Anatomy of a Theme...tell me what you think

[dawirick]

It took quite some time before I really understood the layout of Coppermine themes.  Once I really looked at the code though, it became rather obvious how things were layed out.

But, I thought, maybe other "newbies" could use some help getting started.   :-\

So, I took it upon myself to create a simple beginner's guide to creating a Coppermine theme.
I have attached what I have come up with so far.

PLEASE critique it for me and let me know if I should continue...

[ComputerLady]

It took quite some time before I really understood the layout of Coppermine themes.  Once I really looked at the code though, it became rather obvious how things were layed out.

But, I thought, maybe other "newbies" could use some help getting started.   :-\

So, I took it upon myself to create a simple beginner's guide to creating a Coppermine theme.
I have attached what I have come up with so far.

PLEASE critique it for me and let me know if I should continue...

I'd give you an 'A' for effort that's for sure!

In so far as to how it will help novice programmers; that's a hard call to make because it depends very much on the background of the person needing help! Those with good HTML/CSS skills working on learning PHP will probably find it quite useful. Those without that kind of experience will not. 'Nuff said on that topic!

Sorry I can't be more positive at this point, as I've been dealing with a rather frustrating situation myself over the past few days. That is I've been questioned on the WHY behind my advice and intent, but no matter what I'm saying they don't seem to get it. Does get to be rather frustrating when you've explained something 4 different ways and someone is still confused! Maybe that latest message will provide the 'Ah-HA' moment!   

[Joachim Müller]

Thank you very much for your contribution - I will review it in detail asap. You might want to take a look at the improved theme section of the preliminary documentation for cpg1.5.x, which explains many things in detail: http://documentation.coppermine-gallery.net/theme.htm

[dawirick]

Well...all that for naught.  :'(

I must say GauGau, that is much better documentation than previously provided.

I shall abandon my efforts in light of this new and improved documentation (unless, of course, I'm convinced not to). 

[Joachim Müller]

You're welcome to continue - I'd love to see more contributions like yours that describe things from a user's point of view rather than having to come up with documentation by myself. Preferably, use HTML for your documentation instead of PDF. I'd like to request your permission to use part of your documentation for the cpg1.5.x docs that I refered to above. If you should agree, it would be great if you could provide the original document instead of the PDF for easier copying and pasting. You would of course be credited for your work on the page http://documentation.coppermine-gallery.net/credits.htm#contributors

[dawirick]

You are more than welcome to use any part of the attached document you feel would be appropriate (MS Word format --- sorry).

If I were to continue, how would I notify you of my progress??

[Joachim Müller]

Thanks for your contribution and willingsness to improve it. Keep on replying to this thread,  attaching your reviewed copies.

Joachim

[François Keller]

Just one thing to say: Good Work !!! Thank's. It will be wery usefull for those who wants to creat or modifie a theme.

[Joachim Müller]

Your instructions are indeed very well written. There is one suggestion though: don't advice users to use the sample theme and modify it - as suggested in the other thread, the sample theme is just a template to copy from to give you an idea what can be changed. You should not use it to base your custom theme on it. Instead, I suggest advising users to start with the classic theme instead and copy bits from the sample theme's theme.php into their custom theme that they need to change.
I'll post further reviews soon.

[Pascal YAP]

GooOd job 

I agree with GauGau about sample theme.
And in general with you too.
Very usefull for beginers and others.

Now Frantz can produce a French translation for our French Board.   

PYAP

[François Keller]

Now Frantz can produce a French translation for our French Board.  Grimaçant  Clin d'oeil

[dawirick]

Okay!

Been a while since I've updated.

I have been working on an HTML version of this "guide"(?).

You can see the rough version of it at...

• http://yrick.dyndns.org/in-process/anatomy/

Again, critiques are welcome!

[Joachim Müller]

I suggest coming up with just one monolithic HTML page and breaking it up into chapters or individual pages later - that should be much easier. Looks very promising, keep up the good work.

[dawirick]

My appologies!

I didn't realize it had been soooo long since I made any additions.

Background:
     
My sever hardware took a dump about two/three months after your last post.  It took me some time to get the hardware together to build another one.  Also, I figured if I'm going to have to start over I'd give LINUX a try .

Now, I'm fairly computer savvy , but going from Windows to Linux left me with quite a learning curve :-\.

Long story short, I lost all my files :'( and forgot about this project.

I'll download *.zip from here and return to this project.

[Radyan]

By the way, is there an automatic way to create a CPG theme?  Just an application or a plugin?

[Nibbler]

No. You need to actually know stuff to make a theme.