NightBreeze

[ChuckWheat]

yes you can change it, so long as you leave the copywrites and things in place

Copyright (C) 2018 SychO (M.S)
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it's not too difficult to do
this is one of my favorite themes and I've recolored it a few times 
it's to the point that now I've actually made the theme to use variants
I plan on added some more colors later on, right now it's just green for the sites need and purple for one of the other admins 

Thank you for your response, shadav...I like what you've done with your site. I generally prefer to check my assumptions, and SychO's  copyright you provided ticked that box.

I appreciate your tip on producing variants too, that could come in very handy, I'm going to learn more about this.   

[SychO]

It's as Shadav says,

- I am a CSS student, but a decently fast learner...assuming you are OK with this kind of modification, is this something I can reasonably expect to be able to do, or are there complexities that could cause major issues?  I plan on performing backups before starting each work session, and know to use the "inspect element" in the web browser to find each element I need to change.

- Any other thoughts you have on this idea (suggestions are welcome too)?

It will be very easy as long as you use the browser dev tools (inspect element) to change the colors, there really isn't much else to it, the theme is rather simple and doesn't use gradients and whatnot, so all of it is just plain colors, making it easy to customize.

So good luck.

[ChuckWheat]

Perfect SychO, I appreciate your insights. A year from now I'll probably look back on my post and laugh at my "noobness", but I suppose experience has taught me that sometimes it's better to ask
than to assume you've got it right and have to start over...lol

Thanks again.

[SychO]

Well, that's where we all start, isn't it, no one is born with the experience, and those afraid to ask either get nowhere or takes them a hell of a lot more time than those who do

[ChuckWheat]

True and good points.  I look forward to your next design releases. 

[ChuckWheat]

SMF version:  2.0.18

I installed NightBreeze v2.0, but have a challenge.  I looked through the preceding 17 pages of comments/issues, and looked through the settings...but it's still possible I'm missing something.

On the homepage, the Admin areas, any button on the Nav Bar, etc. the theme is present and working as expected on all items tested.

However, when I go to the "Board" or "Post" view, the old default theme is posting, not NightBreeze. 

In "Home --> Administration Center --> Themes and Layout --> Manage and Install"

I don't allow members to select themes, Overall Default is NightBreeze, and I've already Reset everyone to NightBreeze

In "Home --> Administration Center --> Themes and Layout --> Theme Settings"

I attempted to "Reset all Themes", no change.

This is a new board, no mods installed yet.

I'm at a loss to explain why most of the board is NightBreeze, but part uses the former default theme.  Any suggestions on what I can do to get the entire site updated?

[Kindred]

1- possibly your cache?
2- possibly, you have set the board to FORCE a specific theme? (go to board settings)

[ChuckWheat]

1- possibly your cache?
2- possibly, you have set the board to FORCE a specific theme? (go to board settings)

Thanks Kindred...clearing the cache didn't seem to help on this one, but I understand your logic in suggesting it.

My flaw was to force the old theme (#2 on your list) within each board early on; updating that force made the affected boards go back to the overall forum theme default setting, not the desired NightBreeze theme.

For any other noob making this mistake, here's the path that gets you there to check/update the settings:

(Board Name) --> Administration Center --> Boards --> Modify Boards

Use the "Modify" link, then pick the proper "Board Theme" from the dropdown menu, then hit "Modify" to save the changes you made.

@shadav, I appreciate your tip below. If this new board were being designed for to attract new people into coming there, I'd tend to agree; that configuration provides flexibility for various user needs. My group has been on a specific board for a long time that we're now migrating away from, and our admin team believes keeping things easy is probably better than versatile.   

Issue fixed, many thanks for your help (including shadav once again, of course)!

[shadav]

I always set it/leave it at
(overall forum default.)

[ChuckWheat]

I tried using the Administration Center --> Themes and Layout --> Modify Themes "Edit this theme's stylesheets" functionality to edit my index.css file.

Unfortunately it came up with the following error message:

Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Please contact the server administrator at [email protected] to inform them of the time this error occurred, and the actions you performed just before this error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

Nothing was noted in the system logs (Administration Center --> Logs --> Error Log).

My question:  Is this the proper way to update CSS files in their servers?  If so, any thoughts on why I'm getting this error?

Or do you typically download a backup copy to your local machine, make the edits there (Notepad, etc), and load the amended file over the existing file on the server?

Or do you do it a different way altogether?

Thanks in advance for any tips, insights, etc.

[SychO]

Well, you should probably contact your host, that error is not caused by the theme.

Is this the proper way to update CSS files in their servers?  If so, any thoughts on why I'm getting this error?

I'd use FTP and a proper code editor tbh.

Or do you typically download a backup copy to your local machine, make the edits there (Notepad, etc), and load the amended file over the existing file on the server?

that's what an FTP software will do for you.

I haven't personally used FTP in a while though, the projects that I work on I have local development copies of, I deploy local changes to production site once I'm sure the changes are fine.

[ChuckWheat]

Well, you should probably contact your host, that error is not caused by the theme.

Is this the proper way to update CSS files in their servers?  If so, any thoughts on why I'm getting this error?

I'd use FTP and a proper code editor tbh.

Or do you typically download a backup copy to your local machine, make the edits there (Notepad, etc), and load the amended file over the existing file on the server?

that's what an FTP software will do for you.

I haven't personally used FTP in a while though, the projects that I work on I have local development copies of, I deploy local changes to production site once I'm sure the changes are fine.

Thanks for your response SychO, my gut feel is that it's permissions related...not the theme itself.  But the reason the question is posted here is that I need to understand how to modify your color scheme and save it successfully, and I don't see a more appropriate place to ask that question.

So if I'm understanding correctly, you've create a literal dev environment locally to make changes and test them, then open/paste in the updated code/save the updated files over the existing (same name) production site files?   

FWIW, I appreciate the amount you've commented your .css files, it helps noobs like me not to have to ask as many questions when trying to figure out what connects to what.

[shadav]

I use an ftp...that way if I accidently mess things up I can use the undo functions 

eventually I should set up a local copy so I can play with things and then upload them instead of doing it all live 

as for knowing where things are and what they do, css wise....depending on what browser you use, you should be able to right click on the area you are wanting to change on your site and then click on inspect, this will show you what css is being called and you can play around with it in the inspect tool before changing the actual file....in the inspect tool once you refresh the page all changes you made are gone

for instance, I can play around with this page right here, even though I have no access to smf files :p but once I refresh it reverts to normal

[SychO]

So if I'm understanding correctly, you've create a literal dev environment locally to make changes and test them, then open/paste in the updated code/save the updated files over the existing (same name) production site files?

Something like that, in your case scenario you can just make the style changes directly through the browser, then copy past the file contents through FTP.

[Kindred]

yes....  it is very easy to accidentally bork your forum by editing the css or template files directly.
The functionality exists and can be used -- but I would suggest only doing so when you DON'T have access to the host file manager or ftp.

[ChuckWheat]

Thank you all for your comments and perspectives.

shadav, I am with you (and SychO, previously) on the idea of using the inspect tool (Brave Browser/Linux). I was aware I could get the current colors in there, but not that I could alter them as a preview...thank you for that tip.

I actually had used  inspect to successfully make several color mods using the SMF Admin/modify themes area, and the preview tool was making it even easier to ensure I was getting things right. 

But I hadn't copied the modified index.css contents into a local file before attempting to save it...so the original file remained unaltered with that error, no impact on production (good or bad, lol)...but I had no backup of the mods.

SychO, I appreciate your way of gently guiding people to good solutions. Since my last post I found that I also have a edit feature as part of my host's File Manager.  I tested it (added a comment, saved, viewed...then removed when all of that was successful). As an added bonus it provides line numbers, which I find helpful.

But as all three of you both pointed out, I agree it's wisest to develop off of production.

Kindred, you're kindness is showing through again. In a perfect world I'd have a second environment (Dev) where I could create and test my design before pushing it to production...and perhaps I will soon.  In the meantime, I'm creating lots of backups of production, so if I mess it up I can at least get back to where I started.

I appreciate that all three of you are trying to help me progress, but pointing out the potential pitfalls too. This is a really good place to learn (and maybe someday when I'm ready, I can share some too).

[Antechinus]

... using the inspect tool (Brave Browser/Linux). I was aware I could get the current colors in there, but not that I could alter them as a preview...thank you for that tip.

Just checked their site, and Brave apparently supports Chrome extensions.
I suggest you install this if you want to play with themes: Stylus extension (it totally rocks)

This allows you to not only try things out live, on any site, but also to save your changes as a permanent custom theme. I run it on several browsers and make my own on-the-fly CSS changes to whatever takes my fancy. It's a great tool for testing. The dark theme in my sig is done this way.

[ChuckWheat]

... using the inspect tool (Brave Browser/Linux). I was aware I could get the current colors in there, but not that I could alter them as a preview...thank you for that tip.

Just checked their site, and Brave apparently supports Chrome extensions.
I suggest you install this if you want to play with themes: Stylus extension (it totally rocks)

This allows you to not only try things out live, on any site, but also to save your changes as a permanent custom theme. I run it on several browsers and make my own on-the-fly CSS changes to whatever takes my fancy. It's a great tool for testing. The dark theme in my sig is done this way.

Hey Antechinus, thank you for this tip. I watched the YouTube video, and it looks like this is probably a great way to make changes to a theme. 

While I'll still exercise reasonable caution (like backing up the "before" state before committing changes, and again after successful testing), I can see the potential for making mockups, creating new themes, upgrading existing themes, etc. 

I really appreciate this tip, thank you again (just installed it).

[ChuckWheat]

Brief questions for SychO; On the home page mockup in the theme library, there are red-colored indicators I assumed highlighted where new posts were.  One of our testers discovered that it's not present on our theme.

Is there a setting I may have missed somewhere that turns that feature on/off?

They are also a bit confused by how the "Arrow Nav bar" (for lack of proper terms...the one above the categories that shows your relative position on the forum (Home --> Category --> Board -->Topic) seems to have mixed functionality, part navigational aid, and part "New Unread Posts").  Is there a setting for that I've managed to overlook as well? 

Here's the link to the image:

https://custom.simplemachines.org/themes/index.php?action-download;lemma=2917;id=18203;image

[SychO]

there are red-colored indicators I assumed highlighted where new posts were.  One of our testers discovered that it's not present on our theme.

Is there a setting I may have missed somewhere that turns that feature on/off?

Those are indicators for unapproved posts not any new posts.

They are also a bit confused by how the "Arrow Nav bar" (for lack of proper terms...the one above the categories that shows your relative position on the forum (Home --> Category --> Board -->Topic) seems to have mixed functionality, part navigational aid, and part "New Unread Posts").  Is there a setting for that I've managed to overlook as well?

It's called the breadcrumbs, but I'm not sure what you mean, how is it related to "New unread posts" ?