theming tutorials?

By apina on 10 Oct 2006 at 13:25 UTC

is there any tutorials on how to theme correctly

im going to start the process of theming my site but im un sure the correct way to go agout this.
should i theme it first in the default style then fix it accordingly once i start to add my layout template
or should i 1st make my layout in css and then add snippets in the html and build that way?

theres so much i want to do like have a block on my front page that shows 6 random members images, block showing the last 6 pictures uploaded a block that shows the 6 most popular images
a bloick that shows the laters forum topics
a block that shows the latest blogs

the forum and blog blocks are easy but how do i go about the other ones

tutorials would be nice

Comments

Handbook

wmostrey commented 10 October 2006 at 13:28

Hey Apina,

The easiest way is to start looking at the Handbooks ofcourse. You will find:
# Theme developer's guide
# PHPTemplate Theme Snippets

Amonst many other wonderful guides ofcourse. Good luck.

You can read tutorials from

rszrama commented 10 October 2006 at 14:37

You can read tutorials from IBM on the topic at the following address:
http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/ibm/osource/implement.html

I believe I've also found this helpful:
http://www.drupaltutorials.com/drupal_theme_development

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Current Drupal project: http://www.ubercart.org

ok i am using box grey theme

apina commented 10 October 2006 at 18:41

ok i am using box grey theme but for some reason it seems i can not get ANY of the snippets to work

do i need to place all snippets in a div class id and then position them
or whats goin on

you need to be more specific

Jeff Burnz commented 13 October 2006 at 00:21

you need to be more specific - what snippets and where are putting them etc, maybe start a new tread or search around for answers first.

Pimp your Drupal 8 Toolbar - make it badass.
Adaptivetheme - theming system for people who don't code.

i dunno i feel there should

apina commented 13 October 2006 at 01:51

i dunno i feel there should be more tutorials for do-it-yourself drupal site owners.
there should be atleast 1 step by step tutorial to show new users the correct way to theme and use snippets

there are two books

VM commented 13 October 2006 at 01:57

there are two books available one cowritten robert douglass building online communities with drupal, phhpBB and Wordpress. this book discusses alot with regards to themeing and modules.

also is a book by David Mercer called Drupal which also delves into this subjects.

you may also want to poke around here http://groups.drupal.org/theme-development There are quite a few links on google with regards to themeing drupal too.

already bought the david

apina commented 13 October 2006 at 02:49

already bought the david mercer book wasnt too helpfull on theming

i gues sill check around read up more .
guess only way to do it is to learn php html and css

guess only way to do it is

VM commented 13 October 2006 at 05:20

guess only way to do it is to learn php html and css

this is obviously the best tool available to you, knowledge.
a great site to expand that knowledge is http://www.w3schools.com/default.asp. especially with css classes and declarations.
there is quite a but to php and how drupal uses php to accomplish what it does. While I am catching up on my css, the wrapping my head around just what drupal is doing, and when and how to pull the themeable functions out of core or modules and overwrite them is still a bit of a confusion.

if you arent already using the firefox browser with the web developers tool add on to firefox, i highly suggest getting it and taking a few moments to realize how this tool works to your benefit, by showing you all of the css for your site. allows you to change it while looking at it to figure out what things do and how they react, then using the site i have you above, playing with some of the other elements you can add. all while not screwing up your production site.

trust that the more time you invest in studying the code the better off you are. what i mean by this, is when implementing snippets that do work, take note to read them and try to follow along whats going on. I keep trusting that its like advanced mathmatics and eventually it will all just click. : )

In reference to the books. mr. douglasses book did go into much more detail then mr. mercers book.

chapter 5: adding and customizing themes
understanding themes
how drupal find themes
installing new themes
customizing themes
intriducing themeable functions
using template files (these are the tpl.php files you often see in the handbook)
Overiding Themeable Functions
Adding Custom Regions for Blocks
Using CSS for themes
Creating a custom favicon.ico
using theme related modules

sure hope mr douglas doesnt mind me plugging his book. while you wont need the information on phpbb and wordpress, the information on drupal is pretty deep.

may not hurt to head to barnes and noble, or borders books ? and have a coffee and take a peek : )

Check out the tutorials on

rszrama commented 13 October 2006 at 12:24

Check out the tutorials on HTML and CSS at http://www.htmldog.com ... they're some of the best I've seen, especially at explaining how to properly use each in web page development.

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Current Drupal project: http://www.ubercart.org