Created a theme, what next?

[Sitebee]

A member on here ported one of my templates into a GetSimple theme, which I thought that`s a cool CMS so this evening I decided to build a theme myself.

I`ve not named the theme yet and have installed it on one of my un-used domains: http://siteweb-design.co.uk/


Opinions welcome and some advice on what todo next on how to have the theme added into the theme directory.

Kind Regards,

Chris.

[shovenose]

Nice theme it will be useful, thanks for making it. Please add it to Extend

[Timbow]

Welcome, Chris. Nice work.

You just upload the theme yourself when you are ready. There are some simple instructions in the wiki for the zip archive and the directories and files so that it displays its screenshot and installs without difficulty.

There is an unnofficial and unwritten code of 'Best Practice' for theming which you can ignore if you wish, but it makes it easier to test and change themes if your theme has most of the same elements as the others. I tried to include most of it when I used your beadysite template to make a tutorial here:
http://get-simple.info/forums/showthread.php?tid=4246

Looking forward to downloading it. I have a client's site nearly finished built on beadysite, I will let you know when it's done.

PS - in the wiki there is some stuff about breaking down a template into sections and using files like header.inc.php and footer.inc.php . It's totally optional, but useful if you have multiple page templates.

[Sitebee]

Thanks guys, I will add a few more mods on the theme over the weekend and upload it to the Extend section of the website.

I was shocked on how easy it is to build and merge the theme with templates hooks, I`m more used to building and working with themes for the more bloated Wordpress, Magento and Drupal platforms.

I will certainly use GetSimple for the next client I get who want`s a quick simple manageable website building.

@Timbow, very good and easy to understand tutorial you have written there good job. I also look forward to seeing what you create with my Beadysite theme. It`s a popular template is that, been downloaded of thousands of times and has been featured in some of the popular web design magazines.

[Sitebee]

I`m working on a few plugins to enhance the theme, just wanted to know do they have to be separate from theme (theme package) or can I include them.

Also can you add extra component blocks for the theme or do the end user need to create them?

Cheers

[WebDevandPhoto]

I think SimpleBee is a perfect name for it!
It's very gorgeous and I'm sure users will love it

[shawn_a]

There is no official way of packaging theme plugins, but you probably want to just add a plugin folder to your theme and advise instructions to copy the plugin contents to the gs plugin folder. Or use php to "install" your plugin, basically copy the files over.

Maybe someone can provide some generic reusable code to do that for themes.
The wiki might even say something about it.