What is your default theme?

[mich@el]

There is a lot to be said for the core themes as I have yet to find a theme that can handle all the mods I use other than the core themes.

Having said that, I still use a 3rd party theme and forgo some features because it looks so much nicer than the core stuff even with colour tweaking etc.

[ivantoar]

My only reason to keep the Core theme is because I'm too lazy to edit template when installing a mod. Sorry, no offense but the default skin is so ugly.

[Aleksi "Lex" Kilpinen]

My only reason to keep the Core theme is because I'm too lazy to edit template when installing a mod. Sorry, no offense but the default skin is so ugly.

If you think it's ugly, then you must really be lazy - taking in to consideration how easy it is to install custom themes,
and how little it usually takes to manually edit custom themes

[Night09]

My only reason to keep the Core theme is because I'm too lazy to edit template when installing a mod. Sorry, no offense but the default skin is so ugly.

If you use 2.0 then all the edits are made to the subs mainly so it means most mods will work on any theme since the templates do not directly need edits anymore.

[Gary]

Not everything has been moved to the Source files. Just the more common stuff like template_menu and the like. Template edits will still be required in some places, however, it will ATTEMPT to install additional template code into custom themes.

[perplexed]

I never use babylon or classic, in fact I don't even have them as options currently.  I like the default theme with the tabs and tend to make different colored versions of that.  People also get used to where to look for everything and if you give them other themes then they get confused lol

I really like Curve though so if I could make variations of that and the Core theme, then I would be happy.

[cartpauj]

I think all three themes can remain included but seriously, update them to keep up with the times.  Make them a little more eye appealing and modern and you might find more people sticking with them.

[Gary]

The only changes that can be made to the past themes would be how it's coded, the graphical aspect cant change.

Though my theme is still third party, I just released a new one for my forum.

[ericnet]

Mmm

I use classic theme, but default is very nice but have a bug in link-tree 

[SteveFJ]

I'm using a modification to the Babylon theme.

Prior to modifying that theme I looked about on the Net for a suitable theme to base the site on as it might have been quicker, but could find nothing that passed with W3C. In fact one designer with loads on offer failed miserably.

The templates that come with the download packages pass with W3C. It seems to me to be a pity that some designers don't compliment the care that the team at SMF take.

[Gary]

Prior to modifying that theme I looked about on the Net for a suitable theme to base the site on as it might have been quicker, but could find nothing that passed with W3C. In fact one designer with loads on offer failed miserably.

The templates that come with the download packages pass with W3C. It seems to me to be a pity that some designers don't compliment the care that the team at SMF take.

Who's theme's failed?

Also, I should point out that ALL themes now are REQUIRED to pass the XHTML validation, they don't pass, they don't get approved. Even if it is just one error.

Check out the guidelines: http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=197350.0

[SteveFJ]

Who's theme's failed?

Also, I should point out that ALL themes now are REQUIRED to pass the XHTML validation, they don't pass, they don't get approved. Even if it is just one error.

Check out the guidelines: http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=197350.0

http://www.bluepearl-design.com/forums/free-smf-templates/

http://www.themers.org/smf-themes/2467-onyx-free-smf-template-1-1-5-2-0-beta-3-1-public.html

http://www.themesbase.com/

That's just three found doing a Google. There are loads more.

SMF can set a requirement, and I feel that is the sensible thing to do, but being in a position to enforce that overall is another story altogether.
Of course there are good designers that do make sure their work validates, and it's those that obtain SMF approval.
Of those that don't, the designers should reflect that while SMF won't endorse their poor work, it can leave a negative impression of SMF in the mind of the user should things go wrong, because they may not realise the failure is in the template itself rather than with the SMF engine.

[Gary]

SteveFJ - In that case, SM has no control what designers release via their own sites. If they release a theme that is invalid, then that's their problem. SM can only control the themes that are released to the theme site at http://custom.simplemachines.org/themes

[SteveFJ]

SteveFJ - In that case, SM has no control what designers release via their own sites. If they release a theme that is invalid, then that's their problem. SM can only control the themes that are released to the theme site at http://custom.simplemachines.org/themes

Yes. you're dead right there. I just thought I'd give it a mention because there may be good reason for some users to take another look at their chosen themes - even if they are paying for them.

[Testpanda]

We are using classic theme - most of our members (aged 30-70)
are used to yabbse and choice of SMF was also influenced by
the familiarity of it's user interface.

I hope this theme will not be discontinued in the near future ...

[IchBin™]

SMF will continue to support its default themes over the past versions as far as I'm aware. I think the intent here is to see if they actually need to be packaged. As it stands, they make up for quite a bit of the actual package size. Uploading a whole SMF upgrade or install package can be a time consuming process, especially for people that don't have broad band. So, the smaller SMF can make the package, the better. If a theme gets dropped from the package, then it should be available on the Theme site.

[Garou]

If a theme gets dropped from the package, then it should be available on the Theme site.

Actually I think it might be better to have them in the downloads area. That way people don't get them confused with custom themes. If you do put them in on the theme site is there a way you could sticky them or something to distinguish them as official SMF themes while keeping them easy to find. I just have this sinking feeling that if you drop them in with the regular custom themes they will get buried and forgotten amongst all the other custom themes. 

[青山 素子]

We have a special user, SMF Customization Team to publish "official" modifications and themes under.

[jaccione]

I use custom themes on my forums, but they are primarily based from Classic as that seems to me to be the easiest to work from and i know that the coding is sound, so mods etc should work. If they are not included in the download package, then if they coudl be downloaded from the theme area, if required, that woudl be fine.

[sarahnev]

I use my edited version of Classic.