seperate Mods from Default theme

[fwitt]

would it be posible to have a "moded default theme" which the site admin can modify without changing the default (as mods would get lost on updates etc.), with properties such that when looking for a file smf first looks in the current theme folder, then if not present the moded default, then if not moded the default.

this would help with situation where the admin has added things to the templates, like a real name field in profile.template.php. As adding things to the smf default templates normally means you add them to all your themes.

With something like a changelog showing the differences between them. So when you next upgrade you can see what you edited in the previous version and if that template hasent changed in the upgrade you can use the existing moded file, if it has changed you know what you want to mod.

not sure if I have explained this very well but it is a clear idea in my head.

I just see it as a useful tool for all those times when someone says "add this code in example.php".

Possibly even only hold the changes to the files in the moded default theme, although i think doing that would be much harder to script efficiently.