How long does it take you to create a theme?

[muzick]

I'm starting work on my first theme with Coppermine, and I am beginning to think that it'll be a much longer process than I originally anticipated. I am still new to the software, but as I am not really making any modifications to the code, I know that to be less of an issue (not taking into account that some of the theme stuff is a bit hard to find...)

My main question is: how long do you spend working on themes? Do you build from the ground up (as I am doing with mine) or use another theme as the base?

[Gizmo]

You will save yourself a lot of grief if you start with a simple theme and then edit that. Not knowing the type of theme you want to build, may I suggest a couple that I've posted: briarpatch -http://forum.coppermine-gallery.net/index.php?topic=30610.0 or a more complicated one such as foliage - http://forum.coppermine-gallery.net/index.php?topic=35953.0. Take a look at the template.html and you'll see they are easy enough to follow with the items in brackets {} supplying the actual gallery content. Here are two posts that I recommend you look through:

• http://forum.coppermine-gallery.net/index.php?topic=24056.0
• http://forum.coppermine-gallery.net/index.php?topic=31423.0
• http://coppermine-gallery.net/demo/cpg14x/docs/index.htm

I also highly recommend that you use Firefox and the Ardvark and Web Developer extensions to help determine which css styles are controlling the gallery. With these tools, it's very easy to make a simple theme in an evening. Once you want to move into changing the default characteristics of the gallery such as how the tables are laid out or move gallery information around, you'll need to use the items in the theme.php. You'll need to copy items out of the sample>theme.php and paste it into your theme.php and then edit it.

Don't get discourged, there are a lot of folks here willing to help you out but may I suggest you read the documentation and search the forum for answers first. Doing this you will come across information for ideas you never thought of. I'm always incorporating things that I find here into themes and galleries that I create for people.

Cheers!

[IronDude]

I have a Forum that I would like to looke like my photoalbum
Here is a Link to Forum http://www.herospy.com/forums/index.php
And here is Link to my Album http://www.herospy.com/forums/photoalbum/index.php

As you can see my forum looks way cooler. The forum was done is PhpBB.
Is there a way to get a theme for Copper to look like the Forum.
The forum theme name is redsilver.

Let me know if there are options I can take. 

[Joachim Müller]

This is not the "build-me-a-theme" thread. Locking.

[Gizmo]

Please don't post in bold type.

I think the blue forum and red gallery themes work good together. What I would do is add some padding around the forum to match the gallery and use the same background. Then make the maintable in the gallery the same grey as the forum. It's easy to do and you may end up liking the look. The only issue I see in your gallery is that your menus are invisible until you hover over them.

[EDIT] Sorry GauGau, I was posting as you were locking.