GUI for creating themes Thread last updated on 2004-01-24 11:16:37

Posted by member 75632 on 2004-01-10 07:28:41

Hi,

I was wondering 1) whether there are people creating a GUI for creating/modifying themes, and 2) if not, whether there is some interest in one, but probably with modest functionality (don't know how far I can take it yet).

Please reply, since I am not going to spend my free time in it if noone is interested.

Posted by member 1 on 2004-01-10 11:00:03 link

there is one in the downloads section. Many people in the past have attempted to create a GUi however they have all failed because of the lack of flexability. Really the only way to make a theme is with a text editor.

Posted by member 2018 on 2004-01-10 18:09:58 link

i would love to see a gui for ls and its modules, but i agree that i will be diffucult.

Posted by member 7223 on 2004-01-10 19:33:12 link

I'll never want a GUI for that !!!

Posted by member 75632 on 2004-01-11 02:52:19 link

I hardly call LiteStep Theme Maker (2) a GUI.

Posted by member 111 on 2004-01-11 03:59:50 link

LSTM is only text editor with some improvements for be more convenient to create LS themes :) Yeah, it isn't a visual editor... but it is impossible to create properly working tool without:
1) incorporating original LS RC-parser into it (even more complicated, because theme author can freely use IF ELSE statements, am I right?)
2) complete module docs archive

Also LSTM2 is too buggy, I think... but it is the most finished tool :)
Also you can try AlphaEditLS as an another 'advanced text editor', but it isn't a GUI too...

That's my opinion...

Posted by member 18600 on 2004-01-11 13:52:11 link

I am working on such a GUI. I was going to make a long post about it, but it would be nice to make a smaller announcement about it to see how people react. I realize how people don't want a GUI because it won't be flexible enough, blah blah blah, I got past all of that. My program isn't just a GUI, it also has settings windows (I made that first) so you can get help with modules that aren't visual or have non-visual elements. I won't give away my secrets just yet, but I'll just say that, as far as I can tell, this will be a completely flexible editor, so long as there are very basic updates made on a regular basis, and they won't even have to be made by me.

Posted by member 1 on 2004-01-11 14:19:42 link

how do you account for each and every modules unique settings?

Posted by member 18600 on 2004-01-11 14:50:30 link

with textual plugins to my program. It will be on a sort of community basis. If there is a module not covered, someone can make the plugin themself very easily, and submit it. I have to make a site and everything for this too. I guess I'm not entirely ready to release anything, though I might make a thread about it in more detail asking for advice as to what things to impliment that I might have forgotten.

Posted by member 25126 on 2004-01-12 01:30:29 link

Cool! Can't wait to see it.

Posted by member 1 on 2004-01-12 02:28:31 link

you will want to work with the people making the new docs then so that the work is not doubled.

Posted by member 36955 on 2004-01-12 16:54:47 link

yeah... it would be really nice if the theme maker program could just read in the docs and be able to work

Posted by member 2018 on 2004-01-14 11:51:07 link

I can't wait to see it email me if you could.

Posted by member 18600 on 2004-01-23 16:03:25 link

holy crap I didn't realize people were talking about this still. Um, well right now I've been working on it all this time. I'm not sure when it's ready for an alpha release. I've actually never released a program before. Maybe someone could give me some hints on that.

Right now it generates .rc files, but there are some minor errors with that. I am yet to try to actually run .rc files I've generated.

you will want to work with the people making the new docs then so that the work is not doubled.
Well, it won't just read in the text files. I might as well just tell you, I use XML for the definitons. It really isn't so hard to make a new entry for a new module. Either I could keep making the entries, or if my program turns popular, the makers of the modules could make it themselves if they wanted.

Posted by member 36955 on 2004-01-23 16:42:03 link

well... the module docs people are redoing the docs in xml, so it shouldnt be that hard to combine them i wouldnt think

Posted by member 18600 on 2004-01-24 11:16:37 link

really? in a stardard format? Is there anywhere where I could see details about this?