Are there any dynamic themes out there where there where all the parameters in each of the regions (size, color, position, font, justification, etc.) are variable settings where the site administrator user can modify these via the theme settings interface (e.g., select region and then be able to change and update the parameter values for the region)?
Ideally this would require absolutely no knowledge of CSS or any other technology on the part of the user.
I have developed a program generators in the past and do not see why such functionality would be difficult to develop. Is there any reason why such a functionality would not be desirable? I am a developer but not very experienced with Drupal.
Omega (the version 3) may be what you need:
Omega 3 is best suited to those who like to build their themes through
the user interface. The theme’s layout can be modified through the
theme settings and then contextually changed (different
layouts/settings for various portions of a site) through integration
with Delta and the Context module.
Adaptative theme is very configurable as well.
Related
Can anyone help me to get this answer with a small example as I have been trying to be cleared about this two things.
According to, and elaborating on the WordPress Codex:
Plugins
Plugins are ways to extend and add to the functionality that already exists in WordPress. The core of WordPress is designed to be lean and lightweight, to maximize flexibility and minimize code bloat. Plugins then offer custom functions and features so that each user can tailor their site to their specific needs.
So this should be thought of as a way of extending WP's underlying / core functionality. Remember, WP's Roots is that of a blogging CMS, but developers over the years have been hell bent on making it do anything and everything treating WP kind of like a framework, but not to be confused with one. For example, WordPress does not have a contact form built in for users, therefore I can plug in a 3rd party module which will permit the administrator to set up and use such functionality.
Widgets
WordPress Widgets add content and features to your Sidebars. Examples are the default widgets that come with WordPress; for post categories, tag clouds, navigation, search, etc. Plugins will often add their own widgets.
This is not as straight forward due to the concept being quite abstract. Think of a widget of extending the template dynamically by allowing a webmaster to deploy 3rd party plugins (as well as default plugins). Developers tend to use such functionality to display information that is not mission critical, non intrusive and easy to use / manipulate.
However, to clarify, you don't necessarily require widgets to use plugins. In the case you use Akismet, it will simply extend WP to prevent against spam without ever displaying anything to the user.
I have been asked to create an eCommerce website for a client on a strict budget. I figured using WordPress would be my best bet in this case. I am new to both WordPress and developing an eCommerce/online store. I intended on designing and developing my own bespoke theme for the client, however their limited budget does not accommodate the fee I quoted for designing and developing a bespoke theme. Therefore, I thought that a free theme would be the most suitable option in working within the constraints of the budget.
My questions regarding using the free theme are:
What are the limitations to using a free pre-made theme in terms of its styling, look and layout (structure)? For example, could I easily move the logo or other elements and graphics to elsewhere on the same page if I wanted or I am stuck with having those items wherever they are originally placed? In other words, what flexibility do I get in changing the design?
How 'unique' could I expect it to look with some customization?
What are the limitations on features and functionality?
Would I get more design flexibility with a premium theme instead?
There are pretty much no limitations.
You can make a child theme out of the free theme, then you can customise the css and php files which make up that theme, as much as you like. That will allow you to do everything you mention in point 1. See http://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes for details.
Wordpress provides a simple web interface that allows you to view and edit the files, or you can just edit them using your favourite code editor.
The idea with a child theme is that any file which you customize overrides the file in the original theme. This means if there are updates to that theme in the future, you can safely download them without wiping out the customisations you've made.
I would recommend you start with something like the twitter bootstrap theme for wordpress, which gives you a neutral design and quite a lot of useful javascript functions. That will help you with point 2 - ensuring uniqueness, as you don't start with something that already has a distinctive look and feel.
re: point 3 - that's the great thing with wordpress. Just add plugins and widgets (or even develop your own). There really are no limits.
To answer point 4: Premium themes typically provide more sophistication in terms of design features and add-ins like scrollers, slideshows and shortcodes. Sometimes they also provide customised interfaces that allow limited customisation such as colour schemes and page layout, but essentially the wordpress interface for customisation is the same, whether you've paid for the theme or not.
I have noticed that in every theme I have examined from the Gallery and elsewhere, the Zone Names from the Theme Machine are used, sometimes when the Zone names make little sense.
Are there any internal dependencies that make use of those particular Zone names necessary or recommended.
Are there any consequences or difficulties introduced if those Zone names are changed when I create a new Theme?
In response to Piotr's answer:
So most of the Zone names are being recycled for convenience so that one custom theme can be based on a previous custom theme (both based on Theme Machine).
So is the zone-placement-admin-widget-zone-layer-assignment stuff tying up design efforts with a sort of convention tied to the Theme Machine zone names because of the configuration efforts imposed by the developer work patterns?
I notice that you and others are suggesting solutions based on code-over-convention to enable placing content programmatically, even using styles from another theme.
Does this mean that Orchard is moving toward a 'widget component' with a more well-rounded capability to live anywhere within the framework and compose itself nicely wherever we want to put it?
You can name your zone names whatever you find suitable without any consequences. You should only keep the Content one, as it's where Orchard puts content items' main content by default.
Zones specified in Theme.txt are used for widgets admin UI only - to display a list you can choose from.
If you rename/remove a zone that currently contains some widgets, those widgets will appear in the Widgets admin "orphaned" section so you can re-assign them to new zones later on.
Theme developers usually use the same zone names as in The Theme Machine purely for convenience. It's easier to switch themes as you don't have to move widgets around afterwards.
I am having a big trouble finding a way to edit and change the content of the Omega Kickstart 7.x-3.4 (default theme) for eCommerce sites.
Firstly i made a sub theme of Omega Kickstart 7.x-3.4 (default theme) by using this link https://drupal.org/node/2057387 but I came to the point which i dont know how to make changes to the site and not speaking only regarding css but making my own new divs and content within.
If anyone knows how to accomplish this it would make my life easier.
Thanks a lot !!!!!!! Love Angelos
The Commerce Kickstart Theme is based off the Omega Base Theme, so a healthy knowledge of Omega will allow you to manipulate the presentation of your website.
To edit the regions and zones of your site, you can edit the YOURTHEME.info file as per the tutorial or in the original Omega Documentation. The Zones and regions determine where you may place your blocks and content etc in the theme settings itself.
To configure the behaviour of the website, edit the regions (column width etc) on your sub-theme settings on your admin as such:
yoursite.com/admin/appearance/settings/THEME_NAME
Scott Tolinski of LevelUp Tuts did a tutorial on how to edit this which can be quite helpful:
http://leveluptuts.com/tutorials/drupal-tutorials/58-drupal-theming-omega-101-4-omega-settings
Finally, to tweak the CSS of your site, you will need to understand how the CSS is managed. All CSS should be located in your \sites\YOUR_THEME\drupal-7.XX\sites\all\themes\THEME\css folder.
By default Commerce Kickstart like all Omega themes will contain a global.css, theme-alpha-default.css theme-alpha-narrow.css, theme-alpha-normal.css, theme-alpha-wide.cssfiles. Global is the primary CSS you'll be operating in, just be sure you tweak the CSS in a mobile first manner. Anner media query specfic styling should be handled in the appropriate style sheet.
Now, since you are using Kickstart there will be a lot of pre-configured CSS; some of which may become useless or unused if you tweak the regions and zones too much but hopefully once you understand Omega better you will be able to make tweaks to the aesthetic as appropriate. I highly recommend Level Up tuts video tutorials as a basic, and try to read the Omega Documentation to understand how to handle the theme appropriately.
This is a serious question, specifically relating to the many frameworks out there for Wordpress and Joomla - Warp, T3, Gantry etc. What I dont understand is how they are different to a starter template and what exactly you are supposed to do with them - simply child theme them or is it a whole other codex to learn? I mean, all of the native codex is there with Joomla and WP anyway to construct a theme simple enough so what good does a whole proprietary app do between your design and the CMS? Are they faster to develop with?
What confuses me is that people seem to love them and claim that they make life easier but I dont get how adding another technology to learn can make things easier. Like I say, it is a serious question, not one for effect to make a point.
Can anybody define the difference between a framework and a starter template? I ask in part because I am one of those anxious developers who always feels like I am somehow missing a trick or doing things the "wrong" way - what am I missing?
This is definitely mostly an issue of definition, and I can guarantee that some cases will not follow what I outline below. Obviously, anyone is free to call the template/framework by whatever they want.
Generally though, a template is comprised of basic HTML and CSS that works with the platform (Wordpress, Joomla, etc) that is used to build the output to the page. In Wordpress, this contains the loop and other constructs to get all the content for the page. In Joomla, it outlines all the module positions available and such.
Typically when you purchase a higher end theme, you will have significant choices on the backend to customize the theme without having to actually code. These parameters let you typically change colors and such.
Some of the theme developers and others have taken this parameter settings system to the next level and made it into a framework. In all the cases that I've seen, "framework" is really the basis for the template parameter system. In this way, you can have consistency between different themes and expect the same settings and features between different themes. This is why they use a different word, because it really isn't a "theme" any more. It really is like a "theme engine" in that it is a backend system for changing things in the theme.
Yes, many platforms offer some basic options for editing the theme out of the box, so in most cases, the framework is really an improvement on the base platform's theme engine.
It's been my experience that a theme will be a visual style along with a set of theme options available in the admin (in addition to Customize if it's supported).
Theme Frameworks on the other hand, like Thesis, are installed just like a theme but have a very vanilla visual style that you build your theme on top of. Usually the framework provides many added features that aren't available in WP core.
tl;dr - Themes frameworks aren't installed and used right away, they are installed and built upon to deliver a site.