By nick1008 on

I assume there has to be other ways to design a drupal-driven site than using the themes coming out of the box?

Comments

vm’s picture

vm commented

you can :

A) use a conrtib theme in the downloads area
B) build a custom theme with XHTML and CSS

nick1008’s picture

nick1008 commented

And how do I do.. let's start with B!

vm’s picture

vm commented

first thing I suggest is taking a already existing theme and look at the contents of the files

second thing I'd suggest is reading the theme developers guide = http://drupal.org/theme-guide

third thing I'd do is google drupal themeing tutorials = http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=drupal+theme+tutorial&aq=0&oq=drupa...

When I complete 1 - 3
I'd look at 1 again, as you will better understand what you are looking at.

a site to work with = http://www.w3schools.com/

nick1008’s picture

nick1008 commented

This should keep me shut-up for a while :-)

portulaca’s picture

portulaca
she/her
commented

I'd like to add Zen theme, it's completely CSS based, easy to modify and it's well documented. Try it out!

Sunshiney’s picture

Sunshiney commented

I'll chime in here.. My very first experience with Drupal (in process now) required me to convert an existing and fairly complex xhtml/css/asp site to Drupal. These days, I'm no longer drinking wine, pulling out my hair and scaring the cat with my shrieks, thanks to help here. But I've been at it for four months. Now, I'm just dealing with non-Drupal/non-techy folks who can't figure out why it's taking so long. When I try to explain, their eyes glaze over.

In an ideal world, I would have started with Drupal's core themes and played there. Figured out all the basics there. Learned the jargon. Learned where "stuff" is and what "stuff" does. Looked inside files. Read the packt pdf books and experimented. I have a good background in xhtml, css, Dreamweaver, and have installed a gadzillion cgi scripts. Been at it for many, many years. No developer background...no C+, no php. Thank heaven's for a son who is a CS major at local university and who is brilliant (graduating at 19, can you believe!). And thank heavens for folks here that have been ever so patient with me. I have, also, been learning php because it's helpful to creating custom themes -- not a ton, mind you, but it does help me to have a basic understanding. It's a friendly language, imho.

So the path you proceed down does depend on your skill set and deadlines, if any. But, if you can spend some time getting comfortable first with Drupal out-of-the-box, so to speak, I think it's helpful. And then dive into the deep water...... Just my two cents!