andreasviklund.com

The decision is now made, and my next template will be something completely different from what I have done so far - and very different from the typical standard open source template functionality. A new way of building templates will give a new way of building websites from the templates. I don't know if it will be considered creative or stupid, but I like the whole concept and I hope that others will copy my idea and develop it further!

So what will it be? I can't tell you all about it just yet since not all details are finished, but the keywords are "modular structure". The page will contain a basic framework where modules of HTML and CSS code can be added. Modules consist of different layout parts, and any number if modules can be added in any order inside the framework. A module can be a header, a menu, a sidebar or a footer for example. It can also be a blog layout, a thumbnail gallery layout or a regular set if 2 or 3 content columns. The modules are written and styled in a way that allows them to be combined freely to create a full layout with the wanted features. When the layout is built, a colorscheme is applied to the whole framework (and all included modules). All this with only XHTML and CSS, so it is very basic.

If this works as I want it to, the final template should be very easy to use inside blogs or content management systems. It should make it easy to make scalable websites, since it will be possible to add more modules in the future. Modules can be written separately, without any need to change the main framework or colorscheme. Modules could even be shared with other people using the same layout, and included in different frameworks in the future.

Will all this work? I don't know, but I hope so. I have the first template and the first modules ready for testing now. Not very advanced, but hopefully a good start. The first release will be in a few days. Beta testers would be appreciated!