3.0 new theme

[Sir Osis of Liver]

I've always thought Core was a design classic in a way Curve wasn't.

I think Curve tried too hard to be generic and not offend anyone.  Curve2 was a bigger disappointment because it was a missed opportunity to give SMF a new, updated look.  Hoping for something better in 3.0, but from what I see so far not expecting much.

[Antechinus]

No, Curve did not try too hard to be generic and not offend anyone, or at least not more than any other default theme. Default themes are always attempt to please (or at least not annoy) as many people as possible.

IIRC you weren't around then, but I remember when the team got the first (non-public) previews of Curve. It may look dated now, but at the time we thought it was awesome. It was just so different to the boxy 1.1.x default and it looked great. It looked like someone had made a custom theme instead of just rehashing Core.

I know. Hard to believe at this point in time, when it's just the old 2.0.x default and everyone has been seeing it for years, but when it was initially released a lot of people were blown away by it.

[Arantor]

That's the thing, while it was refreshing, it dated from being "what was on trend at the time" in a way I don't think Core has (and I occasionally still hang on a forum that stuff's been using Core from 2.0 since 2.0 RC1 and hasn't bothered updating to 2.1, so I'm not just nostalgic)

[Antechinus]

Suit yourself, but I always hated Core. it was basically the same as every other default theme in that period: a bunch of basic boxes, done in tones of blues and greys specifically chosen to make it look as dead as possible. The typography wasn't much chop either. Core was what got me into theming, because I thought it was so ugly there was no way I was going to use it.

[Arantor]

There is a curious level of intent in making default themes somewhat bland - because you never know who the site owner will be so there is a relative need to be neutral by design. But this can go too far, of course...

[Antechinus]

The borders everywhere and lotsa little boxes look never appealed to me. It reminded me of that old song: "Little boxes, on a forum, little boxes made of ticky tacky. Little boxes, on a forum, little boxes, all the same". Straight away I wanted to clean things up and make them less cluttered.

And Curve 2 came about because it was the first thing I could get the team to agree on (and by that time agreement was needed).

[Sir Osis of Liver]

But Curve2 is pretty much the same as Curve, and last I looked 3.0 is running Curve2.  Diego had mentioned a while back that a new default theme was in the works, but haven't heard or seen anything since.  If nothing else, might be a good idea to add light/dark or multicolor option to default theme, to give new users some choice without them having to install custom themes.

[Diego Andrés]

There is a PR with the WIP for the new theme.
It already uses CSS vars and has a light/dark mode by default.

It's been several months since I worked on it to be honest, I've seen live pushes small tweaks to the logic and markup from time to time.

I'm still only 'reasonably' happy with it, and it's always hard to please everyone but progress is being made you can be sure of that.

Perhaps I'll share some of my ideas as they come but next time publicly since that'd bring wider feedback, and encourage others to post their ideas too. For instance @Antechinus pagination thoughts are quite interesting, could be better discussed in their own topic rather in some "X" support topic. I bring it up as an example of something that is indeed public to read, but it probably will not be found unless you're looking for it.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Is the theme available anywhere?  It's not in the current 3.0 github package.  Wouldn't be a bad idea to get some input from other theme designers.

[Diego Andrés]

It won't be merged into the source code until Alpha 4 as per the roadmap.
The PR is available here: https://github.com/SimpleMachines/SMF/pull/7933

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Thanks, will look at it tonight.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

   No go.  If I install just theme from SMF2.1-theme.zip github package I get this -

You cannot view this attachment.

If I install the complete package I get wsod.

[Diego Andrés]

It's not an installable theme, it has core files modifications to SMF files.
I'm assuming you want the fast option since you're not using git, you need to go to lives repository and download his theme branch.

https://github.com/live627/SMF2.1/tree/theme

The installation files are in the other directory.
FYI, various things are probably broken.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

That's the github zip I have.  Tried installing just the /default theme files from live's zip to a clean 3.0 install as /defaultnew.  Seems to install successfully, but displays as above screenshot.

[Diego Andrés]

I would not know the cause, will try to check this weekend.

[live627]

I've just been sent a link tot this topic. How did I ever miss this. Anyway, I went ahead and set up a mirror of my dev setup https://dev.live627.com//index.php

Emails may or myy not work. My old test methodology of sending myself a PM did not yield results.

[Speed King]

I've just been sent a link tot this topic. How did I ever miss this. Anyway, I went ahead and set up a mirror of my dev setup https://dev.live627.com//index.php

Is it possible to place a forum logo in the header, like in SMF 2.x?

[Kindred]

??

There is one literally showing on that site

[Speed King]

??

There is one literally showing on that site

I mean to replace default SMF logo with my own logo

[live627]

Yes; the same option still exists in the same familiar area of the admin panel.