Im working on a complete minimal redesign of the Administration interface.
see a link to new design here http://www.s-o-u-r-c-e.info/drupal_admin.gif
Ive been evaluating many potential directions as far as function and display and have decided to use FLASH to build my backend interface to drupal.
this is a link to an organazational structure i started to help me work through the mess of links represented in the admin area.
http://www.s-o-u-r-c-e.info/admin_map1.gif
This is a work in progress and I hope to find some collaborators who would be interested in a complete rework of the admin area. Maybe you want a simpler interface for your client, or just for yourself....
So Im wondering....
1. Has anyone else used flash with drupal and have any suggestions or contributions?
2. Is anyone working on a "real" template system that separates php from the design process? I want to separate the admin section permanently and i would like to be able to easily create and apply different templates to separate sections in large websites. I have looked into phpTemplate but am not happy with the complexity and know for certain that it would not be suitable for the majority of my clients.
3. Can we form a design/programming team to address these issues as a major contribution to the Drupal Sourcecode?
Initially, Id like to start a discussion to address usability issues and possible solutions. I want to propose and support a "best of breed" mentality when it comes to technological solutions. There's so many ways to do the same thing.... Lets discover the ways to make user experience with drupal an engaging tool that stands out from the pack!
Suggestions encouraged and appreciated
-isaac
http://liquidratio.com/isaachorton/
Comments
I am not sure if this helps or not...
I am not sure if this helps or not, but I have been using the sections.module (CVS) and it has worked flawlessly for me.
I realize that you are talking about separating the admin section entirely, but using Sections might be a quicker solution.
I have used it to assign different themes to different areas of sites (admin/*, , blog/*, etc). Usually, I set up Home, Interior, and Admin. By using a Table-less CSS-based design, you shouldn't have any trouble setting up different templates and keeping it clean, code-wise.
I, too, am interested in seeing how to implement Flash into Drupal. I just got a Flash Application Development book recently. Hopefully, I'll learn something to put towards Drupal. :)
Regarding the PHPtemplates... I am not a PHP guru, by any means, but I have found that templates made to use the PHPtemplate engine are pretty straight forward and easy to manipulate (which is probably why it will be the new default engine in 4.7).
I haven't looked it up, but I am sure this has been hashed and rehashed here before. I think it just depends on what you need and what your clients need. Are your clients going to be messing with the template files?
By the way, your Admin Layout looks nice... nice and clean.
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VN
I suggest getting in touch
I suggest getting in touch with Amazon to coordinate. He's working on similier.
SOme criterea to consider, it should be light, it should fail gracefully to html.
-sp
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Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide -|- Black Mountain
-Steven Peck
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Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide
XML
Hey, a really nice idea i think.
Cant you just make an XML file that the .sfw could load links and content into it??
Just a suggestion here...
work already in progress
Sorry isaachorton, I gave you an old link before
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You might want to checkout post http://drupal.org/node/34297
Also, you might want to jump on the developer list as I know there is work going on regarding a redesign of drupal administration.