The State of Affairs » Elgg

Natural Brown Theme for Elgg 1.5

Jeremy Winter — Mon, 11 May 2009 12:21:18 +0000

Here is another new Elgg theme that is based off of Pete Harris’s, Elgg example theme framework (1.0). This theme requires Elgg 1.5 and is released under a GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2.

This theme is the same as my previous two themes, but with a different color scheme. With Natural Brown I used neutral colors that resulted in low contrast.

*Notes – As before, renaming the theme will cause it to break. Also if you are adding text to the front page in Administration>>External Pages>>Frontpage, the information pages are reversed e.g. Lefthand is Righthand and Righthand is Lefthand

Download Natural Brown 1.1

Change log:
1.1 – Fixed missing homepage titles
1.0 – Initial release

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How to Install Elgg Themes

Jeremy Winter — Sat, 09 May 2009 08:33:40 +0000

Installing Elgg themes is a relatively easy task, but at times can be a bit confusing. One example would be the white-screen-of-death which has a way of sneaking up on us Elgg users. Here is a Quick rundown of the steps needed to install your new theme and some steps to help if the installation doesn’t go too smoothly.

Steps to Install Your New Elgg Theme

Extract the contents of your downloaded theme zip file to the Mod directory in your Elgg install. By default your file structure should look something like this
elgg/mod/your_new_theme_folder
Log into your Elgg installation as a administrator
At the top, navigate to Administration >> Tool Administration
Look for your new theme in the list of installed tools\plugins and click enable
Last but not least, find your new theme in the the list again and click the link called “bottom”

The reason for the final step is to force the theme to be loaded first instead of all of your other plugins. Definitely a good idea.

Troubleshooting a Theme Gone Wrong

If your new theme or current theme ever leaves you with a white blank screen and you cant access your site simply:

Backup the theme, if you have made changes
Delete the new theme directory
Now your site should revert to the default theme
If it doesn’t, your new theme is probably not the issue
You can now attempt to reinstall your theme

If your looking for a new theme right now you may want to try out one of my two new themes: Custom Blue for Elgg 1.5 and Custom White for Elgg 1.5

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Another New Elgg Theme: Custom White (Elgg 1.5)

Jeremy Winter — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 12:10:38 +0000

Custom White is similar to another Elgg theme I just released called Custom Blue. The functionality is the same, but the design has some slight modifications.

Screenshots

Download Custom White 1.1

Change log:
1.1 – Fixed broken icon links
1.0 – Initial release

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New Elgg Theme: Custom Blue (Elgg 1.5)

Jeremy Winter — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 22:03:37 +0000

This is a new Elgg theme that is based off of Pete Harris’s, Elgg example theme framework (1.0). This theme requires Elgg 1.5 and is released under a GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2.

Custom Blue is a 0.9 release due to the fact that it has not been tested on a live site. I did test it on a local install of Elgg with no problems though. It is compatible with IE7, Firefox 3.0, and Chrome 1.0.

*Notes – Renaming the theme will cause it too break. Also if you are adding text to the front page in Administration>>External Pages>>Frontpage, the information pages are reversed e.g. Lefthand is Righthand and Righthand is Lefthand

Here are a couple screen shots of the homepage and of a user profile. Notice the custom navigation bar displays differently if you are logged in or not.

If you have any questions on how to customize this theme or would like to report a bug, drop a comment below and I’ll do my best to check it out soon.

Download Custom Blue 1.0

Change log:
1.0 – Corrected syntax errors in manifest.xml (more info now works)
0.9 – Initial release

Free Icons Used in the Theme

The icon set I used was a free set that I altered in some simple ways. Included is my original PSD that I used to create the icons. The Icons were originally created by icojoy.com

Download Free Icon Set

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Add Video Capabilities to Elgg

Jeremy Winter — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:31:44 +0000

You can add Video to your Elgg powered site with the Kaltura Interactive Video Plugin. Kaltura is a open source video platform for online video management, creation, interaction & collaboration and this plugin integrates it seamlessly with your site.

You will need a account at the Kaltura website to use this plugin. Also you may find these screenshots of the setup and installation useful.

Default Widgets Elgg Plugin

Jeremy Winter — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:10:42 +0000

The Default Widgets plugin for Elgg is a necessary addon to any Elgg installation. I can’t think of one social networking site that does not have a set of default widgets in place for new users when they sign up.

Luckily we have this great plugin. With the Default Widgets plugin you can decide what appears by default for new members profiles. Definitely going to want that.

You can download the Default Widgets plugin from the Elgg community website.

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Elgg Photo Gallery Plugin

Jeremy Winter — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 02:52:10 +0000

You can now add a excellent photo gallery to your Elgg installation. Tidypics Photo Gallery v1.05 Elgg plugin can do all of that and more.

If you are interested in more plugins for elgg you may find my Top Elgg Plugins post useful as well.

Some features of the newest version are

The ability to upload multiple photos at a time

Enhanced navigation

You can download Tidypics Photo Gallery from the Elgg community website.

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Top Elgg Themes

Jeremy Winter — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:52:28 +0000

These themes are not compatible with Elgg 1.5. If you are running Elgg 1.5, you may want to check out my two themes for Elgg 1.5 Custom Blue and Custom White.

This is a follow up to our Top Elgg Plugins post. Elgg has continued to grow since it’s release in August and now there is a nice selection of Themes created by community members. Here are some of their great designs organized by newest to oldest.

The State of Affairs » Elgg

Natural Brown Theme for Elgg 1.5

How to Install Elgg Themes

Steps to Install Your New Elgg Theme

Troubleshooting a Theme Gone Wrong

Another New Elgg Theme: Custom White (Elgg 1.5)

Screenshots

New Elgg Theme: Custom Blue (Elgg 1.5)

Free Icons Used in the Theme

Add Video Capabilities to Elgg

Default Widgets Elgg Plugin

Elgg Photo Gallery Plugin

Some features of the newest version are

Top Elgg Themes

Simple Neutral Theme + 1 Colour (1.0)

Simple Neutral Theme (1.0)

E-OSX Theme Blue Lava (v.1.3)

E-OSX Theme With Fish Eye Menu (v.1.3)

Purple Rounded Theme (1.0)

Blue Rounded Theme (1.0)

Red Rounded Theme (1.0)

DiveXit Theme – Modified eosx & greenrounded (1.0b)

BlackTech Theme (1.0)

Green Rounded Theme (1.0)

Simple BlackBlueTech Theme (1.0)

Simple BlueWhite Theme (1.0)

The Brighton boat (v1.0)

Oxford Blue (1.0)

Basic autumn theme (1.0)

Step Out of the Box Theme (1.0)

Dark Green Theme (1.0)

Blue Gneiss Theme (1.0)

Top Elgg Plugins

Default Widgets v1.1

User Contact List Plugin v0.2

Invitations v0.2

Artfolio v0.8 Beta

User Friends Blog Post v0.9

Tag Cloud Widget v1.0

Group Feed Widget

LastFM Latest Songs Widget

Friend Feed Widget v0.5

Zaudio v1.0

Flicker Widget v0.1

Twitter Widget v1.0

Coppa v0.1 v1.1

Be Myspace’s Tom v1.0 1.1