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#121 2005-06-24 07:03:35
- Niconemo
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- From: Rhône-Alpes, France
- Registered: 2005-04-18
- Posts: 557
Re: TXP Template Contest : Starting a Pledge ! Will you sign up ?
> bluearc21 wrote:
“Textpattern as a blog” or “Textpattern as a photo blog” or “Textpattern for your corporate website” or “Textpattern to manage a large library of texts and files” then I see the crucial choice being: plugins or no plugins.
—-
Really interesting…
What about planning several contests if the first one is a succes. I mean something like : 1st a basic CSS contest (with templates or not…), then thematic contests whith different rules, more specific (plugins allowed…) ?
Or maybe several contests in one with different “disciplines”… kind of olympic games ;-)
Just an idea…
Last edited by Niconemo (2005-06-24 07:13:45)
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#122 2005-06-24 10:19:34
Re: TXP Template Contest : Starting a Pledge ! Will you sign up ?
Now this is getting somewhere. As I’m always trying to look out for TextBook, I think bluearc21 and Niconemo are on to something. I doubt there will be any incentive from Textpattern like a “prize” per se, but I don’t think it would be so bad to consider the winners of each site classification have their designs be used in the appropriate site type write-ups in Chapter 4 of TextBook. Then we (you) are contributing to two worthy activities at once. (Plus it will be good advertising for the chosen design.)
My only concern is that trying to cover too many design classfications at once will be too much, especially now in the beginning when the kinks are numerous and yet to be pressed out. Maybe start with a simple one, an out-of-box only template and map it to a basic Weblog model. (The existing sections in Chapter 4, by the way, are completely subject to modification at this point as needed.)
Some quick and dirty metrics off the top of my head:- Aesthetic design, of course. (Will be subjective, but like someone said earlier, you can’t escape that entirely.)
- Originality
- Contrast
- etc.
- Cleanliness of CSS file(s) (I.e. rule organization, compactness, file size, etc.)
- Usability of interface
- other?
I think if you keep it simple and very focused for this first go around, you’ll learn a lot and perhaps be able to deal with the next one easier (e.g., Intermediate Weblog model, Photo Portfolio model, etc.).
Last edited by Destry (2005-07-28 16:12:26)
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#123 2005-06-24 11:54:36
Re: TXP Template Contest : Starting a Pledge ! Will you sign up ?
From the beginning I imagined theme support would be best handled much like the way plugins are: a chunk of base64 text could be pasted into a form within the presentation tab, and this would, in one go, fire in whatever templates, style sheets and forms would be required for the theme. A theme that would require a plugin strikes me a something people would shy away from, though someone confident enough could probably handle it.
That said, about this contest idea: I’ll join in thanking David for his positive energy and willingness to take on this missing part (multiple centrally-located themes from which to choose) of the whole Txp thang. However a one-off contest to gather and rate these themes seems likely, as this thread has shown, to spawn a lot of discomfort and fear of the kubrickification of Txp. Design and contests just don’t mix in a room where there’s always going to be the person who doesn’t like green.
I agree that the defalt XHTML that ships with Txp right now is inflexible, and it should be something more along the lines of the starting point used at the zengarden. I’d like to know if you folks agree on that point.
As to making multiple themes available in a central place, this is the idea I have: themes, whatever format they end up taking (zip files or base64 chunks) are put up along with a thumbnail and a link to an implementation at textgarden.org, which I have just registered. Anyone can submit. What we’ll then do, using the recently added file and download management tools, is monitor what the most downloaded themes are. These will rise, Fark style, to the top of the list. A contest of sorts, but ongoing, and I think more democratic because people will be voting by download, not by comment or direct aesthetic opinion.
Thoughts?
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#124 2005-06-24 12:24:36
Re: TXP Template Contest : Starting a Pledge ! Will you sign up ?
Nice. I like the Fark idea; eliminates a lot of piss and moan about how to “judge” something. Let the popularity speak for itself.
And textgarden.org. Sweet. I sure hope that inspires some quality work.
Also still invite good entries to be utilized in TextBook. (Double exposure. Hoo-AH!)
The idea of “ongoing” is great too…should probably inspire more people (like me) to get in on it. Might even draw in more people to the community because hey, who doesn’t like to get there 15 minutes of fame?
Last edited by Destry (2005-06-24 12:32:22)
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#125 2005-06-24 12:27:54
- marios
- Archived Plugin Author
- Registered: 2005-03-12
- Posts: 1,253
Re: TXP Template Contest : Starting a Pledge ! Will you sign up ?
Sounds great.
regards, marios
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#126 2005-06-24 12:28:28
Re: TXP Template Contest : Starting a Pledge ! Will you sign up ?
Nice one Dean. I like the “ongoing” idea which would remove the need to produce styles to a “deadline”.
As for plug-ins (I don’t know if I should mention them) I am already offering a number of what I call “systems” that all include several of the little beasties and I have to say that they have been flying out. Now, whilst I know what the download count is, I don’t know who is downloading them, so whether these people are completely new to the idea of having their own site, or people trying TXP for the first time having moved on from something else or TXP users just trying out a new style I can’t say, but plug-in content doesn’t seem to be a big barrier.
And I would agree that the current XHTML is a bit inflexible. Again I already have a basic template set modified to imitate Gemini. I’m not saying they are the bee’s knees or anything but you’re more than welcome to look them over, make suggestions, tell me they are crap or whatever.
Stuart
In a Time of Universal Deceit
Telling the Truth is Revolutionary.
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#127 2005-06-24 15:04:08
Re: TXP Template Contest : Starting a Pledge ! Will you sign up ?
It is always great to have Dean join a conversation so that we can stop wondering what he would think of what we are up to.
I really like the idea of an ongoing collection rather than a one-time contest. It will let people do things on their own timetable and allow people who join in later to participate as well.
And a word about all the people ragging on Kubrick: Part of the reason for the early popularity of Kubrick was that most people weren’t changing from the original default WordPress template. The theory was that if you were going to have to look at something over and over, it might as well look good. Personally, I would rather see Kubrick everywhere than what came before.
Tastes change. And even if someone around here creates a theme that everyone loves (even people who don’t like green), we will tire of it eventually. But an ongoing collection will let us move on to a K2 equivalent when that time comes.
Last edited by michaelkpate (2005-06-24 15:05:16)
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#128 2005-06-24 15:12:43
Re: TXP Template Contest : Starting a Pledge ! Will you sign up ?
I agree that the defalt XHTML that ships with Txp right now is inflexible, and it should be something more along the lines of the starting point used at the zengarden. I’d like to know if you folks agree on that point.
Absolutely, Dean! And what do you think of changing the default xhtml after testing the new code at the Zengarden?
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#129 2005-06-24 15:17:03
Re: TXP Template Contest : Starting a Pledge ! Will you sign up ?
base64 textpattern theme snippets.
textgarden.org.
great idea. finally some place for the designers and armchair developers to give back to textpattern. :)
But is this “theme” install option going in for Textpattern 1.0? How are people going to install css/forms/pages all in one click without it?
“If you build it, they will come.”
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#130 2005-06-24 15:57:55
Re: TXP Template Contest : Starting a Pledge ! Will you sign up ?
Dean wrote: I agree that the defalt XHTML that ships with Txp right now is inflexible, and it should be something more along the lines of the starting point used at the zengarden. I’d like to know if you folks agree on that point.
I don’t know if I would say it’s inflexible; I mean I go in and change it to however I want pretty easily, that seems pretty flexible to me, but maybe I’m just gasping and not grasping. In any case, if the point is to simplify the default components even more to the perfect blank canvas, then by all means. Yes.
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#131 2005-06-24 20:26:11
- Mary
- Sock Enthusiast
- Registered: 2004-06-27
- Posts: 6,236
Re: TXP Template Contest : Starting a Pledge ! Will you sign up ?
Stuart said:
> <b>Was that to me Mary? I’m sorry if I mislead anyone…</b>
A couple people were still mentioning plugins in regard to my suggestion, so I just wanted to make sure I was understood. :)
bluearc21 said:
> <b>“How are people going to install css/forms/pages all in one click without it?”</b>
I said a couple ‘pages’ back:
“On the other hand, we have admin plugins now, creating a basic “installer” plugin wouldn’t be very difficult…” Nowhere near as elegant as a built-in theming solution, but I thought it would be helpful in the interim.
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#132 2005-06-24 21:31:53
Re: TXP Template Contest : Starting a Pledge ! Will you sign up ?
I didn’t misunderstand you Mary and I for one would just love you to get on with your plug-in suggestion. Can’t help with the coding but I’m quite happy to do some testing for you if need be. I have enough installs to mess with not to mention a few styles. :)
Stuart
In a Time of Universal Deceit
Telling the Truth is Revolutionary.
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