Who's interested in making a Textpattern theme over the coming months?

WebmistressM · 2019-10-29 17:51:13

I am interested in this subject. Maybe its because I was away from Txp for a while but, it seems that some resources got a bit fragmented. I am using the templates listed here to get me started on the responsiveness:

http://txpthemes.com/

Last edited by WebmistressM (2019-10-30 01:43:50)

Destry · 2019-11-26 18:42:39

Good question.

bici · 2019-11-27 00:07:51

Sorry to be so pedantic.

As i understand it Themes are used via importing them after installing TxP via the Admin panel.
I assume that Themes can be applied interchangeably. I.E. if i use ThemeOne and apply all my content to various sections etc., and I then choose to use ThemeTwo and switch to that theme that all my content is automatically incorporated into the new theme. And if I then imported ThemeThree and ThemeFour i could in effect have a new look to my content on a “quarterly” basis. So that if i had a script that could automagically switch themes being used based on the dates of the four seasons, i could have “seasonal” look to my site. I create content ONCE and then i can switch themes on the fly. Another way of saying this is that we can “skin” our content via switching Themes. Is this correct?

But if I want to use something other than the default TxP installation I would use a Template from this Themes_site …. But this latter site i think should more correctly be called TxpTemplate.com site?

And finally i note that if i use one of the bootstarp “templates from txpthemes.com and populate it with my own content my TxP Admin Panel states that i am using the “Default Theme”. The theme is the default one. But my site is using a Different Template. And importing a new Theme wil lnot allow me to change the look on my site via a simple switch of the theme…. as i understand things.

Apologies for this out load wonderings but i am just trying to grasp Themes and Templates and when we should use them.

Destry · 2019-11-27 08:45:29

Bici, I think you need to follow the conversation at the link I gave. In short, there are different possible roads to the doghouse, but nothing is fool-proof. ;)

Also, I don’t think that’s the themes site under development. So, no. Though I would like to know, too, what the actual URL will be.

philwareham · 2019-11-27 09:01:56

Destry wrote #320276:

Also, I don’t think that’s the themes site under development. So, no. Though I would like to know, too, what the actual URL will be.

themes.textpattern.com and plugins.textpattern.com will be the domain names when I eventually build out those sites. I’ve made some progress on the plugins one, but not overly happy with the GitHub integration so far (too brittle and can break easily).

bici · 2019-12-31 01:46:36

curious: what has happened to ‘stuart butcher’ i see his old site is 404

TEXTPATTERN
Theme URI: http://protextthemes.com/themes/ambience
Version: 1.0.0
Author: The Bombsite
Author URI: http://thebombsite.com
Copyright: © 2011 ProText Themes.

gaekwad · 2019-12-31 18:20:47

bici wrote #320769:

curious: what has happened to ‘stuart butcher’ i see his old site is 404

I did look around for him a while ago, he did a good job of dropping off the grid. As with many people who do this, there are valid reasons for doing so, and I didn’t pursue further.

WebmistressM · 2020-01-06 18:23:47

bici wrote #320769:

curious: what has happened to ‘stuart butcher’ i see his old site is 404

TEXTPATTERN
Theme URI: http://protextthemes.com/themes/ambience
Version: 1.0.0
Author: The Bombsite
Author URI: http://thebombsite.com
Copyright: © 2011 ProText Themes.

No idea when he dropped off but sometime after 2012. For anyone coming across this thread later, here is a visual re: how his theme looked

https://web.archive.org/web/20121013105140/http://protextthemes.com/themes/ambience

I liked this layout and had it bookmarked back when i was working with TextPattern 4.6 . Great reference of some of the aesthetics I like

So, for those on this thread that are interested in helping with themes, is there any sort of collaborative space that is/can be established? I did look at Bert (I think that was his name)’s About page, which seems to encourage that we could work with what he has already developed.

http://txpthemes.com/about

I think tablet friendly themes and the complementary “Get Started” documentation are great bedfellows to show people the ease-of-entry for TextPattern.

-happy how friendly TextPattern is on their “Little Server That Could”
WebmistressM

bici · 2020-01-06 18:47:07

WebmistressM wrote #320881:

So, for those on this thread that are interested in helping with themes, is there any sort of collaborative space that is/can be established? I did look at Bert (I think that was his name)’s About page, which seems to encourage that we could work with what he has already developed.

http://txpthemes.com/about

I think tablet friendly themes and the complementary “Get Started” documentation are great bedfellows to show people the ease-of-entry for TextPattern.

-happy how friendly TextPattern is on their “Little Server That Could”
WebmistressM

i really like and have used “Themes” from http://txpthemes.com/

I would hope that more of these kinds of themes would be developed. ( ps who is behind txpthemes.com ? )
What i like about them is that they are complete templates that replace the default installation.
Having worked with “themes” that we install in our ~/themes/ directory I prefer to replace the default look with my own design. I am not comfortable with installing themes via the admin interface. i remain wary that using this method is fail proof.

finally what is a Theme vs a Template?
Are admin installed themes skins to the default site? if so would invoking a third theme completely change the look without changing content?
Are Templates a complete stand alone replacement of the default template?

Or am i the only one that is confused with the terms Themes/Templates?

jakob · 2020-01-06 18:59:57

txpthemes.com is by Bert Garcia who in the past has been very active here. The layouts he provides on that page are from the pre-txp-themes era and are individual page templates with a corresponding style sheet. Some of them can be done now with other means, e.g. different column layouts can be done with css alone.

Re the definitions:

A template is a single page template: an HTML page with txp:tags. You can access them via Presentation › Pages.
A front-side theme is a collection of pages, forms, stylesheets (and other things too are possible) packaged up in a folder along with a so-called manifest file that holds its metadata and describes its name, version, author etc. You can import and export them via the Presentation › Themes pane. You can assign all your sections to a new theme, or mix different templates from different themes.
An admin theme changes the look of the admin area of Textpattern and has no effect on the public facing site. They are stored in the /textpattern/admin-themes folders and you can switch between them on the Admin › Preferences pane.

That’s the quick run-down :-) Possibly the confusion comes from the fact that themes (like they used to be) have gone by various names in the past.

EDIT: answered a few more of your questions after having something to eat:

What i like about them is that they are complete templates that replace the default installation.

Yes, that’s the idea of the new/current theme mechanism. You can install them alongside your default/own theme and then either switch wholesale between them or try out how individual sections look with another theme’s design. Your content is not changed, but the look changes.

Having worked with “themes” that we install in our ~/themes/ directory I prefer to replace the default look with my own design. I am not comfortable with installing themes via the admin interface. i remain wary that using this method is fail proof.

Actually having worked for years with other theme editing methods (cnk_versioning, rah/oui_flat etc.) I would say the current themes mechanism is safer to work with. Each theme is separate and you can have several installed alongside one another and switch – or mix/match – between them. How well mix and match works depends on how consistently two (or more) themes are designed and coded.

If you’re worried about losing your existing design, you can give it a name and details on the Presentation › Theme pane, and then export it to disk for safe-keeping. You should get a folder with that name on your server that you can back up for safe-keeping. You can also duplicate a theme if you decide you want to do a different variant or a revised version of your existing design without worrying about losing your old version.

Bloke · 2020-01-06 19:12:09

And to add to the second point, in the upcoming 4.8, a front-side theme can also be more easily previewed by logged-in users. Assign a theme that you’re working on as “in development” to one or more of your sections and see how it looks using live article data, without affecting your existing users.

Tweak it until you’re happy with it, then switch it to live so that everyone sees it. No more staging/database syncing dance required!

jakob · 2020-01-06 19:45:28

WebmistressM wrote #320881:

here is a visual re: how his theme looked: https://web.archive.org/web/20121013105140/http://protextthemes.com/themes/ambience

The demo page is linked to on archive.org, too, so you can see the resulting HTML markup here: https://web.archive.org/web/20121014215940/http://protextthemes.net/?name=ambience

The theme was originally a WooThemes WP theme, which you can still find out there if you want to explore the theme more. It’s not responsive though.

gaekwad · 2020-01-06 19:52:49

For what it’s worth — and surprising absolutely nobody — I haven’t made any real progress on the theme stuff. Work got busy, as is usual for me in Q4 most years, but let’s see what the future brings.

There are lots of responsive CSS frameworks to use as a base, many are MIT licensed, so perhaps that’s enough of a prod for someone to start exploring or building. Here are some, including a few I’ve had recommended by people around here:

Inuit CSS (thanks Jakob for the pointer on this)
Tachyons (I love this one)

…and some of the old guard:

bici · 2020-01-06 19:54:11

jakob wrote #320883:

txpthemes.com is by Bert Garcia who has in the past been very active here. The layouts he provides on that page are from the pre-txp-themes era and are individual page templates with a corresponding style sheet. Some of them can be done now with other means, e.g. different column layouts can be done with css alone.

Re the definitions:

A template is a single page template: an HTML page with txp:tags. You can access them via Presentation › Pages.

A front-side theme is a collection of pages, forms, stylesheets (and other things too are possible) packaged up in a folder along with a so-called manifest file that holds its metadata and describes its name, version, author etc. You can import and export them via the Presentation › Themes pane. You can assign all your sections to a new theme, or mix different templates from different themes.

An admin theme changes the look of the admin area of Textpattern and has no effect on the public facing site. They are stored in the /textpattern/admin-themes folders and you can switch between them on the Admin › Preferences pane.

That’s the quick run-down :-) Possibly the confusion comes from the fact that themes (like they used to be) have gone by various names in the past.

many thanks! good explanation

jakob · 2020-01-06 19:59:17

gaekwad wrote #320887:

For what it’s worth — and surprising absolutely nobody — I haven’t made any real progress on the theme stuff. Work got busy, as is usual for me in Q4 most years, but let’s see what the future brings.

Ditto, but it’s coming, along with other things. Like you say, there’s that thing called work that takes first place…

Textpattern CMS

Textpattern CMS support forum

#16 2019-10-29 17:51:13

Re: Who's interested in making a Textpattern theme over the coming months?

#17 2019-11-26 18:42:39

Re: Who's interested in making a Textpattern theme over the coming months?

#18 2019-11-27 00:07:51

Re: Who's interested in making a Textpattern theme over the coming months?

#19 2019-11-27 08:45:29

Re: Who's interested in making a Textpattern theme over the coming months?

#20 2019-11-27 09:01:56

Re: Who's interested in making a Textpattern theme over the coming months?

Destry wrote #320276:

#21 2019-12-31 01:46:36

Re: Who's interested in making a Textpattern theme over the coming months?

#22 2019-12-31 18:20:47

Re: Who's interested in making a Textpattern theme over the coming months?

bici wrote #320769:

#23 2020-01-06 18:23:47

Re: Who's interested in making a Textpattern theme over the coming months?

bici wrote #320769:

#24 2020-01-06 18:47:07

Re: Who's interested in making a Textpattern theme over the coming months?

WebmistressM wrote #320881:

#25 2020-01-06 18:59:57

Re: Who's interested in making a Textpattern theme over the coming months?

#26 2020-01-06 19:12:09

Re: Who's interested in making a Textpattern theme over the coming months?

#27 2020-01-06 19:45:28

Re: Who's interested in making a Textpattern theme over the coming months?

WebmistressM wrote #320881:

#28 2020-01-06 19:52:49

Re: Who's interested in making a Textpattern theme over the coming months?

#29 2020-01-06 19:54:11

Re: Who's interested in making a Textpattern theme over the coming months?

jakob wrote #320883:

#30 2020-01-06 19:59:17

Re: Who's interested in making a Textpattern theme over the coming months?

gaekwad wrote #320887:

Board footer