Theming: What is your recipe?
Thu, 02/25/2010 - 11:16pm
When I first started with Drupal I got hung up with modules and functionality and how to make stuff work. Was Drupal really going to be able to do what I wanted?
When I was satisfied, I moved to making it look good and fell into many of the pit falls as other newbies. I started looking at other themes to rework, very frustrating. Then I got turned on to Zen, but Zen almost has too many options at times. I have briefly played with 960, but my designs aren't that structured at times.
So now I am working on trying to theme from scratch, much like I have always built custom sites in Dreamweaver.
So how do you guys do it? Do you favor a system like Zen or 960? Start from scratch? Or something else?
Perhaps this could turn into a topic for a future meeting, where a couple different methods could be demonstrated and compared.
My "starter" recipe for Drupal Theming always begins with the Zenophile module to create a Zen sub-theme. When enabled and proper permissions are set (on themes directory) it will create a zen sub-theme based on some settings you give it. Its pretty slick, and I recommend using the "Fresh Style Sheet" option. Its a good idea to skim through the installation instructions before you start, there is frequently file permission changes you'll need to do.
Zenophile is still in beta, although I've been using it since beta4 and have never experienced major issues. On Jan 26, 2010 version 6.x-2.0-beta10 was released, so people are actively maintaining it. After Zenophile creates your theme directory you should change permissions back to 755 on your themes directory and turn the module off, as there is nothing else it will do for you.
Anyone serious about Drupal Theming should check out the Lullabot.com DVDs: Theming Basics For Drupal and Advanced Theming for Drupal. They aren't free, so if cost is your concern look for so alternatives online.