Create a custom theme
2
With the newest version of IP.Content some things were changed with the initial demo. They made integration into IP.Board a lot smoother. To facilitate this change they had to added an IPContent.CSS to the board skins, which made some changes and over-rode what I had already set up for IP.Content. It wasn't too much since I knew what to look for, however to get a full feel for the changes I decided to do a complete uninstall and reinstall my sandbox.
Fresh IP.Board and Fresh IP.Content
As you can see from the image, it is completely integrated. The demo board uses the 'Blog' frontpage template and starts out fully integrated. This was something that a lot of users were asking for and they listened and did it. I understand though originally why they didn't, it as after-all a new project and they figured people would want to use it to its full potential but I don't think the programmers or even the users fully knew in what capacity. It wasn't until it was more evident that people really just wanted an article system they didn't have to do anything with, that they decided to go this route. While I understand the change, I also mourn the other method which gave people choices. However this should make it much easier in the understanding of how it works.
What happens when I have a custom skin?
I just uploaded a new skin to the forums. I didn't change anything other than uploading the skin. The skin itself was written before IP.Content was even around. As you can see it works perfectly fine. It has a sit width, which differs from the original board skin but still works out fine.
1x2x2 Layout
I changed the layout to a different layout, not using the Blog layout. Notice everything works fine. For the base user this is perfect for what they want. If they truly just want their IP.Content articles integrated into their forum, all they need to do is skin the forum. Everything else should come easily.
What about the other changes?
There are quite a few other changes that happened with the newer IP.Content however I won't be getting into that just yet. The other changes really effect those who are doing a lot more custom work. But I will point out one change I really like.
Embedded Blocks
Any blocks that work in IP.Content can now work outside of IP.Content as part of any HTML webpage. You just need to create the block. You can test it in IP.Content. Then in the Block section you can click on an icon to give you the code to embed that IP.Content block anywhere. For example the "Lastest Video" block uses:
I believe a lot of new users will definitely like the changes. A lot of old users will also like the changes. However it may make a few people take a couple steps back to look at how to integrate IP.Content into their website if they weren't using the Wrapper.
Fresh IP.Board and Fresh IP.Content
As you can see from the image, it is completely integrated. The demo board uses the 'Blog' frontpage template and starts out fully integrated. This was something that a lot of users were asking for and they listened and did it. I understand though originally why they didn't, it as after-all a new project and they figured people would want to use it to its full potential but I don't think the programmers or even the users fully knew in what capacity. It wasn't until it was more evident that people really just wanted an article system they didn't have to do anything with, that they decided to go this route. While I understand the change, I also mourn the other method which gave people choices. However this should make it much easier in the understanding of how it works.
What happens when I have a custom skin?
I just uploaded a new skin to the forums. I didn't change anything other than uploading the skin. The skin itself was written before IP.Content was even around. As you can see it works perfectly fine. It has a sit width, which differs from the original board skin but still works out fine.
1x2x2 Layout
I changed the layout to a different layout, not using the Blog layout. Notice everything works fine. For the base user this is perfect for what they want. If they truly just want their IP.Content articles integrated into their forum, all they need to do is skin the forum. Everything else should come easily.
What about the other changes?
There are quite a few other changes that happened with the newer IP.Content however I won't be getting into that just yet. The other changes really effect those who are doing a lot more custom work. But I will point out one change I really like.
Embedded Blocks
Any blocks that work in IP.Content can now work outside of IP.Content as part of any HTML webpage. You just need to create the block. You can test it in IP.Content. Then in the Block section you can click on an icon to give you the code to embed that IP.Content block anywhere. For example the "Lastest Video" block uses:
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://www.pcxdesigns.com/dev/ipb3-wrapper/external.php?id=4&k=1aa4c110bb21b7d48d264576aba21a9b' id='block-1aa4c110bb21b7d48d264576aba21a9b'></script>
I believe a lot of new users will definitely like the changes. A lot of old users will also like the changes. However it may make a few people take a couple steps back to look at how to integrate IP.Content into their website if they weren't using the Wrapper.
