Update
29 April 2007Just a quick update…
As you can see, DCD is not using its normal theme. Let me explain.
I was using the redoable 1.1 theme for Wordpress. It’s a very nice theme. And, I really liked the style, and the configurable options. I normally don’t call people out, especially when something is free. However, I would like to point out that just because you make something free, does not mean you should get a free skate.
Redoable is a beautiful WP theme. However, it is horribly supported, undocumented, and suffers from what alot of good looking software often falls victim to: too much and not enough. Dean Robinson has alot on his plate, and while I realize you cannot please all the people all of the time…Redoable has so many features that I believe cause a plethora of the issues.
I was hoping to update my theme and style files from 1.1 to 1.2. Now, for most things, it should be fairly straightforward. However, some of the things I have noticed:
1) More features added. The ability to turn off the firefox banner for IE users, the additon of being able to select color schemes, the ability to specify a custom logo. These things would be great…however…
2) The core components are still suffering from alot of the things that plagued 1.1. Getting the modules to work is precarious. After surgically removing all the rows for redoable from my DB, I could finally get the Module tab in presentation only to find no modules available. In the support forum, there is at least one other person with this problem, and the author attributes this to “SBM Weirdness”. And while I realize his theme is based on the work of others (Sidebar Modules, K2, etc)…but passing the buck is not excusable when you put your name on the product. Either pull it all together, or don’t.
Sorry, but part of the responsibility to all end users is to make sure your core features work, and are reasonably documented, with some basic troubleshooting, BEFORE you add more features.
This behavior among OSS developers, especially when it comes to skinning and theming, of telling people to trudge through forums, and failing to document your stuff is really troubling. Why? Because skinning and theming are one of the key parts of any piece of personal software. Its one of the main “draws” for some software, like WordPress. People want their stuff to look good, with a minimum of fuss. I don’t mind hacking up a .css to fit my needs. I don’t even mind making my eyes bleed with php…within reason. A theme, especially when you package things as a “turnkey”, should work. And when it does not, the user should have some options and some documentation to go by. You cannot tell someone to RTFM, if there is no M.
3) Before adding features, you need to make sure some of the critical bugs from your previous release are fixed. And you need to test that. Beta test it with some users.
Let me say again, I really liked the theme. However, it has officially become more trouble than it is worth. The lack of documentation, the addition of features without making sure core components are reasonably working, documented and such is just not tolerable.
Rome was not built in a day. And while I commend Dean J Robinson for a nice looking theme, it’s functionality in the wild leaves alot to be desired.
So, I will be re-developing the style and format of double cluepon day, from scratch. Pardon my dust while I think about it a bit.
