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BuddyMattic – A Myriad Framework

BuddyMattic – A Myriad Framework

By Jeffro on November 30, 2009

There is a new framework in town, this one is called BuddyMattic. Developed by Ron Rennick with help from Daisy Olsen, BuddyMattic is a theme framework based on Thematic that can be used on WordPress, WordPress MU, and BuddyPress. The unique feature of this theme is that BuddyPress functionality is included in the framework and is activated whenever BuddyPress is detected. I had the chance to ask Ron a few questions regarding BuddyMattic.

The designs for BuddyMatic, do they have to be child themes based on Thematic?

No, buddymatic includes a sample Buddymatic child theme and child themes can be created by changing the sample child theme. For example, in creating the Coffee with Friends child theme that is included with Buddymatic, Daisy Olsen started with the Buddymatic sample child theme.

In a WordPress or WordPress MU blog without BuddyPress enabled, Buddymatic and Thematic are interchangeable and any child theme can be switched from one to the other by changing references to the template (and any includes) from one to the other.

Could you go into a little more detail regarding the BuddyPress detection/activation and how the design incorporates that functionality?

After returning from WordCamp NYC I added an explanation to the BuddyPress codex showing how BuddyPress could be detected and conditional code executed based on it’s presence : http://codex.buddypress.org/how-to-guides/checking-if-buddypress-is-active/.

Buddymatic relies entirely on WordPress / BuddyPress hooks & templates to add the BuddyPress functionality. In every function added via hooks, there is a check to see if BuddyPress is active.

Anytime BuddyPress updates, does that mean the framework has to be updated as well?

Generally, no. An example of where a new version might be required would be custom content support in WordPress themes when that functionality is added in 2.9. That type of change should only be on major releases of WordPress and/or BuddyPress.

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The Simplecart Thematic Challenge

The Simplecart Thematic Challenge

By Jeffro on July 3, 2009

instinctlogoFeel like whipping up a Thematic child theme that could earn you $240.00? If so, you should check out the Instinct blog to read up on the details regarding the Thematic Child theme challenge. The first person to submit a Thematic child theme which functions comparably and looks like the simpleCart demo site will win the cash prize as well as a profiled spot on the top of the site. Dan Milward of WP e-Commerce notes the reason behind the challenge:

The main goal here is to make more e-Commerce themes available for WordPress e-Commerce users and help profile your skills.

The rules for the challenge are simple:

  • Must look the same (or a nice variation)
  • Must use Thematic
  • Must use WP e-Commerce 3.7 Beta 4 or Higher
  • Must be emailed to dan@instinct.co.nz before the end of the weekend

This is a great idea by Dan and company. Good luck to all of the challengers. It will be interesting to see if this picks up speed and how many entries he receives to warrant future challenges.

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Build A Theme With Thematic

Build A Theme With Thematic

By Jeffro on May 7, 2009

Katemag AvatarThis is a guest post by community member Katemag Check out her work on Pixert.com as well as her personal blog Nineteenlabs

Thematic is a free, open-source, highly extensible, search-engine optimize WordPress Theme Framework featuring 13 widget-ready areas, grid-based layout samples and styling for popular plugins.

Thematic is an easy to modify theme or a good way to create a new look for a theme, because there is no need to develop a theme from the ground up and it’s very easy to upgrade. Why?
You only need to add a child theme with your own CSS, when it is upgraded you only need to tweak it.

Install Thematic
It’s very easy, just download it from Theme Shaper (Ian Stewart’s site-the creator of Thematic), unzip it and then upload the thematic folder to the WordPress themes folder, wp-content/themes.

You don’t need to activate Thematic, because we are going to create a child theme. But if you’re curious about Thematic itself, you can activate it with an old-school way. Go to Appearance screen, activate the thematic theme.

A Child Theme
This is the fun stuff. Thematic includes a folder named thematic-sample-child-theme. Move the folder outside of the thematic folder, put it on the same level with the thematic folder in wp-content/themes. WordPress child themes are located in /wp-content/themes/ like any other WordPress Theme, then name thematic-sample-child-theme to whatever you want it to be.

themeroot

Let see how the child theme is structured. There are two essential files for Thematic, just open thematic-sample-child-theme, functions.php where you place functions code to modify how thematic interprets data from WordPress. For example, remove thematic built-in title.

functionsphp

Another is style.css where you put css code to change how thematic looks. You can add images folder for any images on your site like header or logo.

Working with Thematic
I would suggest a few tools for creating a Thematic child theme. Those are Mozilla Firefox with Firebug installed and Text Editor like TextMate (for Mac Users) or Notepad++ (for Windows Users). What I really like from thematic is that there are so many built in features on Thematic, you only need to add features you want to add, that’s why we use Firefox and Text Editor. Theming WordPress has never been this easy, right?

Now, edit style.css – use your text editor, add the theme details

stylecss

If you see style.css, there’s 1 particular line:
Template: thematic

It means that we use thematic as a theme base
Now, we look at our child theme. Activate your child theme, see that your child theme is exactly like Thematic.

themeroot1

It’s time to change the look of child theme to whatever we want. Open Firefox, then firebug.

thematicfirebug

We use firebug to track css so we can override thematic default css from the child theme’s style.css to fit your requirements.

Advanced Thematic
Now that know a little bit about thematic, here’s some further reading to improve your child theme.

A Guide To Thematic
Thematic Structures

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