Blog items tagged with "theming"

Integrating Bootstrap 4 into Exponent

TBootstraphe primary theme framework for Exponent CMS is Twitter Bootstrap, currently at version 3 (actually 3.3.7). The next Bootstrap release, version 4 should be available in the near future and is currently in the beta 2 stage. It would be good to integrate support for the Bootstrap 4 framework, but there are several obstacles:

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Making your Custom Theme more Accessible

We're recently added better 'accessibility' support to Exponent so it may be used with a screen reader. This is mandated with some public website due to the Americans with Disabilities Act. While the code shipped with Exponent v2.4.0 includes these changes, they may need to be integrated into your custom theme. Though you can check your theme/subtheme templates and custom views with the ones we ship, here are some things to look for:

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Theming with Twitter Bootstrap version 3 - Part 3

Twitter Bootstrap 3(Corrected May 5, 2014) Recently, Google changed the way they rank search hits by elevating those from 'mobile friendly' web sites and lowering those which are not mobile friendly.  To be 'mobile friendly' your web site must conform to modern standards (HTML5) AND must be small device and 'touch friendly' ...meaning the page is viewable on a small screen and the buttons/links have some space/distance between them for 'fat fingers.  The easiest way to make your Exponent CMS site 'mobile friendly' is to switch or update to a Twitter Bootstrap 3 based theme.  Exponent CMS allows you to do this in just a matter of minutes.

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Basic Theme Framework Concepts

Bootstrap 3A 'theme framework' is a tool or library of stylesheets and javascript code which help a web designer more efficiently create a stylish web site. In most cases they allow for effectively sectioning off a page using styles instead of tables. They also include code to easily create the different user interface 'widgets' and utilities which would otherwise take a lot of code (e.g. time) to produce.  Exponent CMS currently contains built-in support for two (2) different theme frameworks: 1) Yahoo User Interface (or YUI), and 2) Twitter Bootstrap (or Bootstrap).  And within each of these frameworks we include two (2) versions.  The question is 'which one to use?'

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Theming with Twitter Bootstrap version 3 - Part 2

Mobile FirstIn the first article, I explained some of the basics of creating a Twitter Bootstrap 3 (BS3) based theme for Exponent. In this article I'll attempt to alleviate some of the myths or quirks associated with BS3 that may be delaying your move to use this versatile framework for your next custom theme.

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Theming with Twitter Bootstrap version 3

Twitter Bootstrap 3 - MObile FirstTwitter Bootstrap version 3 (BS3) is becoming the user interface framework library of choice for Exponent CMS.  Though initially shipped with Exponent v2.3.0, that BS3 implementation was still lacking some refinement, and wasn't fully implemented across the entire user interface.  This has been somewhat remedied by the first three patches to v2.3.0, and will be even more-so in the upcoming patch #4 release.  In this article I'll attempt to share some of the basics of how to create a Twitter Bootstrap 3 custom theme.

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Preparing to Upgrade to v2.3.0

Version 2.3.0 is the follow-up to version 2.2.3 and was given a version bump due to the many new features added.  It also marks a 'slowing down' of version releases as it's purposely been five months since the last release.  While it doesn't require as many changes as the move to v2.2.0 (which deprecated all the old 1.x code), it would still be wise to note and adhere these following changes.

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Coping with the v2.0.9 Upgrade

Unlike most previous releases, the release of v2.0.9 has seen it's share of problems.  Though most of these are minor issues, they can seem to be an obstacle if not addressed.  Here's some things to watch out for, and steps to correct these issues:

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Tutorials: How to Convert a Generic Theme to Exponent

Here is a tutorial that will be appearing on the docs site which walks you through converting a generic web theme/template found on the internet into an Exponent theme.

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(updated) Two Column Forms (or something like that...)

(Updated Aug 2nd) We've had several requests lately to 'make forms look like they did in versions prior to v0.97.'  Meaning, place the label and input control on the same line instead of the label above the input control.  Since we're trying to move away from using tables to format the layout (the html5 way of doing things), it's not an easy fix, HOWEVER we can simulate the look using css styles.  (NOTE: we have implemented a Single column/Two Column form settings option in the next version 2.0.9 which will easily implement this feature)

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