do most of your start with an existing them and modify it or start from scatch?
webdev2 - May 8, 2008 - 21:37
Thanks for answering question in subject. I'm a newbie and learning my way around.
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Use existing
I think it's easier for a newbie to take an existing theme and slightly modify it to get a feel of how themes are structured. Eventually when the newbie gets accustomed to Drupal, then he/she may start creating his own modules or themes. So I think you should get your feet wet first before jumping into the deep end of the pool.
--Ron
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There will be no bootleggers if everything is open source.
thanks for your advice Ron!
thanks for your advice Ron!
Ultimately starting afresh
Ultimately starting afresh has the advantage that you don't get leftover CSS from the original theme conflicting with your new CSS... but you do need to know what all the variables in page.tpl.php are. If you'd rather start from an existing theme for now then have a look at http://drupal.org/project/zen.
gpk
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www.alexoria.co.uk
good iseas - thanks
good iseas - thanks
existing...
I start with an existing theme (my sites in the signature part were all Danger4k). I figured, why not learn from what others have done! The more themes you look at, the more you can learn about how to put it all together.
~silverwing
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Land of Midnight | MisguidedThoughts | showcaseCMS
good idea - thanks.
good idea - thanks.
I just spent a few hours
I just spent a few hours using the Firefox 'firebug' add-on to edit the Garland theme CSS.
It is simply awesome, and I recommend installing firebug.
I used to have firebug but
I used to have firebug but learned it has a memory leak and was sucking my RAM dry. I think webmaster might do the trick too - thanks for reminding me.
garland...
Garland is probably not the best theme to base your own with, unless you need that look.
~silverwing
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Land of Midnight | MisguidedThoughts | showcaseCMS
> Garland is probably not
> Garland is probably not the best theme to base your own with
I chose it because:
It's probably the closest layout I've seen to what I need.
It's a core theme and so will probably always be updated for new versions of Drupal.
And when I was experimenting with firebug, it seemed only to have one CSS file (some of
the themes I've tried look extremely complicated by comparison, including Zen funnily enough)?
Could you elaborate on the reasons why it isn't the best theme to use as a base?
Are there technical issues or restrictions with it that will cause a pain later on?
thanks.
Zen
Zen is the first thing that came to my mind when I read your question.
I'm a rather experienced Drupal developer, and I always start with an existing theme: Zen. Starting with an existing theme is definately the best way for newbies to start theming, but experienced themers can still benefit from starting with an exisiting theme. (Just like an experienced php programmer who starts a new site with installing Drupal; there's no use in re-inventing the wheel.) Zen is explicitly meant to be built upon: it provides lots of functions (like automatic body classes to make per-page styling easier), id's and classes, but very little styling. The html structure and css allow many variations in lay-out. Highly recommended, IMHO!
Many thanks. That s the
Many thanks. That
s the recommendation I had hear before for using Zen this confirms it. Many thanks.