Re: [themes] although it’s a very powerful CMS, I didn’t have the greatest time with it as it came to be one of the most cumbersome and roundabout pieces of software...

[Kieran Lal]

On Jun 14, 2006, at 5:25 AM, Vladimir Zlatanov wrote:

>>  «roundabout» It is. The theme layer is, very much like a theme- 
>> spaghetti.
>>  The longest theme trace in general Drupal is:
>>   Page » node » engine » core » engine » comment » engine » details »
>> username » link
>>  Inbetween we move two times out of "views" mode and let the theme  
>> engine call
>> core, call teh theme engine. And so on.

> The path is true and that can be avoided but might not be very  
> wise. It will add
> a lot of constraints on what is themeable and what not, unless we  
> overhaul not only
> the the theme layer but the way drupal works.
>
> The recent attempts to redo the theme system Adrian, Karoly, Dries and
> me are doing come from a few observations.
>
> * From a designer's perspective it is not easy to find out what is
> themeable. And when they find it there is a high chance that is php
> code. Ooops. Hard to read and grasp if you are not a coder.
>
> * Different theme pieces are scattered around the codebase. Again,  
> hard
> to find.
>
> So we are undertaking two things, split all modules into their own
> directories. Take out all theme functions into their own files living
> either in the appropriate module directory or in a new templates
> directory. Some of the phpteplate's internals now live in theme.inc
> We are trying not to make this stuff slower or more memory hungry.
>
> This will hopefully help to find themeable components. Those which  
> make
> sence should be migrated to mainly html with some php as opposed to  
> the
> current state.
>
> Creating a new theme from scratch can even be done like copy all  
> tpl.php
> files into a directory. Change all files to suit you. Presto  
> completely
> new look drupal.
>
> The complicated threading of theme-code-theme-code-... is still there,
> but far more unnoticeable. Potentialy that is. In the end it does
> reflect the application flow.

Sounds like a thoughtful approach.  But also sounds like more a re- 
engineering than an attempt to meet the need of these designers  
trying to design with Drupal for the first time.

Can you elaborate on "help to find themeable components.  Those which  
make sense should be migrated to mainly html"?

-I want to understand more clearly the benefits to new designers  
trying to understand Drupal theming

Kieran

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