Theming SMF

Victor Leigh

Fluffy Baby Bunny

156 Posts
Karma: +20/-2

10:31pm Sun, Dec 2, 2012

Bunny (04:52am Sun, Dec 2, 2012)
I KNOW RIGHT?! This year is so AMAZING AND AWESOME!!

I found a new no image script, and it's nice and small. The other ones seem to recalculate where the snow is falling as you scroll but this one just calculates the page length in the beginning and runs the entire length!

There's a small bug with it when posting a new topic/advanced reply (it makes the page longer lol) but I wouldn't have noticed it if my cat hadnt pressed buttons on my keyboard and scrolled me down - so I don't think anyone else will ha ha.

I didn't make it myself I got it from Google searching. I searched for snow script and this new one popped up . SMF is amazing though, so you should really hack into it! As long as you back up there is NO REASON TO FEAR!

I develop on here all the time and the amount of errors and things I get you'd think I was trying to get them but it's just part of coding . The community is really helpful as well and I am always here for you! In fact, if you want to start asking for code help here do it in the art help board. I wanted to put a design and code board in anyway so if there's some posts for it it will make a board more likely to happen!

Alright, I have just recovered from my dead faint. So start that design and code board yesterday already. At long last, I may have found the right place to get my hands dirty and do some coding after a hiatus of about twenty years. The last software I wrote was a hotel frontdesk registration program.

Now about hacking SMF. I thought the new version made hacking into the core unnecessary? Aren't the addons supposed to work only with hooks now? I do know that in Drupal hacking the more is considered as very bad coding practice and all the modules are external to the core.

btw is there any tutorial for SMF coding? Or some kind of manual or documentation?

Bunny

Marketing Team

6,253 Posts
Karma: +94/-1

Addons CAN work with hooks but if you're doing THEME work you HAVE to edit the template files

.

http://www.creativeburrow.org/arthelp/ <Post the code crap in there for now

.

http://support.simplemachines.org/function_db/index.php <Function database is helpful
http://dev.simplemachines.org/smcfunctions.php

The manual is crap now but here it is:
http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Main_Page

Victor Leigh

Fluffy Baby Bunny

156 Posts
Karma: +20/-2

Thank you kindly, Bunny. Now where do I post the questions? Same place?

Bunny

Marketing Team

6,253 Posts
Karma: +94/-1

Yes!

Runic

Furry Adult Bunny

1,001 Posts
Karma: +13/-1

No you can also use the layers in themes so you dont need to hack the templates ... but it all depends on what you want to do.

Victor Leigh

Fluffy Baby Bunny

156 Posts
Karma: +20/-2

Runic (09:57am Mon, Dec 3, 2012)
No you can also use the layers in themes so you dont need to hack the templates ... but it all depends on what you want to do.

Sounds like a plan. Now I have never done any coding work on a website before. However I used to hang out with a bunch of game developers who made modifications to World of Warcraft for a private server. Every time they hacked something somewhere and made it work, something somewhere else will spawn a bug or two. So I would say leaving the core alone is the best way to go about things.

Bunny

Marketing Team

6,253 Posts
Karma: +94/-1

I've never had that problem. Bryan what do you mean layers? at the end of the day if you want to change some structural thing you have to edit the code.

Unless you're talking about not editing the default theme and creating a new one, in which case yes you should do that lol.

Runic

Furry Adult Bunny

1,001 Posts
Karma: +13/-1

nope you dont Bunny but as I said it depends on what you want to do and where

Victor Leigh

Fluffy Baby Bunny

156 Posts
Karma: +20/-2

Maybe my understanding of web design is faulty but my impression is that the theme and the plugins are two separate issues.

To customize a theme, we can make changes to the css files or something like that. Sort of like make a copy of the theme we want to modify and make a customized version of our own. A plugin stands independent of the theme. Well, most of the time any way. A plugin adds extra functionality to the software. The preferred method would be to leave the core alone. Messing with the core can produce unexpected results.

Well, that's basically the approach used in Drupal. I imagine the methodology used in Wordpress should be similar. No?

SifuPhil

LITTLE BUNNY FOO-FOO

426 Posts
Karma: +53/-0

Victor Leigh (10:31pm Sun, Dec 2, 2012)
Now about hacking SMF. I thought the new version made hacking into the core unnecessary? Aren't the addons supposed to work only with hooks now? I do know that in Drupal hacking the more is considered as very bad coding practice and all the modules are external to the core.

Off-topic a wee bit - there's a fairly new theme framework in Wordpress called Thesis (I use it on some of my sites), and they're big on using hooks. Personally I don't like them - I like getting into the dirty parts of town with my own two hands, but they ARE useful for the more timid folk. They haven't disabled anything yet, but I get the feeling it's coming, especially as they just came out with Thesis 2.0, which has an entirely new engine.

Planned obsolescence.

Bunny

Marketing Team

6,253 Posts
Karma: +94/-1

With SMF you get into Source files and Theme files. Source is core code, and so is the DEFAULT theme. To make your own theme you copy the template and language/image/etc files you want to change from the default to your new theme then you edit them in the new theme.

Yes you can do CSS only, and yes you can also hack into the template. It may make installing mods harder though, which is why I always try to install all mods first then copy and edit the new theme.

This theme has less than 20% of the original code, if that, in it still. In fact the board index has none if I recall correctly.

Victor Leigh

Fluffy Baby Bunny

156 Posts
Karma: +20/-2

@Bunny
I see. That means to modify SMF successfully, I really have to get a good grounding in php. Looks like a lot of work needs to be done there.

@SifuPhil
Myself, I usually use Suffusion. There are more options for customization than I have fully used in that theme.

Runic

Furry Adult Bunny

1,001 Posts
Karma: +13/-1

Victor Leigh (11:39am Tue, Dec 4, 2012)
@Bunny
I see. That means to modify SMF successfully, I really have to get a good grounding in php. Looks like a lot of work needs to be done there.

No a HTML and CSS are the basics of themeing on SMF, if you want to add more features etc then yes php is needed.

SifuPhil

LITTLE BUNNY FOO-FOO

426 Posts
Karma: +53/-0

Victor Leigh (11:39am Tue, Dec 4, 2012)
@SifuPhil
Myself, I usually use Suffusion. There are more options for customization than I have fully used in that theme.

Suffusion is a great theme - agreed. But - if you think THAT theme gives you choices, try Thesis some day.

It's taken me a year just to get somewhat comfortable using it. A VERY steep learning curve, unlike Suffusion which has those nifty menus.

Bunny

Marketing Team

6,253 Posts
Karma: +94/-1

Runic (12:35pm Tue, Dec 4, 2012)
Victor Leigh (11:39am Tue, Dec 4, 2012)
@Bunny
I see. That means to modify SMF successfully, I really have to get a good grounding in php. Looks like a lot of work needs to be done there.

No a HTML and CSS are the basics of themeing on SMF, if you want to add more features etc then yes php is needed.

But you do need to know some little things like escaping. To be honest I don't know much php at all, but I get by

Victor Leigh

Fluffy Baby Bunny

156 Posts
Karma: +20/-2

Runic (12:35pm Tue, Dec 4, 2012)
Victor Leigh (11:39am Tue, Dec 4, 2012)
@Bunny
I see. That means to modify SMF successfully, I really have to get a good grounding in php. Looks like a lot of work needs to be done there.

No a HTML and CSS are the basics of themeing on SMF, if you want to add more features etc then yes php is needed.

Only HTML and CSS? Then I am ready to start making a mess of the theme. I am far from competent with those two subjects but I can read the script. Maybe it's because once a programmer, always a programmer. I used to program in Foxpro.

Now are there any super-easy manuals like SMF theming for dummies to make this process less painful?

@SifuPhil
One year? Are you sure it's worth the investment in time? Wouldn't take you one whole year to learn HTML, CSS and php, would it?

Bunny

Marketing Team

6,253 Posts
Karma: +94/-1

No there arent ha ha.

boardindex is the front page.
messageindex is inside boards.
display.template is inside topics.
post.template is when posting or advanced replying.
index.template is the header and footer basically.

The rest should be pretty explanatory ha ha.

Theme crap is located in /themes/ and you should copy the things you want to edit from the default theme over.

Why not start with some tips and tricks?
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?board=72.0

There may be some helpful stuff here too:
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?board=34.0

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Membership Info
Victor Leigh (Victor Leigh) is a Writer who has made 156 posts since joining Creative Burrow on 09:01pm Sun, Nov 4, 2012. Victor Leigh was invited by No one.

About Victor Leigh
My first impression of the English language was pain. That's mainly because I went to a kindergarten run by an Indian man who truly believed in spoiling the rod and not sparing the child. Good thing kindergarten lasted only for one year. Otherwise I would have been scarred for life.

My next impression of the English language was love. After kindergarten I went to another school. In the third year of my primary school, a very nice lady from Australia was my English teacher. She was on some kind of volunteer service. She made the English lessons very wonderful experiences. I learned to love the English language. After she returned to Australia, we kept in touch by correspondence. Yes, that's snail mail. I lost touch with her after she got married and had a couple of kids. She should be a grandmother by now. Yes, I will remember Miss J.K. Ingersoll for a very long time indeed.

So an Australian sparked my love for English. Then an Irishman shaped my skills with the language. Mr. Ray Hall was my English teacher when I was in upper secondary school. He was a big man. With a very big heart. He left his homeland to devote his life to helping less fortunate children. There were many boys and girls from poor families who had benefited from his help and finished their education in Irish universities. Even now as I write, I can sense Mr. Hall looking over my shoulder. I hope that, wherever he is now in heaven, he will know that I have tried my best to pass on the knowledge that he had imparted to me.

I have spent many years teaching the kiddies how not to speak Engrish. I have taught in Malaysia and I have taught in Thailand. I have taught in public schools and I have taught in private schools. I have even taught in my own language school.

Now I am entering my sixth decade on this lonely planet. Finally I have launched into cyber space. More adventure lies ahead of me.

The best is yet to come.

Writing Style
Satire

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