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1 May 18, 2005 22:09    

Ok, I like b2evolution. A lot. I don't want to switch.

Let's call that "problem" #1. Heh

Problem #2: I only like variable-width skins (the ones that take up the full width)

Problem #3: there aren't many for b2evolution, and most of the ones that exist don't look good.

Problem #4: I don't have the time or the ability to custom make my own skin.

Problem #5: I spent most of an evening going through hundreds of WP themes to find a few decent variable-width ones. Then I tried the process to make a WPC skin work but found it so mangled as a result that this is like #4.

So I guess I'm curious... for the rest of you pro-variable skin users out there, what skin(s) do you use? What other wonderful sources for b2evolution skins have you found?

2 May 18, 2005 22:40

I think I understand what you mean by variable width, but I want to make sure. Look at [url=http://www.brendoman.com/dbc]my site[/url], would you conside that variable width? It never has big spaces on either side, or scrollbars if you get too small of a resolution. The key to making a skin like this is in the CSS file. If a div's width is set to a certain number of pixels, then it won't be variable. If some or all of the divs use percent values, then it will be variable width. It shouldn't be too hard to take an existing skin and change these values in the CSS. If you have some skins in particular that you want to modify, I could give you and hand.

3 May 18, 2005 23:00

EDIT: Ah, your site is variable-width. I just didn't go wide enough.

Here are some examples of WordPress themes I like which are variable-width:

[url=http://wpthemes.yusop.net/index.php?wptheme=Arzel+XT2]Arzel XT2[/url]

[url=http://wp.trendyname.org/placid/]Placid[/url] (click on the Wide in the upper-left)

[url=http://geo.trippy.org/themetest/]Ice[/url] (Need to choose Ice from the pulldown)

[url=http://beeblebrox.net/projects/themes]Beeblebrox[/url]

[url=http://www.alexking.org/software/wordpress/theme_browser.php]Dixie Belle[/url] (ok so maybe not pink, but technically it's a very nice theme)

Also from that last site:
Imhotep
Elvgren
Flex
Gentle Calm
Journalized Winter
Rampart

4 May 19, 2005 03:10

Now I understand what you mean. What can I do to help you. I've ported skins from Movable Type to b2evo, so I can tell you how I did that and it might help. If you want to pick one skin from that list then I'll port it over for you.

6 May 19, 2005 15:09

That gets him part of the way, but I think the wpc styles that he likes are modified to the point that they don't immediately work with wpc_blank. I gave it a try [url=http://www.brendoman.com/dbc?skin=wpc_blank]here[/url] with the Beeblebrox style. It wouldn't take much more work to get it looking exactly the same. I usually copy the stylesheet directly, then view source on the page it came from and start tweaking my evoskin to match. Once the divs all have the right labels it typically works fine.

7 May 19, 2005 15:52

Yeah I already tried the blank WPC template with the Ice one before I started this thread, and it came out pretty mangled. Diving in and surgically fixing it to get it the rest of the way there is currently beyond my abilities, although I'm not a total idiot and I'd love to learn. :) It's just not something I currently know how to do.

For all I know, there's standard stuff you typically need to do to work and massage it to completion that can be outlined somewhat generically. If so, I think that'd be worthwhile... then I can do the hard work myself and experiment.

I hesitate to have you do all the work for me to convert a theme until I have a clear sense of which one I want to go with. I still don't have an overwhelming favorite. I appreciate the offer though!

8 May 19, 2005 17:22

Good. You will be better off if you learn how to do this yourself. I don't think it's all that hard. I've converted several Movable Type templates and MT is even more different from b2evo than WP is. And I know very little php. I'll try to outline what I do and if you have specific questions then let me know.

1. Make a copy of one of the evoskins. Move all the files a skin folder to another folder and name the folder with name you want the skin to have. It doesn't really matter which skin you start with. I've used custom for most of my things. wpc_blank might be good, too.

2. Copy the CSS file from the site you like and drop it into your new skin directory. Rename it to replace the CSS file that was there. For you this might mean deleting the old style.css file and dropping in the new style.css file.

3. Go the page you are copying from and view source.

4. Open up _main.php in your skin folder. You can do this by FTP, downloading the file, editing it and uploading it again. If you have shell access to your server, then you can use Vi and go a lot faster.

5. The important thing is to get the div structure of your new skin to match the page you're copying from. If the source page has <div id="container"> at the very beginning of the html, then you need to make your skin match that. This part is kind of tricky, so you have to experiment. Make a change, save the file to the server, then reload your page. Remember that the div tag has to have a closing </div> and it has to be in the right place. You have to wade through some php in the _main.php, but just look for the regular html tags. Once you change all of the ids and classes within divs (and other types of tags), and arranged everything in the right order, it should start looking like you want.

This takes some practice and some time. If you get stuck I can give you a hand.

9 May 19, 2005 17:26

Ok thanks for offering to help. I think I'll just grab a example theme for the sake of an exercise and give it a shot, then hit you up for guidance.

Another criteria I wanted was the calendar, which is missing from some themes that I otherwise liked. :(

10 May 19, 2005 17:32

The calendar shouldn't hard to add. Just grab the _calendar.php file from another skin and drop it in your folder. Then look in another skin for the code used to include that file.


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