[development] Any way to get a poll? Drupal 5.0 Default theme.

[inkfree press]

"Jeff Eaton" wrote:

> The default theme is, like it or not, 'the look of Drupal.' What identity it
> projects has a nontrivial impact on how the platform itself is perceived and
> used.

A fine point. Well said.


To address that point, or rather to add to it, since it is central and
meaningful...

I would amend that to say that it is the "first look" of Drupal rather than
"the look" of Drupal.

And, because it is the important first look, it should be entirely
functional and skeletal.  There should be little or no "color, theme,
scheme, artiness" going on. The user must add -- or choose -- that in a
purposeful way.

To do that, there should be a handful of pre-installed ready to go
templates, with styles attached (i.e., 'themes') that the first-time
installing user can switch to -- to get a sense of the range of possibility.

So, I would propose, for lots of reasons (including a real "Oooh!" moment
when the new first-time installing user can see the exact content they are
looking at [the initial first page view immediately after an install].

Then, in the 'templates and themes' section of that first-page content,
where there is already discussion of and links to template admin and
downloads, we add a "Experiment with different templates and themes right
here" drop-down menu, so the user can -- while looking at their first front
page -- see the site change by selection.

That would be truly inspiring for the first-time installing user.

-- 
inkfree