Watch the current state of ThemeFrame in this video:

http://themeframe.com/video/

A usable first version should be available within very few days. When you hear "just a few things missing" in the video, that means "a few things to make it usable and to release a first Beta".

- Drag & Drop Layout Areas
- Fully WYSIWYG Live Preview
- Nearly no page reloads ever, Ajax everything
- Creates static CSS and JS files for best live performance
- Only 1 DB query per page view on the front end no matter how many options
- Import & Export configuration files, load a style you made earlier and re-use it, e.g. with a few changes
- Upload images directly or choose from WP uploads folder

- Not implemented yet, but will be in the very near future: Smooth fonts, Effects for the Drop Down Menus, Rotating images with smooth effects and different images on page type or individual page basis, Ajax for comments and wherever it makes sense

All donors with a total donation of $40+ will get full & free access to the Beta and the following Final Release. Once the Beta is out, this opportunity will be gone but you will be able to buy a Paid Subscription (not enabled yet) to the BFA Forum, where you can download and discuss ThemeFrame.

Incredible work Flynn!

Exciting, Flynn! Can't wait to get my hands on this.

I notice you're developing this using WP 2.8.5. I think the 2.8.6 upgrade was mostly about a security patch or two, but I just wanted to make sure there won't be issues for those of us who are using 2.8.6 now.

Thanks for the update

This looks very nice!

Wow! Amazing work. Again, I can't wait to give this a try!

Originally Posted by Flynn

All donors with a total donation of $40+ will get full & free access to the Beta ...

While I qualify for the beta, I will likely purchase ThemeFrame at some point anyway. You do incredible work Flynn, and you deserve to be supported!

Flynn,

Very exciting update on progress since the last video.

1. Particularly pleased with all non-theme files going into wp-content rather than a few of them sometimes needing to be uploaded within the theme directory structure. As you said on the video this should make upgrading much simpler and safer now that the odd stray image won't get overlooked.

2. Drag & Drop functionality for the header layout - excellent work, the ultimate in WYSIWYG.

3. Export (and Import) for the current settings is a real plus. It's a quicker and simpler backup feature (than having to export the whole of a WP database) which is therefore much more likely to get used. It's also likely to be used more frequently as a result and should lead to less lost work.

It looks like Themeframe is going to be a great Christmas present!

Keep up the great work!!

Any more news Flynn?

Flynn. Loookkkiiing Gooood!! I can't wait to get my grubby little paws on this fantastic app. You and I seem to have at least one thing in common. Perfectionism. I can understand that you do not want to release something that is not just quite right. But hey, this release will be in Beta. Right? If you give us something to play around with we can send you feedback as to what works and what doesn't. Please don't take this the wrong way. I am not slamming you in any way. I am just really starting to salivate here. I know there are members that have been waiting longer than me, so I can imagine how they feel, anticipating the release. Pleeease just give us something.

I turned this into a standalone application (you'll get the whole code) plus theme, instead of a plugin plus theme. The application creates everything that is better pre-produced as static files, such as the CSS, JS and PHP files, and the theme controls remaining live settings, like which template to use for which page and SEO settings (which will miss in the Beta).

Settings are saved in files rather than MySQL which makes them very transparent and portable. There's also no requirement for creating databases. The installation is just 1) writing the username & password into a config file and 2) uploading the app.

The static, pre-produced files will be good for live performance. The whole system is also easy to follow, and the resulting themes are easy to hand out to clients. I noticed some posts where users of frameworks were complaining that they had to re-do the settings on the client's installation. This is not the case with Themeframe.

The reason to make it a standalone application was to be more independent from Wordpress. The plugin wasn't using much Wordpress code anyway, and what it used, it used just to "get past" Wordpress.

This delayed things a bit but I am very close. I am making the theme part now which will be rather limited in the Beta or else it would take too long and I understand that I am more than overdue...

No worries, you just focus on getting a working beta. Keep up the good work!

Very exciting. It's like waiting for Christmas morning to arrive.

Originally Posted by Flynn

I turned this into a standalone application (you'll get the whole code) plus theme, instead of a plugin plus theme.

The reason to make it a standalone application was to be more independent from Wordpress.

Does this mean that the hundreds (thousands?) of Wordpress third party plugins will be usable, or not?

Not sure what you mean ? Why would themeframe have to do with plugins?
It simply generates a WP theme based on your settings...
Imagine a product for WP that made plugins not work ! I think not!
Sorry if I've misunderstood.
cheers Dave

Originally Posted by thetravelchronicle

Does this mean that the hundreds (thousands?) of Wordpress third party plugins will be usable, or not?

Originally Posted by Flynn

I turned this into a standalone application (you'll get the whole code) plus theme, instead of a plugin plus theme. The application creates everything that is better pre-produced as static files, such as the CSS, JS and PHP files, and the theme controls remaining live settings, like which template to use for which page and SEO settings (which will miss in the Beta).
...
The reason to make it a standalone application was to be more independent from Wordpress. The plugin wasn't using much Wordpress code anyway, and what it used, it used just to "get past" Wordpress.

I for one am a little bummed that Themeframe will NOT be a plugin anymore, as I find that to be much easier to deal with as opposed to installing the program on my server... As I am the only one who uses the themes I make (I don't have clients)

Can anyone explain to me the reason for the change? I'm assuming it has to due with usability. I read the above quoted thread but don't truly understand the need for it to be a standalone application unless it's a change to accommodate the majority of users who have clients.

I'm not complaining mind you, just trying to figure it out. I'm sure I'll be able to make it work, it will just take me a little longer to wrap my head around it.

You'll just upload the files like you would upload a plugin, and instead of going into the WP admin area and clicking on a button there, you'd go to yourdomain.com/themeframe/ and set the settings from there. The application will access the Wordpress settings from the outside and automatically, so there's no difference regarding convenience or possibilities of the app, i.e. it can figure out which plugins are activated and what the various WP settings are. And this application if just for creating the static files. There's also a theme part which is installed as a a regular WP theme. That theme has a control panel for all the settings that are better set in the WP database on a per-page basis.

The app could have been a plugin but there's no real need for it other than having a button inside the WP admin area. To create it as a plugin quite a few things have to be programmed differently just to get along with Wordpress and to avoid conflicts with other plugins. I already had it as a plugin so for now it required more effort to change it to standalone, but it allows me to add more features with ease in the future without always having to program around Wordpress just to have that button in the admin area.

Is it too late to make another donation to get to the beta of ThemeFrame?

Originally Posted by ksmith101

Is it too late to make another donation to get to the beta of ThemeFrame?

You should have access to the ThemeFrame Members forum. Please let me know if you don't.

I've paid my $80! Great work, and very exciting. Thanks for all the hard work!

iPuppet, you are set now

Great stuff Flynn!

I am wondering if we can cooperate to make it 'cooperating' with the myEASYdb plugin I am developing.

My original idea was, after having finalized myEAASYdb, to create something similar to your ThemeFrame to let people create sites/applications based on WordPress and able to get data from different database structures.

As you are working on ThemeFrame it makes much more sense to join our efforts, do you agree?

Ugo

Link not working, is there another video I can see before I purchase?

Thanks!

Try the themeframe web site..

http://themeframe.com/

Is there any software required for viewing the video on themeframe site ?

Edit : It started 2 mins later.