A simpler theme?

[tobinharris]

Hey folks

We all know that ExtJS looks beautiful. That's a given. But, I'm wondering if our apps would benefit from having skin that's less "busy"? Before I get flamed, here's my reasoning:

I've been reading and following thoughts and musings of Edward Tufte. As an example, he gives an objective and interesting review of iPhone User Interface (http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00036T&topic_id=1&topic=Ask+E%2eT%2e).

One of the key things he talks about is "Administrative Computer Debris". These are the bits of a UI that distract the user from their task and don't necessarily add value.

ExtJS applications look great, but I do see a lot of lines and other interface elements in my application that don't necessarily add value. I'd be interested to see if a simpler skin could be developed for ExtJs, something that takes a more minimalistic approach. The Joyent Connector GUI (http://www.joyent.com/connector/collaboration-suite/screenshots/) has some of this simplicity I'm talking about, but it's by no means perfect.

I'm not UI expert, so developing the skin isn't probably my bag. But, I'd certainly sponsor the development of this new theme/skin (within reason), for everyone to benefit from.

Anyone else "with me" on this? Or am I talking twoddle :) Would anyone be interested in starting such a project?

[Lobos]

yeah a simpler theme with simplified css could be cool - i am working on a project at the moment where i have to basically change everything and i am finding myself stripping away a lot of the baggage. It would be nice to have an Extralite (excuse my old postnuke terminology) that gave the basic building blocks to start.

[redic]

+1

I think that's one of the reasons, why there are only color modified ext-default-themes out there. >:)

A simple theme would definitely help to change the situation!

[tobinharris]

Glad there's a couple of folks who'd be interested - but not a huge response so far! I think this *is* something I'll be looking at within the next 6 months, so I will post more as and when I get on to it. I may even get usability/design team involved and see what they come up with.

[hardrock]

I would be very interested in this! I too think that the default theme is too bloated, compared with f.i. the OSX UI or different GNOME themes. I also think that the font of the default Ext theme is too small, am I the only one?

[sb32]

+1 for the simplicity..

Although I can't stand Joyent.

[hardrock]

Although I can't stand Joyent.
Could you please elaborate?

I am currently designing an interface, and found Joyent's one to work quite well. What's your problem with Joyent?

[SteveEisner]

I'd love to see this too.

One problem right now with theming is that in order to add a new theme, you have to first include the base theme (reasonably large) and then add more rules to remove things you don't want. The previous version worked the other way: start with very little and build up a theme with a second file. But that has its disadvantages too for the 99% of people who don't mind just using the default theme and want it loaded with one request, etc.

Another problem is that required positioning is (necessarily) mixed in with theme-based CSS rules. So we can't distinguish between "vertically laid out fields must have display:block" vs. "this theme's padding is top:3px". In some cases the rules are even aggregate results from combining required & theme rules. I don't see this changing until a standard for CSS macros/variables/substitutions/expressions arises. [We use one for our project]

I think the best way to resolve this would be to separate required (blank) & theme rules, and then use a CSS packer like the YUI compressor to combine them for the 99% users. The CSS will become harder to maintain, but easier to extend.

[mystix]

I think the best way to resolve this would be to separate required (blank) & theme rules, and then use a CSS packer like the YUI compressor to combine them for the 99% users. The CSS will become harder to maintain, but easier to extend.

perhaps something like an ext-base.css in addition to the existing ext-all.css?

[alindsay55661]

I agree, a simple theme would be great, bring the lib down in size and make it easier to follow on screen. I would love to see a project like this go forward.

[cesarreyesa]

Glad there's a couple of folks who'd be interested - but not a huge response so far! I think this *is* something I'll be looking at within the next 6 months, so I will post more as and when I get on to it. I may even get usability/design team involved and see what they come up with.
Hi, did you find a simpler theme ?? can you post a link or something, please?, thanks a lot...

[Compugasm]

I haven't made my own full blown theme, I'm waiting to see what v3 changes are coming to theming first. But, I have modified the default theme quite a bit with my own rules. It really isn't that difficult. Inspect the CSS elements using Firebug, and it tells you what classes are being applied. So what if you have to overwrite existing rules? What is that, like one or two kilobytes? I don't belive there is anything stopping you from making the Joyent Connector GUI using EXT the way it is now. Oh wait, sidetabs? Hmm yeah, that would be painful.

I'm not sure I follow the argument completely. It just sounds to me like this obsessive pursuit of efficiency is a waste of time. Computers get faster, and cheaper all the time. I mean, all but one of the stylesheets are under 10k. So what is bloated? Don't bother spending heaps of time trying to trim off 10k from a stylesheet. The time investment isn't worth it.

IMO, theming will NEVER be as good/easy as you want it to be because there is no VB like environment to program JSON visually. Like, if you've ever used CodeCharge Studio, Dreamweaver, or even made an application in MS Access. You need that kind of IDE to make theming work nicely. That's just the way it is.