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Re: smd_admin_themes: Manage, edit, switch and share admin-side themes
Popping the README into the upload directory and thus reducing the levels seems OK to me. The README would need to have instructions for both methods of course. That seems the simplest solution to me.
Also, should we settle on a README file at all times? That also seems simple.
I can easily adjust the “A Bit Blue” zip to suit whatever we settle on.
I shall email you regarding the Textgarden stuff Stef. I suddenlt got a bit busy this last week or so. :)
Last edited by thebombsite (2009-06-24 17:56:16)
Stuart
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Re: smd_admin_themes: Manage, edit, switch and share admin-side themes
thebombsite wrote:
should we settle on a README file at all times? That also seems simple.
Can do, yes. The optional ‘help’ link in the manifest is for a URL that lets people know how to use the theme once installed, so I guess this proposed additional (non-required, but useful) file would purely be for installation instructions and/or any special info? As you say, it would make sense to add one so people who randomly come across a theme know what it’s all about; a bit like the header of a plugin that states:
# This is a plugin for Textpattern - http://textpattern.com/
# To install: textpattern > admin > plugins
# Paste the following text into the 'Install plugin' box:How about one of us designs a loose pro-forma (like the plugin template) and makes it available for download in the wiki, and linked from Textgarden, my site, the admin themes plugin, etc?
With regards the filename itself, I’m not sure it matters either. README is more generic and very UNIX-like, how_to_install.txt might be more for the Windows world :-P I say draw a line in the sand and pick something, then it’ll become the standard — it seemed to work for Bill Gates!
I shall email you regarding the Textgarden stuff Stef.
Cool, no pressure. My dev version of the plugin has all the necessary stuff in it to read the version info and offer auto-update links for themes via the method I outlined (and it does the cacheing too now, so it won’t hammer the server) but it’s easy to change if you come up with a better solution.
Last edited by Bloke (2009-06-24 18:58:50)
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Re: smd_admin_themes: Manage, edit, switch and share admin-side themes
OK. I’ve repackaged the “A Bit Blue” theme as a single directory (this isn’t available publicly yet). I’ve installed it manually then exported it as a gzip file via the plug-in. I then removed the theme using the plug-in and tried to re-install it using the gzip file and the upload facility but it’s having none of it. Is this facility going to be dependent on the server set-up?
Stuart
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Re: smd_admin_themes: Manage, edit, switch and share admin-side themes
Just a bit confused, are we contributing themes somewhere? If so where?
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Re: smd_admin_themes: Manage, edit, switch and share admin-side themes
We have a specific category for them over at Textgarden and I’ve been mentioning it for some months now though it still only has my own theme in it. At the moment however we are trying to decide on the best format to use for the download file and sort out any problems that may be occurring with the plug-in.
Do you have a theme Dale?
Stuart
In a Time of Universal Deceit
Telling the Truth is Revolutionary.
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Re: smd_admin_themes: Manage, edit, switch and share admin-side themes
thebombsite wrote:
re-install it using the gzip file and the upload facility but it’s having none of it. Is this facility going to be dependent on the server set-up?
Sadly yes. gzip relies on having gzcompress compiled into your version of PHP. I’ve tried to be clever about it and only display options that are available to you in your environment, but maybe I missed a few corner cases. Take a look at the plugin prefs page. What options do you see? It’ll remove export compression options that are not available to you.
That’s why I offered zip, gzip, bzip and tar, so we have a chance of being able to install themes under a variety of server configurations. Zip relies on zlib being installed, bzip and gzip rely on gz(de)compress and bz(de)compress being available. Zip files can, however, be created without zlib, but they cannot be imported without it, which is totally infuriating from a plugin/user perspective. It’s all a bit of a minefield and I’ve done what I can to minimise the fallout, but it seems I’ve failed :-(
fwiw, the safety net is tar because that should be universally available, as it relies on all-native PHP functions.
Would you mind sending me the gzipped theme package please Stuart (and a tar for comparison if you don’t mind) and I’ll see if the plugin’s created the archive correctly. I want to check I’ve not missed something; perhaps the inclusion of the readme has somehow ballsed up my logic. Sorry for the hassle.
Last edited by Bloke (2009-06-25 18:46:53)
The smd plugin menagerie — for when you need one more gribble of power from Textpattern. Bleeding-edge code available on GitHub.
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Re: smd_admin_themes: Manage, edit, switch and share admin-side themes
Yes I’ll send it over so you can have the latest version. It contains something that points to the future. You will know when you see it. I should reiterate that it allowed me to export in gzip mode resulting in a “tgz” file. Just won’t let me re-import it. Earlier I tried importing a zip file but it wouldn’t have that either. Told me it was an incompatible file type.
Anyway I shall send it over and also include the errors it was throwing at me. I won’t display them here as they include directory trees.
Last edited by thebombsite (2009-06-25 19:23:42)
Stuart
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Telling the Truth is Revolutionary.
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Re: smd_admin_themes: Manage, edit, switch and share admin-side themes
thebombsite wrote:
Do you have a theme Dale?
Just a slight rework of phwiw’s admin facelift that I’ve been using for ages. Thought I should share.
Last edited by mrdale (2009-06-25 20:28:21)
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Re: smd_admin_themes: Manage, edit, switch and share admin-side themes
OK Dale. Got it. I’ll include it on Textgarden if you want.
Stuart
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Telling the Truth is Revolutionary.
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Re: smd_admin_themes: Manage, edit, switch and share admin-side themes
Sorry, needed to fix the image paths. It’s working properly now…
Yeah throw it into the garden, bomber.
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Re: smd_admin_themes: Manage, edit, switch and share admin-side themes
Although things may have seemed a little quiet on this front recently, I’m plugging away behind the scenes and updating the plugin. Between myself, thebombsite and a few other brave beta testers we’re hammering out improvements. Many thanks to all contributors. Among the changes in the latest dev release, which I may plonk out for general review fairly soon, are:
- Admin Theme update notifications direct from Textgarden. If the version number of a theme is highlighted you can click it to be taken directly to that theme at Textgarden so you may download and install the latest version
- More robust file support
- Support for screenshots of other formats instead of the, often bloaty, PNG format. Use JPG, GIf, or whatever is your poison
- README files no longer trigger an ‘unsupported type’ warning
- More consistent CSS names in the admin screen
- Fixed rogue prefs appearing on Advanced prefs pane and a load of other niggly little things
I’ll try and upload this version soon so you can all have a play.
P.S if you haven’t already, head over to Textgarden and try out all the lovely themes.
Last edited by Bloke (2009-08-19 16:39:00)
The smd plugin menagerie — for when you need one more gribble of power from Textpattern. Bleeding-edge code available on GitHub.
Txp Builders – finely-crafted code, design and Txp
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Re: smd_admin_themes: Manage, edit, switch and share admin-side themes
OK, so how about this for a killer idea. I dunno maybe it’s silly.
Have your plugin grab all the titles of Admin themes at textgarden dynamically and offer a 1-click install/download to activate.
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