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Tynan

Awesome New Theme Editor in Alpha!

  • Tynan
  • 4 years ago
  • 2 replies
  • 14 likes
  • 441 views
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I was very reluctant to implement themes in SETT. The way I saw it, if we controlled the theme, we could really optimize it for things that people care about -- subscriptions, views, comments, etc. But time and time again, the one thing that was stopping new people from moving to SETT was that they wanted their blog to look unique. Fair enough.

For the past four months, my focus has been building out the theming system. I wasn't surprised that figuring out a theming language and adapting SETT to use it would take two months, but I was surprised that it took another two month to build a theme editor.

The real challenge was to build a theming system that would accomodate users of all skill levels. I wanted advanced users to have access to the full range of capabilities, including Bootstrap integration, LESS stylesheet compiling, and dynamically changing values. At the same time, I wanted very beginners to have a fighting chance at editing an existing theme to change just one thing or two. In the middle of those two, I wanted people with HTML and CSS, but no programming, experience to be able to design a good theme.

On top of all that, the editing experience must be good. No one wants to edit files on their computer and then upload them to see if they worked. Previews should be near instant, and it should be possible to edit multiple files at once online, just as we'd do with a standalone editor.

Last night we pushed a big update that includes an alpha version of the theme editor, making full theming available on all Leader and Hobbyist plans. You can edit either of the existing SETT themes or use the bare-bones theme as a base to start from the beginning. Just open the look and feel panel, click the theme you want to edit, and click the little blue edit button that shows up when you hover over the name.

You can read our Quickstart guide to understand how SETT theming works.

All feedback and bugs are welcome. We're very excited to bring what we think is the best example of blog theming to date! In the future we will create a theme marketplace and allow theme creators to make money selling their themes.

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Shankar
  • Shankar
  • 3 years ago
  • No likes
  • Reply

What is the procedure for changing custom themes?

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Marisa
  • Marisa
  • 4 years ago
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Cool, thanks. I'm pretty sure this level of customization is going to be over my head right now (my knowledge of html is really minimal). Happy to play with it when it gets super user friendly

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SETT's Reaction to Government Overreach and Your Privacy

We really care about the idea and the practice of free speech. In the wake of the recent NSA PRISM revelations, we took some time to think about how we could contribute to a pro-free-speech environment. We've made several changes which are live now.

SSL

We now support Perfect Forwarding Secrecy over our SSL connection. SSL connections are used to securely communicate details like your login details, but it is possible that your ISP, our ISP, or the government could be recording all of that data.

The data they collect would be encrypted, but it's typically all encrypted with the same key, our SSL key. If this was ever compromised, it would be possible to decrypt all of the communications they had collected.

Perfect Forwarding Secrecy modifies the process to use the master key PLUS an additional one-time use key. In this scenario it would be impossible for them to do anything with the collected data.

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On Tynan

A few years ago I visited the Dominican Republic, and its island-mate, Haiti. Dominican Republic is a relatively poor country, but Haiti is far poorer. In fact, it's the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

I met a nice family on the plane to DR and asked them if they'd give me a ride with them downtown. Sure, just help cover the gas. I happily agreed, but the amount they asked for gas was a few times more than it should have been. It was cheaper than a tax, so it was still okay, but it was just a little bit shifty. The security guard at the restaurant I went to every day was nice and friendly, but near the end of my trip he was just a little bit too aggressive about trying to get me to have my female friends in America email him. As I explored the old city, a guy told me that he was an official tour guide with the city and would show me around for absolutely nothing, just because it was his job. I knew it was a scam, but I'm willing to endure awkward situations, so when he very aggressively asked for money at the end, I told him that he should have asked in advance and gave him nothing.

I don't mention all that to imply that I was a victim of any sort-- just that that's the type of place Santo Domingo was. I had some good times there, too, but my experience was colored by this atmosphere of hustling and weaseling. After all that, I bought a bus ticket to Port au Prince. Being poorer, I figured that people would really be trying to get money from me there, but I should go visit anyway since I was so close.

My experience in Haiti couldn't have been more different. No one tried to overcharge me once. I had to argue with my Couchsurfing host to accept money for gas after she drove me around all day. She refused to accept money for the food that she cooked me every meal. I walked through the ghettos and was greeted by smiles, especially from the children.

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