This is a working outline for a proposed session at OSCMS. The session is Session Theming Drupal: techniques, approaches, philosophies. To be useful to the audience we need to know what folks are interested in learning. Here's our best shot at what those topics might be.
Transcendent CSS
- semantic naming
- build from the inside out
Complications from Drupal
- some naming needs to describe placement for admin/block purposes
- complicated content is generated
CSS-only Layouts
- Why tables are a problem
- Finding the right base structure
- Float vs. position
Hack-free CSS
- Code for valid
- Put hacks into separate css ?
Theme structure
- page.tpl.php
- node.tpl.php
- comment.tpl.php
- block.tpl.php
- box.tpl.php
- template.php
Basic overrides
- The right way and the wrong way
- node-x.tpl.php
- in-line overrides
- template.php overrides
Order of execution and overview.
- theme() overview.
- _phptemplate_callback() overview.
- How this translates to what files you edit, to do what, in what order
Embedded tags to work with
- Titles
- Getting titles into node template
- Events
- Views
Case studies
- Wrap comments into their own div
- Provide a class for each node type
- Using theme overrides to reduce the views markup
Possible additional topics:
- Themer Pack
- Contributing themes
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| theme_flow.png | 21.5 KB |
| callback_flow.png | 66.78 KB |
Comments
content
This looks like it is going to be a good technical discussion, however, one thing that professionals commonly do when presenting information is to skip the step of context.
Something that is not obvious, is that in order to build a theme for a site, you often have to consider the content first. So even if this is outside the scope you should probably mention that people should consider what content they want to present before they begin designing their sites theme. Once you get your content that you want to present, then here are the mechanics (with a touch of artistry) of how to get that content presented in your design.
I am unsure that conveys what I am trying to say. If not hit me up online and I'll try to explain more.
Great point
It really gets at the heart of it, and is in part what I'm referring to when I say "transcendent CSS," as that is what Andy Clarke writes about in that book. (Strongly recommended to all designers, imho.)
Laura
pingVision, LLC
PINGV | Strategy • Design • Drupal Development