Hi humid1980,

You know, I'm the same way. If it can be done manually so I can learn something, I usually try to do so.

Eventually, you will want to use the installer (otherwise you will not be able to use most available themes). However, if you aren't interested in using other peoples themes (or releasing your own), then manual configuration is the way to go with litestep.

The best way to start is to grab LiteStep Build 0.24.7 from the downloads section or http://www.lsdev.org/ . Dump it into C:\Litestep (or whatever) then upgrade it with the last experimental release off of lsdev.org again.

Then thoroughly read release_notes.txt in the litestep folder. That should give you everything you need to start playing around with Litestep on your own.

Last thing to note, is that Litestep by itself will give you no functionality (thus why there are no "default variables"). You must load modules (plugins) to get any functionality. Modules can be downloaded from http://ls-universe.info/ or http://www.shellfront.org/modules-list.php

Feel free to post back with any specific questions you have.