Zikula Community

• **unknown user**
  
  

  • Rank: Registered User
  • Registered: Mar 16, 2002
  • Last visit: Jul 06, 2004
  • Posts: 18

  Posted: Jun 21, 2004 - 02:53 PM

  Are there any resources/sites out there for non-autotheme postnuke themes, preferably free ones? I intend to only use one theme and not let my users change themes, so I feel installing AutoTheme just to use one particular theme is overkill. Any suggestions?

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• HalbrookTech
  
  

  • Rank: Developer
  • Registered: Dec 31, 1969
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  Posted: Jun 21, 2004 - 02:55 PM

  I don't let my users change themes either, and I have it installed on practically all of my sites. It's not that big a deal, if you like an AT based theme, then install AT.
  
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• **unknown user**
  
  

  • Rank: Registered User
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  Posted: Jun 23, 2004 - 03:32 PM

  That would be okay if I didn't have to pay for it. (Okay, call me cheap.) My site is strictly a "hobbiest" site, so keeping my costs to, well, $0 is a must. I'm just looking for something good to modify to my liking. I guess I'll just have to make due with the few I find here... :?

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• HalbrookTech
  
  

  • Rank: Developer
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  Posted: Jun 23, 2004 - 03:58 PM

  You don't have to pay for it, there are two versions.
  
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• **unknown user**
  
  

  • Rank: Registered User
  • Registered: Mar 16, 2002
  • Last visit: Jun 26, 2009
  • Posts: 41

  Posted: Jun 23, 2004 - 11:24 PM

  http://www.classroomrevolution.com
  I have some free themes there. Click Themes in the left side menu. No Registration required. The PostNuke themes I have are color variations on an old theme called Squares.
  
  I also have some free Moodle themes for anyone using it, and a couple of AutoThemes.
  
  Watcanz

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• **unknown user**
  
  

  • Rank: Softmore
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  Posted: Jun 24, 2004 - 01:02 AM

  mhalbrook, there are other factors to consider. To me, with XTE ready to go for version .750 of PostNuke, AutoThemes seems like a road that's going towards a dead end. Plus, it introduces some overhead that a small, hobby-oriented site might not want to introduce just to have one or two themes.
  
  And IMHO, the free version of AT is clearly a pitch towards the commercial version -- is this the PostNuke version of "extend, embrace, extinguish?" I honestly don't know, but what I do know is that there are far more AT themes around and the many free non-AT themes of the past seems like a thing of the past.
  
  eight17, I know exactly what you mean. I went through the same thing. PostNuke has lost many themes through its development, large archives of free themes have disappeared, and themes.postnuke.com seems to have turned into a big advertisement for AutoThemes.
  
  Keep your eye on the NOC project site http://noc.postnuke.…cts/pnthemecollect/. I'm about to release a collection of themes there (actually it should happen at 10AM today if I did the release thing right . Right now it only has 70-odd themes, but it should work to be a nice repository for free themes that should encourage theme hacking and addresses concerns exactly like yours.

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• **unknown user**
  
  

  • Rank: Registered User
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  Posted: Jun 24, 2004 - 01:29 AM

  Quite frankly, the fact that the free version is so downplayed that I didn't even know it existed on the site tells me the interest of the end user is not their primary concern, and makes me suspect that the free version is so riddled with "you really, really ought to upgrade to the commercial version" crap that it's not worth my time anyway.
  
  Thank you, intnsred, for the sympathetic viewpoint. I, too, think that the quantity of normal, free, non-autoTheme themes is pathetic and that AutoThemes has overrun themes.postnuke.com. I'll certainly check out the NOC project!

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• MMaynard
  
  

  • Rank: Expert
  • Registered: Mar 15, 2003
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  Posted: Jun 24, 2004 - 02:39 AM

  Well,
  I use the free version for all of my themes and have never had an issue with it.
  I did buy the commercial version just to show support of the module.
  
  As for overhead, XTE is just as heavy or even more-so than AT.
  And it is a TON more complicated as well.
  
  --
  Zikula Themes

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• **unknown user**
  
  

  • Rank: Registered User
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  Posted: Jun 24, 2004 - 03:01 AM

  Auto Theme is a great product... free or commercial. I bought the commercial version a year or more ago and have been entirely pleased. Out of all of the commercial items out there for PostNuke, I am most satidfied with this one.
  
  If the free version is not your cup of tea, and you do not want to buy the pay version, then Xanthia will have to be the way to go as most of the old style theme repositories have dried up. I have about 150 or so regular themes which I downloaded a long time ago, but frankly, many of them suck. The one or two I have liked I converted to Auto Theme to make work correctly.
  
  In any case, I do not think anyone needs to write badly about AutoTheme because of the lack of old style PN themes. Grab an AT theme and convert it to Classic PN.... you can find a guide to Classic Themes in this forum, or download a pdf version of it from http://www.classroomrevolution.com under Downloads:PostNuke.
  
  My 2 cents.
  
  Watcanz

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• AbraCadaver
  
  

  • Rank: Expert
  • Registered: Aug 20, 2002
  • Last visit: Jan 12, 2010
  • Posts: 1219

  Posted: Jun 24, 2004 - 03:07 AM

  eight17

  Quite frankly, the fact that the free version is so downplayed that I didn't even know it existed on the site tells me the interest of the end user is not their primary concern, and makes me suspect that the free version is so riddled with "you really, really ought to upgrade to the commercial version" crap that it's not worth my time anyway.
  
  Thank you, intnsred, for the sympathetic viewpoint. I, too, think that the quantity of normal, free, non-autoTheme themes is pathetic and that AutoThemes has overrun themes.postnuke.com. I'll certainly check out the NOC project!

  
  
  Unfortunately, your suspicions are not accurate. Just like any Nuke site, try clicking on Downloads and the very first category is "AT-Lite - AutoTheme Lite. The free GPL version of AutoTheme." There is NONE of the "crap" that you are insinuating and if you would have asked anyone's opinion here in the forums, they would have told you this.
  
  The evolution of AutoTheme is backwards from that of many other commercial products. Instead of starting with a commercial module and then stripping it down and offering a free version, AutoTheme started out as free and has always been free. At one point a commercial version was spun off and many new features added to it.
  
  Why the need for sympathy? AT-Lite is free. There is no difference between the themes that it will run and the ones that the commercial version will run. Why the need for normal "legacy" themes? The majority of users would rather have an AutoTheme theme that is easily customized using HTML, gives you full control over every block and when and where it is displayed and the ability to customize each and every page independantly. The theme designers recognized this, as well as the fact that it drastically reduces their development time and give them much more power without being a PHP or PN internals guru. Also, AutoTheme themes run on PHP-Nuke, PostNuke, MD-Pro, CPG-Nuke and eNvo.
  
  Thanks!
  -Shawn
  
  --
  Get the Revolutionary AutoTheme HTML Theme System! Currently for Zikula, PHP-Nuke, CRE Loaded, osCommerce and Wordpress!

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• **unknown user**
  
  

  • Rank: Registered User
  • Registered: Mar 16, 2002
  • Last visit: Jul 06, 2004
  • Posts: 18

  Posted: Jun 24, 2004 - 05:00 AM

  AbraCadaver

  Unfortunately, your suspicions are not accurate. Just like any Nuke site, try clicking on Downloads and the very first category is "AT-Lite - AutoTheme Lite. The free GPL version of AutoTheme." There is NONE of the "crap" that you are insinuating and if you would have asked anyone's opinion here in the forums, they would have told you this.

  
  
  If you go to autothemes.com, there is no "Downloads" link. The middle of the page has a "Get the module!" block that links to yet another site. This site (spidean.mckenzies.net, whoever that is) only links to the commercial version on the first page, not the free one. (It is referenced below in the "What's on this site" block, but curiously without a link to the actual file.) Plus, I have to go through another registration process just to get to the free download.
  
  Sorry but, as a seasoned Internet user, this kind of run-around has always been suspicious to me. There is no reason why autothemes.com cannot provide the actual AutoTheme modules upfront. The fact that I have to go through so many steps to get to the download file is cumbersome and unnecessary - and therefore suspect. If the intent of autothemes.com (or spidean.mckenzies.net or whoever actually provides the AutoThemes module) is really to provide a service, the free version should be at least as prominent as the paid version.
  
  I'll take your word that AT-Lite can be used without annoying upgrade messages or mandatory "I'm using AutoTheme" stuff I can't get rid of until proven otherwise. However, processes that should be simple/intuitive for the average user but are not is just bad planning or poor judgment in my opinion, and access to AT-Lite falls under that category.
  
  

  AbraCadaver

  Why the need for normal "legacy" themes? The majority of users would rather have an AutoTheme theme that is easily customized using HTML, gives you full control over every block and when and where it is displayed and the ability to customize each and every page independantly.

  
  
  You know, sometimes you just want to throw it up there and have it work - no customizing, no need for an interface, etc. Simple and effective. Besides, you could hardly call these non-autotheme themes "legacy" unless AT-Lite was actually integrated into the core of PostNuke. (Now that's a thought...)
  
  BTW, not trying to pull your chain or anything, but I must take your AutoTheme kudos with a grain of salt, considering your sig indicates some strong vested interest in AutoThemes.
  
  

  Watcanz

  In any case, I do not think anyone needs to write badly about AutoTheme because of the lack of old style PN themes.

  
  
  I do not disparage AutoTheme because there are too few "old style" themes, just that AutoTheme is so ubiquitously advertised here, and that the free version is inconveniently located. It has that "x is free, but you need to buy y to use it" aura about it that turns me off. I usually don't bother with "free" software if I have to jump through hoops to try it out, either, so don't feel I'm giving AutoTheme any special treatment.
  
  _________________________________________________
  
  Thank you all for your input. I would like to think that this discussion may make some difference in the way PostNuke themes and/or AutoTheme are represented here and elsewhere. (I can dream, can't I?)

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• MMaynard
  
  

  • Rank: Expert
  • Registered: Mar 15, 2003
  • Last visit: Oct 21, 2009
  • Posts: 1221

  Posted: Jun 24, 2004 - 05:06 AM

  lol...
  
  Shawn is the CREATOR of AutoTheme, you went to the wrong site my friend.
  Autothemes.com is NOT the site for AutoTheme the module.
  
  http://spidean.mckenzies.net/
  
  Is THE AutoTheme site.
  
  --
  Zikula Themes

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• AbraCadaver
  
  

  • Rank: Expert
  • Registered: Aug 20, 2002
  • Last visit: Jan 12, 2010
  • Posts: 1219

  Posted: Jun 24, 2004 - 05:17 AM

  First off, Mars (sorry... MMaynard) is correct, I am the author of AutoTheme and it is ONLY available at http://spidean.mckenzies.net/ by clicking on "Downloads" then "AT-Lite". Is that jumping thru hoops or difficult???? Many apologies...
  
  Second, autothemes.com is not my site and does not sell AutoTheme. They sell their own themes that they design and they chose to sign-up as my affiliate and display a banner for my site. There are over 150 sites that do this and I'm at a loss of how to seemlessly integrate all of everyone elses sites with mine.
  
  If you want a cool theme for your site then find one. If it requires AutoTheme, load the free AutoTheme module. It runs out of the box and so will the theme with no configuration or customization needed.
  
  If you don't want to do this, then settle for a theme that you don't like as well that doesn't use AutoTheme. AutoTheme aside, It just seems a little disrespectful to the theme designers that do produce free themes for anyone that wants them, to complain when they use the most popular PostNuke module (AutoTheme) to produce quality themes.
  
  Thanks!
  -Shawn
  
  --
  Get the Revolutionary AutoTheme HTML Theme System! Currently for Zikula, PHP-Nuke, CRE Loaded, osCommerce and Wordpress!

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• **unknown user**
  
  

  • Rank: Freshman
  • Registered: Mar 16, 2002
  • Last visit: Oct 21, 2009
  • Posts: 80

  Posted: Jun 24, 2004 - 07:08 AM

  AbraCadaver

  Also, AutoTheme themes run on PHP-Nuke, PostNuke, MD-Pro, CPG-Nuke and eNvo.
  
  Thanks!
  -Shawn

  
  
  A slight factual correction: The AutoTheme modules, both free and commercial versions, will only run on one specific version of Envo. All newer versions of Envo are able to run AutoTheme themes when the Encompass addon AutoTheme theme drivers are installed without requiring the AutoTheme module.
  
  Since XTE is derived directly from Envolution's Encompass Theme Engine we may port all of our theme driver addons over to XTE and make those available to the PostNuke community allowing all Encompass, AutoTheme, PHP-Nuke, and Xoop's themes to run natively without requiring any "converting" or "porting" of themes.
  
  You may demo some AutoTheme themes being run natively on Envolution/Encompass without the AutoTheme module at www.envothemes.com. These theme drivers are in beta yet render remarkably well. We need some feedback from the PostNuke community about porting our theme drivers over to XTE, so let us know what you think.

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• **unknown user**
  
  

  • Rank: Registered User
  • Registered: Mar 16, 2002
  • Last visit: Jul 06, 2004
  • Posts: 18

  Posted: Jun 25, 2004 - 02:10 AM

  :shock: Whoa, boys! Calm down! AbraCadaver is obviously offended by this cynical newbie's honest (if not somewhat uninformed) opinions and viewpoints, and for this I appologize.
  
  Pardon me for assuming that autothemes.com is the home of AutoTheme. What was I thinking?!? And pardon me for believing that people should have a choice whether or not to use AutoThemes: The comments made by myself and intnsred only imply that the lack of decent non-AutoTheme themes almost forces one to use AutoTheme. It does not, however, insinuate that anyone thinks that you (AbraCadaver) are trying to monopolize the "themes industry" or shove AutoTheme down anyone's throat.
  
  BTW, I have never - and will never - show any disrespect toward theme designers, regardless of whether or not it is an AutoTheme theme they are designing, as I am somewhat of a creative type myself. My comments should not be misconstrued as insult to those who use AutoTheme or design themes for it. There has never been any animosity behind my comments ... newbie frustration, maybe, but not animosity.
  
  I'll have you know, BTW, that once I figured out there was a free version (waaaay up the page there), I did download and install AT-Lite. Works fine. So for what it's worth now, it has my approval.

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