Free Template: Bucolic
I decided to take a little break from "blog" templates. Coding a template in EE is mind-numbingly boring. %-P
Enjoy!
Free Template: Didactic
Enjoy!
Download the files This template proved to be more difficult than the rest, because I wanted to automatically add captions to images using javascript. I'm no guru when it comes to javascript, however, and so it took me considerable time to get it working. And then I had trouble with IE as usual, which was dealt with in the usual way.
Drop an email or a comment if you're using the template; I like knowing. :-)
Action and Adventure With Expression Engine: Part 1
I started writing a small tutorial (cue derisive laugh here) on Expression Engine only to have it spawn wildly out of control. So I figured that I might as well do this properly. Over the next however many tutorials, weâll create an EE site from scratch. We'll try to keep redundant code down to minimum to avoid maintenance nightmare when we want to update (and, trust me, you'll want to update — sooner than you think).
EE On A Diet
EE Core is remarkably similar to a manticore except that 1. it's two words not one, and 2. it's not a monster. It's powerful, flexible, and, in my opinion, the best CMS incubating in the wild. It's free. The free edition doesn't have as many choices as the Personal or Commercial Editions, but it is more than enough for a personal site.
Credits And What Not
Our end product was designed by Wolfgang Bartelme over at Bartelme Design. In fact, this was the design used on the previous version of the site. I loved it and asked him if I could create an EE theme out of it, and he graciously agreed. :-D I changed the XHTML/CSS templates to suit my own tastes, but the icons, the content, and the layout was created entirely by Bartelme.
What Do I Need?
Now that we got all that out of the way, we'll need:
- PHP
- MySQL
- LinkList Module
- Markdown Plugin
- (Optional) File Manager Module
Expression Engine: Fresh Theme
I'm working on a new Expression Engine theme. This time, instead of creating everything from scratch, I decided to use somebody else's design: the screenshot above was created by Wolfgang Bartelme of Bartelme Design. In fact, this was the design for the previous version of the site. Since he wasn't using it any longer, I asked Bartelme if I can create an EE theme out of it and he graciously agreed! I modified the XHTML, CSS templates to adhere to my own crazy standards; the layout and icons were all created by Bartelme. :-)I started writing a nice little tutorial (cue derisive laughter here) on EE but it spawned wildly out of control. So I thought I might as well do this properly and create a mini-series that tells EE-newbies how to create a (personal) websites from start to finish. Look for the first tutorial sometime soon!
