I realize that Panels 2 is still in an alpha state and Ability, itself, is still listed as in a dev state. However, both are likely to be very much a part of Drupal 6.x, and I hope they will develop in concert. Here are my issues:

  • Whenever I try to replace my front page with anything else, such as a panel (Panels 2) or a simple Drupal page, the page displays completely unstyled. The header image is gone, the primary links are a simple vertical list, there are no colors for the sidebars, etc.
  • Some (but not all) administrative pages are also displayed unstyled. Administer > Views is one among many. While the features of these pages remain usable, the change is really disconcerting to the naive user.

I have a site that isn't blog-oriented, so the default Drupal front page just doesn't work for me. I also have several, not-very-computer-friendly folks who need to administer select portions of a rather complex site. That's why I chose a content management system, and Drupal has the fantastic ability to provide that functionality. (I greatly suspect that I'm not alone in those needs.) The Ability theme is fantastic in its ability to provide a huge number of options in a fluid-width format. I can't give you folks enough praise for what you've created.

I'm sorry that I don't yet have the Drupal theming skills to recommend a patch to fix these problems. I'm learning fast and hope to give back to the wonderful community that has created all of this. But, in the meantime, I'm desparate. How can we fix these problems?