Posted on: 08/24/10 02:25pm
By: 1ynx
I'm kinda trying to adopt the following theme for Geeklog:
http://templates.arcsin.se/demo/simple-organization-website-template/
A few general questions:
- Does anyone have experience in a porting a similar theme to Geeklog?
- And if so, what parts would cause problems or will be difficult to port?
After a while of going back and forth I've decided to build my site in Geeklog but I also have a test setup using Wordpress, you can see both here:
- Geeklog test: http://test.pleh.info
- Wordpress test: http://test.pleh.info/wp/
I haven't started with the theming of Geeklog but I have a feeling that I'll have trouble with the following points:
- The horizontal menu, I haven't really seen a way of generating such a menu automatically. I'm guessing that I'll have to hardcode it but hopefully theres another way.
- The front page that you see on my WP Test site, I have an upcoming events block and latest forum posts block. I'm guessing it will be difficult to get something similar using Geeklog?
- Theming for the comments. I just immagine it being hard but it might end up being simple.
- The side menu and it's various items: Search box, Post categorie overview (Topics I guess), Tag cloud, login box (user functions) and archive.
Other then that I'm hoping that building the theme for Geeklog will be easy but it's unfamiliar ground so any tips for converting a standard template towards a Geeklog theme would be greatly welcome.
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 08/24/10 03:07pm
By: ::Ben
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 08/24/10 05:57pm
By: beewee
Hi, it should be possible to port that theme to GL. You can make the row with Mission Statement and Upcoming Events as a static page placed as a centerblock on top. The "Latest Forum Posts" will look a bit different but can have the same style as the row left of it.
The stoy template will be quite easy, but the "comment parts" will not look exactly the same but the first impression can be nearly the same as the original theme. How about the copyrights of that theme?
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 08/25/10 04:30am
By: 1ynx
Hi,
Thanks for the input, guess I'll just need to get started and see how far I can get.
I've seen a tutorial on wiki.geeklog.net but it was incomplete, didn't go further then adopting the CSS. It's good to know that Geeklog France has some good stuff in their wiki
(shame though that it isn't all in one place)
About the copyright for that theme, it's rather simple really. I can change everything if I wanted to but as a token of appreciation to the creator I have to leave a link to his website in the footer stating that it's his work. As you can see on my WP test site it's there at the bottom, I can live with such a link ^_~
If I get this theme done I'll probably post it here for everyone to use or something like that, the copyright allows it as long as you link to the original author. But I don't have an eta for this so it might take a while
Anyways, I have some work to do
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 08/25/10 10:30am
By: Laugh
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 08/25/10 10:35am
By: 1ynx
I'm working on that one atm.
Here's the result so far:
- http://test.pleh.info
It's still a little rough, I'm kinda trying to get into the Geeklog way of thinking lol so some parts aren't ironed out yet. But it's beginning to look like something.
The part that's a little odd are the information blocks. As you can see, some block items are adopting the theme values and others aren't. Pretty odd, but I've only just started so I'll probably figure out how to fix it in the end.
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 08/25/10 04:02pm
By: ::Ben
Yes it's a nice start
Good luck
::Ben
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 08/25/10 04:37pm
By: Anonymous (Ales)
It is fantastic. Realy greate.
thk.
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 08/27/10 06:31am
By: 1ynx
Hi again.
I've ended up reading these pages:
- Porting howto: http://geeklog.fr/wiki/geeklog:development:themes:porting_a_theme
- A bit more in depth info: http://wiki.geeklog.net/index.php/Theme_Developers_Guide
The part that's going pretty well is the header and the footer, but mostly because that part is pretty straight forward.
The part that's giving me some trouble is the blocks and content.
I understand where I define the blocks, you do that using {right_blocks} and {left_blocks}.
The files that I kinda understand:
leftblocks.thtml
blockheader-left.thtml
blockfooter-left.thtml
rightblocks.thtml
blockheader-right.thtml
blockfooter-right.thtml
The other files I have but I don't know what to do with them:
blockfooter.thtml
blockfooter-config.thtml
blockfooter-list.thtml
blockfooter-message.thtml
blockfooter-related.thtml
blockheader-config.thtml
blockheader-list.thtml
blockheader-message.thtml
blockheader-related.thtml
blockheader.thtml
blockservices.thtml
topcenterblock-span.thtmlx
And then theres the developers documentation which only talks about these block files:
blockheader.thtml
blockfooter.thtml
Does this mean that I could simplify the blocks templates? E.g. having these files and be done with it:
rightblocks.thtml
leftblocks.thtml
blockheader.thtml
blockfooter.thtml
With the theory that this would give the left and right blocks the same header and footer?
Or, if that doesn't work that way then could someone clarify the blocks templating a little? I'm kinda lost at the part where I've defined e.g. the right block files and still having parts that don't adopt the theme properly.
Also, a little on the sideline. I saw that I was able to make a center block out of a static page, which is nice because that's kinda what I need. But, I need the center block to show-up just below the header, so basically before the content part. Right now it seems to put itself above the content which isn't exactly where I want it to be.
Is there a way to force the center block to only show in a specific spot? (e.g. defining {center_block} or something like that?)
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 08/27/10 11:25pm
By: Laugh
Does this mean that I could simplify the blocks templates? E.g. having these files and be done with it:
rightblocks.thtml
leftblocks.thtml
blockheader.thtml
blockfooter.thtml
Yes
Take a look at this
http://www.geeklog.net/docs/english/theme.html[*4] and it should help explain some of the updates to the theme engine along with some of the files.
If I recall correctly files like
blockheader-message.thtml = deal with any system messages displayed to the user (like if you use the email form)
blockfooter-config.thtml = used by Geeklogs admin configurattion.
Tom
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 08/28/10 02:21pm
By: 1ynx
Ok, looks like I've got the block's part (almost) ironed out. Even got the search box on there just the way I wanted to. (in an offline environment, so can't really show anyone at this point)
But, I noticed that in the process I kinda demolished the admin UI. No biggy really, means that I have to template that part as well.
Ah well, just wanted to say that I'm beginning to understand the GL way of theming.
Only side note I would like to add.
Why not separate the Admin and the Site theming? Still keeping it open to theme both but simply having the choice to just do one. (just a thought)
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 08/28/10 03:52pm
By: gape
if u think making it available to public
u can zip what u have and upload it somewhere
and then ppl can dl it and contribute to it
helping u with files u dont understand exactly 4ex
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 08/28/10 06:07pm
By: 1ynx
I'll definitely put it in public, no worries there. But I think I will at least need to get most of the basics working before I do so, I still want to put some more time into it myself ^_~
The public place would probably my own site with the test subdomain (
test.pleh.info[*5] ).
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 08/30/10 05:04am
By: gape
Quote by: 1ynxI'll definitely put it in public, no worries there. But I think I will at least need to get most of the basics working before I do so, I still want to put some more time into it myself ^_~
The public place would probably my own site with the test subdomain (test.pleh.info[*5] ).
probably
just zip what u have - so others (me 4 ex) can dl it and work on it further
to avoid double work - ppl could write what they are working on
u can then decide if u wanna use the solution ...
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 08/31/10 06:12am
By: beewee
Quote by: 1ynxWhy not separate the Admin and the Site theming? Still keeping it open to theme both but simply having the choice to just do one. (just a thought)
That's because regular users can post stories/ links and events as well. It's meant to be a community script, so it needs a consistent look, just like the profile editor in Hyves (a dutch Facebook clone)
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 09/13/10 08:33am
By: Laugh
How goes the theme development?
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 09/14/10 06:37am
By: Remixen
That is really a impressive topic..Thank you for sharing this with us…
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 09/18/10 12:28pm
By: 1ynx
Quote by: LaughHow goes the theme development?
Not so good sadly, I didn't get much further then what you see on the test page a.t.m.
Every time I change something it breaks something else.
It turns out that I'm simply not good enough with HTML and CSS to fix this myself, and I really don't want to rely on others for this either.
I can manage small changes, or tweaks but I'm in over my head with a theming job this big (entire frontend website + config/admin/backend pages + any plugin involved, etc.).
So, I regretfully had to rethink my options since theming took too much of my time where I'd rather spend that time creating content for my site.
The end result is me going with Wordpress + a few plugins (e.g. a plugin for a table of content, events calendar) and MyBB as forum software, I managed to functionally get exactly what I want out of those 2 software packages so I decided to stick with them.
It's a shame really, Geeklog was able to do allot of things for me but the theming ended up becoming a bigger job then I'd expect and functionally there are a few things I'm now getting that Geeklog wouldn't be able to give (though they aren't my main needs but still handy to have).
I'll still keep an eye out Geeklog though, but for now I just want to start writing content and actually get my site up and running.
Hope you can understand,
1ynx
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 09/18/10 09:30pm
By: suprsidr
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 09/19/10 03:42am
By: beewee
Hi 1ynx, can you send me the files of your theme? Perhaps I can try to finish it. I would be a shame if spend all that time without a result. I've made some GL themes myself, so I know my way around in the several blocks, blockheaders and blockfooters, and the functions.php.
Send me a PM (in Dutch, if you like).
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 09/20/10 07:48am
By: beewee
Thnx, I received the files. I'll report any changes etc.
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 09/20/10 08:22am
By: Laugh
It is good to know that the theme is being continued to be worked on.
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 09/20/10 10:53am
By: kobab
lovely design!
No plan to be in public as a new theme?
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 09/20/10 11:00am
By: suprsidr
I just never went through and cleaned up any unnecessary styles and images yet.
Will do if there is any interest.
-s
Re: General question about theming in Geeklog
Posted on: 09/20/10 11:51am
By: Laugh
If you have time clean it up. When you upload it to Geeklog, contribute a story so we can post the news on the home page.
Tom