have the impression that most sites actually use an ‘About’ section, so if it doesn’t exist, users would add it anyway.

Edit: maybe you could make the ‘About’ article an example of the use of a sticky article?

Last edited by els (2012-11-23 15:21:39)

philwareham · 2012-11-23 15:22:58

I’d rather have less in the database at install, not another article. But yes that’s a possibility I guess.

Or, I thought maybe an article with a collection of Textile formatting kind of like what I have here

milosevic · 2012-11-23 21:34:38

I never used it in years but I agree it can be usefull for new txp users adding a sample article on it.

wet · 2012-11-24 05:06:17

I think that all of the default content is geared towards educating new users, and introducing the concept of sections to those is a desirable target.

We should try to improve this part rather than to remove it.

jstubbs · 2012-11-24 06:40:32

I tend to agree with Robert. Not having at least one article in the About section always struck me as a little strange. At the same time, more experienced users might prefer a simpler install with certain features turned off – more of a clean slate.

Would it be possible sometime to have customisable install versions? As in choose the options before downloading, something similar (but more basic) to the Foundation custom download page.

One other thing – the archive page lends itself naturally to a blog style installation. Given that Textpattern is much more than this and that the main market for Textpattern is designers/developers, having the ability to customise an install even if on a very basic level would be very welcome.

bici · 2012-11-24 06:42:42

i agree with keeping the About section. And a good idea would be to add what philwareham suggested.

Most users would benefit by having the notion of an About section and with content in them. Even in a simple blog it is customary to have an About or Colophon section.

philwareham · 2012-11-24 08:49:19

@jstubbs

We discussed that topic briefly in another thread:

Maybe one day we could expand the new “Site configuration” section of the setup process to include, for example:

<label for"whatever">Front-side theme</label> <a class="pophelp" ...>?</a></label>
<select name="whatever" id'="whatever">
    <option>Core: blog</option>
    <option>Core: business</option>
    <option>Core: magazine</option>
    <option>Twitter Bootstrap</option>
    <option>Zurb Foundation</optipon>
    ...etc...
</select>

It’s relatively easy for me to make the 3 core variations in the example above, as I’ve been developing my own framework for the last year or so. Possibly something to revisit for Textpattern 4.7?

tye · 2012-11-26 05:30:27

And a good one to add would be “Clean” which would install the site like sed_cleaner does :)

jstubbs · 2012-11-26 06:28:17

Phil, I’ve been working lately with Foundation on a couple of TXP sites. Also have a couple of basic templates which could be used for core variations. The key is a consistent core building block which could then be adapted by other designers/developers. I’m sure this would be well received and help expand the reach of Textpattern.

philwareham · 2012-11-26 08:16:54

@jstubbs

I agree. This is definitely something I want to explore further – since one of our target audiences is designers it would be great to have some popular frameworks ready to plug in and start building with (or a clean install as well as suggested by Tye).

I’ve got quite a big roadmap already for the 4.6 release but once that’s out the way I’ll return to this in earnest. I’d imagine the third-party frameworks would have to be something you’d drop into the setup at install time – not bundled with the core – and separately maintained on GitHub.

AdamK · 2012-12-04 00:21:25

Yes! the default layout is as beautiful as useless to adapt – css is so hand-crafted that it’s easier to throw it away than to adopt. I dream about a basic page, basic forms, well commented, as a working examples of txp:tags, and open design: Foundation IS great, but there is HTML5 Boilerplate, some other advanced grid systems, Twitter Bootstrap… And SCSS coming (which, BTW, renders DB-stored css obsolete, unless you find a solution for cnk_versioning…) : the world of web-design is becoming richer in frameworks, you should have no obstacle in the implementation

I vote for “clean” option, sed_cleaner included by default.

A.

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#1 2012-11-23 13:56:09

Remove the empty 'About' section

#2 2012-11-23 15:19:21

Re: Remove the empty 'About' section

#3 2012-11-23 15:22:58

Re: Remove the empty 'About' section

#4 2012-11-23 21:34:38

Re: Remove the empty 'About' section

#5 2012-11-24 05:06:17

Re: Remove the empty 'About' section

#6 2012-11-24 06:40:32

Re: Remove the empty 'About' section

#7 2012-11-24 06:42:42

Re: Remove the empty 'About' section

#8 2012-11-24 08:49:19

Re: Remove the empty 'About' section

#9 2012-11-26 05:30:27

Re: Remove the empty 'About' section

#10 2012-11-26 06:28:17

Re: Remove the empty 'About' section

#11 2012-11-26 08:16:54

Re: Remove the empty 'About' section

#12 2012-12-04 00:21:25

Re: Remove the empty 'About' section

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