Please report any issues with themes in this forum.

See the svn topic for details on how to check out the current themes folder. You will need at least the 'default' theme which the install will set as your current theme.

All themes must reside in a folder which will default to being located under wp-content. You can change the location of this folder in the forum admin 'WP Integration > Storage Locations' panel. Each theme then requires its own folder with a strict layout. See the 'default' theme as an example of this.

There are three distinct folders in a theme folder. These are 'images' which must contain all of the graphics and icons used by the theme; 'styles' which contains the CSS files (and it's own optional 'images' folder for graphics defined in the theme CSS) and an 'overlays' folder which we will discuss later; and 'templates' which contain the templates that SP will use for display.

Styles
The reset.css file should be included in any theme. The main CSS file is actually a php file and should have the same name as the theme itself. If you examine the default.php file you will see that it includes the reset CSS. You will also see that it contains many echo statements for colours and other rules. These are resolved at run time and are pulled in from the user selected 'overlay' file. Each 'overlay' file defines a set of colours and other rules so a single theme can have many overlays simply to change the colours, borders, fonts etc.

Note especially the use of the #spMainContainer id which is the main div that SP uses for displaying it's page. It is recommended that any new theme retains the names of IDs used in default.

Templates
Once again, the 'default' theme defines the minimum set of templates required for a fully functional base SP install. These mainly speak for themselves.

The best way to see how a template works is to dissect one of the 'default' theme templates. Any php or direct html can be employed. The available template functions are all located in matching files located in the /forum/content/ folder of SP. Functions can also be used, of course, from SP plugins. We have no documentation yet but a look through the template functions will reveal the list of available parameters available to each one.

Of particular note are the defining of columns. SP Version 5 has removed the use and need for tables so columns are required to pass a width argument. This can be defined as a percentage or pixel value.

It is recommended that the names and ids used for sections and columns are retained.

There is much that is needed to be documented to aid the creation of themes but that will come in due course. For now please experiment. Make a copy of the 'default' theme with a new, unique name. And use this forum for questions, recommendations and requests. We are sure to have missed something!

Thanks for helping.