[3.0] Redo the theme system for SMF (2.1+ obviously)

[Arantor]

Yes but that limits flexibility oh noes

You're preaching to the converted and the ways to solve all this stuff *nicely* are 3.0 territory. But they *are* doable.

[Antes]

isn't theme variants designed for this? Multiple colors, or having same theme with small changes. no?

[Arantor]

Sort of but there are a lot of people that for whom CSS would be too complicated and just want something nice and friendlier in the admin panel.

Like XF has, for example.

[Antechinus]

Case in point, actually. I've done several multi variant themes, for 1.1.x and 2.0.x, and the variant system brings in problems.

Say you want to create a dark variant and a light one. This means the best text colours are often going to be different. For example, if you have one membergroup coloured purple it may be perfectly fine on the light variant, but almost illegible on the dark one. If you have a group coloured a pale yellow it may be fine on the dark variant but not on the light one.

Then there's the background colours themselves, regardless of lightness or darkness. Some colours just don't go well together, and the more adventurous you get with variants the more you'll find yourself wishing that some dumb motherf***ers hadn't forced everything to be one way in Sources. You'll find yourself long for things like group colours assignable by theme and by variant. You might even think about writing a mod for it, when it should have been doable in default.

[Arantor]

Except it would raise more issues because 'why do we have to do this' because it's not like this has never been asked before or anything

The variant thing is also actually less common than you might think, at least going out into the wider world of forum software and seeing what people actually do on their sites (and not just SMF ones)

[Antechinus]

Sort of but there are a lot of people that for whom CSS would be too complicated and just want something nice and friendlier in the admin panel.

Like XF has, for example.

Yup, that too. Although it does bring a performance hit with it.

And speaking of complex CSS, even for people who can write it there often comes a point where you will start thinking that Zen Garden showing off is all very well, but it really would make more sense to switch the markup.

Except it would raise more issues because 'why do we have to do this' because it's not like this has never been asked before or anything

The variant thing is also actually less common than you might think, at least going out into the wider world of forum software and seeing what people actually do on their sites (and not just SMF ones)

It's not just about variants though. It's about any site which offers more than one background colour. If you offer a selection, there's a good chance you won't want presentation forced one-size-fits-all in Sources.

[Arantor]

Although it does bring a performance hit with it.

Only if done properly. XF's setup is not unperformant - and is *significantly* easier to use for non technical people; after all, the vast majority of SMF admins are not technical. Something that lets them do a simple change in the admin panel is enough for most people.

[Antes]

Then give membergroups specific class and colorize it via CSS with that all colors fit, since you can change them based on variant.

I don't find it extreme difficult, I think anyone with basic FTP/File edit knowledge can do this. Its not unlearnable.