1 <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
4 <title>Geeklog Documentation - Theme How-To</title>
5 <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../docstyle.css" title="Dev Stylesheet">
9 <p><a href="http://www.geeklog.net/" style="background:transparent"><img src="../images/newlogo.gif" alt="Geeklog" width="243" height="90"></a></p>
10 <div class="menu"><a href="index.html">Geeklog Documentation</a> - Theme How-To</div>
12 <p><small>(see below for a list of <a href="#changes">theme changes</a> in
13 recent Geeklog versions)</small></p>
16 <h1>Creating a Theme for Geeklog</h1>
18 <p>Creating a theme for Geeklog is easy and quite fast. If you can
19 manipulate HTML files then you can create a theme! There's no need to learn
22 <h2>Creating a theme</h2>
24 <p>First, copy an existing theme that is most similar to what you want to
25 implement (if one exists). If what you will do is radically different (and we
26 hope so!) then copying any one will do. Copy the existing theme to the name you
27 want your theme to have (please, <em>no</em> spaces in the theme name):</p>
29 <p><kbd>cp -R /path/to/geeklog/public_html/layout/professional /path/to/geeklog/public_html/layout/My_Theme_Name_No_Spaces</kbd></p>
31 <p>Change into your new theme directory:</p>
33 <p><kbd>cd /path/to/geeklog/public_html/layout/My_Theme_Name_No_Spaces</kbd></p>
35 <p>Now edit the templates to suit your needs. Keep in mind that templates,
36 generally are partial HTML files. The directory you just created holds ALL
37 templates Geeklog needs but you will only need to modify a small few to
38 make a huge impact on the look.</p>
40 <p>In particular these are the templates you will undoubtedly want to
46 <li>blockheader.thtml</li>
47 <li>blockfooter.thtml</li>
48 <li>storytext.thtml</li>
49 <li>storybodytext.thtml</li>
50 <li>featuredstorytext.thtml</li>
51 <li>featuredstorybodytext.thtml</li>
52 <li>archivestorytext.thtml</li>
53 <li>archivestorybodytext.thtml</li>
58 <h3><a name="how-themes-work">How themes work</a></h3>
60 <p>When rendering a theme, Geeklog starts with <tt>header.thtml</tt> which
61 builds the site's header and then goes on to include the left column of blocks
62 (look for the variable {left_blocks} and the <tt>leftblocks.thtml</tt> file).
63 The middle part of a site consists of the stories which are built using the
64 <tt>storytext.thtml</tt> and <tt>storybodytext.thtml</tt> (for normal stories)
65 and <tt>featuredstorytext.thtml</tt> and <tt>featuredstorybodytext.thtml</tt>
66 (for featured stories) template files. The <tt>footer.thtml</tt> file then
67 builds the right column of blocks (variable {right_blocks}, file
68 <tt>right_blocks.thtml</tt>) and the site's footer. Blocks themselves consist
69 of the <tt>blockheader.thtml</tt> and <tt>blockfooter.thtml</tt> files.
71 <p>The above only describes how Geeklog's main page and stories are rendered.
72 More templates exist for the various editors and lists you will see in Geeklog,
73 as well as for the calendar and almost every other part of Geeklog.</p>
75 <p>There is currently no complete list available that explains which template
76 file is used for which part of Geeklog. However, in most cases the use should
77 be obvious when you have a look at the file and directory names in your theme's
78 layout directory. If you're unsure which template file is used to render a
79 certain part of Geeklog, have a look at the URL. You will notice the name of
80 a PHP file there, e.g. the <tt>users.php</tt> file when you view a user's
81 profile. Open that file and search for '<kbd>.thtml</kbd>'. For the profile
82 you will find these lines (in <code>function userprofile()</code>):</p>
83 <pre style="margin-left:4em;"><code>$user_templates = new Template ($_CONF['path_layout'] . 'users');
84 $user_templates->set_file (array ('profile'=>'profile.thtml', 'row'=>'commentrow.thtml', 'strow'=>'storyrow.thtml'));</code></pre>
85 <p>You don't need to understand PHP code to see that this uses the template
86 files <tt>profile.thtml</tt>, <tt>commentrow.thtml</tt>, and
87 <tt>storyrow.thtml</tt>. The first line also indicates that these are taken
88 from the <tt>users</tt> directory within the theme's layout directory.</p>
90 <p>An <a href="themevars.html">incomplete list of variables</a> that can be
91 used in templates files is also included.</p>
93 <h3><a name="testing">Testing a theme and further information</a></h3>
95 <p>After you have edited your themes, you are now ready to test it out.
96 Simply go to http://mygeeklogsite/usersettings.php?mode=preferences - in the
97 theme drop-down select your newly created theme (note the name of your theme is
98 the <em>same</em> name as the directory for your theme).
100 <p>Finally, you may want to update the logo and other images in your
101 theme's images directory.
103 <p>For the template system we are using PHPLib's template class (<a
104 href="http://phplib.sourceforge.net/">http://phplib.sourceforge.net/</a>).
105 Read their documentation and, optionally, look at
106 /path/to/geeklog/system/classes/template.class.php to see how it is
107 implemented. Even with this knowledge it may not be clear which templates
108 are used in conjunction with one another (i.e. <tt>storytext.thtml</tt> and
109 <tt>storybodytext.thtml</tt> together make up the complete format of a
111 story). If you have questions join our mailing list at <a
112 href="http://lists.geeklog.net/listinfo/geeklog-users">http://lists.geeklog.net/listinfo/geeklog-users</a>
113 or check us out in IRC at irc.freenode.net in #geeklog.</p>
115 <h3><a name="tips">Tips and tricks</a></h3>
117 <p><strong><a name="wysiwyg">Themes and WYSIWYG editors:</a></strong>
118 The template files used by Geeklog are not complete HTML files - they contain
119 only parts of the HTML that Geeklog puts together to build a proper HTML
120 document. This, however, seems to confuse some WYSIWYG HTML editors and some of
121 them tend to add the HTML which they think is missing from the file, thus
122 making it unusable for Geeklog.<br>
123 We suggest you use a simple text editor to edit your themes.</p>
125 <p><strong><a name="php">PHP in themes:</a></strong>
126 You can use PHP in the <em>header</em> of a theme, i.e. in the
127 <tt>header.thtml</tt> file. If you want to use custom PHP functions, you can
128 put them in the file <tt>functions.php</tt> within your themes directory.</p>
130 <p><strong><a name="different-look">Different look for left and right blocks:</a></strong>
131 You can give the blocks on the left and right a different look. See
132 <a href="http://www.geeklog.net/forum/viewtopic.php?showtopic=21070">this story on the Geeklog homepage</a> for details.</p>
134 <p><strong><a name="polls">Polls:</a></strong>
135 To use multi-colored bars in the graphical display of poll results, you can use
136 the <code>{answer_counter}</code> and <code>{answer_odd}</code> variables in
137 the <tt>pollbooth/pollvotes_bar.thtml</tt> template file.
138 <code>{answer_counter}</code> will be replaced with a running number for each
139 answer, hence <code>bar{answer_counter}.gif</code> would result in
140 <tt>bar1.gif</tt>, <tt>bar2.gif</tt>, etc. Giving each of those GIFs a different
141 color would give you a different color for each answer.<br>
142 <code>{answer_odd}</code> will alternate between 0 and 1 for every answer, hence
143 <code>bar{answer_odd}.gif</code> will result in <tt>bar0.gif</tt> for the first,
144 third, fifth, etc. answer and <tt>bar1.gif</tt> for the second, fourth, etc.
147 <p><strong><a name="left-blocks">Left blocks in the right column:</a></strong>
148 <code>$_CONF['left_blocks_in_footer']</code> is a
149 rather curious option. It makes the <code>{left_blocks}</code> variable
150 available in the site's footer (i.e. <tt>footer.thtml</tt>) while at the same
151 time disabling it in the header (<tt>header.thtml</tt>).<br>
152 The idea is that this can be used for two-column layouts (one column for the
153 blocks and one column for the content) but when you want to have the blocks
154 on the right side. Simply moving all blocks to the right will not work as
155 expected, as you'd end up with <em>no blocks</em> at all on those pages that
156 normally only display the left blocks (e.g. <tt>article.php</tt> or the
157 admin pages). Setting <code>$_CONF['left_blocks_in_footer'] = 1</code> will
158 fix this, so that the blocks, while internally still treated as <em>left</em>
159 blocks, will actually be displayed on the <em>right</em>.<br>
160 The theme's <tt>header.thtml</tt>, <tt>footer.thtml</tt>, and
161 <tt>leftblocks.thtml</tt> will probably need some adjustments. The
162 'left_blocks_in_footer' option is therefore not available in the main
163 configuration but should instead be set in the theme's <tt>functions.php</tt>
164 file. That way, you can even leave your users a choice between, for example,
165 a "normal" theme and one with the blocks on the right.</p>
167 <p><strong><a name="error-message">Error Message:</a></strong>
168 Since Geeklog 1.4.1 it is possible to control what HTML is displayed to
169 non-root users in the event of an error occurring (a crash bug). To do
170 so, you need to change the function <code>CUSTOM_handleError</code> in
171 lib-custom.php to output any HTML you like.</p>
173 <p><strong><a name="permalink">Adding a "permalink" to stories:</a></strong>
174 Many websites offer a so-called permalink, i.e. a link to a permanent URL for
175 the story. In Geeklog's default Professional theme, the article's headline
176 already provides the same functionality - it links to a permanent URL for the
177 story (pointing to article.php). However, since this is not very obvious and
178 since visitors often expect to find a "permalink" somewhere on the page, here's
179 how to add one yourself:</p>
181 <li>Find a place in the story template files. The "story-footer" section in
182 <tt>storytext.thtml</tt> may be a good place since it already contains quite a
183 few story-related links.</li>
184 <li>Once you've found a place to put the permalink entry, enter this piece of
186 <code style="margin-left:2em"><a href="{article_url}">{lang_permalink}<a></code><br>
187 This will add a link to the article (<code>article_url</code>) using the word
188 "Permalink" from the current language file (<code>lang_permalink</code>).</li>
189 <li>Try it out. Be aware that at this point, your permalink entry only shows up
190 for non-featured articles. You may want to tweak the appearance a bit (using
191 CSS) or move the link around.</li>
192 <li>Add the same piece of code to the <tt>featuredstorytext.thtml</tt> and
193 <tt>archivestorytext.thtml</tt> templates so that the link also appears for
194 featured and archived stories.</li>
198 <h2><a name="changes">Theme changes in Geeklog 1.6.1</a></h2>
201 <li>Added rules for the <tt>token-expirynotice</tt> and
202 <tt>token-expirytime</tt> ids (<em>not</em> classes!) to the stylesheet.
203 These are used to format the new notice in the editors, informing the user
204 when the security token will expire.</li>
205 <li>Added an icon, <tt>images/update.png</tt>, to be displayed in the admin's
206 list of plugins when a plugin needs to be updated. The icon should have the
207 same size as the "edit" icon (16x16 pixel in the Professional theme).</li>
208 <li>The Topic Editor now contains a line displaying the number of stories in
209 the current topic. New variables in <tt>admin/topic/topiceditor.thtml</tt>:
210 <code>{lang_num_stories}</code>, <code>{num_stories}</code></li>
211 <li>Added a link back to the story to the "Mail Story to a Friend" form,
212 <tt>profiles/contactauthorform.thtml</tt>. Available variables:
213 <tt>{lang_title}</tt>, <tt>{story_title}</tt>, <tt>{story_url}</tt>,
214 <tt>{story_link}</tt>.</li>
215 <li>Added a "send copy to myself" option to
216 <tt>profiles/contactauthorform.thtml</tt></li>
217 <li>Added textarea fields for meta description and meta keywords to the Story
218 Editor (<tt>admin/story/storyeditor.thtml</tt>,
219 <tt>admin/story/storyeditor_advanced.thtml</tt>).</li>
220 <li>Added textarea fields for meta description and meta keywords to the Topic
221 Editor (<tt>admin/topic/topiceditor.thtml</tt>).</li>
222 <li>Added a <code>{remoteservice}</code> variable in
223 <tt>admin/user/edituser.thtml</tt> to optionally display the name of the
224 service a Remote User was using to log in.</li>
225 <li>Added a <code>{title_checked}</code> variable to <tt>search/searchform.thtml</tt>, so that the "Refine search" option can keep the status of the "Titles
229 <h3>Cosmetic changes</h3>
231 <p>These changes are mostly cosmetic and won't affect the functionality of a
232 theme if not applied:</p>
235 <li>Cosmetics: Made the look and layout of the "Send mail to user"
236 (<tt>profiles/contactuserform.thtml</tt>), "Mail Story to a Friend"
237 (<tt>profiles/contactauthorform.thtml</tt>), and "Mail Users"
238 (<tt>admin/mail/mailform.thtml</tt>) dialogs more consistent (alignment,
239 size of input fields).</li>
240 <li>Cosmetics: Fixed the position of the story preview when using the
241 advanced editor (was slightly shifted to the right, <a
242 href="http://project.geeklog.net/tracking/view.php?id=963">bug #0000963</a>). Changes to the <code><div id="preview"></code> in
243 <tt>admin/story/storyeditor_advanced.thtml</tt>.</li>
244 <li>Cosmetics: Removed <code>font-size:larger;</code> for the header fields of
245 the admin lists from the stylesheet, but added some top/bottom padding
246 (<a href="http://project.geeklog.net/tracking/view.php?id=956">bug #0000956</a>).</li>
247 <li>Cosmetics: Removed a <code>width="180"</code> from the Block editor template
248 (<tt>admin/block/blockeditor.thtml</tt>) that pushed the first column too
249 far to the right.</li>
250 <li>Cosmetics: Made the permission checkboxes look more like an Admin list,
251 <tt>admin/common/edit_permissions.thtml</tt>. Introduced new CSS class
252 <tt>admin-list-smalltable</tt>, which is almost identical to
253 <tt>admin-list-table</tt> but without the <code>width:100%;</code></li>
256 <h3>Changes to plugin templates</h3>
258 <p>Note that plugin template files are kept in a directory
259 <tt>plugins/<i>pluginnname</i>/templates</tt> and not in the <tt>layout</tt>
263 <li>Links: Removed a <code>width="150"</code> from the Category editor template
264 (<tt>admin/categoryeditor.thtml</tt>) that pushed the first column too far
266 <li>Static Pages: Added new input fields for a meta description and meta
267 keywords to the Static Pages editor.</li>
268 <li>Static Pages: In the Static Pages editor, moved the Hits display below
269 the Last Updated entry (<tt>admin/editor.thtml</tt>,
270 <tt>admin/editor_advanced.thtml</tt>).</li>
271 <li>Static Pages: Added textarea fileds for meta description and meta keywords
272 in the Static Pages editor (<tt>admin/editor.thtml</tt>,
273 <tt>admin/editor_advanced.thtml</tt>).</li>
274 <li>Polls: Added new input fields for a meta description and meta keywords to
275 the Polls editor.</li>
276 <li>Polls: Added new CSS classes <tt>poll-autotag-message</tt>,
277 <tt>poll-autotag</tt>, <tt>poll-autotag-left</tt>, used when embedding polls
278 via the new autotags.</li>
282 <h2><a name="changes160">Theme changes in Geeklog 1.6.0</a></h2>
285 <li>Themes can now opt to use a <tt>{doctype}</tt> variable in their
286 <tt>header.thtml</tt> instead of using a hard-coded DOCTYPE declaration.
287 The DOCTYPE will then be set from the configuration (currently available:
288 HTML 4.01 Strict and Transitional, XHTML 1.0 Strict and Transitional). Such
289 a theme should <em>not</em> set the <code>XHTML</code> constant in its
290 <tt>functions.php</tt> file!</li>
291 <li>When using <a href="#xhtml">XHTML</a>, the variable <tt>{xmlns}</tt> now
292 contains <tt>xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"</tt> for XHTML compliance
293 (to be used in the <tt><html></tt> element).</li>
294 <li>Added a space between a story's intro text and body text when using the
295 <tt>{story_text_no_br}</tt> variable.</li>
296 <li>The story templates in the Professional theme now use
297 <tt>{story_text_no_br}</tt> instead of <tt>{story_introtext}</tt>, i.e.
298 there are no <tt><br></tt> tags between a story's intro text and
299 body text any more. This allows for greater flexibility in formatting a
300 story (e.g. when using the intro text for teasers) but may result in older
301 stories being displayed differently now (no visible separation between intro
302 text and body text).</li>
303 <li>Bugfix: The variables <tt>{contributedby_user}</tt> and
304 <tt>{contributedby_fullname}</tt> were always empty.</li>
305 <li>The two variables <tt>{start_contributedby_anchortag}</tt> and
306 <tt>{end_contributedby_anchortag}</tt> were not set any more (since Geeklog
307 1.5.0). Instead, the link to the author's profile was added to
308 <tt>{contributedby_author}</tt>, so that the combination of these three
309 variables (as used in the story templates) still seemed to work. Geeklog
310 1.6.0 reinstates the old definitions, i.e. the anchortag variables contain
311 the opening and closing tag to link to the author's profile and
312 <tt>{contributedby_author}</tt> contains only the author's name.</li>
313 <li>New variable <tt>{photo_max_dimensions}</tt> to inform users about the
314 max. dimensions of a userphoto: <tt>preferences/userphoto.thtml</tt></li>
315 <li>Added a <tt>print.css</tt> stylesheet to be used by the
316 <tt>printable.thtml</tt> template files for articles and the static pages
318 <li>The plugin editor can now show a plugin's "display name" (or a beautified
319 version of the directory name) when using the new variable
320 <code>{pi_display_name}</code> in <tt>admin/plugins/editor.thtml</tt>.
321 This is a purely cosmetic change.</li>
322 <li>New template file <tt>admin/lists/inline.thtml</tt>, used when embedding
323 lists into an existing HTML <code><form></code> (e.g. the new Groups
325 <li>Added a "send copy to myself" option to
326 <tt>profiles/contactuserform.thtml</tt></li>
327 <li>Cosmetic changes to the <tt>admin/mail/mailform.thtml</tt> template file:
328 Removed <code>{startblock_email}</code> and <code>{endblock_email}</code>
329 and the top table. These elements are now added automatically to make the
330 the mail form look more consistent with the other admin panels.</li>
331 <li>A new checkbox has been added to <tt>search/searchform.thtml</tt> to allow
332 for a search in the title only.</li>
333 <li>Cosmetic changes to the <tt>admin/group/groupmembers.thtml</tt> template
334 file: The header (including the icon, links, and the instructions) is now
335 generated by Geeklog. The <tt><table></tt> that contained these
336 elements has been removed from the template file.</li>
337 <li>Configuration: <tt>config_element.thtml</tt> was missing a closing
338 <code></option></code> tag; the <code><col></code> tags in
339 <tt>configuration.thtml</tt> were not XHTML compliant.</li>
344 <p>The templates for the search form and search results have been changed and
345 new template files have been added for the new display modes of the search
346 results. We suggest to replace the entire <tt>search</tt> subdirectory in your
347 theme with a copy of the directory from the Professional theme as it ships
352 <p>The <tt>commentform.thtml</tt> and <tt>commentform_advanced.thtml</tt>
353 template files were changed to include a security token and a
354 <code>{notification}</code> variable (for the new option to be notified of
355 followup comments).</p>
360 <li>The template file for the Polls editor has been changed to allow up to 40
361 characters for the poll id (pid):
362 <tt>plugins/polls/templates/admin/polleditor.thtml</tt></li>
363 <li>The <tt>printable.thtml</tt> template file for the static pages plugin now
364 uses <tt>print.css</tt> (see above). It also uses the HTML Strict doctype
368 <h3>Permissions Editor</h3>
370 <p>The various instances of the Permissions Editor (where you can set the Read
371 / Edit permissions for Owner, Group, Members, Anonymous) were using slightly
372 different template variable names. From now on, the following names are defined
375 <li><tt>{lang_permissions}</tt> (headline)</li>
376 <li><tt>{lang_perm_key}</tt> (legend: R = read, ...)</li>
377 <li><tt>{permissions_editor}</tt> (the actual checkboxes)</li>
378 <li><tt>{lang_permissions_msg}</tt> (Note: members is all logged in member ...)</li>
380 <p>Template files using the alternative names will continue to work, but new
381 files should use the above names from now on.</p>
384 <h2><a name="changes152">Theme changes in Geeklog 1.5.2</a></h2>
386 <p>Note: Themes made for Geeklog 1.5.0 or 1.5.1 should work just fine with
387 Geeklog 1.5.2. In this release, we only fixed a few problems in the themes
388 (detailed below) that also affected 1.5.0 and 1.5.1. The other changes listed
389 here are optional.</p>
393 <p>These changes are actual bugs in the template files that also exist in
394 Geeklog 1.5.0 and 1.5.1. We recommend making these changes to all custom
398 <li>The security token was missing from the trackback editor template file,
399 <tt>admin/trackback/trackbackeditor.thtml</tt></li>
400 <li>The <code>{start_storylink_anchortag}</code> variable in the story templates
401 was missing the closing '>'. This caused the story title to disappear
402 on some themes. (This was a bug in Geeklog's code, so no theme changes
404 <li>The <code>{site_admin_url}</code> was missing from the Configuration form
405 action in <tt>admin/config/configuration.thtml</tt>. This may have caused
406 problems making configuration changes on some setups.</li>
407 <li>Added a hidden <code>old_pid</code> input field to the polls editor template
408 file, <tt>plugins/polls/templates/admin/polleditor.thtml</tt>, to fix
409 problems when changing a poll's ID.</li>
412 <h3>Other changes</h3>
414 <p>These changes are optional. They fix cosmetic issues or issues that only
415 affect some setups.</p>
418 <li>Cosmetics: In the Professional theme, the last menu entry isn't different
419 from the other entries, so the
420 <code>.header-navigation-container li.last</code> rule in <tt>style.css</tt>
421 is not needed for this theme.</li>
422 <li>Internationalisation: The language direction variable,
423 <code>{direction}</code>, was not available in the printer-friendly
424 templates for articles and static pages.</li>
428 <h2><a name="changes151">Theme changes in Geeklog 1.5.1</a></h2>
430 <p>Note: Themes made for Geeklog 1.5.0 are mostly compatible with Geeklog 1.5.1. We only made one mandatory change (for the Configuration admin panel) - all the other changes listed below are optional or adjustments for special setups (e.g. multi-language sites, right-to-left languages). See details below.</p>
432 <h3>Important change: Configuration</h3>
434 <p>The JavaScript code used for the Configuration admin panel used a generic name which caused conflicts with other JavaScript code. You should update the file <tt>admin/config/config_element.thtml</tt> to make sure your theme works with Geeklog 1.5.1.</p>
436 <h3>Multilingual blocks</h3>
438 <p>The multi-language support for blocks introduced in Geeklog 1.5.1 relies on
439 <em>disabled</em> blocks being swapped in dynamically. If you are using
440 Geeklog's multi-language support, you may need to modify the piece of PHP code
441 in your theme's <tt>functions.php</tt> so that it picks the correct templates
442 for these multilingual blocks:</p>
444 <pre style="margin-left:4em;"><code>$lang = COM_getLanguageId();
446 $result = DB_query("SELECT onleft,name FROM {$_TABLES['blocks']} WHERE is_enabled = 1");
448 $result = DB_query("SELECT onleft,name FROM {$_TABLES['blocks']}");
451 <p>Prior to Geeklog 1.5.1, you will probably only find the first SQL request
452 in your <tt>functions.php</tt> file.</p>
454 <h3>Other changes</h3>
457 <li>In Geeklog 1.5.0, the behaviour of the variable <code>{page_title}</code>
458 (in <tt>header.thtml</tt>) changed so that it now only contains the actual
459 page title or the site's slogan (in earlier versions, it contained both the
460 site's name and either the page title or the site's slogan). This was done
461 so that the combination <code>{page_title}{page_site_splitter}{site_name}</code>
462 could be used to place the page title before the site's name for better <a
463 href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization"
464 class="wikipedia" title="Search Engine Optimization">SEO</a>. If you prefer
465 to have the site's name first on the index page and the page title first on
466 all other pages, you can now use the new variable
467 <code>{page_title_and_site_name}</code></li>
468 <li>In the Links plugin, links have an icon indicating that it's an external
469 link (taking the user away from the current site). This icon did not show
470 up properly for RTL languages (e.g Hebrew), making the link text unreadable.
471 Since we could not find a way to make it show up properly in this case, the
472 icon is not displayed when the text direction is switched to 'rtl'
474 <li>Added an optional <code>feed-link</code> class to be used for links to
475 feeds (e.g. the new Story Option entry for topic feeds). In the Professional
476 theme, a small feed icon (<tt>images/feed.png</tt>) is used as a background
477 image for these links.</li>
478 <li>An optional change to the <tt>comment/commentbar.thtml</tt> template file
479 and the <code>commentbar-line2</code> class in <tt>style.css</tt> to make
480 the "Post a comment" button float to the left and easier to see. There were
481 no changes in functionality and other commentbar layouts will continue to
483 <li>The story template files <tt>archivestorytext.thtml</tt>,
484 <tt>featuredstorytext.thtml</tt>, and <tt>storytext.thtml</tt> are now
485 using the <code>{story_text_no_br}</code> variable to refer to the story
486 text. Template files that use <code>{story_introtext}</code> here will
487 continue to work as before.</li>
491 <h2><a name="changes150">Theme changes in Geeklog 1.5.0</a></h2>
493 <h3><a name="xhtml">XHTML support</a></h3>
495 <p>Geeklog now supports XHTML compliant themes. These themes should define the
496 following constant in their <tt>functions.php</tt> file:</p>
497 <pre style="margin-left:4em;"><code>define('XHTML', ' /');</code></pre>
498 <p>This will ensure that Geeklog switches to XHTML internally. If you want your
499 theme be working both as an HTML and an XHTML theme, you should use the
500 <code>{xhtml}</code> variable wherever XHTML requires a self-closing tag,
501 e.g. <code><br /></code> would be written as <code><br{xhtml}></code>. If you don't plan to use the theme for HTML, feel free to hard-code your
502 theme for XHTML only.</p>
503 <p><strong>Note:</strong> If you're using XHTML, it is your responsibility to
504 ensure that your site's content (stories, comments, etc.) is XHTML compliant.
505 Geeklog does <em>not</em> convert your content to XHTML.</p>
507 <h3><a name="story-submission">"Contribute" - User submitted stories</a></h3>
509 <p>Geeklog 1.5.0 supports the ability for users to specify story intro text
510 and body text seperately rather than just the intro text. This can be
511 turned on and off by changing the templates. The files:</p>
513 <li>submit/submitstory.thtml</li>
514 <li>submit/submitstory_advanced.thtml</li>
516 <p>Contain table rows containing the bodytext inputs. Simply removing these
517 inputs returns behaviour to the original.</p>
519 <h3><a name="admin-menu">Admin Menu, User Menu & Topic List</a></h3>
521 <p>All the above mentioned items are now lists, using <code>ul</code> and
522 <code>li</code> tags (and a new CSS class, <tt>blocklist</tt>, to hide the list
523 bullets). Two new template files have been added to create these blocks:</p>
525 <li>blockheader-list.thtml</li>
526 <li>blockfooter-list.thtml</li>
528 <p>Please note that the <code>{blockid}</code> variable that was present in
529 pre-release versions of Geeklog 1.5.0 has since been removed.</p>
531 <h3><a name="gltoken">Security Changes</a></h3>
533 <p>Many forms, particularly in the admin section of the site need a new hidden
534 form field in order for saving the form/processing the action to work. Add:</p>
536 <pre style="margin-left:4em;"><code><input type="hidden" name="{gltoken_name}" value="{gltoken}"{xhtml}></code></pre>
537 <p>To the following templates:</p>
539 <li>admin/block/blockeditor.thtml</li>
540 <li>admin/block/defaultblockeditor.thtml</li>
541 <li>admin/config/configuration.thtml (new theme file for 1.5)</li>
542 <li>admin/group/groupeditor.thtml</li>
543 <li>admin/group/groupmembers.thtml</li>
544 <li>admin/mail/mailform.thtml</li>
545 <li>admin/plugins/editor.thtml</li>
546 <li>admin/story/storyeditor.thtml</li>
547 <li>admin/story/storyeditor_advanced.thtml</li>
548 <li>admin/syndication/feededitor.thtml</li>
549 <li>admin/topic/topiceditor.thtml</li>
550 <li>admin/trackback/pingbackform.thtml</li>
551 <li>admin/trackback/pingform.thtml</li>
552 <li>admin/trackback/serviceeditor.thtml</li>
553 <li>admin/user/edituser.thtml</li>
554 <li>comment/reportcomment.thtml</li>
556 <p>Some plugin specific templates have also been changed, you may also need to
559 <li>plugins/calendar/templates/addevent.thtml</li>
560 <li>plugins/calendar/templates/editpersonalevent.thtml</li>
561 <li>plugins/calendar/templates/dayview/quickaddform.thtml</li>
562 <li>plugins/calendar/templates/submitevent.thtml (<code>{hidden_fields}</code> variable)</li>
563 <li>plugins/links/templates/admin/categoryeditor.thtml (new theme file for 1.5)</li>
564 <li>plugins/links/templates/admin/linkeditor.thtml</li>
565 <li>plugins/polls/templates/admin/polleditor.thtml</li>
566 <li>plugins/staticpages/templates/admin/editor.thtml</li>
567 <li>plugins/staticpages/templates/admin/editor_advanced.thtml</li>
570 <h3><a name="removed">Removed Files</a></h3>
572 <p>The following template files have been removed and are no longer needed:</p>
575 <li>admin/lists/menufields.thtml</li>
576 <li>admin/lists/topmenu_nosearch.thtml</li>
577 <li>admin/plugins/newlistitem.thtml</li>
578 <li>admin/plugins/newpluginlist.thtml</li>
581 <h3><a name="sysmessage">System Message</a></h3>
583 <p>The previously hard-coded CSS for the System Messages has been moved to the
584 stylesheet (new CSS class <tt>sysmessage</tt>).</p>
587 <h2><a name="changes141">Theme changes in Geeklog 1.4.1</a></h2>
589 <p>The css in 1.4.1 has been changed to a wider extent. More and more layout
590 components are beeing moved to the stylesheet so more change in looks can be
591 achieved with less change in the files. There is a reduction of tables and DIV,
592 and a stronger focus on semantics and consistency. Please also notice that the
593 styles.css includes additional documentation on the use of classes now.</p>
595 <p>As usual, any missing new theme files can simply be copied over from the
596 default theme (Professional) that ships with Geeklog.</p>
600 <p>From now on, all headlines in blocks & stories are made with header-tags. The
601 biggest title in a story is always h1, in a block always h2.</p>
603 <h3>Story layout</h3>
604 <p>The blocks for stories have no more tables, and the classes have been renamed
605 for consistency. There is a box now around the story called class "story" or
606 "story-featured". The components inside that box are story-icons,
607 story-information, story-body and story-footer. The title is a h1-tag. For
608 featured stories, only the outer box has a different class, the rest has to be
609 cascaded for changes.</p>
612 <p>The blocks changed in the same way as the stories. There are no more tables,
613 only one div-tag as a frame around called block-box, block-box-left or
614 block-box-right. The title is a h2-tag and the help icon for the block is a span
615 with a class called block-helpicon. Sub-titles in blocks have the h3-tag (such
616 such as in the What's new or Older Stories block). The changes affect (next to
617 styles.css) the follwing files:</p>
619 <li>blockfooter-left.thtml</li>
620 <li>blockfooter-related.thtml</li>
621 <li>blockfooter-right.thtml</li>
622 <li>blockfooter.thtml</li>
623 <li>blockheader-left.thtml</li>
624 <li>blockheader-message.thtml</li>
625 <li>blockheader-related.thtml</li>
626 <li>blockheader-right.thtml</li>
627 <li>blockheader.thtml</li>
630 <h3>Admin templates</h3>
632 <p>Many of the admin template files have had minor changes to tweak appearance
633 or functionality. If you didn't modify the admin templates in your theme, the
634 easiest way to upgrade your theme's admin templates is to simply replace the
635 entire 'admin' directory with the one from Geeklog's Professional theme.</p>
638 <li>All the "delete" buttons in the admin's editors (story editor, etc.) now
639 pop up a JavaScript confirmation box as a simple measure against
640 accidental deletion. If you'd rather not have that confirmation box,
641 replace the <code>{delete_option}</code> variable with
642 <code>{delete_option_no_confirmation}</code> in the admin templates.</li>
643 <li>The order of the save / cancel / delete buttons is now consistent across
644 all admin template files (changed <tt>group/groupeditor.thtml</tt> and
645 <tt>user/edituser.thtml</tt>).</li>
646 <li>Changed the top links in <tt>lists/topmenu_nosearch.thtml</tt> and
647 <tt>topic/topiclist.thtml</tt> to be consistent with the other admin areas
648 (i.e. the links are no longer enclosed in square brackets).</li>
649 <li>To enable changing the group ownership of "gldefault" blocks, the
650 <tt>defaultblockeditor.thtml</tt> has to be changed to include a
651 <code>{group_dropdown}</code> variable.
654 <h3>Other theme changes</h3>
657 <li>There was a div for spreading the with of the blocks to a minimum in the
658 files leftblocks.thtml and rightblocks.thtml. The format of those has been
659 transferred to the stylesheet with the class name block-bg-spreader</li>
660 <li>The template for the Polls-plugin has renamed classes block-vote-results to
661 poll-vote-results and block-vote to poll-vote to avoid confustion with
662 block-related classes.</li>
663 <li>The template files used by the Calendar plugin are now located in the
664 plugin's directory, (<tt>/path/to/geeklog/plugins/calendar/templates</tt>),
665 so the entire 'calendar' directory can be removed from the theme
667 The <tt>submitevent.thtml</tt>, <tt>editpersonalevent.thtml</tt>,
668 <tt>admin/eventeditor.thtml</tt>, and <tt>dayview/quickaddform.thtml</tt>
669 have also been changed to (optionally) support entering the time in <a
670 href="calendar.html#desc_hour_mode">24 hour mode</a>: A hidden input field
671 "hour_mode" is now required, the am/pm dropdowns are available as variables
672 <code>{startampm_selection}</code>, <code>{endampm_selection}</code>,
673 <code>{ampm_selection}</code>, depending on the template file), and the
674 dropdowns for the minutes are available as variables
675 (<code>{startminute_options}</code>, <code>{endminute_options}</code>,
676 <code>{minute_options}</code>, depending on the template file).</li>
677 <li>The variables <code>{author}</code> and <code>{owner}</code> are now
678 available in every template where an object's author (e.g. story or
679 comment author) or owner (e.g. owner of a block) name can be displayed.
680 They will also respect the <a
681 href="config.html#desc_show_fullname">$_CONF['show_fullname']</a> setting,
682 i.e. display either the user's full name or username.</li>
683 <li>The Article Author's tag in <tt>storytext.thtml</tt> and
684 <tt>featuredstorytext.thtml</tt> is now called
685 <code>{contributedby_author}.</code></li>
686 <li>To enable a remarks field in the answer to polls, the
687 <tt>pollvotes_bar.thtml</tt>, <tt>pollansweroption.thtml</tt> and
688 <tt>polleditor.thtml</tt> were changed. The
689 <tt>pollvotes_bar.thtml</tt> is now colored and has two lines, a class
690 for color coding each line and the <code>{answer_text}</code>. The
691 <tt>polleditor.thtml</tt> has an aditional field to enter the remarks,
692 same as the <tt>pollansweroption.thtml</tt>.
693 <li>A user's Account Information page has been redesigned. While there were no
694 technical changes (i.e. template files from earlier versions will still
695 work), some options have been rearranged and a note has been added to tell
696 the user that the current password is required to change those. Affected
697 files in the <tt>preferences</tt> directory: <tt>profile.thtml</tt>,
698 <tt>username.thtml</tt>, and <tt>userphoto.thtml</tt>.</li>
699 <li>The <tt>navbar</tt> directory now contains four files,
700 <tt>menuitem.thtml</tt>,<tt>navbar.thtml</tt>,<tt>breadcrumbs.thtml</tt>,<tt>breadcrumb_link</tt> as well as two images,
701 <tt>button.gif</tt> and <tt>button_over.gif</tt>.</li>
702 <li>A <a name="captcha"><code>{captcha}</code></a> variable has been added to
705 <li><tt>comment/commentform.thtml</tt></li>
706 <li><tt>comment/commentform_advanced.thtml</tt></li>
707 <li><tt>profiles/contactauthorform.thtml</tt></li>
708 <li><tt>profiles/contactuserform.thtml</tt></li>
709 <li><tt>submit/submitstory.thtml</tt></li>
710 <li><tt>submit/submitstory_advanced.thtml</tt></li>
711 <li><tt>users/registrationform.thtml</tt></li>
713 This variable is supposed to be used by a plugin that implements <a
714 href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAPTCHA" class="wikipedia">CAPTCHA</a>s
715 and will simply be empty when no such plugin is installed.</li>
718 <h3>Professional theme</h3>
720 <p>The following changes are specific to the Professional theme. There is
721 probably no need to port them over to other themes.</p>
724 <li>The theme now uses CSS everywhere for spacing and dividers instead of
725 relying on a 1x1 pixel transparent GIF image (<tt>speck.gif</tt>).</li>
726 <li>The amount of nested tables has been reduced, e.g. in the block
728 <li>Two unused template files, <tt>customlogin-header.thtml</tt> and
729 <tt>customlogin-footer.thtml</tt>, have been removed.</li>
733 <h2><a name="changes140">Theme changes in Geeklog 1.4.0</a></h2>
735 <p>As usual, any missing new theme files can simply be copied over from the
736 default theme (Professional) that ships with Geeklog.</p>
738 <h3>Admin templates</h3>
740 <p>Geeklog 1.4.0 comes with revamped Admin sections which required a lot of
741 theme changes. We therefore suggest that you simply replace the entire
742 <tt>admin</tt> directory of your theme with the <tt>admin</tt> directory
743 from Geeklog's default theme (Professional) as it ships with Geeklog 1.4.0
744 and apply any modfications you may have made to your Admin templates again
747 <p><strong>Note:</strong> The new icons for "Command and Control"
748 (<tt>moderation.php</tt>) in the Professional theme use a white background.
749 For themes with a dark (or other non-white) background, you can <a
750 href="http://www.geeklog.net/filemgmt/singlefile.php?lid=623">download</a> these
751 icons as PNGs with alpha transparency (note that Internet Explorer can not
752 display images with alpha transparency unless you include a JavaScript "<a
753 href="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/bobosola/">hack</a>" into your theme, so you
754 may want to convert those icons to normal transparency or simply set the
755 background to that of your theme).</p>
758 <h3>Advanced editor</h3>
760 <p>To use the included advanced editor (FCKeditor) you will need the following
761 new template files:</p>
763 <li><tt>comment/commentform_advanced.thtml</tt> (for comments)</li>
764 <li><tt>submit/submitstory_advanced.thtml</tt> (for story submissions)</li>
765 <li><tt>admin/story/storyeditor_advanced.thtml</tt> (Admin's story editor)</li>
766 <li><tt>staticpages/templates/admin/editor_advanced.thtml</tt> (for the Static
767 Pages editor, located in <tt>/path/to/geeklog/plugins</tt>)</li>
768 <li><tt>advanced_editor_header.thtml</tt> (included by all of the above)</li>
770 <p>You also have to add <code>{advanced_editor}</code> to the <code><head></code> section of your theme's <tt>header.thtml</tt> file.</p>
772 <h3>Other changes</h3>
775 <li>The comment templates <tt>commentbar.thtml</tt> and <tt>thread.thtml</tt>
776 have changed due to changes in the comment handling.</li>
777 <li>New directories <tt>trackback</tt> and <tt>admin/trackback</tt> containing
778 several new template files have been added for the trackback support.</li>
779 <li>New variables <code>{send_trackback_link}</code>,
780 <code>{send_trackback_url}</code>, and
781 <code>{lang_send_trackback_text}</code> are available in the story and
782 article template files. They provide a complete link as well as the URL and
783 link text allowing you to send a trackback comment for the current
785 <li>The <tt>links</tt> and <tt>admin/link</tt> directories have been
786 removed. Links are now a plugin and the plugin's templates can be found in
787 <tt>/path/to/geeklog/plugins/links/templates</tt>.</li>
788 <li>The <tt>pollbooth</tt> and <tt>admin/poll</tt> directories have been
789 removed. Polls are now a plugin and the plugin's templates can be found in
790 <tt>/path/to/geeklog/plugins/polls/templates</tt>.</li>
791 <li>The <tt>preferences/profile.thtml</tt> template now has additional fields
792 for the password change (old password, confirmation field for the new
794 <li>The search form, <tt>search/searchform.thtml</tt> has a new option for the
795 number of search results per page, while the hard-coded option to search
796 for links has been removed (since Links are in plugin now, it will show up
797 as part of the <code>{plugin_types}</code> option).</li>
798 <li>An additional variable, <code>{services}</code>, has to be added to the
799 <tt>loginform.thtml</tt> template file if you plan to allow users to log in
800 to your site using remote authentication.</li>
801 <li>If you plan to enable Trackbacks on your site, you may want to add links to
802 a story's trackbacks section to your story template files, e.g.
803 <code>{start_trackbacks_anchortag}{trackbacks_with_count}{end_trackbacks_anchortag}</code>. See the Professional theme's story template files for
805 <li>For the site statistics, the file <tt>stats/sitestatistics.thtml</tt> has
806 changed (entries for the links and poll have been removed and a new entry
807 for the number of active users has been added). There is also a new file,
808 <tt>stats/singlesummary.thtml</tt>, that is used for plugin entries.</li>
809 <li>The <tt>navbar</tt> directory is now part of a Geeklog theme (previously
810 used by some plugins, e.g. the Forum plugin). It contains two files,
811 <tt>menuitem.thtml</tt> and <tt>navbar.thtml</tt>, as well as two images,
812 <tt>button.gif</tt> and <tt>button_over.gif</tt>.</li>
816 <h2><a name="changes1311">Theme changes in Geeklog 1.3.11</a></h2>
818 <p>There are no mandatory theme changes in Geeklog 1.3.11, so themes made for Geeklog 1.3.10 will work just fine without any modifications.</p>
820 <p>A few minor additions / new options have been introduced:</p>
822 <li>A new variable, <code>{camera_icon}</code>, can now be used in the story
823 and comment template files to display the small camera icon (the same as in
824 the Who's Online block) to link to the author's user profile (only if they
825 uploaded a userphoto).</li>
826 <li>The <code>{layout_url}</code> variable is now available in the templates
827 for the story, link, and event submission forms.</li>
828 <li>Also in the submission forms, a variable <code>{separator}</code> is now
829 available in addition to the misspelled <code>{seperator}</code>
831 <li>A new variable, <code>{calendar_mode}</code>, can be used in the
832 <tt>calendar/events.thtml</tt> template file to ensure that the "add event"
833 link will take the user to the proper event submission form for either the
834 site calendar or the personal calendar.</li>
837 <h2><a name="changes1310">Theme changes in Geeklog 1.3.10</a></h2>
839 <p>General note: To upgrade your custom theme for use with Geeklog 1.3.10, you can simply copy over any new template files from the Geeklog default theme.</p>
841 <p>The biggest change in Geeklog 1.3.10 is that we now ship it with only one
842 default theme (the Professional theme, kindly provided by Victor B. Gonzalez)
843 and that the previously included themes are now available as a separate
846 <h3>Admin templates</h3>
848 <p>Most themes don't change the template files in the theme's <tt>admin</tt>
849 directory, so you can often save yourself a bit of work by simply replacing
850 the entire <tt>admin</tt> directory with the one from the Geeklog 1.3.10
854 <li>The story editor, <tt>admin/story/storyeditor.thtml</tt> includes new
855 options for the story archiving and for editable story IDs. <em>It is
856 recommended to make a copy of this file and re-apply any changes you may
857 have made to your copy again afterwards!</em></li>
858 <li>The list of polls, <tt>admin/poll/polllist.thtml</tt> now supports
859 paging, i.e. uses the {google_paging} variable.</li>
860 <li>The list of events uses paging and a row number now (files affected:
861 <tt>admin/event/eventlist.thtml</tt> and
862 <tt>admin/event/listitem.thtml</tt>).</li>
863 <li>The plugin editor, <tt>admin/plugins/editor.thml</tt>, now displays 2
864 version numbers for the plugin: The installed version and the (possibly
865 differing) version of the actual code. In the latter case, it will also
866 display an update button.<br>
867 The list of plugins, <tt>admin/plugins/pluginlist.thtml</tt> and
868 <tt>admin/plugins/listitem.thtml</tt>, also displays the 2 version numbers
869 and now supports paging when more than 25 plugins are installed.</li>
870 <li>The topic editor, <tt>admin/topic/topiceditor.thtml</tt>, contained a
871 hard-coded "10" for the default number of stories per pages. The new
872 variable {default_limit} provides the actual default value now.</li>
873 <li><tt>admin/mail/mailform.thtml</tt> has been changed to look slightly less
877 <h3>Other templates</h3>
880 <li>Added two new templates for the new story archive feature. This allows you
881 to theme olderstories differently. By default Geeklog 1.3.10 ships with
882 these template files not themed and the same as a standard story. The new
883 template files are <ul><li>archivestorytext.thtml</li>
884 <li>archivestorybodytext.thtml</li></ul></li>
885 <li>Due to various changes in the comment engine, it is recommended that you
886 copy over all the comment template files from the <tt>comment</tt> directory
887 (<tt>comment/reportcomment.thtml</tt> is actually a new file).</li>
888 <li>In <tt>calendar/dayview/dayview.thtml</tt>, i.e. in the calendar's day
889 view, the hard-coded am/pm times have been replaced by variables of the
890 form {xx_hour} (where 'xx' is 0-23).</li>
891 <li>In the event details template, i.e. in <tt>calendar/eventdetails.thtml</tt>,
892 the event type and an edit icon were added (this change was only made in
893 Geeklog 1.3.10rc3).</li>
894 <li>A "location" field was added in the user's profile: Added {lang_location}
895 and {user_location} in <tt>users/profile.thtml</tt> and {lang_location},
896 {lang_location_text}, and {location_value} in
897 <tt>preferences/profile.thtml</tt>.</li>
900 <h3>Optional changes</h3>
902 <p>The following is a list of optional changes (mostly new variables that are
903 now available). This information is mostly of interest for those who want to
904 develop their own themes.</p>
907 <li>{article_url}, i.e. the full URL to an article, is now also available in
908 <tt>article/printable.thtml</tt>.</li>
909 <li>In <tt>links/linkdetails.thtml</tt> the new variable {link_actual_url} now
910 contains the actual link URL (instead of a link to Geeklog's
911 <tt>portal.php</tt>).</li>
912 <li>The following variables are now available in <tt>calendar/eventdetails.thtml</tt>:
913 {event_state_name} (full name of the state), {event_state_only} and
914 {event_state_name_only} (abbreviated and full state name without the comma),
915 {event_edit} (link to edit the event, if allowed for the current user),
916 {edit_icon} (same, but with the edit icon instead of a text link),
917 {lang_event_type} and {event_type} for the event type
918 <li>The topic image is now available through the {topic_image} variable in
919 <tt>topicoption.thtml</tt> and <tt>topicoption_off.thtml</tt></li>
920 <li>Several class names have been introduced so that the various lists that
921 Geeklog uses can now be styled individually: list-feed, list-new-comments,
922 list-new-links, list-new-plugins, list-older-stories, list-personal-events,
923 list-site-events, list-story-options, list-whats-related (the names should
924 be self-explanatory).<br>
925 Use {list_class_name} to get the actual class name, and {list_class} to get
926 class="classname".</li>
927 <li>Several class names have been introduced so that the 2 small calendars
928 in the calendar's month view can be styled: .smallcal, .smallcal-headline,
929 .smallcal-week-even, .smallcal-week-odd, .smallcal-week-empty,
930 .smallcal-day-even, .smallcal-day-odd, and .smallcal-day-empty</li>
934 <h2><a name="changes139">Theme changes in Geeklog 1.3.9</a></h2>
937 <li>In <tt>header.thtml</tt>, you can now use the new variable
938 <code>{allowed_menu_elements}</code> as an alternative to using
939 <code>{menu_elements}</code>. The new variable takes the
940 <code>$_CONF['<i>XXX</i>loginrequired']</code> settings into account, i.e.
941 it will only list those entries that the current user has access to.</li>
942 <li>The <tt>admin/syndication</tt> directory, containing
943 <tt>feededitor.thtml</tt>, <tt>listfeeds.thtml</tt>,
944 <tt>listitem.thtml</tt>, and <tt>selecttype.thtml</tt> has been added.</li>
945 <li>Template files <tt>comment/comment.thtml</tt> and
946 <tt>comment/thread.thtml</tt> have been added and
947 <tt>comment/startcomment.thtml</tt> has been changed to implement
948 template-driven comments.<br>
949 Please note that <tt>comment/comment.thtml</tt> was changed <em>again</em>
950 in Geeklog 1.3.9rc2.</li>
951 <li>A <code>{link_edit}</code> variable has been added to
952 <tt>links/linkdetails.thtml</tt> so that admins can edit links directly
953 from the links section.</li>
954 <li>An "edit" icon has been added: <tt>images/edit.gif</tt>. The new variable
955 <code>{edit_icon}</code> can be used as an alternative to
956 <code>{edit_link}</code> in the story template files and in
957 <tt>links/linkdetails.thtml</tt>.</li>
958 <li>In the <tt>calendar/calendar.thtml</tt> file, the "mode" parameter has been
959 added to the << and >> buttons, so that users stay in their
960 personal calendar when browsing through months.</li>
961 <li>A new file, <tt>admin/group/groupmembers.thtml</tt>, has been added and
962 <tt>admin/group/listitem.thtml</tt> has been changed for the new
963 alternative option to add users to groups.</li>
964 <li>A new file, <tt>admin/block/listside.thtml</tt>, has been added and
965 <tt>admin/block/listitem.thtml</tt> and <tt>admin/block/listblocks.thtml</tt>
966 have been changed for the enhanced block list.</li>
967 <li>A <code>{google_paging}</code> variable has been added to
968 <tt>admin/link/linklist.thtml</tt>. Also added a column number to
969 <tt>linklist.thtml</tt> and <tt>admin/link/listitem.thtml</tt>.</li>
970 <li>All template files where the user can enter a URL are now using a new
971 variable, <code>{max_url_length}</code>, instead of a hard-coded number of
972 characters for the max. length of the URL. Files affected:
973 <tt>admin/block/blockeditor.thtml</tt>,
974 <tt>admin/event/eventeditor.thtml</tt>,
975 <tt>admin/link/linkeditor.thtml</tt>,
976 <tt>admin/topic/topiceditor.thtml</tt>,
977 <tt>submit/submitevent.thtml</tt>, <tt>submit/submitlink.thtml</tt>.</li>
978 <li>The hard-coded <code>&nbsp;</code> has been removed from the
979 <code>{welcome_msg}</code> variable. The blank was then added to the
980 <tt>header.thtml</tt> of the Classic, XSilver, and Yahoo themes (the other
981 themes either look fine without it or didn't use <code>{welcome_msg}</code>
982 in the first place).</li>
983 <li>An extra <code>table</code> has been removed from the
984 <tt>users/profile.thtml</tt> file of the XSilver theme so that the
985 username now lines up properly with the other entries.</li>
988 <h2><a name="changes138">Theme changes in Geeklog 1.3.8</a></h2>
990 <p>Theme changes in Geeklog 1.3.8 were mostly aimed at moving as much of the
991 hard-coded HTML into template files as possible. Other changes were made to
992 give theme authors better control over the layout and a small portion of changes
993 were done to incorporate new Geeklog features.</p>
995 <h3>New template files</h3>
997 <p>This is a list of the new files. You can safely copy these over from one of
998 the standard themes that ship with Geeklog (most of these files contain HTML
999 that was previously hard-coded into Geeklog).</p>
1001 <pre>adminoption_off.thtml
1004 topicoption_off.thtml
1005 useroption_off.thtml
1006 admin/database/listbackups.thtml
1007 admin/database/listitem.thtml
1008 admin/user/edituser.thtml
1009 admin/user/plainlist.thtml
1010 comment/commentbar.thtml
1011 comment/startcomment.thtml
1012 pollbooth/pollanswer.thtml
1013 pollbooth/pollblock.thtml
1014 pollbooth/pollcomments.thtml
1015 pollbooth/pollresult.thtml
1016 pollbooth/pollvotes_bar.thtml
1017 pollbooth/pollvotes_num.thtml
1018 preferences/boxesblock.thtml
1019 preferences/commentblock.thtml
1020 preferences/deleteaccount.thtml
1021 preferences/digestblock.thtml
1022 preferences/displayblock.thtml
1023 preferences/displayprefs.thtml
1024 preferences/excludeblock.thtml
1025 preferences/language.thtml
1026 preferences/privacyblock.thtml
1027 preferences/profile.thtml
1028 preferences/theme.thtml
1029 preferences/username.thtml
1030 preferences/userphoto.thtml
1031 search/resultauthdatehits.thtml
1032 search/resultrowenhanced.thtml
1033 search/resultsummary.thtml
1034 search/resulttitle.thtml
1035 users/newpassword.thtml</pre>
1037 <p>Note: <tt>preferences</tt> and <tt>admin/database</tt> are new directores.</p>
1040 <h3>Changed / updated template files</h3>
1042 <p>These files have changed since Geeklog 1.3.7, i.e. they may contain new
1043 variables, table columns, etc. If you haven't changed these files in your
1044 existing theme, it is probably best to simply copy them over from one of the
1045 themes that ship with Geeklog (with the exception of <tt>style.css</tt> and
1046 <tt>header.thtml</tt>, see below).</p>
1048 <pre>style.css <em>(see below)</em>
1049 header.thtml <em>(see below)</em>
1050 admin/block/blockeditor.thtml
1051 admin/block/listblocks.thtml
1052 admin/block/listitem.thtml
1053 admin/event/eventeditor.thtml
1054 admin/event/eventlist.thtml
1055 admin/event/listitem.thtml
1056 admin/group/grouplist.thtml
1057 admin/group/listitem.thtml
1058 admin/story/liststories.thtml
1059 admin/topic/listitem.thtml
1060 admin/topic/topiceditor.thtml
1061 admin/topic/topiclist.thtml
1062 calendar/editpersonalevent.thtml
1063 calendar/eventdetails.thtml
1064 search/searchform.thtml
1065 search/searchresults.thtml
1066 submit/submitevent.thtml
1067 users/getpasswordform.thtml</pre>
1069 <p>In <tt>style.css</tt>, four classes have been added that are used in the
1070 new search code of Geeklog 1.3.8. Instead of copying over the entire file, you
1071 will probably only want to copy over the code for those four classes:
1072 <tt>searchAuth</tt>, <tt>searchDate</tt>, <tt>searchHits</tt>,
1073 <tt>highlight</tt>.</p>
1075 <p>If the <tt>header.thtml</tt> of your theme is using the
1076 <tt>{menu_elements}</tt> variable, then you do <em>not</em> need to make any
1077 changes to it. If it is not using that variable, then you will need to make one
1078 change to it. In that case, search your <tt>header.thtml</tt> for the link
1079 to the story submission form, i.e. something like</p>
1080 <pre style="margin-left:4em;"><code><a href="{site_url}/submit.php?type=story"></code></pre>
1081 <p>and change it to read</p>
1082 <pre style="margin-left:4em;"><code><a href="{site_url}/submit.php?type=story{current_topic}"></code></pre>
1085 <h3>Removed template files</h3>
1087 <p>If you have a file named <tt>commentheader.thtml</tt> in your theme
1088 directory, you can safely remove it. It isn't used at all.</p>
1091 <h2><a name="changes137">Theme changes in Geeklog 1.3.7</a></h2>
1093 <p>Please note that all the following changes are <em>optional</em>. Themes
1094 made for Geeklog 1.3.6 will work just fine with Geeklog 1.3.7 - no changes
1097 <h3>New features and improvements</h3>
1100 <li>Theme-based topic icons are now supported by setting <tt>$_THEME_URL</tt>
1101 in the theme's <tt>functions.php</tt> file. The variable should point to
1102 a directory that has the same hierarchy as Geeklog's images directory
1103 (note that the path to topic images is stored relative to Geeklog's
1104 public_html directory).<br>
1105 <strong>Example:</strong>
1106 <code>$_THEME_URL = $_CONF['layout_url'];</code></li>
1107 <li>The <code>$_BLOCK_TEMPLATE</code> "hack" can now be applied to the
1108 What's Related and Story Options blocks, as well. Use
1109 <tt>whats_related_block</tt> and <tt>story_options_block</tt> as the block
1111 <li>The What's Related and Story Options blocks are now available as
1112 separate variables using <tt>{whats_related}</tt> and
1113 <tt>{story_options}</tt>, respectively
1114 (the <tt>{whats_related_story_options}</tt> variable for both blocks is
1115 still available).</li>
1116 <li>Several new variables can now be used in the story templates, e.g.
1117 <tt>{contributedby_fullname}</tt> for the full name of a story author and
1118 <tt>{contributedby_photo}</tt> for his/her user photo.</li>
1119 <li>When the new config variable <tt>$_CONF['showfirstasfeatured']</tt> is set
1120 to 1, then the first story on <em>every</em> page is rendered using the
1121 template files for featured stories, even when the story is not marked as
1125 <h3>Other changes</h3>
1128 <li>The template file <tt>admin/plugins/installform.thtml</tt> has been
1129 removed since it isn't used any more.</li>
1130 <li>Two new <em>optional</em> template files,
1131 <tt>admin/plugins/newpluginlist.thtml</tt> and
1132 <tt>admin/plugins/newlistitem.thml</tt>, have been added to support
1133 formatting of the list of plugins which haven't been installed yet. If
1134 these files do not exist, hard-coded HTML is used to present the list.</li>
1135 <li>The template file <tt>admin/link/listitem.thtml</tt> has been changed
1136 so that all the links are clickable.</li>
1137 <li><code>COM_pollResults()</code> doesn't use the side block templates any
1138 more when called from <tt>pollbooth.php</tt>. Therefore, you can now use
1139 different layouts whether the poll results are displayed in a side block
1140 or on the separate poll results and comments page.</li>
1141 <li>Removed the Normal / Archive / Refreshing drop down menus from the admin
1142 story and poll editors of the themes that ship with Geeklog. The setting
1143 of this dropdown isn't used in Geeklog anyway and has just confused users
1144 in the past ... (files <tt>admin/story/storyeditor.thtml</tt> and
1145 <tt>admin/poll/polleditor.thtml</tt>)</li>
1149 <h2><a name="changes136">Theme changes in Geeklog 1.3.6</a></h2>
1151 <p>There have been a lot of changes in the themes for 1.3.6 to get rid of the
1152 last pieces of hard-coded english texts so as to make localisation easier.
1153 Most of these changes have been made in the Admin editors (<tt>admin</tt>
1154 directory) and the calendar (<tt>calendar</tt> directory). If you created
1155 your own theme for an earlier version of Geeklog, we recommend that you copy
1156 over these two directories from one of the themes that come with Geeklog
1157 (choose one that is similar to your own theme or which it was originally based
1158 on). It seems like most Geeklog themes didn't change these files anyway, so
1159 this shouldn't be too much of a hassle ...</p>
1161 <h3>Other changes</h3>
1163 <li>The template file <tt>admin/mail/mailform.thtml</tt> has been added.
1164 This form for sending emails to other users of the site was previously
1165 hard-coded into Geeklog.<br>
1166 If you followed the above advice and copied over the <tt>admin</tt>
1167 directory to your theme, you got this file already.</li>
1168 <li>Two new files <tt>menuitem_last.thtml</tt> and
1169 <tt>menuitem_none.thtml</tt> have been added to give theme authors better
1170 control over the items in menu bars ({menu_elements} and {plg_menu_elements}
1171 variables in <tt>header.thtml</tt>). The template file
1172 <tt>menuitem.thtml</tt> is now used to render the first and any following
1173 menu items - with the exception of the last menu item, which is rendered
1174 using <tt>menuitem_last.thtml</tt>. If there are no menu elements for a
1175 menu bar, <tt>menuitem_none.thtml</tt> is used.</li>
1176 <li>New files have been added and the existing files have been changed for
1177 the links section (<tt>links</tt> directory). Again, we recommend to just
1178 copy over those files from one of the themes that ship with Geeklog.<br>
1179 The new files are: <tt>categoryactivecol.thtml</tt>,
1180 <tt>categorycol.thtml</tt>, <tt>categorynavigation.thtml</tt>,
1181 <tt>categoryrow.thtml</tt>, <tt>pagenavigation.thtml</tt></li>
1182 <li>The user profile has been extended to include a list of the last 10
1183 stories as well as the total numbers of stories and comments posted by that
1184 user. Have a look at the file <tt>users/profile.thtml</tt> to see the
1185 changes or just copy that file over from one of the themes that ship with
1186 Geeklog. You should also copy over the file <tt>users/storyrow.thtml</tt>
1187 which describes the block for the last 1o stories.</li>
1188 <li>The Classic theme has been updated to have an "Edit" link (for
1189 StoryAdmins) in every story now.<br>
1190 Files changed: <tt>storybodytext.thtml</tt>,
1191 <tt>featuredstorybodytext.thtml</tt></li>
1192 <li>In the Classic and Digital Monochrome themes the "contact" link now
1193 points to the form to send an email to the admin user instead of using a
1194 <code>mailto:</code> link with the site's email address from the
1198 <h3>CSS changes</h3>
1200 <li>The underscore '_' is not a valid character in CSS. Therefore, some class names used by the Geeklog calendar have been changed to use the dash '-' instead. You may need to change your stylesheet accordingly.<br>
1201 Names that changed: <b>cal-oldday</b>, <b>cal-today</b>,
1202 <b>cal-futureday</b>, <b>cal-nullday</b>, <b>weekview-curday</b>,
1203 <b>weekview-offday</b></li>
1204 <li>A new class named <b>pagenav</b> can be used to format the paged
1206 Please note that this change was made <em>after</em> the release of Geeklog
1207 1.3.6rc1 and affects the use of the paged navigation in
1208 <tt>admin/user/userslist.thtml</tt> and <tt>links/links.thtml</tt>: In
1209 1.3.6rc1, the navigation was wrapped in <p> tags in those files. As
1210 of Geeklog 1.3.6 however, the function producing the navigation will wrap
1211 it in a <div> automatically.</li>
1214 <p><strong>Note:</strong> Theme authors are encouraged to specify a character
1215 set in the <tt>header.thtml</tt> of their themes like this:</p>
1216 <pre style="margin-left:4em;"><code><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset={charset}"></code></pre>
1217 <p>Geeklog will replace the <code>{charset}</code> variable with the proper
1218 character set based on the currently used language file. Also make sure that
1219 you put the above line <em>before</em> the <code><title></code> tag in
1220 the <code><head></code> section of your <tt>header.thtml</tt> file.</p>
1222 <div class="footer">
1223 <a href="http://wiki.geeklog.net/">The Geeklog Documentation Project</a><br>
1224 All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Geeklog is copyleft.