History: Theme generator

{REMARKSBOX(type="warning" title="Warning")}As per ((tw:Where)), this page and ones related to themes should be moved to http://themes.tiki.org
{REMARKSBOX}

! What
The main idea is to add a ((themes:Tiki Theme Generator)). While doing this, many things make sense to improve at the same time.

!! Specific goals
!!! Palette editor
One target is a way to set background and text colors. This is what [http://themes.tiki.org/Tiki theme generator] talks about mostly, so far. The palette editor in trunk has shown that there are a lot of very similar colors. Reducing the number of colors is an important next step. This needs to be done by examining the stylesheets and finding the reason for the similar colors. If there is apparently no particular reason for color variations, they can be merged. But some near-matches can be intentional, such as backgrounds in subtly alternating odd-even rows in a data table or other cases when a subtle background contrast is used. These shouldn't be changed, so the context of these color uses needs to be checked.

http://colllor.com/
!!! Method for setting other layout details
In addition to colors, a way to set such things as borders (on/off, size, color) perhaps specifically for items or generally for the overall appearance; whitespace ("tight", "open") again probably globally so a number of CSS rules would be set as a group).
Two approaches seem to emerge here: one is to have an editor that can be used to specify individual CSS rules in detail; another way would be to select options that would cause a set of rules to be chosen. In other words, the interface could have gadgets to input specific colors and sizes, etc., or could have dialogs so the user could choose design or palette themes like "light", "dark", "summer", "condensed", "open", etc., or choose options for specific design details.  

!! Examples of similar ideas, etc.
* [http://drupal.org/handbook/modules/color|Drupal color module] (palette editor)
* [http://montage.cloudapp.net/montage/whatsmontage/|Montage] (layout configurator) 
This has a different purpose, as it's a personal aggregation of items from around the web, but the method for laying out the page is interesting.
* [http://drupal.org/project/skinr|Drupal Skinr]
Maybe relevant. "Skinr's main purpose is to allow the theme to define a set of reusable and modular CSS styles, and to make those styles available in Drupal's UI."
* [http://www.slideshare.net/AcquiaInc/acquia-tnt-fusionwebinar|90 Minute Intro to the Fusion Theming Framework]
''"Fusion is a powerful base theme, with layout and style configuration options built in that you can control through Drupal's UI. It's based on a simplified 960px or fluid 12/16-column grid. It's designed to be used with the Skinr module, with numerous useful block styles included."''

Note that Skinr and Fusion are third-party software for Drupal there may not be up to date with the current Drupal release. (''"The Drupal 7 version [[of Fusion] is now quite usable, but waiting on Skinr support."'')

! Who
* Jonny Bradley
* Marc Laporte
* Gary Cunningham-Lee
* You


! When
For Tiki 7.0

! Scenarios

!! Theme Roller
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SvzUoSHr08|Plone + jquery.ui + themeroller video] 
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8KIR9SIE_o|Plone + jquery.ui + themeroller (Preview 2) video]
* http://docs.jquery.com/UI/Theming/API
* http://filamentgroup.com/examples/jqcon09/jQueryConf2009-ThemingjQueryUI.pdf
* [http://groups.google.com/group/jquery-ui/browse_frm/thread/ddbb2389ecda64c1/89fb9a91bdc37f8e|using themeroller for more than widgets]
* [http://www.filamentgroup.com/lab/introducing_the_themeroller_firefox_developer_bookmarklet/|ThemeRoller Firefox Developer Bookmarklet]
* [http://www.mojoportal.com/mojoportal-and-jqueryui-themeroller.aspx|mojoPortal and jQueryUI ThemeRoller]

! Steps
!! Consultation
* --Get the community involved-- done

!! Cleanup up phase
* --rip phplayersmenu  (see cleanup page)-- done
* --rip XAJAX (add essential via jQuery)-- done
* --Fix regression: theme .tpl files aren't used when assigning theme on object or category level-- done
* Consider reorganizing rules in current CSS files
** Reduce "vertical" redundancy (reduce repetition in lite.css -> layout.css/design.css -> theme stylesheet)
** Reduce "horizontal" complexity by changing feature-specific classes to global ones so they don't need to be styled separately (ex: .calHeading -> .heading) and downsize or eliminate feature-specific CSS files.
** Move font definitions from design.css to new type.css?

!! Revamp
* Evaluate if we should pick [http://devsnippets.com/article/complete-guide-to-css-frameworks.html|a] [http://www.webdesignbooth.com/10-promising-css-framework-that-worth-a-look/|CSS] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSS_framework#CSS_framework|framework]
* Revamp ((Print)).css and FullScreen
* Consolidate tiki_index_raw, tiki_p_index,
* With Robert and ((S5)), consolidate tiki-slideshow, tiki-slideshow2, etc. 
* Review ((doc:Print Indexed)) to make nicer
* ((Themes:Tiki Theme Generator))
* {wish id=2397}
* {wish id=1582}
* Be in a position to do ((Offline)) and site-to-site ((doc:PluginInclude)) later
* Would like possibility of theme options having their own .tpl files (Gary). 
* Enable multiple theme options per theme (to get a lot of permutations easily)
* Theme options: make it possible to combine them
* Is it possible and would it make sense to use CSS sprites for icons, etc. (or would this be incompatible with user-specified icons)?
* New post-it, top-of-site style section (for temp warnings)
{CODE(wrap="1")}<div id="postit" style="background: #ffc; margin: 2px 0 0 2px; min-height: 1px; width: 100%; padding:5px;">
<img src="http://tiki.org/img/icons/close.png" alt="Close" width="16" height="16" class="rbox-close" onclick="confirm('Are you sure you want to close this note and keep it hidden permanently on next page load? (If you ever want it back, you would need to delete the cookie named flip_class_postit in your browser settings.)') ? flip_class('postit','hidden','hidden') : false;" style="border: none" title="Close" />
<img src="img/icons/exclamation.png" alt="Warning" style="vertical-align:middle" /> <strong>Please Note:<br />This site is currently running <a href="http://doc.tiki.org/Tiki6">Tiki6 Beta</a>. Please be patient while we <a href="http://tiki.org/Dogfood">Dogfood</a> Tiki and resolve issues. </strong></div>
{CODE}

!! Communications
* Theme upgrades from 6 to 7 will require work.
** From 2 to 3, there was a big revamp
** From 4 to 6, it was incremental adjustments, and upgrading Tiki had little impact on custom themes.
*** Now, we need to make a substantial reorganization.

! Misc. references, resources, etc.
* [http://www.slideshare.net/nborda/psd-2-drupal|Psd 2 Drupal slideshow]
* [http://www.slideshare.net/jacine/theming-with-skinr|Theming with Skinr]
* http://drupal.org/project/sweaver/
* http://drupal.org/project/livethemer
* http://www.h-online.com/developer/news/item/YAML-developer-publishes-web-page-editor-1725568.html
* https://css-george.github.io/