[Template Manager] MODxGreen

I wasn’t going to get involved in this, but I am in agreement with Jeff. The theme and icons are very pretty, but not something I would be likely to use. I’m a bit on the conservative side (well, a howling reactionary, truth be known) and would much prefer a more subtle color scheme myself.

What I think would be an excellent feature is to have the option to mix ’n match icon sets and themes. So, for instance, if I like the icons from the MODxGreen theme but the overall look and feel of the default theme then I could still have the best of both worlds.

On another note, if you’re writing modules and making them fit with the MODx theme then adding this code at the start of the module will allow for the theme to be switched in your module:



Then, calling the CSS like this in your output will switch the themes when necessary:



Bravado, nice link to the colour swatch website - that will come in extremely handy

I expect to carry no weight as someone still tire-kicking.

I hope the proposed theme isn’t turned into a least-common-denominator thing by too many cooks in the kitchen. It is quite sophisticated and dynamic; I don’t believe it is too strong on the eyes (certainly a design issue worth considering, btw).

No doubt, it ain’t conservative. Then again, neither is ModX from the little I’ve observed.

At a minimum, please let it go through to completion as an optional skin for those of us who love it.

Quote from: RussLipton at Feb 26, 2006, 05:26 PM

At a minimum, please let it go through to completion as an optional skin for those of us who love it.

That’s the beauty of a CMS like MODx...lots of choices! There’s no doubt in my mind that Banzai’s and/or Mark’s template will make it into MODx. What I’m talking about and concerned about is what template we should make as the default. I think something more concervative is the way to go and have Banzai’s template still in there for those who like something with a bit more of an edge to it. Nothing wrong with a little multiple choice!

If they could make up a Blog entry on how they did it then the rest of us could have a head start on making up our own, too. Then everybody could be happy.

Of course, what I envision is no more "back end" at all, with things like NewsPublisher and QuickEdit it seems to me that the whole manager could be pulled out into the front end module by module, then you can just have your admin pages be a default part of your main installation, like the admin user is in users and groups and roles. Its documents would be stored in a separate table, accessable only by top-level admin users, to give extra insulation from idle or accidental damage, admin_content, admin_templates and admin_snippets etc. But it would use the same parsing engine and could be worked with as easily as the front end is now. Get it off the file system and into the database for an extra layer of security. Actually, that’s the only "beef" I have with Eto/Modx, that the back-end is so awkward to work with.

I think we’d all have to agree that everything here is a good departure from the legacy Eto look/feel. And depending on your view, I fortunately/unforutnately have a bit of influence over what gets released. Well-coordinated buttons don’t give me any reason to pause... I happen to like them in fact.

Right now I see only one fully unique and completed solution that would work as the default, even though I am a fan of the pushbutton tabs I did that Jeff used in his comps. I also know how much work it will take to get those to work, and let’s just say that every page in the manager would need to be revised.

I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.

this is the release 1.1 of my manager theme:

- I’ve tried to make tabs similiar to Jeff style, with some modifications
- grey/steel icons for top tree buttons
- more grey color in background
- new save, cancel,delete icons for content creation
- a little shadow under the green bar

Quote from: sottwell at Feb 26, 2006, 10:54 PM

If they could make up a Blog entry on how they did it then the rest of us could have a head start on making up our own, too. Then everybody could be happy.
..

I will try to write a little tutorial about personalize manager theme, in the forum or in Blog.

Banzai, great work. Yours is starrting to look really nice. I can see that you’re adapting all the most appealing details from Mark’s and Jeff’s interface. My only suggestion will be to use more black on the manager. Well you see, I’m one of those geek that like to see dark color, and the branding that we have right now have a bunch of black occupiedmost of our designs as well.

What I would propose will be to use solid black on the stats tab and the top bar for current admin user’s info. I also like the old design, where the top menu bar color change from grey to green (tab like design), instead of just giving it a border and keep the background color stay grey.

The icons looks really nice, except for the fact that you might want to make the color a little bit more solid, such as using solid black or solid green, so that it looks like our branding theme.

Overall, you really did a fabulous job. I will say, this is the best contribution ever that you’ve ever made to the community. I’m glad to know that people like you work together with the whole community for this wonderful system. Keep it up buddy! Two thumbs up from me!

I’m one of those guys that thinks the black will distract from the important bits: the actual page content. I’m liking what I’m seeing a ton!