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My "dream theme" - any suggestions?

Started by christianboard, July 06, 2005, 05:55:59 PM

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christianboard

I think I've gone through every theme here and haven't found an ideal one yet.  Here's what I'm looking for in a theme for our board, maybe someone here will have a suggestion:

1.  We're transitioning off of phpBB to SMF.  The current theme we use is the phpBB standard theme.  phpBB leaves a lot to be desired technically, but their basic theme is quite good for most purposes.
2.  The layout needs to be pleasing to the eye and uncluttered.  No dark or overly-light themes.  Soft colors, contrast where contrast is important.
3.  The theme should have style (not plain and blocky-looking), but at the same time not over-done with curves and things that distract and confuse users.
4.  The buttons need to be large enough to be clearly seen and include graphics that make their purpose obvious.  The buttons in the default SMF theme have text that's too small for some people.
5.  The theme needs to be complete, and include buttons for commonly used features like chat.
6.  We need to be able to place a banner at the top identifying the board, using our own logos and design.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm looking for a theme that doesn't consume a board.  The reason people come to our board isn't because the theme is slick-looking, but because of the content.  So, the theme needs to support ease of use and have clear organization, yet not appear so plain that it looks amateurish.

Ideas, suggestions???

-Steve

forsakenlad

Have a look at this:

http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=35935.0 (A Theme Ported From PHPBB)

I was going to release it before weeks but I had a hard-disk fail and the only things I have now are the scshots I prepared for the SMF community (The Theme was 99% finished only a few css keys needed to be changed). Unfortunately I didn't have a backup, I am currently doing it from scratch and the theme will be ready in a few days... ;)
Eren "forsakenlad" Yaşarkurt
SMF Friend & Former Team Member

christianboard

Looks very nice.  You folks who work so hard creating themes have my admiration and respect!!

Some things I like and don't like about the theme:

1.  Overall, it's a clean, well-laid-out theme that has a nice, simple style.  Very close to what I'm looking for.
2.  The news box is missing.  That's a rather nice feature of SMF.
3.  The colors blend too much and there isn't enough contrast. 
4.  The navigation buttons are a bit plain and are missing catchy graphics (some eye candy is needed).
5.  Try the theme without the triangle designs.

Hope this helps!

Steve.

forsakenlad

As that theme is a port I can't do many changes, but when I am redesigning I have improved the contrast, and also there is a news box :)
Eren "forsakenlad" Yaşarkurt
SMF Friend & Former Team Member

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