Download - Bdug Drupal Themes
So you need a Drupal theme.Now what?
Presenters: Chris Fassnacht / Stephanie PakrulTopNotchThemes.com
@ BDUG - July 24th, 2008
What does a theme do?
● The theme positions and styles data and design elements on your Drupal site
● Drupal themes are powerful – much of your site's functionality and data displays are defined through the theme
Drupal backend(content, modules, settings, users, etc)
Graphic design(logo, colours, fonts)
THEME
Ways to get a Drupal theme
● Theme from mockups/static HTML● Custom design is created or provided, then themed● Static HTML/CSS is turned into a Drupal theme
● Free/near free theme● Themes from drupal.org, other free or low cost sources
● Premium theme● New class of themes being offered with advanced
features, support, designs, etc.
Where to find themes
● Starting from scratch: Hunchbaque, Zen, not Garland!
● Browse and tweak: http://drupal.org/project/Themes● Free: Roopletheme, AllDrupalThemes● Premium: TopNotchThemes, Themesnap,
DrupalShark
How to spec a Drupal design
● Get to know Drupal's major elements (nodes, contenttypes, taxonomies, comments, blocks, modules, views, panels, etc.) before talking to a designer
● Define what you want your site to do before you decide how you want it to look (IA)
● Find a designer with CMS experience● Be flexible where Drupal is not
How to evaluate a themer
● Portfolio, portfolio, portfolio● Themer style: maintainability vs pixel perfection● Standards emphasis: validation, accessibility, i18n,
Drupal coding practices● Community participation● Social skills/empathy● Fit with your workflow
Is it any good?
● Download and examine theme files, check for:● Regions in .info file (D6) or template.php (D5)● Valid CSS/HTML (validator.w3.org)● Drupal version● Template files
included
● Crossbrowser● Support?
Files and .info say a lot
● More tpl.php files aren't necessarily better, but can illustrate the features/complexity of the theme
● Number of regions is important
● These regions look like this...
Bells & Whistles
● Do the regions have unique styles?● Are regions collapsible, or with flexible sizes?● Color module support?● Are there helpful class names so you can do simple
theming with just CSS?● Custom logo, user pictures, etc.● Are there any custom theme settings?
Now that you have a theme...
Easy to change● Block layout● Theme settings● Colours, font styles● Formatting author, date, taxonomy, etc.● Views
Do what you can with pure CSS first!Firebug (getfirebug.com) is your friend!
