Essential Forms

thebombsite · 2011-01-19 21:40:08

Indeed Mike I would also prefer to retain Txp’s flexibility even if that is traded off against simpler theme installs.

Once the new plugin goes to full release so I can update my existing themes and use it for new ones, all themes will be contained within their own directory within the template directory.

With the exception of those “essential” forms that need to be used, all other forms within a theme use a prefix, however, as you say, if you have a site where there is more than one theme in concurrent use, there can certainly be some confusion. I have to say though, that kind of set-up must be quite rare and it is certainly not something I have thought of when producing themes.

Last edited by thebombsite (2011-01-19 21:41:14)

maverick · 2011-01-19 21:58:09

hcgtv wrote:

I don’t see how making it easier for a new user to start off his/her site would make it less flexible to the advanced user.

That was in reference whether or not the approach that smd_admin_themes uses could be transferred to a templating system of pages and forms without losing some of the flexibility. Not being a php person I don’t know if it can or cannot.

I’ve never quite understood the political wrangling to keep things as they are.

me- I’m for change more often than not. Sometimes even for no other reason that to keep things fresh :).

I think that for me the idea of whether the change is worth it comes down to the assessment of what is being gained versus being what is being lost. If the gain is worth what is sacrificed, then it needs serious consideration.

I really respect the value Txp has had for backwards compatibility. However, I also believe that value can’t be the driving value, or progress grinds to a halt. Some parts of the future just are not compatible with the past. I’m excited about Txp 5 because I suspect that while compatibility is still important, there’s going to be more weight on reposition for the future.

I think the ease and flexibility/power often require some compromise, but I don’t think they are incompatible. The new cxc_template shows promise to that end. I was trying it out earlier today, and except for a minor upload issue it really was simple, and fast.

Last edited by maverick (2011-01-19 22:02:00)

maverick · 2011-01-19 22:04:41

thebombsite wrote:

that kind of set-up must be quite rare

quite probable that it is. I only have had a few cases where it was needed. More often I run into it when trying out various themes, or developing new ones.

hcgtv · 2011-01-20 01:51:29

thebombsite wrote:

With the exception of those “essential” forms that need to be used, all other forms within a theme use a prefix, however, as you say, if you have a site where there is more than one theme in concurrent use, there can certainly be some confusion. I have to say though, that kind of set-up must be quite rare and it is certainly not something I have thought of when producing themes.

I imagine you use one Textpattern install to create one theme, or maybe you save it off and clear things before starting the next one? In my own experience, once you get to the third template you’re working on, it gets very, very confusing.

This is counter-productive, not being able to have multiple templates in the back-end and I’ll give you a good example. When you’re creating templates from XHTML layouts, and the layouts come from the same author, code reuse is very important to speed things up. Pages will be very similar, since they tend to use the same div id’s and such. Forms especially, since footers, headers, side-bars will also be similar. What usually differentiates each design is the color scheme found in the style.

I invite you to try out the Nucleus CMS demo, sign on to the admin and click on Skins. There’s only the default installed, but if you add a new one, it neatly keeps all pages grouped together. Quick tutorial – Skins are Pages, Templates are reoccurring Forms like what txp:article would use and clicking on Skin Files takes to the asset directory, which has include Forms, like footer, header – similar concepts, just different wording and methodologies. Click on Import/Export, you can pick and choose what to export, unlike our plugins that export everything under the sun, necessitating the one install per theme creation scenario.

What I’ve been discussing for the last 4 years is not rocket science, nor do we have to dip into assembler language to make it happen. All we need to do is look around at what everybody else is doing to realize that even though our logo is a chisel and hammer, there are fountain pens these days.

thebombsite · 2011-01-20 11:31:39

Well at the moment Bert I do create themes individually though that is because the development site becomes the “demo” once I go public with it. My only “saving” is that I use a table prefix so that I can use a single database for many demo sites.

My other demo site uses a single install so I am well aware of the confusion that can be caused by having many themes within a single instance of Txp.

Having read Stef’s latest post vis a vis Txp5 I’m not sure I want to start changing my method until I can get my hands on an alpha or beta or whatever and start playing with it.

hcgtv · 2011-01-20 15:32:03

thebombsite wrote:

Well at the moment Bert I do create themes individually though that is because the development site becomes the “demo” once I go public with it. My only “saving” is that I use a table prefix so that I can use a single database for many demo sites.

Yes, that’s the issue I’m facing with the new templates site that I’m working on. I’d hate to have a separate install per template, cause it can quickly turn into a maintenance headache. Another option is to use the multisite capabilities that Sam contributed, which gives you one code base, with multiple databases, but that can also turn into a major pain in the neck once you get over 50 templates.

thebombsite · 2011-01-20 18:26:50

I haven’t even attempted to try Sam’s multi-site contribution, for the demos or anything else for that matter. ;)

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#25 2011-01-19 21:40:08

Re: Essential Forms

#26 2011-01-19 21:58:09

Re: Essential Forms

#27 2011-01-19 22:04:41

Re: Essential Forms

#28 2011-01-20 01:51:29

Re: Essential Forms

#29 2011-01-20 11:31:39

Re: Essential Forms

#30 2011-01-20 15:32:03

Re: Essential Forms

#31 2011-01-20 18:26:50

Re: Essential Forms

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